Only in America

[sabrinathecat]

Ads are so bad in the US (frequency, duration, and quality), that I flat out refuse to watch TV directly. My monthly TV bill is $0. Netflix provides for me quite well.

One of the reasons some other countries have fewer ads is government sponsorship. In England there's a License tax on TVs, which goes to the government and eventually partially reaches the BBC.
(My information may be a little dated)

 

[MarkB]

Ads are so bad in the US (frequency, duration, and quality), that I flat out refuse to watch TV directly. My monthly TV bill is $0. Netflix provides for me quite well.

One of the reasons some other countries have fewer ads is government sponsorship. In England there's a License tax on TVs, which goes to the government and eventually partially reaches the BBC.
(My information may be a little dated)

These days the BBC accounts for only a small proportion of TV in the UK, especially with satellite / cable subscriptions, which are almost universal.

Pretty much every major satellite / cable provider now provides TiVo-style hard drive recorders as part of their subscription, which goes a long way towards easing the pain of TV adverts. I can't remember the last time I watched a TV show 'live' unless it was something I stumbled upon while channel-hopping.

One thing that stands out for me when watching American TV is the many different terms used to describe car types. Descriptions like "station wagon", "RV" and others I can't recall off-hand are almost unknown here except through TV, and many of the terms we use are quite different.

 

[Kramodlog]

One of the reasons some other countries have fewer ads is government

Spoiler

sponsorship

regulations.

Fixed!

 

[sabrinathecat]

Yes, most Americans didn't get the "Ford Prefect" joke from HHGttG.
Almost never see a vauxhall in the US, and most of the other cars common in EU and UK are unknown here. My grandfather had a couple of Izettas (sp?) in the back yard. Funny looking things with the door as the front of the car.
Also, since US doesn't have the mandatory inspections of cars (except maybe a smog check), you see a lot more old cars, jalopies, and wrecks that shouldn't be on the road.

 

[Derren]

Some of my friends from the island kingdom have commented on how entertaining our ads are. To me, the ads are better than the show that's on (but that may be due to my attention span).

Working in the car industry I find it funny that the US car ads I have seen always state if the scene shown in the add is real or fantasy in fine print.

 

[Viking Bastard]

That's an interesting observation; I find I actually think the European ads I've seen have generally been more clever and entertaining that most from the US outside of Super Bowl season. Maybe I've only seen the good ones?.

Brits totally have the best ads.* Nobody is allowed to boast about anything, so it's like a national competition in what brand can make fun of itself the best.


* Brit TV in general is the envy of the world (unless you ask a Brit).

 

[sabrinathecat]

In the early 90s, there was an ad for a Brit investment bank. It was a fake ad for the new Russian sports car, good for driving on the continent or (flip switch and steering wheel move to the other side) UK. Available in any color you want, so long as it's red.

A fun one from Germany was two guys meeting in a bar. "Hey, long time. How's it going. Good to see you." whips out wallet "My house, my wife, my car." "Oooh, not bad." other guy takes out his wallet. "My house (bigger), my wife (hotter), My car (sexier)... my yacht, my horse, my vacation cottage." If you'd been banking with Sparkasse...

 

[Lwaxy]

Only in the US is a polo shirt considered acceptable business wear.

Nope, that's fine in GErmany, Austria, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden, to name those places my husband/cousin visit for business. There are liekly more.

BTW Germany does have yellow cabs, too.

 

[Viking Bastard]

In Iceland "business wear" is hardly a thing (other than 'tidy'). Unless you're expecting foreigners.

 

[trappedslider]

[video=youtube;LgF2aSpyQDs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgF2aSpyQDs[/video] thats my favorite ad from Europe