So I stayed in last Friday night and saw that Minority Report was on HBO…thinking “Oh I’ve seen this before, I can keep this on in the background while I catch up on work.” Silly me. I immediately got sucked into the awesomeness that is this movie — having not seen it in years. But it wasn’t just the action and plot that had me watching — it was the marketing within the movie. Great job Spielberg…you caught my “eye”!

In the movie, every time Tom Cruise’s character walks by a digital ad, it is catered directly to him due to recognition through the character’s eyes. It states his name and acknowledges his interest in certain products (previously) and asks questions re: future use. For example, there was a virtual Guiness ad asking about his thirst. Made me thirsty, for sure.

As Tom’s character walked into the Gap to grab some clothing (and at this point he had new eyes – see the movie for explanation) and a voice welcomes “him” and asks about the pair of pants that were purchased last time and if “he’ would like another pair. My question…impressive or intrusive? I was impressed by the marketing used in this movie when it was made in 2002 (obviously it was meant to be far into the future, but still). The geo-location used, was not via mobile but your eyeballs. How crazy is that? I think it’s kind of intrusive at times. For example, if you’re walking into a store and the last item you purchased was a “personal” item – would you want that stated out loud for all to hear in the store as you enter? Would their be restrictions on what is said? Could people opt out? Thoughts to consider as we get deeper into geolocation through mobile…and maybe one day our eyes?!

What are your thoughts on this? Please share!