Advertising

Somehow, someone in Albania got hold of one of my email ids and must have spread it around because for the past few months I have been receiving unsolicited advertisements of all  sorts. This fact has prompted me to make a couple of observations.

The first is that Albanians are very much up-to-date in using online facilities, which is really no news to me, but  now I notice that even Albania's Council of Ministers is on board blogging in view of the upcoming elections that will take place in the country on May 8th.  

As it happens in Albania, and, I might add from my experience, also in Italy, official rules are not usually strictly followed, if you get my drift. Thus, unsolicited messages do not show at the bottom the sophisticated netiquette standard of giving the receiver choices, such as 'opting out' or 'managing preferences'. In their simplicity, however, as marketing virtual pages that are similar to their equals in printed form in magazines or flyers, they attract attention for their creativeness. 

The variety of ads is also quite interesting to me. I have received ads from companies dealing with tv/media, communications, constructions, travel, auto/vehicles, furniture, clothing, electronics, education, medical/hospitals, web and financial services, as well as restaurants and supermarkets, and so on.  One authorized reseller of Apple, without infringing any copyrights, even named their company "Molla", which is the Albanian word for an apple.

The latest marketing message, received today, really got my attention due to its address, which is located around the corner from my apartment when I am in Tirana. It's a place that prepares and delivers complete 'healthy' meals at home. It offers a variety of plans including one for meals delivered six days a week for a total amount of about $250.00 per month!  It's something to think about!!