Microsoft Surface Ads Are All over the Place in the BART Station in San Francisco

Please shut up. How is this spam? Fully paid for, legal, and kind of cool really.

very poor choice of words, you must check the dictionary again for the term 'spamming'.

in case you didn't know the above ads is a part of a process called marketing.

Actually, in internet/gaming speak, "spam" also means to repeat something obsessively.

This is not spam, gimme a break. It is simply a variant of the Bld Burma Shave signs. Which as a kid I always enjoyed while riding in the backseat on long trips. Must have worked since remember them 50 years later. The concept of marketing is to get a name and brand into the consciousness and to provide information about the product. These are just elegant variations on those old ads. They became obsolete with the advent of Interstate highways where cars went too fast to properly read them. But in a subway station and pedestrian places where the flow of traffic is constrained, they are great. And the campaign can be extended forever. For example even giving little tips about how to use the Surface. For example:

1 "Did Windows 8 steal my Desktop"
NO"

2 "Want your desktop back???"
"Windows Key+ D" or
"Click Desktop Tile"
3 Picture of Desktop
4 "Only Win 8 gives you choice of touch and desktop"
5 Surface Pro with picture of Surface Pro running Desktop

When you are walking you are forced to act in a linear way, from origin to destination.
These ads simply are in response to that.

Rotate different ones around-make them visually appealing like these with a bit of useful info or/or humor humor and some people will look forward to them instead cussing them. "Daddy, here is another set of Burma Shave signs--what are they going to say this time."

Not only sell Surface, Windows 8, but add a little info about how to use them.

Kind of like Burma Shave signs telling you to watch speed limit.

Of course would be better to simply have screens that could be changed daily or weekly--kind of like large Metro tiles that scroll horizontally. Learn how to use Windows 8 and Surface as you hurry to work.

btw, you heard it here first. lol

um.. I have to agree with the other posters: whether I like the subject is independent of whether this is spamming where, I'm using the definition from urban dictionary. The closest definition is "The act of obnoxiously doing something repeatedly for attention or in order to disturb others ". Microsoft clearly is not trying to disturb others and I don't see how this can be obnoxious as people tend to walk by this type of advertisement.