We don't have a newspaper delivered, much to the dismay of our local paper the Rockford Register Star and some of my friends and family. Even so, today they delivered us a free Sunday newspaper. As I opened it up before throwing it in the recycling bin, I was surprised to see that of the maybe 50-60 pages, we just might have 5-6 pages of actual news. The rest? Advertising.
And having just come back from a Thanksgiving holiday in Houston, the ratio was even worse.
I also went to see a movie with my family. "The Life of Pi". It was well done and thought provoking. But I digress. Before we could enjoy the movie, we had to wade through 20 minutes of advertising. Not for other movies - but for cars, perfume, furniture, dish detergent and all manner of things I usually take pains to not subject myself to.
And as I scan magazines, I suspect the content to advertisement ratio is similarly diminutive.
Thankfully we record all of our TV, so we can skip the story disruptions nicely.
Looking over the football college bowls... they are no longer the sugar & orange bowls, they are the Allstate & Discover bowls and played in the Mercedes-Benz Super dome & Sun Life Stadiums.
I could go on, but I think the point is clear. Advertising is everywhere.
But here is the rub. What do ALL of these things have in common? We already payed for them. Newspapers, magazines, movies, sports, cable TV.
We have gone from advertisement despising folk to ones who now shell out a pretty penny to have these media and entertainment providers shove it down our throats.
In an insidiously perverse way, I have to give them kudos. I would not have thought this possible 20 years ago.
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