TV Networks are now saying skipping commercials are illegal

[protege]

They're everywhere -- on busses, at gas pumps, on pizza boxes, embedded in video games, you name it. I even saw some on the urinals at a bar I went to a few months ago.

They're everywhere...because bus companies, gas companies, and pizza companies...sell the rights to advertise on their products. There's money to be made, and the companies all want it. I can remember 30 years ago, when there weren't *any* signs on the skyscrapers downtown. Now it seems that they all have huge letters on them at night. Yep, the building owners sold the naming rights. That's also why the now-gone Civic Arena (aka "the Igloo," since the Penguins played there) became the Mellon Arena.

It's not just buildings either. Anyone purchase a new car lately? Quite a few dealers plaster the cars with ads too. Sorry, but if they're going to slap their logo on my Toyota...they're going to damn well pay me for it. They don't work for free, so why should I allow *them* to advertise on *my* vehicle? I've already binned the license plate frame, and as soon as I find a sticker big enough...their dealer logo is getting covered too.

Can you tell that I hate ads? I too refuse to watch movies on TV. Not only are there ads...but the networks cut out parts of the movie to accommodate them! Plus, after the editing job, the flick either isn't as funny, or doesn't make any sense now.

[MadMike]

Plus, after the editing job, the flick either isn't as funny, or doesn't make any sense now.

True. The first thing that comes to mind is the podium scene in Police Academy. It made no sense whatsoever after the way the butchered the hell out of it. It would have been better if they had just scrapped the scene altogether.

[Mytical]

What really annoys me about ads..is how moronic they have gotten. I swear the people who make ads have to take mallets and hit each other over their heads before sitting down to make an ad anymore. There have been a few clever ads I've enjoyed watching..but for the most part..ads are just not for me.

[Hyena Dandy]

Product placement is horrible as well. I understand on cooking shows that product has to be placed, yes. Now, Mike Delfino driving a Ford, that's different than a shelf full of Tide being blatantly shown at a grocery store.

I know what you mean.

Product placement is inevitable in any show set in the modern day. Because, at some point, any show set in the modern day is going to have people using modern-day products. Be they computers, cell phones, or even the clothes they're wearing.

What annoys me is when, as yo usaid, thre's a shelf full of Tide. Or someone keeps commenting on how great what they're using is.

Some things I think someone would say "Oh, thanks for the [x]"

Like, "Thanks for the iPhone!" if someone was given an iPhone. Or, similarly "Thanks for the Droid!"

But not, "Thanks for the Droid by Motorola!"

[Nekojin]

Lordy, yes. Bones is a show that Andara and I both enjoy, but there have been a few blatant and jarring product call-outs for the cars, where they not only make a point of mentioning the car, but features of the car as well.

[lordlundar]

embedded in video games,

Interesting you brought this up. Sony recently patented an intrusive advertising method for games. The description puts it as "As you're playing, the screen will fade out then an advertisement will play and cannot be prevented. After this the screen will fade in either when it faded out or 30 seconds prior."

They plan to start using this on their $60 big ticket titles.

[SkullKing]

They plan to start using this on their $60 big ticket titles.

Where did you see this?

[Andara Bledin]

Where did you see this?

I don't know about lordlundar, but here's an article at Game Politics.

^-.-^

[Nekojin]

There aren't very many games that I preorder or buy at launch, and of the ones that I have, I think that Sony has been responsible for precisely... zero.

So, I'll keep an eye on Sony games, and any that get panned for this will not be getting my money, even if it's a game I'm waiting for. Planetside 2? God, I hope not.

[fireheart17]

What really annoys me about ads..is how moronic they have gotten. I swear the people who make ads have to take mallets and hit each other over their heads before sitting down to make an ad anymore. There have been a few clever ads I've enjoyed watching..but for the most part..ads are just not for me.

Down here at least, people are trying to avoid a repeat of the "BankSA Bunny" debacle.

Basically what had happened was that there was a very popular ad on TV for BankSA which culminated in a man tripping up another man in a bunny costume (can't remember the point of the ad given it was some time ago). ONE person wrote in complaining that it promoted violence and the ad was removed.

Yet there were something like 300+ complaints towards two other ads, both of which was a tad sexual in nature: one of them was the "Want Longer Lasting Sex" billboards that were popping up all over the city (for those god-damn nasal sprays) and the other was I THINK a Nando's ad involving a pole dancer. The latter was only shown at night, as were the TV ads for the nasal spray (it's supposedly meant to help the impotent ) Neither ad was removed, although the Nando's ads ended up fading out and the billboards had a big "CENSORED" sticker pasted over the word SEX. -.-

So down here, I suspect that if the ad is "moronic" in nature, then there won't be as many complaints. (one of the weirdest complaints I had seen was for SOMETHING involving babies, can't remember what. The complaint was that the bars of the cot in the ad were too wide despite the ad not even promoting cots!)

[MadMike]

They plan to start using this on their $60 big ticket titles.

I'd be pretty pissed off if I put down $60 for a game, only to have commercials popping up while I was trying to play it. What is it with advertisers that makes them think that pissing off customers and potential customers is a good business model? And I think Sony, of all people, would have learned that pissing off customers was a bad idea, after their rootkit fiasco.

I'm also wondering how long it will take before someone comes up with a hack that gets rid of the commercials, or a pirated version that doesn't have them?

[Nekojin]

I'm also wondering how long it will take before someone comes up with a hack that gets rid of the commercials, or a pirated version that doesn't have them?

Can you imagine the uproar over a 10-second commercial break in a multiplayer game where someone figured out how to defeat the commercial break, and could freely act while everyone else was frozen? Madness.

[Duelist925]

Can you imagine the uproar over a 10-second commercial break in a multiplayer game where someone figured out how to defeat the commercial break, and could freely act while everyone else was frozen? Madness.

Scenario like that, no one would play anything BUT the pirated version of the game.

They'd be shooting themselves in the foot. With a twelve gauge.

[lordlundar]

Scenario like that, no one would play anything BUT the pirated version of the game.

They'd be shooting themselves in the foot. With a twelve gauge.

Sounds like business as usual to me.