Recently it has occurred to me that I only watch live TV for two things - Sports and News. Everything else is on demand via the internet or DVR.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I am happy when watching Football, Soccer, Golf, Car racing, Boxing...almost any sporting competition. However my enjoyment is severely hampered because watching some of the major sports on TV compels me to suffer endless adverts.
Lets be clear I am happy to be sold to. If a product is of interest to me then I will actually spend time researching and then if appropriate purchasing. But with live sport there is a constant bombardment of endless mindless adverts for the same products that simply just put me off. I have created a long list of products that I have sworn to avoid simply because of the amount of advertising they insist I watch.
The most annoying are adverts for cars. Each one of them promises a happier, more fulfilling life with images of their car racing around courses with professional drivers interpersed with pictures of famous actors and/or scantily dressed women.
What is even more annoying is the same advert playing over and over again, sometimes directly one after another! .It’s very frustrating and, especially, with the NFL (another article I will write later), takes away a proportion of the enjoyment of the event in the first place.
I am sure, that I am not alone in having these feelings. I am also fairly sure that the advertisers dont care that I feel this way. Phsycologists are likely advising their clients that they should keep pushing their products on me because brand recognition is actually the really important part of the process not my overal satisfaction of the experience of watching the sporting event and the association of their product with it. I feel like we are being treated like laboratory animals being fed the same message over and over again thinking that it really will affect my purchasing choices. What is depressing is that it must work, people must end up buying the product otherwise they wouldn’t do it right?
So I say rise up and fight dear reader...dont let yourself be influenced by the brainwashing. Make a note of the annoying adverts and create a pact with yourself never to buy any of the products from those advertisers. If each of us do this then adverts will be less effective and perhaps sports will not be constantly interrupted by mindless adverts.
Only with this show of resistance will we get a pleasant sport watching experience back again. So fight with me - make your list!