Modern TV Commercials

[Thornir Alekeg]

I watch a decent amount of sports programming so I see a good number of commericals, but we usually mute the sound. We might turn on the sound if we see a commerical that seems amusing or just makes us say "what the ?" But in terms of other programming, we tape most of it. The kids are night owls and between not wanting them to watch certain programs, and getting them to bed during the time the programs are on, it just does not make sense. Friday night we watched the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica in real time. The problem was my wife and I both kept reaching for the remote to fast forward the commericals...and couldn't, of course.

Overall I agree about the quality of commericals, although there are still plenty of crappy ones out there.

 

[VirgilCaine]

And on a totally unrelated note -- I dream of a day when I can "buy" ONLY the cable channels I want, and no others. Adding 3 or 4 select stations to my local stations would be great. Adding 100 channels ... not gonna happen.

Get rid of the FCC, then wait for companies to respond to consumer demand.

 

[Jamdin]

I still hate it when the women's hygeine commercials come on during my action shows. Some of the commercials are interesting to watch.

 

[reveal]

EN how can you not watch live TV?

Tivo.

I hardly watch live tv at all anymore. The only thing I make an effort to watch is the Simpsons and Family Guy on Sundays and the 4-hour geekfest block on Friday nights on Sci-Fi. Everything else is recorded and watched when it's more convenient for me. We also watch a lot of shows on DVD. Right now my wife and I are watching the latest Red vs Blue DVD and, when that's done, we'll start watching Babylon 5, which we've never seen.

 

[Thotas]

I read in the newspaper that they're in process of adding pop-up ads to Tivo. Kind of defeats the purpose, from what I'd have thought.

Reveal, you've never seen B5???? In Valen's name!

 

[reveal]

I read in the newspaper that they're in process of adding pop-up ads to Tivo. Kind of defeats the purpose, from what I'd have thought.

Reveal, you've never seen B5???? In Valen's name!

Not really popups. Just things that appear on screen when you fast forward through commercials. I'll just ignore them like I do the commercials.

On BS5: I'm gettin' there, I'm gettin' there.

 

[Ashwyn]

Maybe a little more than "some". Most commercials are so unsubtle ... they almost directly say things like "food is love", "your choice of car reflects your sexual virility and preference", "you can have eternal youth" etc.

The commercials I hate the most are the ones where they play a song in the background(or in some cases, the foreground) so that whenever you hear the song, you'll think of their product. I do not like people getting in my head and messing around. So I either tape shows, mute the tv, or change the channel. I'd love Tivo or a reasonable facsimile, but I can't afford it.

 

[johnsemlak]

(I don't watch live TV at all any more). Advertisers are going to have to come up with very clever ways to reach audiences.

One thing advertisers are doing is increasingly concentrating on Sports, an inherantly 'live' event. Sports still reaches very large audiances.

Also, we're increasingly seeing product placement in films.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

And on a totally unrelated note -- I dream of a day when I can "buy" ONLY the cable channels I want, and no others. Adding 3 or 4 select stations to my local stations would be great. Adding 100 channels ... not gonna happen

I've been dreaming of that day too.

 

[Quasqueton]

OK. So, now that we know no one actually sees commercials, I guess my questions

Isn't this cool? Is this a good sign? Is this a reflection of the real world? Or are commercials ahead of society in general?

are moot.

Quasqueton