I got to thinking about advertising when we were discussing it in my other journalism class, and when I was watching an episode of futurama. In the article I was reading, Gloria Steinem related how Ms. Magazine was having trouble because advertisers wouldn't place car ads and electronic ads because they believed that women weren't interested in such things, even when they had data showing it would be profitable. Clairol actually pulled all their ads when Ms. investigated whether or not hair dye was damaging to your skin, even though they didn't mention Clairol. Also, Revlon pulled their ads because they featured Soviet women on the cover without makeup. It makes me wonder how much good stories get pulled because they interfere with an advertising agenda, and it also makes me wonder if our free press really is that free. A lighter critique was in the episode of Futurama I watched, the main character has a dream that turns into an ad, because it turns out that 1,000 years in the future, advertisers can broadcast their ads into your dreams, which is kind of a funny yet scary thought.
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