Post by TRIPWIRE on Apr 9, 2006 21:20:23 GMT -5
April 9, 2006
Television Commercials
Written by David M. Hickerson
Originally Posted at tripwire.hickersonfamily.net/2006_0409.html
What's the deal with TV commercials? This has to be the oldest, and most redundant, medium to advertise products to the masses. Not only that, but it is nothing but an annoyance!
I'm watching TV, Battlestar Galactica for instance, and every ten minutes or so the channel is forced to interrupt the show and pander between three and six different, completely unrelated, products to me. Everything from kitchen cleaners to Dodge Magnums; the "King of Beers" to banking services, all trying to cram into my brain while all I really want to do is watch my mind-numbing entertainment.
Of course, it isn't like I don't already know about all of these products. I can walk the aisles at our local Wal-Mart and find almost every single brand of deodorant known to man, so it isn't like I need to be told by CBS about the new, improved anti-B.O. stick (fresh smelling enough for a woman, but sufficient to make even a man smell half-way decent), and the car ads that run every twenty minutes don't make me any more likely to go plunk down 50 Gs for a new 'Vette. I know all of these things exist without being told by my TV, and if I wanted them (and could afford them) I already would!
On top of that, the advertisements create gaps in what would otherwise be one-hour-long programs, all the while shortening them to something more like forty minutes (forty-two when I'm lucky). These gaps create continuity problems that simple-minded folk like myself cannot always recover completely from:
TV Show: "Commander, we're headed toward that huge asteroid--one minute to impact."
*Insert three minutes of advertisements about Coke, Huntington Bank, Donatos Pizza, and Dell*
Return to TV Show: "Thirty seconds to impact sir!"
But--what--huh? I'm still thinking about hot pizza and cold beverages while the space-time continuum has almost halted in the television's fictional universe. Talk about annoying. At least 24 manages to keep time moving along while the commercials blabber, but then it comes back and I feel like I've missed something.
And how do the television companies justify all of these commercials? Most people watch TV on a cable or satellite subscription service, so it isn't like they can claim they aren't making money off of their viewers. I can understand a bit better why the broadcasters need commercial revenue, but these cable companies make money monthly off of their customers--why don't those customers get an ad-free environment? Kinda makes me think about how, on some websites, you can access the content for free but can pay them a monthly fee to remove all of the pop-up and banner ads--why the hell doesn't TV do that?
I'll quit whining now and go back to watching the Lincoln - Mercury Signature Sales Event commercial that is paused on my recording of Special Report With Brit Hume.
References:
no reference materials were used.
Television Commercials
Written by David M. Hickerson
Originally Posted at tripwire.hickersonfamily.net/2006_0409.html
What's the deal with TV commercials? This has to be the oldest, and most redundant, medium to advertise products to the masses. Not only that, but it is nothing but an annoyance!
I'm watching TV, Battlestar Galactica for instance, and every ten minutes or so the channel is forced to interrupt the show and pander between three and six different, completely unrelated, products to me. Everything from kitchen cleaners to Dodge Magnums; the "King of Beers" to banking services, all trying to cram into my brain while all I really want to do is watch my mind-numbing entertainment.
Of course, it isn't like I don't already know about all of these products. I can walk the aisles at our local Wal-Mart and find almost every single brand of deodorant known to man, so it isn't like I need to be told by CBS about the new, improved anti-B.O. stick (fresh smelling enough for a woman, but sufficient to make even a man smell half-way decent), and the car ads that run every twenty minutes don't make me any more likely to go plunk down 50 Gs for a new 'Vette. I know all of these things exist without being told by my TV, and if I wanted them (and could afford them) I already would!
On top of that, the advertisements create gaps in what would otherwise be one-hour-long programs, all the while shortening them to something more like forty minutes (forty-two when I'm lucky). These gaps create continuity problems that simple-minded folk like myself cannot always recover completely from:
TV Show: "Commander, we're headed toward that huge asteroid--one minute to impact."
*Insert three minutes of advertisements about Coke, Huntington Bank, Donatos Pizza, and Dell*
Return to TV Show: "Thirty seconds to impact sir!"
But--what--huh? I'm still thinking about hot pizza and cold beverages while the space-time continuum has almost halted in the television's fictional universe. Talk about annoying. At least 24 manages to keep time moving along while the commercials blabber, but then it comes back and I feel like I've missed something.
And how do the television companies justify all of these commercials? Most people watch TV on a cable or satellite subscription service, so it isn't like they can claim they aren't making money off of their viewers. I can understand a bit better why the broadcasters need commercial revenue, but these cable companies make money monthly off of their customers--why don't those customers get an ad-free environment? Kinda makes me think about how, on some websites, you can access the content for free but can pay them a monthly fee to remove all of the pop-up and banner ads--why the hell doesn't TV do that?
I'll quit whining now and go back to watching the Lincoln - Mercury Signature Sales Event commercial that is paused on my recording of Special Report With Brit Hume.
References:
no reference materials were used.