Gear

Talking Billboards Get Personal With Mini Cooper Drivers

We’ve posted about the perils of driving while distracted, so you can imagine our delight when we heard what some of the San Franciscans we rub hubcaps with will now be subjected to. Starting today, says the New York Times [registration required], Mini USA will be serving up personalized messages to Mini Cooper owners on […]

We've posted about the perils of driving while distracted, so you can imagine our delight when we heard what some of the San Franciscans we rub hubcaps with will now be subjected to. Starting today, says the New York Times [registration required], Mini USA will be serving up personalized messages to Mini Cooper owners on "talking billboards."

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According to the Times:

The enthusiastic guinea pigs for the Mini experiment will be more than a thousand Mini owners in New York, Miami, Chicago, and San Francisco who have signed up for what the company calls "an ever-changing array of unique, personal, playful, and unexpected messages."

The boards, which usually carry typical advertising, are programmed to identify approaching Mini drivers through a coded signal from a radio chip embedded in their key fob. The messages are personal, based on questionnaires that owners filled out: "Mary, moving at the speed of justice," if Mary is a lawyer, or "Mike, the special of the day is speed," if Mike is a chef.

Of course, if Mike is an idiot — e.g., the kind of idiot who would sign up for such a thing — he may find this message so compelling that he inadvertently parks his Mini Cooper in your glove compartment.