Ad Memes

William Gibson, in his most excellent book "Pattern Recognition," has as a sub-theme attractive young women who are hired to go out to clubs with friends, strike up conversations with gentlemen (who might be inclined to chat with attractive young women), during which the women mention - just mention - some cool new product. Odds are good that these gents might then go try the product, and mention it to their friends, who, in turn....

You get the idea.

This is a variation of the concept of memes - memory structures or ideas that persist in a society independent of the individuals who carry them. In one day, I've now found two sorta kinda examples of this - the 'Bucks on the car, and the Sony graffiti - that make me wonder how many others are out there....