I am SICK of advertising.

[Skip Intro]

I know this isn't really political, but this isn't GDPolitics, and it is a reality faced by many, I assume, when able to catch a breather from the ongoing disaster that has gripped this nation since 12/2000.

At work, I listen to the radio. Is there ANYTHING more annoying than a car commercial on the radio?

I sit at work (retail environment) surrounded by large poster ads aimed at those who walk thru the door.

I scan the net from work when I'm not busy "selling," and I've got pop-ups, scroll-over-pop-ups, banner ads - on and on. Even with the best pop-up blocker, you're still inundated.

I drive home, a short trip, and I've got signs on buildings right against the road, some flashing, and dwarfed by the huge billboards that command attention, towering up above. I listen to the radio on the way, get into a groove, and its blasted away by some clown screaming about some unbelievable deal somewhere - "just for people like you."

Flip the tv on once at home. Good Lord. Product placement, fake news, not to mention the commercials.

TV was what set me off on this post.

You know those little network symbols they all run now, throughout their programs in some cases - like the Sci-Fi symbol or the ABC logo - down in the bottom corner of the screen - they're called bugs. Well, recently I've seen, over and over, slightly bigger "ads" crop up, just for a few seconds, on the other side of the lower screen - usually advertising some other network show - they stay for a few seconds, and then they're gone. This is in the bottom 1/4 of your screen, after the commercials are "over" and your show is back on. Very annoying, very distracting.

Well, you just know its a matter of time before networks start selling that space. And then it will be only a matter of time before they become permanent. A banner ad on every network - cable or not. If nothing is stagnant and everything is in motion - advertising will spread to fill every nook and cranny like a liquid. You just know it.

And I'm so sick of having people try to cram this stuff down my throat 24/7, at every turn.

(Maybe I just need to go camping)

[NMDemDist2]

1. I hate watching Live TV (except HBO and C-Span) I tape almost

everything so I can skip the ads on play back

[Selatius]

2. That's sort of part of our capitalistic lifestyle

You have to make money to get food, and it's not gonna happen if you don't advertise your business.

[devilgrrl]

23. Personally, I'm down with local advertising but...

everything you seeand hear is national corporate stuff... Budweiser, Miller, Crest, etc...

[Obamanaut]

27. We get (only) one local channel (CBS), and even there

I'm plagued with ads for UPN. I emailed and asked why this is so, because not only I don't receive that channel, I really don't care. The response was pretty much that they own that station also, and they want the viewers to know what's on it.

[evlbstrd]

3. I'm sick of it, too.

I work in advertising. Probably not anything you've ever seen. But it's everywhere, oh so carefully segmented and targeted. If you had been my target, you would have seen it.

I hate this fucking business.

[LuCifer]

4. I really REALLY hate scripted crap!

"HI HONEY, DID YOU KNOW PRODUCT X MAKES MY PENIS LARGER!"

Oh gawd, just say what your damn product is, how to buy it, and what not, and BE DONE WITH IT ALREADY!

Lu

[Skip Intro]

13. NO DOUBT!

what are you selling, what does it do, where can i get it

sheesh

[sarcasmo]

5. XM, or Sirius for you car is the only answer. Tivo for the TV.

[babylonsister]

6. Consider this: my

dad and his friend don't own a computer and don't care to; they're 78 and 79 years of age, though she has an e-mail machine and loves it.
They have to put up with all things computer, and I'm talking about every time a 'fuzer or address is referenced on an ad, news program, sports event, etc. I think the influx of this stuff made my dad decide he didn't want any part of it.
Too bad he doesn't realize what he's missing as he's a political democratic junkie.

[C_U_L8R]

7. I Just Hate Bad Ads (n/t)

[Dora]

8. I don't notice it anymore.

It used to annoy me too, but ever since we stopped watching television three years ago, my eye just doesn't notice it like it used to. It's as if I'm not trained to recognize it anymore.

[valerief]

9. I think you need a pair of special sunglasses to glean their true meaning

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/

[lildreamer316]

11. LOVE

that movie!! SO appropriate to today!!

[devilgrrl]

24. .....

[GrumpyGreg]

10. As a senior I'm astonished at the ads directed towards older folks.

The reverse mortgage ads drive me nuts. The way the ad acomes across you are never going to have to worry about money again.

It's all bullshit.

[wiggle-room]

12. And the bullshit "insurance" cards - perscription cards -

with fine print saying this is not an insurance plan.

I remember the hearing aid ads that had parts in normal volume and parts in lower volume - to fool those watching into thinking they neeeded a hearing aid.

Its practically stealing.

[AirAmFan]

17. I especially hate drug company ads that try to create medical conditions

you're supposed to run out and buy their products to treat. "Restless leg syndrome?" Getting up off that couch and taking a walk seems like a much saner course of action than going to your doctor for a prescription: "Doc, I've GOT TO HAVE something for my restless leg syndrome".

And who ever lost an esophagus because of "acid reflux disease"? Remember the awful song that accompanied an animation of a huge pink stomach, checked into the "Heartburn Hotel"?

But the real problem is that so many people will go out and buy whatever is advertised often enough. Like Dubya and the Republicans who were supposed to "change the climate in Washington" with their "moral values".

[freeplessinseattle]

20. hey now, that is a real condition, I've had it

when I was a child and later in adult years, my dad, too. It has nothing to do with exercising. at all.

[Vinca]

26. Hey pops. Shut up, sit down and put on your Depends.

:rofl: (Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I'm older, too.)

[Deja Q]

14. Then don't watch.

Every time I try to watch I get annoyed too.

Turn it off.

On the plus side, Simpsons and Family Guy and all the other diarrhea being splattered through the airwaves is just as repugnant too.

[Skip Intro]

16. huh?

Simpsons repugnant - ?

anyway, turn it off is good advice, but damn, its just everywhere -- that's what I was saying. you can't get away from it.

[me b zola]

15. Certain ads piss me off, where as most are just annoying

I Hate that financial groups are marketing to people my age and a little older by using the GREAT music from the sixties & early seventies. "Meet Carol. She was a protester....." :puke:

I also HATE that Paul McCartney has sold out. The ad is really well done & I love seeing those old clips of his as well as hearing a little Wings in the background--but it breaks my heart. :cry:

I HATE predatory ads. :grr:

I HATE that drug companies are allowed to advertise at all. It is bad medicine and it is predatory in it's own right. :grr:

I HATE all of the ads for erectile dysfunction not so much for their content (although it does get tiresome), but because this is the same time period when many insurers will not cover a woman's BCPs, and women are even having to fight in the courts for the right to get their prescriptions for BC filled by a fundie pharmacist. :grr:

I strongly dislike the ads that target children. When I watch a cartoon with my grandchildren I am bombarded with "ooh, Grandma, will you buy me that?" That they target children is very distasteful to me, but I use it as opportunities to teach about consumerism, so I get the last laugh on that. :evilgrin:

I really don't like bad advertising. I can appreciate clever marketing, but most of what gets air time is done poorly and is just annoying.

[Beam Me Up]

18. Me 2. But, then, I'm 'sick' of a lot of things: This fake pResident shit,

for example. Fake elections. Fake democracy. Fake news. Fake terrorism. Fake war. REAL disasters!!

I stopped watching TV after the selection of 2000. That has helped. I get almost all my news from online now. I don't watch for 'entertainment' either. I do have Netflix, though, and occasionally go out for a first run flick. I refuse to read any of the mags with lots of advertising. Seems to me, if they have so much advertising revenue, they should be PAYING ME to read the shit -- certainly not charging ME money! Total BS. I do read local news papers and occasionally scan the ads if I'm in the market for something.

Going camping sounds like a good plan.

[montana500]

19. yep

"(Maybe I just need to go camping)"


That's the only true escape.

[Hardrada]

21. I agree.

[devilgrrl]

22. I'm sick of it too and refuse to buy any of the products.

What more can one do. :shrug:

Great rant though. And yes, go camping!!!! You deserve a break. :-)

[timtom]

25. Let me share my solution

This is what I have done to cleanse myself (and my family) from this evil crap:

I have had the cable turned off and only watch movies on DVD or VHS.

I have turned many of my records and cd's into mp3's and put them on disk, which I listen to at work.

I'm not suggesting that you unplug the umbilical cord of consumerist agendas, but you might consider it.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

28. No pop-ups at all with Netscape 7 up. Very effective. I avoid ads too.

I watch PBS and listen to NPR.

[rbajai]

29. That's why I NEVER want to work in advertising.

Their dream is to bombard consumers with ads and promos from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed every day. On planes, on buses, on cars, on radios, on TV, on the computer, on the sides of buildings, on billboards, you name it.

[fredtaylor]

30. It can be turned off!

That being said, my least favorite radio commercial is where a cell phone goes off in it. I always reach for my phone! haha

[mitchum]

31. EVERY adman is another one of Joseph Goebbels' descendants

I hate them and I hate what they do