I've been blocking ads for so long that actually seeing them feels perverse
I use ad blockers and open source privacy focused software whenever I can but occasionally I have to use computers that don't belong to me or an older phone where my usual applications aren't installed and seeing all the advertisements just feels dirty and dystopian.
I think the worst ads are the text to speech ones that say "Download this app today". The unblinking energenic people saying you can make a living at home are probably a close second.
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I'm always disgusted with tv ads and it blows me away that people just let commercials scream at them all day to buy viagra, anal leakage meds, insurance etc. Why would you let that shit in your home? Ugh
Because you didn't buy the anal leakage meds.
That's literally my parents "background noise" it's a news argument or commercial 24/7 over there.
because I find it amusing and it doesn't do anything actually harmful.
I just feel annoyed... I hate their fake humor, fake happiness, fake everything. And they are so dumb.
I only see ads when I use YouTube on my phone, but my god the "humor" is terrible. Especially those "aren't we weird and kooky?" Liberty Mutual ads, not one of which is remotely funny.
They aren't creating awareness of their brand, so much as they are making people associate their brand with being pissed off. Looking at you Liberty.
YES the dumb skits are fucking excruciating. and they air them over and over. and some people laugh!
What fake humor are you talking about? There was a snickers commercial last year that made me laugh. It wasn't fake - it was hilarious. Had a pretty raunchy joke in it too.
You actually find ads blaring at you amusing? What a truly horrid unpopular opinion. I'll respect that though if you're actually serious but it's hard for me to comprehend.
I bet $5 they work in the advertising industry in some way, or maybe benefit from it.
Nope I work in customer service.
Fair enough, I'm just not able to relate to someone who enjoys ads without a personal interest involved. I'm at the point where I hate ads so much that even if it is something that interests me, most advertisements are more likely to get me to avoid a product than pursue it.
I do understand hating ads to some extent because when I was growing up, they made me feel uncomfortable but later on I realized it was because I was watching tv with other people. So it was really just other people making me feel uncomfy and not the ad's - when I watched ads on my own I found them interesting when I actually paid attention to them.
What do you mean by personal interest though? Most tv ad's I see now aren't even for someone like me. Like I have no need for viagra pills or dog meds. I'm not a guy with dick problems and I don't own a dog. I see a lot of ads for like 65+ people too cause that's who's left watching and they know it.
For personal interest, I meant like a direct personal benefit in some way from it. So not an interest in the ad itself, but the results of that ad. It might have been clearer if I had said "financial interest" instead, though it could also be say an actor in an ad that was already paid but liked being seen, or someone who likes a show liking ads for it because they want the show to grow in popularity.
oh yeah, I'm not getting any kind of financial gain lol
If anything, companies make money off me like they would anyone else.
Ads are never "blaring" at me. I control the volume on my tv.
Sorta. But the FCC does, too, because advertisers were being dicks about even that: https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/government-verify/loud-tv-commercials-regulated-by-fcc-under-calm-act-fact-check/536-277e7a74-5e9b-427c-982b-fbf2bf49e2aa
oh yes! I remember hearing about this a few years ago from someone I use to be friends with. I always wondered why suddenly I'd be watching comedy central, and having to turn down the volume as fast as possible because some ad was just insanely loud.
I haven't experienced anything like that recently but I notice some channels are quieter than others. Like everything is more quite on FXX than it is on COZI tv. I feel like that's something else though cause the volume doesn't vary for the ads like it use to.
I don't often watch TV, but I get what you're saying. Sometimes it's fun to just watch through the ads and make fun of them with my gf until a movie comes on, it's sort of a guilty pleasure
I hear you, it is an interesting cultural and quasi historic experience. It's fun to go back and compare commercials over the decades.
One of my dad's friends would mute the TV when commercials came on. We'd entertain ourselves by making up new narration and dialogue.
The viagra commercials were the best.
Yeah, that's why I have a bunch of VHS recordings from the 90's. They're like little time capsules and the ad's of the time are telling of the events at the time.
Haha, I understand both of the points made. I can't get over the feeling I get from the obvious in your face push to tell you about a product. the obvious act of pushing a brand name and product to me is either annoying, depressing, or disgusting.
I would rather live happily with what I have. I am simply not the target audience. I can pick out that every ad and commercial I see is targeting the consumer and experts you to buy or think about it. I am neither right now, but that does not mean I am not going to get influenced to buy a product. Also, I want to prevent myself from being influenced by outside sources. I don't know how to do it for everything, and advertising is an easy target to get rid of.
On the other hand, it is interesting and almost comical how some ads are made. Unfortunately, almost every commercial or advertisement made is short form content. There is almost no depth, and each video/ image/ text is made to be self-contained. I am someone who likes to have an overarching story tied with character development and meaningful changes from events. These commercials seem to be like family guy flashback/reference jokes or acting like a poorly done transition in between scenes that was introduced to force you to stop watching for 5 to 15 minutes with the added benefit of earning the Channel money.
I guess I am a special case in this way because I grew up in a religion that basically forced me to learn how to block out something so it doesn't influence me one way or the other. I had go for 7 years blocking out religious garbage in my face so I am just use to looking at something, and not being influenced by it.
But most people don't have that so no wonder its so invasive for them.
I also don't get modern Family Guy hate but whatever. To each their own.
Less of a family guy hate and more of a comparison. Family guy is OK and not the greatest thing to watch continuously. Which is why I dislike commercials more because they are always happening. I can tune into family guy when I desire, but advertising is never a choice given to me. Why can't I just choose the adverts instead of all the personal data collection so they try to guess my desires(literally call it personalized targeted ads, like some kind of weapon name). Just like parasites, I hate invasiveness. I want to be clean and will seek refuge or remove it from my life.
Interesting. To me its a choice. I choose to skip ads or watch them.
How about choosing the ad you want to watch? instead, you have "random personalized from harvested data" ad feed to you at intervals that are becoming ever imposing in the normal content you wish to enjoy. The only option is to skip, watch, or turn off the device/service. There isn't an option to choose your ads. Like a social media feed where anyone who pays can enter your feed, and you just have to skip them or look at them. It is not good enough and purposely limits your control. Plus, blocking ads should be considered a form of skipping ads indefinitely. Also, they don't even allow skipping ads in some situations and force you to watch them. F that noise. Some will even go out of their way to force you to watch ads or mask links with tracking.
Even then, ads are terribly made content wise because of the forced randomness of placement and viewership. Moments where youtubers do sponsor driven ad breaks are a decent change, but that relies on the youtuber matching up the content with the sponsor, and the sponsor allows creative freedom. Even then, I desire to have content I search for. Instead of serving me random content in between everything as a general strange form of psychological torture.
Most ads I see are for products I don't ever want to buy. It is just noise and an eyesore.
You are wrong. There is no choice given.
No, I've seen services where they let you choose what ad to watch before the program.
Also I only see ad's on YouTube TV which was my choice to purchase. So I went into that purchase knowing that I would be getting ad's. It was my choice entirely.
I still disagree because I doubt the services I use will implement that kind of system ever. Also, I am interested in hearing more about the services that do offer that benefit. Maybe elaborate some more instead of a blanket lazy statement. Youtube TV and cable TV are all commercial driven with monthly costs. I hate that I have to pay and still get advertising stuff shoved up my face. On the other hand, congrats to you for making that "choice." đź‘Ź As I stated, either you are allowed to skip, forced to watch/listen, or remove yourself from the "platform." In a dystopic future, you will not be able to make that last one as there will be no true alternatives, only fake another "iteration" of the same stuff. Can see it happening to some streaming platforms and especially TV broadcasts.
blanket lazy statement? Sorry, I just wanted to respond and be concise.. but here.. let me write you a fucking essay I guess.
It was awhile ago but I was at a friends place and she was watching a version of Hulu that had ad's but she was being prompted to pick an ad instead of the ad's just coming on. She got like three choices and after you picked one and watched the ad, there would even be a survey for the ad.
Now, this is something that happened probably a year ago now cause I don't hang out with her anymore. So I could be wrong in that it was Hulu, I think it could have also been an ad version of Amazon's streaming service. She was one of those people that uses a ton of other people's passwords to stream stuff. You know before a lot of them blocked that. Again, like a year or so ago.
I mentioned YouTube Tv because that's what I have. And I did choose to get it fully knowing it had ad's and that I wanted there to be ad's. Please let me know how that isn't a choice or how that isn't me choosing to see ads.
I also have a ton of VHS recordings spanning back to fucking late 70s that have ads in them! And I have those because of the fucking ads!
Like sorry but this is a choice for me. I think ads from the past are interesting and I like being able to compare them to now. Sorry I'm just that rare kind of nerd.
but I get it. You're worried the world has been taken over by ad's and that's why we're living in a dystopia. You said future but I'm in the US lmao. It's already dystopian here. Like too late.
Also I've heard a lot of people are like, falling out of favor with shitty streaming services and they're doing what I've been doing for years now. Going back to physical media. See, I'm not worried cause where I'm at, its fine to watch cable tv and collect VHS tapes and DVDs.
Nostalgia's a great feeling.
I understand, I felt insulted how you mention that there are services offering a choice in viewing selection of ads that was offhandedly thrown it out there like it is the norm. From your statements it was obviously not a different way of watching advertisement/commercial content but instead it was to gain feedback on what ads work and which do not.
you decided to join that streaming service, and while it is a choice, my issues is that is the only choice available, either join or do not. there is almost no inbetween. There is no further choices in commercial content, it is just hammered in and the only way it can have meaningful targeted ads is by harvesting a shitload of personal data all the time. I believe that having to either join or not join as a choice is Orwellian like. If there is a oligopoly or monopoly formed you are essentially trapped in or out. I see no freedom in this path.
Feeling hopeless, I do too. Hopefully there is an alternate reality or a future where the world stops being invasive and learns to prosper. at least movie theaters are better than Cable TV. those premovie ad reels are annoying but a quick bathroom break and back to my reserved paid seat is a great feeling.
I am not sure why cable tv is getting roped into vhs and dvd. Cable tv is most certainly not the same as having unedited full featured, high definition(as high as possible lol), free of external influence physical copies. you have a good heart, I hope you paid for getting those instead of burning them from online copies or recordings of cable TV. i would support those creators for their content instead of dealing with the noise of cable TV, the throwaway nature of streaming services, or support commercial ridden subscription platform models.
Sorry about that. I guess I think of it as the norm here because its a package that's offered. Anyone in the US can go get it if they have the funds for it and want to pay for it.
What other choice do you want there to be? I'm all for being middle of the road. I mean, I'm bisexual. I'm a fence sitter. I like the third option or the pick all option the most.
But when it comes to ads, how do you get a middle ground? To me, an ad is just that. You see it, or you don't see it.
From everyone in this thread, it seems like most people just choose not to see the ads. And that's a fine choice isn't it? Or do you want the ad's to not exist at all? Like is it upsetting that you have to decline because its like a yes or no question?
I'm not actually feeling too hopeless cause I'm in big favor of that writer's strike and I hope it goes on as long as possible. I don't give a fuck about new media. Halt that shit forever. We clearly needed a break.
Because that was an era. Back when we had Cable TV, we bought VHS tapes and DVDs. It's like living in 2004 in my apartment. Its like the closest I can get to a time machine.
And both VHS and DVD's had ad's on them. VHS tapes always started with trailers and ad's for either merch or production companies. DVD's would often have extras that were just ad's!
My VHS recordings are actually from a site I don't have access too anymore but I'm not the person who recorded them. They're also from like decades ago. No one at Adult Swim is hurting cause I have a tape from one of their blocks in like 2003 that has all the ads in tact and includes shows they don't even run anymore.