I went to a local restaurant near my house last week and sat next to a window near the back. I soon noticed brochures, business cards, and other advertising paraphernalia scattered along the window ledge. I glanced around the restaurant and noticed advertising materials near the counter where patrons paid their bills. I didn’t give it much thought; as a media professional, I am more apt to notice these types of things. What really caught me off guard were the advertisements I saw in the middle of the menu. They were not in the back of the menu, but actually on the inside pages of the menu. This is not a new advertising medium, but it was the first time I had been exposed to it.

Now, I know the reach of advertising has been thoroughly debated, so I will not belabor the point too much. However, I know that if I saw the same menu advertising a few more times, I would become numb to it and not give it a second thought. But the question is, as an industry, should there be any boundaries we shouldn’t cross?  Or do we continue to push our products anywhere there is available space whether customers will notice or not?

As a media professional, I find it exciting to come up with new ways to reach consumers that break through the clutter. They say the average person is exposed to over 5,000 ads per day. Without trying to reach consumers differently, your message will not break through. As a consumer, I don’t want advertising to interfere too much with my life. So which is it?

I think consumers are left to decide how far they will let advertisers push the boundaries, because, if left in the hands of advertisers, they will fill every available space with an ad. I imagine the line consumers won’t let advertisers cross is a lot further away than it was 50 years ago. And from the looks of where we are headed, the line will be light years away from where it is today in the next 50 years.