Jupiter says that consumers spend $1.5 billion a year worldwide on ring-tones for their cell phones, exactly the same size as Jupiter’s (optimistic) estimate for online content, and three times what they’re spending on news and information online.
Meanwhile, AOL is charging $1.95 a month, or $9.95 a year, for its “AIM Expressions,” a product that lets AIM users skin their IM windows with art from movies or rock bands.
A few years ago the WSJ ran a story that said NASCAR jackets were becoming popular in the inner city, not because of any interest in the sport, but because they were covered with logos.
it’s old news that we beginning to define our identities by the corporations we choose to affiliate with. What’s new is that they’re starting to charge us for the privilege of wearing their colors.