I know the state of Florida has no shame, and I suppose that anyway this probably is no different from ads appearing on the sides of public buses but even so I was very surprised to have ads for satellite TV and satellite radio fall out of the envelope when I got my annual car registration renewal notice.
When the state sells off public functions we call it privatization. (When it sells or leases land we have unfortunately gotten used to calling it a ‘rip off’.) When the state takes on formerly private functions we call it a vast number of things, depending on the circumstances and how we feel about it.
But when the state lends its good offices to put an advertisement into every home (or, who knows, just demographically selected homes?), do we just call it “advertising”? Surely there’s a better word for this?
It is taxation or a user fee. Doing business with the state government requires you to view this advertising.
How weird – I just got my car registration notice from the state of Massachusetts, with the same advertising inserts. Guess they’re targetting state DMVs with their ad campaigns?