Adverts – Part 1
I think it’s pretty safe to say that no one likes adverts. That they provide a source of irritation to most of the general television-watching public. But what many people do not realize is that, even as the adverts are getting on your nerves and pissing you off on a daily basis, they are getting further and further into your subconscious.
It has been proven that adverts, even when actively ignored by the viewer still influence the viewer’s behaviour. This is why advertizing time between popular programmes goes for such a ridiculous price. Just 30 seconds of ad-time during the Super Bowl costs in the region of 2.5 million dollars.
These companies buy ad-time based upon the number of viewers for the timeslot and the demographic for the programming being shown. This is the essence of the “hard sell” technique that is the first of my many grievances against advertizing in general.
OK, lets say that I fall within the 30 to 35 year old male demographic and yes, I AM watching a show predicted for that group. I find it insulting that the advertizing companies further generalize and prejudge me based solely on the fact that I like a specific show.
Watching “House“? Well, you MUST need a new shaver! How about a car? How about car INSURANCE? Or how about using a company that doesn’t sell car insurance, but sells a service by which some knob with a computer googles your details for 12 seconds, slings the search results back at you formatted by some other knob’s code and charges you for the privilage? No? How about another company that does the same? No? How about a company that compares companies that compare car insurance quotes?
Just fuck off.
People will shout and complain about the prospect of giving personal details to websites because those details will be used for targeted advertizing, but people don’t seem to realize that ALL television advertizing is targeted already. It is never more obvious than during children’s TV and daytime television.
When you stick your 3 or 4 year old children in front of kids TV and go about your day, you’re allowing them to be subjected to a neverending stream of adverts for toys that instantly get ingrained into their impressionable brains! I really do believe that these non-stop adverts for toys and games during children’s TV should not be allowed. The kids have no concept of money, of what can be afforded and what cannot. All they are told is:
You want this! Tell your mom! And in case you forget, here’s the same ad, less than 10 minutes later! Now, tell your mom again! And KEEP telling her until she gives in!
Of course, the parents themselves are subjected to the same kind of hard selling techniques throughout their day.
You’re at home at midday? And you’re watching daytime TV? Well, you obviously need washing powder, washing up liquid, a new vacuum cleaner and all sorts of shit to make your otherwise stinking home smell just lovely! You’re watching a cookery program at one in the afternoon? Well, let’s assume you’re a jobless grunt whose only function in life is to clean the house for your family!
Is that not incredibly insulting?
And just to make it even more annoying, the volume at which the adverts are played is a good 10 decibels greater than the programmes you’re watching! So, you’re quietly enjoying Total Wipeout, and suddenly you’re being YELLED at “BUY SOME SHAMPOO!!! IT’S FULL OF SCIENCE!”
And so, you try to escape the yelling by changing the channel … but that’s no good either any more! It seems that all of the TV stations are now trying their hardest to stop you changing the channel as soon as adverts start by synchronizing their adverts with every other fucking channel on the dial!
Now, I know I’m not being unreasonable here. I’m not suggesting that TV should be ad-free. But we should not be subjected to this contrant stream of assumptions and insults from every ad being made! I don’t appreciate being treated like an imbecile in my own home, let alone half way through Dexter!
MisterShouty 