this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2024

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Unpopular Opinion

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Commercials are not okay (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

10 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'll go read or work on a project, but nothing is worth commercials. Sports games are played and fit to the commercials in the USA.

Once upon a time I was into baseball back with Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine. The Braves were the closest pro team to me as a kid that watched The Sandlot too much.

I've caught bits and pieces of the current World Series in passing, but I walk out with every commercial. I just don't care any more. No content is worth wasting half of my time with whatever wares some shitty billionaire is hocking for rent-scription. I'm worth more than that and I'm not willing to sell myself or my time and interests to these people any more. I reject the premise that this is an acceptable normal. You do you, and value your time accordingly. I see ads as worthless lowlife behavior that belongs scared and intimidated under rocks and hidden in creepy caves. Advertising as some kind of acceptable feature in society or as if it has a right to my time is insulting, demeaning, and unacceptable to me. I reject this dystopia.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 17 hours ago

Absolutely agree.

I tightly control every piece of media that comes into my house. My kids have never had to sit through 10 minutes of commercials to watch a 20 minute program. When they go to a friends house and watch TV, they can't stand it and go do something else. My oldest loves Figure Skating in the Olympics (he's a competitive figure skater himself), but all the commercials made it all but unwatchable to him. He just waits till the skaters programs, he wants to watch, are on Youtube. This has had the added benefit that my kids have been completely unaware of the "latest and greatest" toy or thing that all of their peers absolutely had to have.

The absolute frenzy to "make a buck" on freaking everything has made almost all forms of media devoid of worth. An oxymoron I know, but it is the truth. The cost in time and attention to sit through so many advertisements is way too high and I refuse to pay that price. If that means I don't see or hear the latest and greatest movies, TV series, or music... Oh well.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't think this is unpopular.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

There is a disparity between unpopular thought and action. While the sentiment may seem common, those taking action appear to be a minority. If such a sentiment was popular and actionable, the media would cease to exist. People would also demand that games designed to be played in one hour, with nearly insignificant delays to game play, return to the pacing and intended continuity. The gameplay watched in person is filled with the exact same delays as the televised broadcast. All if that is artificial and an insulting waste of time. If this were truly a popular opinion, no one would attend the events or watch a broadcast. In places like Europe, soccer is unbroken by commercials and interruptions during gameplay. If this were a popular opinion, people would walk away from places covered in a vomit of advertising graffiti.

I am saying this is my actionable opinion. I reject the compromise. I will not give in to this as nominal.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 weeks ago

The unpopular piece here might be better summarized as “sports aren’t worth watching commercials”

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 weeks ago

Commercials are worse now too. Back in the day the worse was rare diarrhea commercials. Now it's endless big pharm with every known condition

The best thing about commercials is they remind you that you're wasting your time.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

This is why I record everything. Then watch it later and fast forward through the commercials. Most times i just hit the commercial skip button. I can turn a 1 hour tv show into 40 minutes or less. Football games are crazy the amount of time you can save.

A little practice and you start a football game time delayed and fast forward through the commercials and still end the game with in minutes of when the game actually ends.

I once got it with in about five minutes of the ending of the game.

Football, baseball or any game will work the same way.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I've been thinking this when watching sports recently as well. I would argue that now these companies have decided that commercial breaks are not enough. Now they put ads on the freaking court and the players jersey so every shot of the game has an ad in view.

Even the sidelines have changed. There used to always be ads there but they were static and never changed during the game so they were easy to ignore. Now there are these computer generated ads there and they move around to try to get your attention. Hockey is almost unwatchable because of the ads on the boards that never stop changing. I still go to sports live when I can and pretty soon that is going to be the only reasonable way to watch sports and enjoy it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's unbearable if I try watching a game alone but if I'm watching and drinking with a friend the board/banner ads and commercials become comical. They could limit the use of distracting colours in the ads if they are going to ice level but apparently not.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I agree that there are too many commercials, especially in sports. However, commercials an ads are what keep shows on TV, unless you're paying for a service, which is still mostly funded by ads, but it's grosser.

I didn't like commercials, and I almost never watch live TV, but I understand their existence as a means for the product to exist for "free".

If the frequency was less, the volume wasn't double that of every show, and political ads weren't allowed or at least limited, TV would be a much happier place.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago

Except we do already pay for it. Cable isn't offered for free, and satellite dishes aren't eiðer.