Smith Kids MSU Tailgate

Smith Kids MSU Tailgate
Dominica, Veronica, Rebel and Miranda

Monday, December 12, 2011

Commercials

One thing I never took much notice to until we gave up television is commercials.  I never really noticed them too much, but now that I have avoided television on the rare occasion that we watch TV I notice them a lot more.  I guess it's like anything you don't notice the details until your attention is drawn to them.  When I bought my Subaru, I suddenly noticed Subarus everywhere I went.  Prior to that purchase, I never noticed them at all.  They were still there on the roadways, I just didnt notice them until I had one myself.  I guess it is the same with commercials for many people.  As long as you are watching a lot of them, they just blurr together and no one really notices them too much.  Kind of makes me wonder why companies spend so much on television advertising, but that is a different topic for a different day.

Anyhow, there are a lot of commercials.  Way too many.  And most of them are about nonsense stuff too.  In the half hour of Frosty we watched last Friday, I bet there were at least 10 minutes of commercials. Ridiculous isn't it?  We dont have DVR either so we can not just fast forward them. At our house you are stuck with commercials. 

Back in our TV watching prime, I would generally use commercials to get chores done.  It is a very practical approach to commercials.  A whole lot of laundry and dishes have been done at our place during commercials so I guess they do serve that purpose.  Regardless of this purpose, while we watched Frosty and then last night as Jeff watched Sunday Night Football, I made an effort to take notice of commercials.  Here's what I found: 

A majority of commercials are about pharmaceuticals and most of the commercial time for pharmaceuticals is spent telling the consumer about the possible side effects of the drug.  Once I watch one of these commercials, I usually find myself swearing I will never try the drug because the side effects sound much worse than the condition being treated.  I also find myself wondering why drugs list both diahrrea and constipation as possible side effects for the same drug.  Seems odd, but I have to let some things go I suppose.  A few of the Christmas commercials are kind of cute, but I could live without them too.

The other commercials that are very popular especially during sporting events are beer commercials and I can admit that some of these are clever, but still shouldn't athletes frown upon beer consumption? Especially professionals.  I suppose commecials are not necessarily supported by the athletes.  I just wish that there were cool commercials about running gear or sports equipment.  That would be cool.  The Labatt ones where the people magically enter a tropical paradise immediatly upon opening the bottle are pretty cool.  Some days I wish I could simply open a beer bottle and find myself on a tropical beach without a worry in the world, but that is not reality.  And I will always be a fan of the Budweiser commercials that focus on the Clydesdales, but that is because I like the horses not the product itself.  Anyhow, after watching these two programs this weekend, I am committed to continuing living as we are TV free so it may end up being a lifestyle change instead of a year long experiment.  I find I am happier without television, much happier.


Vern Out

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