Does anyone actually watch commercials anymore?

Aahh, but the marketing folks know everything. That's why the volume increases during commercial, so you can hear it when you go down into your lead-lined nuclear bunker's refrigerator to get a snack.

This is why God invented remote control TV, so I wouldn't have to listen to commercials. But don't get me wrong, I've got a few commercials I like, but that's for another day, another post.

I'm pleased to say that I have never bought a product/service because of a TV commercial; not even my Prius!

I always find a sporting event on another channel to watch. Most sporting events are not synced with regular TV channel commercials.

I just switch to the sporting event during commercials and then back. Drives my wife nuts , but hey isn't that what remotes are for ?

I'm pretty sure that commercials that display LARGE TEXT like the EAT FIVE FRUIT A DAY commercials are taking that into account.

I wonder if the 5 seconds immediately before and after a scheduled programme are more expensive that the middle? Those couple seconds usually slip by before you get a chance to skip ahead. They must know this...

Marketers know that they've got to get their message across in 5 seconds or less. This goes for junk mail too. They've got just a few seconds before it goes into the trash can!

Growing up in the early days of tv, (1950's), I remember commercials were predictable and boring. About the only one with levity was the "Hawaiian Punch" ad which would be extremely lame by today's standards. Since the 2000's, commercials have been a lot more innovative, perhaps due to the phenomenon of Super Bowl ads, where the high cost promoted advertisers to be unique and perhaps even funny.

Personally, I enjoy some of the ads seen here: funnplace.org: The Leading Funn Place Site on the Net. They're updated every couple of days and include ads from all over the world.

while there are exceptions, and i love a funny and creative commercial, i find most of them repetitive and boring. and they are copycats. lately, i notice most have someone dancing crazily while the ad is on. i can't believe the money the advertising agencies make.

I watch commercials that I like.

I may like a commercial if it's funny.

Or has an appealing actor -- the T-Mobile 4G girl in pink is VERY appealing.

Or has a catchy song or cover thereof that I hadn't heard before. Lately (probably since the Apple iPod nano commercial featuring Feist's "1 2 3 4"), it seems that ad writers favor indie or semi-indie, female folk/pop/rock singers.

I am amazed that a commercial that has been on repetitively over several months, and all of a sudden, my wife will laugh and say she hadn't remembered that commercial... SCARY!

Hey... Marcel...

Yeah... we watch teh commercials...

Super Bowl ads are a marketing phenomenon, a league all their own.

But the ball didn't really get rolling until the eerie Apple MacIntosh ad in 1984. Does anyone remember that one? It almost didn't get aired because Apple board vetoed it, saying it was too dark and not in sync with their image.

Apple initially bought two SB spots and at the last minute had to get rid of both spots. Unfortunately (or fortunately) they could only sell one and was stuck with the second spot. So Apple board reluctantly agreed to let the ad show for just ONE time.

The rest, as they say, is history...

I ignore-avoid commercials to the extent possible. We have satellite TV and avoid the channels with commercials. We do not have normal broadcast channels. We watch DVDs. SiriusXM radio further avoids commercials. Apple TV gives us a full range of media, both video and radio. The local AM farm channel devotes its time to advertising pesticides, herbicides and other nasty stuff. We read Consumer Reports and avoid advertising to the extent possible.

is it on youtube?

time warp

Commercials are TV. Yeah, they take a break from commercials to show bits and pieces of "programs" every once in while just to give you a little "thanks" for tuning in to watch the commercials.

If you don't think about it too hard, you can convince yourself that the commercials are breaks in the programming, but it is just an illusion. I managed to believe this illusion for a long time, until the commercials "breaks" got too long. Suddenly, one day, I saw it the way it really was. This was in 2000. From that day on, I recorded all shows and skipped the commercials. This was no burden, since I was only into one show at the time. Then that show started to suck a bit, so I gave it up.

It has been 10 years now since I watched TV. Every once in a while, I am forced to watch it against my will (hotel lobby, bank lobby, doctor's waiting room, Toyota service waiting room, etc.) Apparently, TV now consists mostly of drug ads.

cool! i think i remember it. what was the upshot after the sb?

it's like going to a fight and having a hockey game break out.

"1984" is an American television commercial which introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer for the first time. It was conceived by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Chiat/Day, Venice, produced by New York production company Fairbanks Films, and directed by Ridley Scott...

Originally a subject of contention within Apple, it has nevertheless consistently been lauded as a classic, winning critical acclaim over time. It is now considered a watershed event and a masterpiece in advertising, and is widely regarded as one of the most memorable and successful American television commercials of all time...

... Super Bowl viewers were overwhelmed by the startling ad. The ad garnered millions of dollars worth of free publicity, as news programs rebroadcast it that night. It was quickly hailed by many in the advertising industry as a masterwork. Advertising Age named it the 1980s Commercial of the Decade, and it continues to rank high on lists of the most influential commercials of all time [...] '1984' was never broadcast again, adding to its mystique.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(advertisement)

I don't watch "commercial TV" anymore except for certain sporting events. These days I only watch Public TV using an over-the-air HD antenna. Programs such as NewsHour, Nightly Business Report, Frontline, Masterpiece Theatre, etc. are indispensable and well worth my time. My son of course loves the PBS Kids shows, and also watches them on the iPad (great app, btw).

But even if you don't watch TV, you still cannot escape advertising. It's all around us, everywhere we look. Even in our sleep it invades our subconscious. Marketing studies have shown that the average person is exposed to tens of thousands of advertising messages a day. A day!

I am proud to say that I got my son hooked on Speed Racer which we watch on Hulu. The major downside of Hulu is they have two or three small commercials during the program. I make sure I watch them with him to try and explain marketing to him and why we don't need XYZ or why we use the product advertised.