Your ad in my way: Medianet at odds with potential clientele
Marketing aims, generally speaking, at attracting potential clients and to “talking them into” buying a certain product or a service as advertised. Marketing is a true art. What you see in the picture positioned above this passage is what I, and all students at the U of J, see upon entering from the Northern Gate. This is a Medianet board displaying an ad. The odd bit about this board is not the red, not even the lightbulb, it’s the positioning of the board on the pavement.
This Medianet board is so skillfully placed on this pavement that it gives one no room to walk beside it, one would have to leave the pavement, walk on the street, and then hop back onto the pavement. All of this is a needless waste of leg energy, and is a tedious mental task when one tries to understand why this board was placed on the pavement, in such a way, without any consideration for the rights of the people who like to avoid being run over by cars in Medianet’s attempt to promote a concept. Some may argue that not many cars use this street, and that the risk of being roadkilled is minute, I can live with that. But I cannot possibly accept any transgression on my pedestrian liberties, it is I who decides where to walk, and not some mute board presented to mock my intelligence in-your-face style.
To add insult to injury, there is more than one board placed in similar positions by Medianet throughout the premises of the university. I wonder permits are issued to such companies without first checking, and controling, where they place their boards. I also find it adequate to wonder that Aramex, whose ad is celebrated in this board, have not checked where the ad will be placed.
Terrible. Looking at the width of the sidewalk is worrisome as well… let’s imagine two way traffic (at peak hours), the assumption is that people are walking single file in each direction. Furthermore, if this is inside campus, why is the road so wide? THAT should be a single lane headed each way.
On a macro level, Amman itself is not very pedestrian friendly, with sidewalks that end abruptly, holes where trees used to be, and unkempt trees where people should be able to walk (granted I’m taller than most, but children can barely pass under some of those branches). Really high sidewalks are also quite annoying (the resoning behind this is to dissuade drivers who contemplate parking on sidewalks).
Maybe someone should organize an NGO called “WalkAmman,” which would be a pedestrian initiative that works closely with the municipality and has volunteer events for fixing many of these issues (a la habitat for humanity), and if someone does this, please start with east Amman, they truly deserve it more.
Malhas