Not content with focus groups and analyzing market trends, research firm Nielson and California-based NeuroFocus have launched a service in Japan that scans the brain waves of potential customers to help companies improve marketing. Their service basically measures how much ads actually grab the attention and tug at the emotional heartstrings of the people they're targeting—rather than asking you to check a box next to “needs more baby animals,” they'll be checking graphs to see how each additional baby animal makes your brain spasm. Ooooh, I love it when advertising gets blatantly brainwashy! [Japan Today]

Contact information for this author is not available.