Monday Musings - Commercials

Today's blog is brought to you by Coca-Cola and Pepsi products (just kidding). I love books and nothing is better than losing myself in a story whether I'm reading or working on one of my own ideas. A good story is a good story though and sometimes those are shown on a small screen in our living room. Yep, I'm talking about TV.

One of my . . . pet peeves about television is the commercials. I know that they pay the bills and I'm all for keeping my favorite shows on the air, but . . .

#1. The volume is almost never the same as your show (and the commercials are generally louder).

#2. The commercials seem to be taking over the shows - in length and even during the shows.

  I thought I was the only one who was thinking along these lines but a quick search before I posted this blog led me to: Commercial Length where a man went back and compared the length of commercials from 1952 until 2011. They started out at only 13% and now can be up to 31-38%. That's not including my very worst pet peeve --- when they have the actors give commercials during the show. "My Prius can do ______" "Really? What will they think of next. Can it _____?"

I remember when nobody would even do product names in their shows. Then a few product placements was okay -- as long as it was tastefully done. Now, actors give sales pitches as part of the show. Does anyone enjoy having a car commercial written into the show? I groan every time. Not only do I have less and less of the actual show every year because of commercials, but now they are taking that time and writing in more commercials. Fabulous.

I read somewhere that the smart technology like they're using in our phones will soon be able to offer us "targeted offers" wherever we go. A tech-smart guru I talked to said it would be "kinda like super-commercials based on your interests and the surrounding area." Great. {wink}