Following the “What Magazines Do You Read?” meme, here’s my list of magazines that I actively read:

• Biblical Archaeology Review
• Business2.0
• MotherJones
• Harper’s
• Linux Journal
• Linux Format
• Revenue
• Adbusters

Yep, Adbusters.  If you’re not familiar with the magazine, you should be.  It’s a hotbed of anti-logo, anti-advertising and anti-marketing material.  I would venture to guess most people label it as something without actually giving it a turn of the page, but there is a good deal to ponder in those pages about who we are as humans and how we interact with the trillions and trillions of marketing messages that we’ve encountered in our lifetime.

So, it was with great interest that I read this from the latest copy of AdBusters…

Based primarily on research conducted by Yankelovich Inc. - the respected American public opinion and market research firm whose founder coined the term “baby boomer” - the number on most everyone’s tongue these days [for the number of ads the average American sees on a given day] is closer to 5,000. You’d be forgiven for having to rub your eyes at that figure. Of course, it’s a tough thing to quantify. Even 3,000 sounds impossible - until you start to count for yourself. But could it really be 5,000?

In truth, the number in and of itself is relatively inconsequential. What matters is the very real sense of escalation. And if the poll data that has been coming in, repeatedly, from researchers like Yankelovich is any indication, people in many developed nations are finding that the escalation is beginning to smart. We are hearing that the majority of regular people feel bombarded by far too many marketing messages. That the majority feel more hostile to advertising than they did in the past. That most people now say they will avoid buying products from companies that overwhelm them with marketing.

As we continue to make up battle plans for our marketing “campaigns” on customers and individuals, let’s keep in mind the issues of relevancy and humanity.

Sometimes, the best marketing is no marketing at all.

And yes, I own both  the V1 and V2 of the Blackspots and love them both very much.