It's a fact that these little television parasites have become more and more ridiculous since I wrote the first version of this rant. The jingles are catchier (meaning that you can get them stuck in your head much more easily than before), and the acting's worse.
So why is it that these things are so necessary? I know that the rational reason is that they help pay for the programming that comes over those air waves that we all adore. That's not the important reason, though. No, the one that pertains to us, the viewers, is this: the network executives want to drive us insane.
I'm not joking. They think it's funny to insert five minutes' worth of commercials into our favorite show after we've had only ten minutes of viewing pleasure. They laugh their heads off over it! Trust me, it's true.
There's another aspect to it all, of course. It's the businesses that pay to take up space. It's also the businesses that make the longest, stupidest commercials they can get away with. Not many people really care what they have to say. I've certainly never gone out and bought something based on a commercial, and neither has anyone I've asked. No, they do it because they know that eventually we'll get fed up with the commercials, switch off the TV, and go out and buy something. (Well, that's what I'd do if I didn't love every show I watch so much.)
Not only do they make them long and stupid, but businesses also pay to have each commercial (or several versions of their commercial) shown three to five times an hour. This can be very annoying, especially if the commercials are above-average stupid.
Perhaps if corporatations would just be satisfied with having their all-important-add shown once during any given hour (or, better yet, day) that there would be a lot more time for the actual show that people tune in to watch. Wouldn't that be nice?
Yeah, well, while it would be nice, it's sadly unlikely. Commercial time just keeps getting longer and longer. And there's probably nothing we can do about.
