Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Advertising That Annoys Me...
As a society, we've grown desensitized to advertising. It takes more and more intrusion to get our attention. Consider:
- I (like millions of others) use Google's pop-up blocker. This 50 mg of acetominiphen has absolutely ZERO effect on the migraine-headache-strength pop-up ads on sites like Drudge Report. Now, granted Matt Drudge has become a little wacky in the past year (and is leaning more to the right than Hitler did), but it's still a good site to browse the headlines. Or at least it used to be, in the days before you had to wait for all the intrusive fucking ads to load BEFORE you could cancel them. So Matt - on the offhand chance you are reading this blog, I say ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING POP UP ADS FROM HELL. They are not effective, unless your goal is pissing off potential readers, in which case they work quite well.
- Magazine ads. It's no longer enough to insert a thousand 4x6 subscription cards into each issue (which DID come in handy as table footballs when folded), now advertisers are using stiff cardboard inserts that do NOT allow you to actually read the magazine, even when they're removed. What's next? Titanium inserts to shill your product? Hardened bulletproof steel plate? And to the publishers, I say - enough with selling ad space. Why is Road & Track now two hundred pages per month? Because 150 of them are ads, most for shit that car guys wouldn't buy anyway (trust me, our dicks are plenty big enough and no pill is going to enhance her pleasure). Ditto for Time magazine - infomercials, however well written, are still advertisements. If you're paying ME to read them, fine; last I looked, I was paying YOU for the subscription.
- Direct mail. I get enough credit card offers each month to wallpaper every house in America. Twice. Let me clue you guys in on something - I have all the credit cards I need. If I need another (like, for example all those times when another asshole would come in handy) I'll contact you, OK?
- Television. First, let me admit that I watch too much TV. Consider myself punched in the balls. Still, remember when an hour long TV program was like 50 minutes of entertainment and 10 minutes of ads? When did it become acceptable to give 40 minutes of show coupled with 20 minutes of ads? Did you think we wouldn't notice?
Every year, we wind up paying more for less as companies look for a way to cut costs. Let me offer a suggestion: can the in-your-face-advertising, take the savings and make a better product or reduce your price. I'm guessing that people will still buy what you're selling.
- I (like millions of others) use Google's pop-up blocker. This 50 mg of acetominiphen has absolutely ZERO effect on the migraine-headache-strength pop-up ads on sites like Drudge Report. Now, granted Matt Drudge has become a little wacky in the past year (and is leaning more to the right than Hitler did), but it's still a good site to browse the headlines. Or at least it used to be, in the days before you had to wait for all the intrusive fucking ads to load BEFORE you could cancel them. So Matt - on the offhand chance you are reading this blog, I say ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING POP UP ADS FROM HELL. They are not effective, unless your goal is pissing off potential readers, in which case they work quite well.
- Magazine ads. It's no longer enough to insert a thousand 4x6 subscription cards into each issue (which DID come in handy as table footballs when folded), now advertisers are using stiff cardboard inserts that do NOT allow you to actually read the magazine, even when they're removed. What's next? Titanium inserts to shill your product? Hardened bulletproof steel plate? And to the publishers, I say - enough with selling ad space. Why is Road & Track now two hundred pages per month? Because 150 of them are ads, most for shit that car guys wouldn't buy anyway (trust me, our dicks are plenty big enough and no pill is going to enhance her pleasure). Ditto for Time magazine - infomercials, however well written, are still advertisements. If you're paying ME to read them, fine; last I looked, I was paying YOU for the subscription.
- Direct mail. I get enough credit card offers each month to wallpaper every house in America. Twice. Let me clue you guys in on something - I have all the credit cards I need. If I need another (like, for example all those times when another asshole would come in handy) I'll contact you, OK?
- Television. First, let me admit that I watch too much TV. Consider myself punched in the balls. Still, remember when an hour long TV program was like 50 minutes of entertainment and 10 minutes of ads? When did it become acceptable to give 40 minutes of show coupled with 20 minutes of ads? Did you think we wouldn't notice?
Every year, we wind up paying more for less as companies look for a way to cut costs. Let me offer a suggestion: can the in-your-face-advertising, take the savings and make a better product or reduce your price. I'm guessing that people will still buy what you're selling.
// posted by John Patmos @ 1:15 PM 
Comments:
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Yeah, I see that with the VCR. I guess you could argue that we don't pay for network TV, but cable channels like Discovery and The History Channel are the worst offenders.
I guess I'm getting tired of spending more and getting less, year after year. Since when did "synthetic leather" in athletic shoes become a good thing? If I want to buy plastic shoes I'll go to Payless and spend $10, not to Nikepalooza to spend $150...
I guess I'm getting tired of spending more and getting less, year after year. Since when did "synthetic leather" in athletic shoes become a good thing? If I want to buy plastic shoes I'll go to Payless and spend $10, not to Nikepalooza to spend $150...
To block popups, switch over to mozilla firefox or whatever the hell they call it today (Name has changed 5 times I think). I never get popups, period, and you can specify the exact things javascript can do,a nd even for individual sites.
As for magazine ads I do find it pretty funny; theya re cutting their own throats. Ads are so overwhelming no one pays attention to them any more. I can remember reading Computer Gaming World and always paying attention to the ads because there were few and far in between and always stuff I was interested in. Now it is as fat as a phone book with phony shill reviews and more ads than you can imagine...and I don't read it any more.
Some retard ahd the idea of putting more and more ads in their magazines, but all they have done is pulled the price advertisers are willing to pay per ad into the toilet and kill their readership.
With computer game magazines it is a sadder state because the idiot publishers let themselves be bullied by the gaming companies so that they seldom, if ever write bad reviews. Every game is an "80%" or better, whatever the hell that means, unless they are not heavy advertisers. They also seem to be written by 5 year olds who judge their review on the graphics and seem to think they are REALLY COOL if they have good graphics that require a brand new card but OUT OF DATE if it is a game that is anything but a first person shooter. Wonderful information I could get by glancing at the game's box.
Anyhow, enough ranting about the general decline of western civilization from me for one day....
As for magazine ads I do find it pretty funny; theya re cutting their own throats. Ads are so overwhelming no one pays attention to them any more. I can remember reading Computer Gaming World and always paying attention to the ads because there were few and far in between and always stuff I was interested in. Now it is as fat as a phone book with phony shill reviews and more ads than you can imagine...and I don't read it any more.
Some retard ahd the idea of putting more and more ads in their magazines, but all they have done is pulled the price advertisers are willing to pay per ad into the toilet and kill their readership.
With computer game magazines it is a sadder state because the idiot publishers let themselves be bullied by the gaming companies so that they seldom, if ever write bad reviews. Every game is an "80%" or better, whatever the hell that means, unless they are not heavy advertisers. They also seem to be written by 5 year olds who judge their review on the graphics and seem to think they are REALLY COOL if they have good graphics that require a brand new card but OUT OF DATE if it is a game that is anything but a first person shooter. Wonderful information I could get by glancing at the game's box.
Anyhow, enough ranting about the general decline of western civilization from me for one day....
# posted by 
: 2:17 PM
: 2:17 PM
I hear you, Mister Underhill. For me, it's the reviews in motorcycle magazines. Even when a bike has dangerous handling flaws (like the Kawi ZL1000), the magazines sugarcoat it. Can't piss off advertisers, now can we?
hmmm - i only read books, don't watch tv and cannot get to my mail because of the ghetto appartment situation. don't you wish you were like me - ad free?
:)
:)
Life would certainly be easier that way...
I really dig it when we lose power. Forced to read books by lantern, or (God forbid) - actually have a conversation.
I really dig it when we lose power. Forced to read books by lantern, or (God forbid) - actually have a conversation.
I think the Amish only allow goofiness on alternate Wednesdays. Somehow, I just can't picture you as a religious conservative...
We lose power often enough (probably 6 - 10 times per year) for me to realize that if civilization crumbled, I'd get along just fine.
We lose power often enough (probably 6 - 10 times per year) for me to realize that if civilization crumbled, I'd get along just fine.
It never ceases to amaze me how susceptable people are to advertising. Consider SUVs, which outsell sedans and station wagons in the US by a huge margin. Do people actually NEED SUVs to drive the kids to school and go shopping? No, not at all. Why do people buy them:
a. They're portrayed as hip and luxutious status symbols
b. People equate safety with size
c. The lure of being able to drive anywhere, at any time, is irresistable. Even if the furthest off-raod they'll ever drive is a grass field at their kid's soccer game.
Why do the manufacturers ram SUVs down our throats? Because the profit margin on trucks and SUVs is enormous compared to sedans and wagons. This is also why leasing is so hot in the US - it's GREAT for the manufacturers, but bad (and getting worse) for the consumer. We've become products of our own greed.
Like you said - there's a sucker born every minute.
a. They're portrayed as hip and luxutious status symbols
b. People equate safety with size
c. The lure of being able to drive anywhere, at any time, is irresistable. Even if the furthest off-raod they'll ever drive is a grass field at their kid's soccer game.
Why do the manufacturers ram SUVs down our throats? Because the profit margin on trucks and SUVs is enormous compared to sedans and wagons. This is also why leasing is so hot in the US - it's GREAT for the manufacturers, but bad (and getting worse) for the consumer. We've become products of our own greed.
Like you said - there's a sucker born every minute.
but i REALLY needed that vaccuum thingie that compacts my clothes to 1/16th of the size they normally are cuz it also vacuum seals food and pumps the marinade into meat in .0005 milliseconds AND ms cleo told me it would change my life!
:)
:)
Yep, and driving a sports car or riding a Hardley means having to beat nubile young wimmens off you with a stick...
But yeah, that vacuum compactor thing could be pretty cool.
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But yeah, that vacuum compactor thing could be pretty cool.
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