Just because New York State is set to have its first on-time budget in six years doesn't mean that much of the state isn't still desperate to make ends meet. And so we guess we have to give the Erie County Holding Center upstate some credit, they've come up with a means to make more money that we really weren't expecting: advertising.
“What do people want when they are in the Holding Center?” Anthony Diina, whose company will be running the system, asked the Buffalo News. “They want to get out. And they don’t want to get convicted. So they want bail. And an attorney. "
"You want to advertise to someone exactly when they want to make their decision. That is the case here,” he said, adding later, “this is the ultimate captive audience.” Which, we guess explains why the program is working under the moniker Captive Ads?
The company says its already sold about half of the available advertising slots to lawyers and bail bondsmen for about $40 a week with a one-year commitment (a third of the revenue will go back to the county government). And the county government will also be putting its own ads in the system, which initially will include one screen just outside the booking area and one in the family and friends waiting room.
The company behind the Captive Ads didn't bid for the deal, but instead is piggybacking the screens on an existing deal to advertise in DMV offices. And the Commission of Correction doesn't seem to have a problem with the concept, static ads for bail bonds have been around in correctional centers for awhile now. Which isn't to say some lawyers aren't offended by the idea. “I wouldn’t do it even if I was subsisting on Ramen noodles,” one lawyer quipped after hearing of it.
