Pump down the volume!!!

The screen is cluttered, the text elements require squinting, and the video content is just CBC news and fashion stuff over and over again – as if the traveling public consists of nothing but news junkies and people who actually watch stuff like Project Runway. I was there at 1 PM today, and had some interest in the news because I have mutual funds that until recently were worth something. But the news was from the breakfast hour, before the stock markets opened.

Swell.

I went back to my normal habit of ignoring the things, like most people. At least I tried to ignore them. The last 2-3 times I have been in the airport, the audio has been cranked on these things. What was once fairly subtle and inoffensive, is now loud and annoying as hell. As in, Dad telling the kids TURN THAT DAMN THING DOWN loud.

I actually watched one guy get up and move to another part of the lounge, the only plausible explanation being a futile attempt to get away from it.

The logic here, escapes me. It is as though someone decided travelers aren’t looking otherwise, so let’s yell at them so they have to look our way. Yelling sort of works for car dealers and cash for jewelry guys on cable TV, but I’m not sure this is the path to success for a big OOH company in one of the world’s busier airports.