secure advertising

It creates a cleaner, smoother, more professional process.

TSA Spokesperson Ellen Howe commenting on the TSA's decision to allow advertisers to run ads in the bottom of those little airport security bins -- the ones used in airports for funneling shoes and coats and laptops through the xray devices -- in exchange for providing new bins, carts and stainless steel tables to the airport. As reported on the front page of today's USA Today.

Anyone remotely associated with a business driven by advertising dollars can tell you why this is a bad idea -- just as anyone who's passed through security at the airport can tell you that the clusterfoo that is airport security post 9/11 needs the attention of efficiency experts so that it can be redesigned to swiftly move folks through who are in various states of undress and disembowelment.

If the ad guys get in on the act there's no good reason to straighten out the mess because long waits means longer exposure to the ads.

We might even see acts of subterfuge designed to further snarl things up and further compound the wait time -- much the same way that placing the dairy case at the back of the grocery store ensures that folks who want to buy a gallon of milk will take a little longer to make their purchase, spend more time in the store, and spend a little more money.

But of course the airports stand to make millions from this promotional technique, so we can expect to see it implemented soon and without a lot of fuss.