Next time you watch TV or listen to the radio, count the number of commercials that relevant to you. You may think SPAM is bad, but this stuff is worse. My 8 year-old son can recall verbatim commercials. That is not necessarily a bad thing especially when he tells me that smoking will kill you. Maybe his generation will not be afflicted with the stink and cancer hoisted upon earlier generations by the tobacco companies. I am raging about the commercials for which I just have no use.
I think by now we all know what Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis are for. I think we know about Glucose meters, anti-depressants, and birth control pills. However, by watching network TV, any cable channel, or listening to any radio station, you may come away with impression that we are a society in great need of medication. There is a pill for almost everything. And we’ll learn about it at any time!
Companies need to be sure that we know they have solutions to problems we may have. But, for goodness sake, do they need to tell me on Cartoon Network? On Discovery Channel? How about during a baseball game? Is broadcast/cable TV in such poor financial shape that I have to see ED commercials while watching a ball game with my son or daughter on a Saturday afternoon?
Many years ago during a short stint at a market research company, I had the task of researching when viewers would accept advertising for condoms. HIV – Aids was just starting to be rampant and TV stations were assessing when they could promote the use of condoms. It turned out that viewers would accept condom commercials during the same hours as feminine hygiene products, during the day when kids were in school and after they went to bed in the evening. Twenty-five years ago we had some decorum.
Today, we have none. During the evening news, I get to “. . . be ready when the time is right.” and learn about PMDD. I get to know more about memory loss and the pill that cures that. Is it any wonder that the internet is becoming the modality of choice for accessing programming? At least there, I can manage the commercial content.
Broadcast and Cable Media are guests in my house. I know I have a choice to turn it off, but then what happens to the 4th estate? How can we support independent journalist without supporting the entertainment and editorial content produced by the companies that depend on funding from big pharma? Print is also under siege. I guess something eventually had to take the place of tobacco advertising. I almost prefer that to big pharma. shigh……
Maybe cable could make more money by allowing me to select the kinds of adverts I want to see. Wait, that would be creative and we know they are more interested in the status quo.
The answer for me is narrow casting. I really like getting Tweets from the Birmingham News. I get updates regularly. I can click through when I have the time and read the article and view the advertising then. I also use my iPhone app for msnbc and keep up with news and video there. npr has a great iPhone app and I can even listen to my local station. MLB will let me watch a game on my iPhone. The major question is: How much will I pay to be advertising free?
More innovation will come and I will eventually dump cable and broadcast. I will be able to watch when I want without intrusion. I can’t wait!
