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CHAPTER 046

The lightsdimmed smoothly in the plush presentation room at Selat, Anney, Koss Ltd., the preeminent London advertising agency. On the screen, an image of an American strip mall, blurred traffic rushing past a wretched cluster of signs. Gavin Koss knew from experience this image was an immediate rapport-builder. Anything critical of America was surefire.

“American businesses spend more on advertising than any other country in the world,” Koss said. “Of course, they must do, given the quality of American products…”

Snickers floated through the darkness.

“And the intelligence of the American audience…”

Mild, muted laughter.

“As one of our columnists recently noted, the great majority of Americans couldn’t find their own behinds with both hands.”

Open laughter. They were warming to him.

“A crude, cultureless people, slapping each other on the back as they drift ever deeper into debt.” That should suffice, he thought. He changed his tone: “But what I wish to draw to your attention is the sheer volume of commercial messages, as you see them here, arranged in space along the motorway. And every vehicle driving past has its radio on, sending out even more commercial messages. In point of fact, it’s estimated that Americans listen to three thousand messages every day-or what is more probable, they don’t listen to them. Psychologists have determined that the sheer volume of messages creates a kind of anesthesia, which becomes ingrained over time. In a saturated media environment, all messages lose impact.”

The image changed to Times Square at night, then Shinjuku, in Tokyo, then Piccadilly, in London. “The saturation today is global. Huge messages, including large-screen video, appear in public squares, along motorways, in tube stations, train depots. We place videos at point-of-sale in retail stores. In toilets. In waiting rooms, pubs, and restaurants. In airport lounges and aboard aircraft.

“Furthermore, we have conquered personal space. Logos, brands, and slogans appear on ordinary objects from knives to tableware to computers. They appear on all our possessions. Consumers wear logos on their clothing, handbags, shoes, jewelry. Indeed, it is rare for a person to appear in public without them. Thirty years ago, if anyone predicted that the entire global public would turn themselves into sandwich boards, walking about advertising products, the idea would have seemed fantastical. Yet it has happened.

“The result is an imagistic glut, sensory exhaustion, and a diminution of impact. What can we do now? How can we move forward in the new era of technology? The answer may be heretical, but it isthis. ”

The screen changed dramatically, to a forest image. Huge trees rising toward the sky, shade beneath. Then a snowy mountain peak. A tropical island, an arc of sand, crystalline water, palm trees. And, finally, an underwater reef, with fish swimming among coral heads and sponges.

“The natural world,” Koss intoned, “is entirely without advertising. The natural world has yet to be tamed. Colonized by commerce. It remains virgin.”

From the darkness: “Isn’t that rather the point?”

“Conventional wisdom would put it so. Yes. But conventional wisdom is invariably out of date. Because in the time it has taken to become conventional-to become what everyone believes-the world has moved on. Conventional wisdom is a remnant of the past. And so it is in this case.”

On the screen, the reef scene was suddenly branded. Coral branches had lettering that readBP CLEAN. A school of small fish wriggled by, each winkingVODAFONE, VODAFONE. A slithering shark withCADBURY curving across the snout. A puffer fish withLLOYDS TSB GROUP in black lettering swam over convoluted heads of brain coral, withSCOTTISH POWER printed along the ridges in orange. And, finally, a moray eel poked its head out of a hole. Its greenish skin pattern saidMARKS amp; SPENCER.

“Think of the possibilities,” Koss said.

The audience was stunned-as he had expected it would be. He pressed on with the argument.

The slide now showed a desert scene, with spires of red rock rising against a blue sky laced with clouds. After a moment, the clouds coalesced into a larger, misty cloud that hung above the landscape and said:

“Those letters,” Koss said, “are nine hundred feet high. They stand a quarter of a mile above the landscape. They are clear to the naked eye, and they photograph well. At sunset, they become quite beautiful.” The image changed. “Here, you see their appearance as the sun goes down-the lettering changes from white to pink, to red, and finally deep indigo. So it has the quality, the feeling, of being a natural element within the natural landscape.”

He returned to the original cloud image in daylight. “These letters are generated by a marriage of nanoparticles and genetically modified clostridium perfringens bacteria. The image is, in effect, a nanoswarm, and it will remain visible in the air for a variable period of time, depending on conditions-just as any cloud would. It may appear for only a few minutes. At other times, it may appear for an hour. It may appear in multiples…”

On the screen, the fluffy clouds became the BP slogan, repeated infinitely in cloud after cloud, stretching away to the horizon. “I think everyone will recognize the impact of this new medium. Thenatural medium.”

He had expected spontaneous applause for this dramatic visual, but there was still only silence in the darkness. Yet surely they would be experiencing some sort of reaction by now. An infinitely repeated advert hanging in the sky? Surely it must arouse them.

“But these clouds are a special case,” he said.

He returned tothe underwater image, fishes moving over the coral reef. “In this case,” he said, “signage and adverts are borne by the living creatures themselves, through direct genetic modification of each species. We call this genomic advertising. To capture this new medium, speed is of the utmost importance. There are only a limited number of reef fishes common to tourist waters. Some fish are more incandescent than others. Many are a bit drab. So we want to choose the best. And the genetic modifications will require patenting the marine animal in each case. Thus we will patent the Cadbury clown fish, the British Petroleum stag coral, the Marks and Spencer moray eel, the Royal Bank of Scotland angelfish, and gliding silently overhead, the British Airways manta ray.”

Koss cleared his throat. “Speed matters because we are entering a competitive situation. We want our Cadbury clown fish out there, before the clown fish is patented by Hershey’s or McDonald’s. And we want a strong creature, since in the natural environment the Cadbury clown fish will compete against ordinary clown fish, and hopefully triumph over them. The more successful our patented fish, the more frequently our message shall be seen, and the more completely the original, messageless fish will be driven to extinction. We are entering the era of Darwinian advertising! May the best advert win!”

A coughfrom the audience. “Gavin, forgive me,” came a voice, “but this appears to be an environmental nightmare. Brand names on fish? Slogans in clouds? And what else? Rhinos in Africa that carry the Land Rover logo? If you go about branding animal species, every environmentalist in the world will oppose you.”

“Actually, they will not,” Koss said, “because we’re not suggesting that corporationsbrand species. We ask corporations tosponsor species. As a public service.” He paused. “Think how many museum exhibitions, theater companies, and symphony orchestras are entirely dependent on corporate sponsorship. Even sections of roadway are sponsored, today. Why shouldn’t the same philanthropic spirit be directed toward the natural world-which surely would benefit far more than our roads? Endangered species could be attractively sponsored. Corporations can stake their reputations on the survival of animal species, as they once staked their reputations on the quality of dull television programs. And it is the same for other animals that are not yet endangered. For all the fish in the sea. We are talking about an era of magnificent corporate philanthropy-on a global scale.”

“So, this is the black rhino, brought to you by Land Rover? The jaguar, brought to you by Jaguar?”

“I shouldn’t put it so crudely, but, yes, that’s what we are proposing. The point,” he continued, “is that this is a win-win situation. A win for the environment. For corporations. And for advertising.”

Gavin Koss had done hundreds of presentations in his career, and his feeling for the audience had never failed him. He could feel now that this group was not buying it. It was time to bring the lights up and take questions.

He stared at the rows of frowning faces. “I admit my notion is radical,” he said. “But the world is changing rapidly. Someone is going to do this. This colonization of naturewill happen-the only question is, by whom. I urge you to consider this opportunity with the greatest care, and then decide if you want to be a part of it.”

From the back, Garth Baker, the head of Midlands Media Associates Ltd., stood. “It’s quite a novel idea, Gavin,” he said. “But I must tell you with some assurance that it will not work.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Because someone has already done it.”