The Obstacle Course

2002    Dur. 5:22    Stereo

There’s no escaping it. Every day we are targeted by advertising and visual product promotions strategically positioned in high-traffic areas of the contemporary marketplace. 

The film takes a look inside a modern convenience store where aggressive floor displays and point-of-purchase presentations compete for the attention of a vulnerable customer who is simply searching for a package of birthday candles. Using the store to represent the general retail environment, the film lampoons the way we are now required to negotiate a virtual obstacle course in the simple task of obtaining daily provisions. 

On an even greater scale the store can be thought of as a microcosm of the entire modern world where no opportunity is wasted by advertisers to interrupt our journey or our line of sight with their seductive promises of the good life.