A gas station customer was floored by the lengths a business went with its advertising methods.
Bilal Zisan (@bilo.w.111) posted a viral TikTok that’s accrued over 422,000 views on the popular social media application. In it, he shows off a screen attached to the handle of a fuel pump at an EG Group gas station. He slammed the European chain for this advertising practice. Other TikTokers didn’t seem too fond of it, either.
Handheld marketing
“Having to watch an ad with the speaker right there,” the Netherlands-based creator says. He records a screen scrolling a montage of advertisements that’s affixed to the pump handle itself. Next, he pans the camera up to reveal the gas pump, which is also sporting a screen. Then, the creator goes on to further criticize the at-the-pump marketing customers are subjected to.
“While fueling is [expletive] crazy,” he says.
He continues to record the contraption that’s been placed over the pump handle. According to him, it also packs a speaker that blares audio. Creating yet another scenario where consumers are blindsided by marketing.
Branding for Burger King, Starbucks, KFC, and other companies flit through the screen, one after another. “Really? I’m fueling! Leave me alone. That’s crazy.” The clip then transitions to him finishing his gas pumping as more advertisements populate the screen. “It keeps going, too,” he adds.
“Look,” he says, placing the fuel handle back in the pump. The marketing materials are indeed constantly showing up on the screen. A voice can be heard coming out of the handle’s screen: “Smoke and mint,” it says. Zisan can be heard mirthlessly laughing off camera. “Absolutely stupid,” he says as he affixes his gas cap back to his vehicle and stops recording.
“What has this world come to?” he mused in a caption for his clip.
Digital screens on the gas pump
You may have already seen gas station pump stations brandished with screens previously. All Over Media appears to offer marketing opportunities to businesses looking to promote their goods and services via this medium. Notably missing from the website, however, is the contraption that Zisan showed off in his clip. The screens containing the advertisements are stationed on the fuel pumps themselves, and not the handles.
A Reddit user posted about their ire toward gas station fuel pumps. They stated that the screens on them “can be muted” for folks who are tired of hearing marketing messaging when getting gas. One commenter said that their local station began marking the mute button after customers were “smashing” screens trying to find it. “My local gas stations started marking the mute button because people were smashing the screens instead. The person who designed gas pump ads deserves a special level of hell.”
The idea of advertising built onto fuel pumps isn’t exactly new, however. C-Store Signs Direct sells its “Nozzle Talker.” While not a touch screen, they allow for fixed marketing materials to be printed and placed inside a see-through placard. The company writes that the design was first created “in 1989.” This way, a business’ “advertising [is put] right into the customers’ hand.”
More handles
The Team-BHP website featured another incredulous call-out from a gas station customer. In their blog post, they featured several photos of what appears to be a fuel-pump advertising unit identical to Zisan’s. From the green plastic framing, down to the screen size. The poster remarked that when filling up his wife’s car with gas, he came across the advertising screens.
“The fuel dispenser pistol had been equipped with a little video screen!! On this little screen, they were running various short ads, whilst I was filling up!” it said.
The forum poster seemed shocked and maybe simultaneously impressed that someone discovered a way to dish out commercials during pump time. “I mean, seriously. Somebody has figured out he/she can sell commercials during the 30 to 90 seconds it takes us to fill up our cars. OK, five minutes for the Jag and the Jeep!”
Everyone hates the practice
One user who responded to Zisan’s video wrote that this is proof our society’s headed closer to a Dystopian landscape. “We got the most boring cyberpunk dystopia going on and this is proof,” they wrote.
Another mused why advertisements on the pump don’t cover the cost of gasoline. “Why can’t ads pay for the gas itself,” they said.
Which was a sentiment echoed by someone else. “This is insane. You are paying money and they still have commercials?” they observed.
Someone said that this type of capitalism is a trademark of the United States. However, another remarked that these pumps are located in Europe.
@bilo.w.111 What has this world come to 😔 #future #scifi #crazy #wakeup #ceo #fyp #fypdong #foryoupage❤️❤️ #foruyou ♬ original sound – Bilal Zisan
Whereas another user said that they’d adopted an anti-marketing standpoint for invasive ads. “Any commercial that invades my peace, I don’t buy. Been doing that for a long time already.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to EG Group via email and Zisan for further information.
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