TV Ads

Now we have Direct TV and can record the shows we like. And we, like most people who can record shows, later see them and jump over all the commercial sludge. The good stuff averages about forty-five minutes per hour of what’s recorded. A quarter of all television viewing is given over to commercials. That’s way too much. And though there are some we like, especially all the Geico gecko ads, there are any number we love to hate, and we’re now grateful we no longer have to endure them. Besides the ads themselves, we have several pet peeves regarding tv ads. First, their increased volume. I thought that was made a no-no, but it still seems to be a problem. Second, the running of the same ads consecutively, sometimes twice, sometimes even more. Is everyone asleep at the switch? Is there that much reliance on computers to schedule and run the commercials? Then there are those ugly ad characters: the annoying guy who’s in love with Toyotas; the lascivious young man at Jack-in-the-Box who tells his mother he’s getting married . . . to bacon; all the ambulance-chasing lawyers; the car guys in the Sonic drive-thru; those who get their faces slapped by assorted foods in the Tums ads; and finally, the Cialis couples giving each other that look, then warning us of the deleterious side effects, concluding with the advice to go see a doctor if it’s up for four or more hours. What does the doctor do when one sees him? I envision a tiny office guillotine.