Does anyone actually watch commercials anymore?

When was the last time you actually watched a commercial on TV? Or listened to one on the radio?

It is very rare when I see one. Seems like a lot of money wasted. When what I want to watch isn't on Netflix or one of 4 DVRs, then I watch it live, but pause the show for 8 minutes before watching and then just skip through.

For the car, I either listen to my mp3's on my CarPC, CDs, or satellite radio. If I am stuck in a car with only FM/AM, then I just channel surf as soon as the people start talking or the music stops.

And when you did watch commercials, was anyone every swayed by a 2 minute advertisement for "normal" stuff? I can't imagine anyone seeing a Walmart commercial and thinking "wow, what a great concept. I am going to have to check out a Walmart next time I see one". People usually buy the same thing at the same place. So why do we need advertisements for these things?

Funnily, the last commercial I actually watched was at the end of the Dick Van Dyke Show, and there was a commercial for "Joy" dishsoap with Marie Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in character talking about how soft her hands are and how it is more bubbly than before...

wow. you're goin' way back man! funny thing is, i always watch the commercials and i find them annoying. my wife has no clue that a commercial is on and couldn't tell you what it was about. so a few years ago, i started muting every time a commercial came on and she always gets mad at me like she is missing something!

I do not watch TV, so I see very few commercials, I do listen to radio, so I hear commercials, primarily about herbicides and seed strains.

is that the farm station?

lol. Gotta watch the classics. I have seen the old time advertising becoming more prominent recently so I am guessing it has to be because of lack of commercials' air time relative to show time. People watch the show, so advertise in there. Like that singing show has Coca Cola and Ford everywhere. Craig Ferguson had a Ford Flex week where he sang about it with his made up Scotish Rock band. The inshow ads can be skipped (like the Joy dishsoap or Ford Flex) but the inshow product placement cannot be (like Coca Cola, or the cigarette posters in I Love Lucy, or similarly the Macy advertising for Lucy).

I have the TV on probably 90% of the time I am home. I probably watch the moving image for a few times an hour. So when it gets muted, it is worse then just listening to it. Perhaps your wife is similar?

i think that's it exactly. but i'm not watching either, i'm on prius chat! but for some reason, the commercials make me feel like i'm shoving sharp objects into my ears.

I pretty much DVR everything, and fast forward the commercials.. When in the car, It's all about Howard (Stern) 100/101, or iPhone (iPod) :thumb:

I only watch commercials when DH finds a really funny one on the 'Net, and makes me watch it with him.

Some are hilarious. Some are stupid. Most of the really good ones are from Europe.

Too Many Commercials Lately. GREED Of Stations & Actors.

So I have decided to DVR My favorite shows and skip the Commercials.

Sorry Greedy Stations & Actors. Your Loss When Everyone Starts Doing this.:cheer2:

In 9th grade, I learned the many reasons behind advertising. It is true that seeing a Walmart commercial isn't going to be "wow, I should check it out" kind of reaction, but that keeps Walmart in our minds. That's why they show them again and again. It is not necessarily get new customers, but also to keep the ones they have by brainwashing the public with their name. If I ask you to name of the first brand of baby shampoo that comes to your mind, what would you say? It's not because you have used it, or you like it, or will use it, it is because it is a "brand" and everyone knows it. That's how they keep the brand alive and sell stuff.

I don't have a TV, so I see whatever is on Hulu.

With 4 Directv DVR's in the house, they are ALL networked together. Giving me 2 terabytes to record EVERYTHING we watch. Did you know you can watch 4 hours of TV in 3 hours? It's easy if you dump ALL commercils. Dumping the show intros and outros helps too.
Painless TV
The network is the key!!

I pay very close attention to the "Victoria Secret's" commercials.



Every time I watch one I think two things . . .

That's not a "Normal Stuff" is it? and

Wow what a great concept, I better check this out more closely! :thumb:

I think they have their own pay-for channels too. lol

I listened to sports radio WEEI in Boston recently. They took a 10 minute commercial break. That did it. All satellite radio all the time for me.

Too bad they don't sponsor Modern Marvels

Looks pretty Marvelous to me.

I DVR most shows, and speed through commercials while viewing. Why does corporate entities pay the tremendous price for TV ads?? They certainly do not get their money's worth in my home.

I greatly dislike the commercials that begin every new clip. And on one Volt thread, there is a commercial every few comments. Grateful that Priuschat has not fallen for that scam.

Yes. But not much. I have a laptop which has my attention during breaks.

My wife and I work normal hours.
My wife has 2 shows she really cares about. (1 of which gets lots of Prius product placement in.)
I have 0 shows I really care about.
We have Netflix. We can stream Netflix on our BluRay player.

For us, it's not worth the extra money on our cable bill (and electricity bill).

I now watch live TV only once in a bluemoon. Companies know people (i.e. certain demographics) don't watch commercials on TVs, usually. That is why they pay so much to advertise during live sports shows.

I think the whole TV thing is an anachronism. What's the point of showing pre-recorded shows in some order the TV bosses decide is right (and at the time they want) ? Just put all of them in some place and we will watch what we want, when we want. Play-on-demand (except for live news & sports) is the only "tv" that has any future.

And don't you hate it when you're halfway through watching a commercial break only to remember you're watching a recording and should have just skipped through it!

Perhaps companies should have a very clear stationary commerical that is still viewable as I whizz through it at 32x speed