Commercials

I've heard people make positive comments about the Superbowl Commercials, but ads are still ads. Back in the 1950s TV shows might have five minutes of commercials every hour. Now it seems like there are at least 15 minutes of ads during of every half hour. Well, almost.

Are you old enough to remember subliminal advertising? I think that was during the 1970s when ads were shown to have subtle messages meant to infiltrate people's brains.

In a way, all ads are almost a form of hypnosis, intended to sink into our subconscious minds. Even (or maybe especially) the irritating ones keep the brand names in our memories, making it more likely that we'll buy the products.

I've read that young children usually believe everything they see in commercials. Even some adults are naive enough to believe them.

And I hate the way ads for prescription meds (which I don't think should be advertised anyway) play soothing music while listing horrible possible side effects quickly and more quietly than the rest of the commercial.

Long ago people predicted that someday we'd pay for TV service so there wouldn't need to be anymore commercials but now we must pay for the privilege of watching the ads.

In the Sci-Fi novel 1984 by George Orwell governments beamed propaganda into people's homes. That sounds a lot like todays political commercials to me. Ads are probably the main factor determining who wins elections now.

At least I understand it's becoming illegal for the ads to be louder than the programs, so it will be possible to leave the room during commercials without hearing them. That should help a little bit.