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Question of the day
Friday, Oct 5, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller * Pat Byrnes, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s husband, writes a great little blog that I like to read whenever I have the time. It’s called “Captain Dad,” and it’s about his adventures as what used to be known as a “house husband.” My own father was a house husband for a while, so I think it’s pretty cool. Byrnes’ latest entry is about television…
Other than baseball and football and occasional movies, I don’t watch much TV any more. And I watch or, more often, listen to most baseball games on the MLB network, so I am not exposed to many TV ads there (just the same one, over and over). I usually DVR football games, go do something else for a while, then fast-forward through the ads when I return. I eschew all cable “news” shows and am not interested all that much in local news, so I don’t see those ads, either, which means I miss out on a lot of political ads. If I listen to the radio in my car, I’ll switch to another station when an ad comes on. So, the only political ads I’m usually exposed to are on YouTube and on the Internet. I do look at Internet ads. I’m not sure why. I even click through quite often. I hate those stupid pop-ups, pop-behinds, or the ads that block me from seeing a page, however. Anyway, with all the money being spent on campaign ads nowadays, let’s try this… * The Question: Do you generally watch TV ads? And, more specifically, do you pay attention to campaign TV ads? Explain.
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- Spliff - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 1:29 pm:
The only time I watch the local news is during campaign ad time. I don’t care for the news but like to see the ads (everyones). Otherwise I only watch random TV and skip ads.
- wordslinger - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 1:37 pm:
If I’m locked into something and not flipping, I’ll pay attention to spots if they catch my interest. I think the Allstate “Mayhem” spots are very funny, as well as “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”
I’ll watch the political spots if I’m tuned into local news. For some reason I get a kick out of Bill Foster describing himself as a “Businessman/Scientist.” Good to know that he thinks he’s in a district where being a scientist is a positive.
A real good Brad Schneider/anti-Dold spot popped up the last few days. It uses audio of Dold saying nice things about the Tea Party, then goes into claims that Dold voted to defund Planned Parenthood and to allow oil drilling in Lake Michigan.
I work a lot up in that district, and that’s some pretty strong red meat, especially for North Shore women.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 1:44 pm:
Generally yes, but my TV habits are pretty close to yours, so I don’t see that many.
Maybe it’s my viewing choices, maybe it’s my age, but I had no idea that ED plagued so many of my fellow men. Plus, who the heck sits in a bathtub outside? But I digress…
I happen to have some friends in the political commercial production business and it’s fun to tell people that I know who produced that ad. But I’m not a persuadable voter, so I typically ignore the vast majority of political ads.
- Ready To Get Out - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 1:46 pm:
Usually DVR “everything” and skip through the ads. In the event I watch something live, I wear out the mute button when ads come on.
Political ads? Skip through, mute or change channel. Never watch them, they are extremely annoying and incessant.
Also, on radio I listen to XM music channels, no ads at all.
- Anyone Remember? - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 1:49 pm:
No. Switch to another channel during commercials. If I don’t want to watch something else or miss any part of what I’m watching, during commercials I switch to local cable weather data (no commercials) or the information channel for the City (various announcements). Do the same with radio in the car.
- Professor - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 1:51 pm:
No and No! The real turnoff is the negitivity and false charges. But this is America and candidates have always campaigned in this fashion. Compared to the nineteenth century todays campaign dialogs and incivility seem mild, indeed. Just glad when it is all over.
- Langhorne - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 1:57 pm:
We DVR everything but NFL–bears. So we zip thru commercials. We tune out ALL political ads.
- Nikoli - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 1:59 pm:
I have DirecTV, so the only ads I see are those on the network stations. I don’t see a single ad on any of the other channels.
Additionally, I DVR everything anymore, so even those I would see on network, I’m blasting through.
So, no, I don’t see a lot of political ads anymore at all.
- Sgt Schultz - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:02 pm:
Regular TV ads on occasion; campaign ads, never! I either leave the room or switch the channel. But have you noticed that most of the stations air commericals at the same time now?
- How Ironic - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:03 pm:
No, ever since the advent of TIVO I’ve very rarely watched a commercial.
In the rare case where I’m watching a show ‘live’ I’ll just mute the commercials.
Let’s just say that advertisers most likely do not approve of my viewing habits.
- Give Me A Break - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:09 pm:
No, as long as I have a remote near I don’t watch commercials except during the Super Bowl.
- MrJM - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:13 pm:
I don’t watch sports, so I very nearly never watch live television. And I always speed through the ads on the DVR.
I only watch campaign ads on CapFax.
– MrJM
- Irish - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:14 pm:
No, I flip to another channel when an ad comes on or I walk out to the kitchen or to the bathroom. I try to DVR most of the shows I like and fast forward through the ads.
I especially do not watch campaign ads for the following reason. You don’t know who is behind the ads since the disclaimers etc. are in such fine print you can’t hardly read them. And then most of the ads are BS anyway and I don’t really care for people who think they need to inform me about the candidates. That is one of my pet peeves, the people who for whatever reason deem themselves that more intelligent that they need to tell me what a candidate said or meant. Most sports shows and news shows are better entertainment when the sound is off. Especially when you know that the person being touted as the expert has questionable intelligence.
I find my blood pressure stays much lower when I don’t listen to the talking heads. There are a few people I enjoy listening to. Cobert and Stewart are a couple of my favorites.
- Will Caskey - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:17 pm:
As a new parent myself all television is necessarily DVR’d and when I can watch it time is precious so I skip through all advertising.
If I see a political ad I didn’t already know about I skip back and watch it.
This is less about philosophy and more that I barely have enough time to even catch the content let alone its advertisement.
- Sgt Schultz - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:17 pm:
btw, the Geico:Eddie Money commericial is worth checking out. Hasn’t convinced me to change coverage, though.
- Lil Enchilada - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:21 pm:
I watch all commercials when I watch television. I’m an old fashioned girl I guess. I can’t zip though anything and probably wouldn’t. There are some commercials I get up during. I will watch the political ads once or twice, then I’m bored by them. Bleh.
- LincolnLounger - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:23 pm:
Whatever happened to the law that forbade blaring volume on the commercials? I thought I recalled that Congress when last controlled completely by the Democrats had passed it. That’s the biggest reason I don’t watch commercials.
- BCross - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:25 pm:
Put me in the “DVR everything” category. I have no response when people talk about the latest campaign ad — haven’t seen it.
- southern Illinois - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:26 pm:
I dont do campaign ads because they make me so mad. I do watch other ads because I think they are so funny. Some years ago there was a hysterical ad for Campbell’s soup that featured Curt Wearner’s mother and another players mom and the tag line was ‘never has a clam so done so much for a ram.”
- wordslinger - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:43 pm:
Geico is unique in that they break all the rules about having multiple, character-driven spokesmen. That might be why their spots have memorability, which is the goal.
Off the top of my head, they have the cavemen, the lizard, the Rod Serling dude, and celebrities like Eddie Money. They also have flying pigs and woodchucks chucking wood.
David Ogilvy would plotz. There’s only one Tony the Tiger, and only one Jolly Green Giant (and Sprout, but they’re related, I think).
I have to disagree with Mr. Byrnes (love saying that; Mr. Byyyyrrrnnnneesssss) about PBS and children’s advertising. Unless things have changed drastically in recent years, I recall a lot of spots for Juicy Juice, Huggies, Chuck E. Cheese, etc.
And while I love the shows — “Sesame Street,” “Arthur,” “Barney” (actually, I hated “Barney”) and the like — they all have many products out on the market. I ended up buying them all back in the day because of the power of “commercial-free” children’s public television.
- Aaron Singer - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:45 pm:
I don’t mean to sound flippant, but when you say MLB Network do you mean MLB.tv? MLB Network is a regular cable channel as is NBA TV, NFL Network, or NHL Network; with regular cable commercials and all. MLB.tv is the online video and/or audio service that you seem to be describing.
- Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:53 pm:
my kids watch the ads and then ask me if its supposed to make the person in them look good or bad.
If a 10 year old can’t figure out the message, the ad probably wasn’t very good.
- G'Kar - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:55 pm:
As I’ve confessed before, I am a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. I have the MLB network on my dish and watch parts or all of most Pirates’ games. Normally I do ignore the commercials, but this fall it has been interesting because both Romney and Obama ads are shown at much more frequency than here in Illinois. Also, they show a lot of what are basically “pro-fracking” ads, supporting the natural gas drilling industry in PA.
- Judgment Day - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 2:57 pm:
No, and No.
In fact, I don’t have a TV any more. Don’t miss it either. Don’t need it.
It’s the Internet 100% of the time.
Now, as both Apple and Google get their respective ‘Internet TV’ environments all worked out & debugged, that will probably be a different story. But, not yet. But it’s coming….
And it’s likely to do some really interesting things for political campaign advertising…
- Sunshine - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 3:00 pm:
I skip through ads faster than grease through a goose.
Never watch political ads and only occasionally watch regular ads…if I happen to fall over during a snooze and wake up during an ad.
It’s like watching lies and the lying liars telling them.
- circular firing squad - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 3:05 pm:
the oonly ads we folo. are on capt fax’s blog
- Arthur Andersen - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 3:11 pm:
Don’t watch a lot of TV, tend to ignore most ads except the GEICO gecko.
Ignore most political ads because I’ve either seen them here first, they’re for races I can’t vote in, are stupid, or all of the above.
- zatoichi - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 3:12 pm:
I DVR the shows I want and zip the ads. If just mindlessly watching TV it’ll be background noise to some other activity, semi napping, History Channel or a movie.
Campaign ads are an immediate turn off. I can tell you the names of people in the ads but have no clue what they stand for. Does not matter since in central Illinois, our cable systems often carry stations from cities way out of my voting districts.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 3:22 pm:
===MLB Network do you mean MLB.tv===
Yes. Sorry. Thanks.
- cermak_rd - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 3:28 pm:
I use mythtv and record everything I might want to watch and skip through the commercials.
The only ones I watch are on “Ad Persuasion” a show I get on my FTA satellite rig that basically has a panel of advertising industry types and they look at commercials (some old, some new, some international) and talk about them. It’s actually pretty entertaining.
- Plutocrat03 - Friday, Oct 5, 12 @ 4:02 pm:
We tend to time shift everything on tv. Commercials get zapped.