We do not watch television. Sometimes we watch a movie or a documentary--in fact I normally have the television on for about 30 minutes before going to sleep every night so I can knit & unwind and it helps me transition to sleep (I have always suspected that it has something to do with a study I read in college that says your brain has the exact same wave pattern when you're watching television as when you are sleeping). Occasionally we get a wild hair, locate all the remotes, and figure out how to get the digital signal box to work with our bunny ears so we can watch something on the 4 PBS channels we now get. Nor do we listen to the radio except for NPR or PRI. Normally for me it's audio books--Andy does podcasts.
But every December, one of the radio stations plays all Christmas music, so we listen to the real broadcast radio in December....or until the "Dehlila" show comes on--then we sprint to the radio and shut it off. Not that there's anything wrong with her, but if we're opting for something that sugary-sweet, we're going to be EATING it.
So what is my point? We aren't exposed to much advertising. My browser blocks pop-up ads, we stopped subscribing to the newspaper long ago because it's a pretty poor paper anyway, and since we never got a home phone, we don't get telephone solicitations. We get lots of advertisements in the mail, but rather than letting it pile up in the house anywhere, we've started sorting mail AT OUR RECYCLING BIN, so we aren't bothered by them. So, my question is: Is it easier for us to live our little "alternative life" over here because we aren't exposed to advertising?
For a little experiment, today turn on your radio or television around 4:00 PM today. Then, count how many food & restaurant commercials you hear or see. Especially pizza. [Even as I am writing this, there's an advertisement for some sort of breakfast sandwiches at Subway] Advertising works. I didn't realize how much it worked until being inundated with it so suddenly lately. So, would this experiment have been harder if we actually had been exposed to more advertising???
2 comments:
I don't watch tv either, except during football season. Oddly, despite the commercials, I don't feel an overwhelming need to drink beer, buy a truck, or order a pizza.
Well, I usually don't watch television at all around 4pm. However, just this once I did. Here are the adverts which came on a little after 4pm:
Toyota Auris advert
Lidl Supermarkets advertising some Californian wine.
Sky + HD - an advert for a satellite television and broadband package.
Wham - a silly advert for plastic storage boxes.
No food items being advertised at all. It is not permitted in the UK (England, at least) to advertise food until much later in the day. It is supposed to be helping parents in their quest to get children to eat more healthily, I hope.
I wonder what people saw in other parts of the world.
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