Annoying Commercials

[N Florida Mike]

Have y'all noticed the majority of TV commercials nowdays are either selling drugs or promoting lawsuits. I mute them now when I notice them coming on. It's like people are so caught up with their illnesses and desire for riches they either need to take drugs or sue somebody to be happy. To me, I'd rather deal with the illness ( supposed or real ) , than deal with all the dang side effects from the drugs ! And earn a honest living so I can sleep at night !

These commercials reveal what many Americans are struggling with ! Pain ( not just physical ) and greed !

[MN Fisher]

There's a reason I 'cut my cable' ten years ago and haven't regretted it one whit.

[Sam]

Yep.

I want to start writing down the drugs advertised and ask my doctor if I need any.

[I'm Blue]

whats a TV commercial,,, quit watching them years ago, other than those during Football. Which is only broadcast TV I watch,, figured out how to stream to my TV from my phone,,, before that got Netflix DVD's in the mail

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, I'm Blue said:

before that got Netflix DVD's in the mail

We still do the disc service. Reason? Several

1) The DVD library is many times the size of the streaming library. Classic movies and TV shows that are available on disc aren't available to stream.

2) Video quality is better...streaming can't handle Blu-Ray quality picture, but you can get Blu-Rays through the disc service

3) More content...with the Blu-Ray disc, you get all the bonus features, you don't get those with the streaming service.

[I'm Blue]

never watched any bonus features,,, but may look into the dvd by mail feature again,, suspended my account few years ago,, got busy with other things.  dont watch much any more. But have to admit I did like the DVD service.

[Oregon Native]

TV is definitely not brain food......

[NYWayfarer]

Choose your doctors carefully. My primary care doctor is slow to prescribe medicines and I appreciate that. I'm in my 50's and am fortunate enough not to have to take any prescription medication. Not everyone is so lucky.

 

Some folks take pills for everything, to wake up, to sleep, for mood or anxiety, pain, blood and body issues, etc. There are doctors out there all to willing to get you on that pill train.

[gnappi]

I'm old enough to remember the commercials FOR installing cable that went... (paraphrased)

 

"Sure you pay for cable... but you don't get those annoying commercials that you HAVE to see on broadcast TV!"

 

The cable business model was built around making a LOT of money without commercial interference, then some MBA came up with the idea of sneaking commercials in. The day the very first commercial showed up, had subscribers pulled the plug En Masse we wouldn't have ever seen another commercial.

 

I have absolutely no qualm with OTA broadcast TV commercials, and I never had cable ?

 

This "It's OK" mindset has made other things pop up till things are shoved down our throats and we say and do nothing about it...

 

1. New tolls on interstates. We pay to build the "Speedpass" lanes and have to pay to use them.

2. Noise abatement walls (we pay for) for communities that build up next to interstates.

 

Then there are laws to prevent OTHERS from breaking a law, passive law enforcement and other "safety" issues most to do with cars.

 

1. Blinking yellow lights in school zones. ??? To avoid hitting kids (at speed) who jay walk.

2. Speed bumps. Force you to slow down in areas already with a posted speed limit

3. Four way stop signs... In case the OTHER driver didn't stop ?

4. Red light traffic cameras. Jeez, why not hire unemployed to take pix and take attorneys out of the loop making fines MANDATORY.

5. SRS ("supplemental restraining system") or airbags, designed " FMVSS 208 continues to require that bags be engineered and calibrated to be able to "save" the life of an unbelted 50th-percentile size and weight male.

 

Black eyes, broken noses and arms for those of us that DO use seat belts ?

 

Oh, and helmets are NOT required for motorcyclists in Florida... go figure.

 

Next up? total interior (passenger) and exterior (pedestrian) airbag and interior roll cage vehicle encapsulation? Nah, why not just erect a wall in front of our driveways and keep those nasty unsafe cars off the road?

 

Flame off ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Koz]

I record most shows that I watch to my DVR so I can fast forward through the commercials.

 

Frankly, I'm tired of being inundated with advertising at every turn. The internet is the worst. Firefox did recently add a feature to stop autoplay videos so that's great. I hate when I go to read an article that an autoplay video starts and ten scrolls down the page.

 

But last night a major bug hit Firefox that disabled all addons so until they get it foxed my *** feature is not working.

 

[OCdockskipper]

On 5/2/2019 at 4:45 PM, MN Fisher said:

We still do the disc service. Reason? Several

1) The DVD library is many times the size of the streaming library. Classic movies and TV shows that are available on disc aren't available to stream.

2) Video quality is better...streaming can't handle Blu-Ray quality picture, but you can get Blu-Rays through the disc service

3) More content...with the Blu-Ray disc, you get all the bonus features, you don't get those with the streaming service.

I use both discs & streaming for Netflix.  You are correct about 1 & 3, but off a little on #2.

 

Netflix does stream in HD (720p & 1080i) which is Blu-ray quality.  I don't believe it streams in 1080p, however, 1080p is an upconverted resolution, so there isn't much loss between it & 1080i.  However, if you have a 4K TV, there are Netflix streaming movies that are available in 4K (4 times the resolution of HD).  To see 4K in a disc, the TV, Blu-ray player & disc must all be 4K.

 

Where the discs do currently outperform streaming is in audio.  Most streamed audio is PCM, some is Dolby Digital, which are inferior to DTS & Dolby Altmos available on most Blu-ray discs.  It makes a difference if you have a full surround system.  If you are using the TV speakers or a soundbar, you lose that difference in audio quality.

 

FYI, I own a home theater company & have been in business since 1997...

[Joshua van Wyk]

I quit watching television 3 years ago. Zero regrets! 

[Bluebasser86]

You should see some of the commercials I see on my lunch breaks at 0200-0400 ? 

 

If my kids were in the same room, I'd be scrambling to change the channel before I had to explain what local singles want to talk about.

[fishwizzard]

I worked at the fringes of the advertising industry and from what I gathered from having to sit on hours and hours of pointless conference calls was that the entire ad/marketing industry is in a huge state if flux with no end in sight.  The rapid pace of advancement/change in media viewing habits means that the things that used to work don't anymore and there is a mad scramble to figure out what will work in the new and ever changing media environment.   Broadcast TV isn't the dominant content delivery method any more so the industries who advertise on it will be changing.  

 

 

[lo n slo]

it’s bad and getting worse 

[TOXIC]

I think I remember reading an article somewhere that the USA is the only country that allows Pharm companies to advertise directly to the public on Broadcast TV.  I always get a good laugh out of the possible side effects of drugs that I have no clue what they are prescribed for.  I do get a kick out of the blood thinner commercials since I used to own a pest control company and many of the blood thinners are the main ingredients in mouse and rat poison that I used.  So just for scratching my head and not that I condone it but they banned all tobacco ads from TV but yet alcohol and these pharmies can dump billions into advertising?  All legal substances (although some of the drugs require a prescription). Hmmmmmmm.......

[Siebert Outdoors]

I stream Netflix and Hulu.  Whats a commercial?  I haven't seen commercials for about 2 years on our TV.

[I'm Blue]

Ditto,, although I cant stream much, a show here or there, no decent internet. Watch football on broadcast,,, other than that, redbox, a few streaming shows from Netflix as they allow Standard def and dont eat all my data. occasionally I can get enough bars to mirror to my TV, usually late at night. Area I live in has no broadband provider.
Pharmacy commercials we have now is actually a bad joke that back fired. 
Pharma companies petitioned to advertise drugs on TV,,, Feds said SURE, we set up a program where people can report side effects. So if you want to advertise you have to list ALL possible side effects valid or not. The thought was no drug company would ever want to do it, so the gov was basically banning drug commercials, by giving the ok,,, sorta back fired.
Well at least thats how Cracked magazine reported it.

[Boomstick]

I can honestly say that I've never seen something on an ad somewhere and said to myself "ooooh shiny I have to have that" or whatever. In fact, I'm more likely to boycott products that waste my time with commercials. Cable TV costs enough as it is, the way I see it it should be free with all the ads they air. It's not like they don't make a whole lot more from commercials anyway.

 

I personally think it should be illegal to advertise drug commercials. They banned tobacco commercials, but some of these drugs are even worse than smoking. Then there's alcohol commercials too, which are basically programming young minds to becoming future alcoholics rather than to learn to drink responsibly.

 

Last year I was diagnosed with colon cancer and my life has been a slew of doctor's appointments and occasionally I've been on a few prescription meds. Even with insurance, those are not cheap. But if you consider how much they spend on advertising, bribing doctors with free samples, lunches and apparently even cash now, and add in the fact that they're still making money hands over feet, what are you REALLY paying for when you buy that medication?

[N Florida Mike]

3 hours ago, Boomstick said:

I personally think it should be illegal to advertise drug commercials. They banned tobacco commercials, but some of these drugs are even worse than smoking. Then there's alcohol commercials too, which are basically programming young minds to becoming future alcoholics rather than to learn to drink responsibly.

Exactly right !