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Jail Sells Visitation Monitor Ad Space
Florida's Charlotte County Jail now sells ad space on the jail visitation monitors used by inmates and visitors. The service is expected to raise at least $77,000 dollars per year; the money will be spent on jail services to inmates.
(Jail advertising on visitation monitors)
In some ways, this could be seen as a clever use of resources, particularly since giving inmates added services to reduce recidivism can be done without additional taxation of residents.
On any given night there are nearly 500 inmates in the Charlotte County jail. Many get video visitors, which sparked an idea, and now untapped ad space is up for grabs inside the jail."We're trying to give them a lot of resources, but we need money for the resources," Lt. Wilson says.
The county is capitalizing on its captive audience, targeting inmates and their visitors with ads for services they might need -- like an attorney.
"I thought instantly, this is a great opportunity," Attorney Tauna Bogle says.
Bogle is the first advertiser to sign on. Her annual ad costs about $1,500. It will reach an estimated 55,000 jail visitors in just one year.
On the other hand, it's easy to see how this idea might go horribly wrong. I was just thinking about the recent case of the Luzerne County, PA judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan. The two men accepted $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC.
Let's suppose that officials notice that some ads bring in more money than others. Let's suppose that they conspire to arrest, oh I don't know, people who have structured settlements and need cash now. Now that's the way to raise more money.
I was also thinking about the different efforts that advertisers were making to make sure that plenty of eyeballs were watching ads online. There's one way to make sure those eyeballs are seeing what they're supposed to be seeing. And jails do offer the ultimate in captive audiences.
(Clockwork Orange: A bit of the old vid for the glazzies)
From Charlotte County jail sells ad space for inmates via Frolix_8.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/10/2009)
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