.... "too many commercials... they keep interrupting the game... too repetitious ... They play the same ads over and over again... You can't enjoy a good TV program without getting interrupted all the time... ads just nag you all the time... ads take up too much time... commercials take up too much time during the programs... I got Cable to avoid the ads, but they're still on there... too long... they keep interrupting programs right at the exciting parts... just when the movie is getting interesting... too long, too repetitive... commercials take up too much program time... ads are too noisy... too loud... the same ads are repeated so often that you get sick and tired of them... extremely annoying repetition, sometimes twice an hour... most of my mail is junk mail... companies spend too much money on ads... I hate those long infomercials... Ads are everywhere... so many ads are lumped together that you forget what the program was about... radio ads are boring when I'm waiting to hear the music... the same ads over and over until I get sick of them... too many TV ads ... too disruptive... over saturation ... played too loud ... I feel inundated by ads ... invasion of privacy... so annoying... It's everywhere... "

-- Commercial television is the main marketplace of our society.

-- TV programs exist primarily to deliver audiences to advertisers.

-- "He who pays the piper, calls the tune."

Advertisers, also, worry about too many ads. But, they worry that their ad, their product, will get lost in the clutter of so many other ads. Before President Reagan, there used to be an FCC regulation limiting the amount of air time of ads. Then, limits were removed. Now, the TV stations can sell as much advertising time as they want, subject only to losing their viewers.

Thus, by 2000, prime time advertising had crept up to 13 minutes (25-30 ads) an hour. Other programs with a more "captive audience" (such as children's Saturday morning programs, and late-late-night movies) have even more ads per hour. If you watch TV 7 hours a day (as Nielsen reports about the "average family"), you'll see over 182 ads daily (7 x 13 minutes = 91 minutes x two :30 spots = 182).

By the time that 6 year old children in America enter 1st Grade, they've seen over a quarter of a million commercials on TV.

For more on clutter, see the 2005 PBS program: Frontline - "The Persuaders"

People can tolerate more ads in the print media (newspapers and magazines) because they can skip through the ads more easily, quickly bypassing advertising of no interest to them. Furthermore, many people seek out certain magazines (fashion magazines, bride's magazines, home decorating, cooking) and local newspapers (groceries, local stores) specifically for the many ads within them.

People can tolerate more ads on commercial TV (where we expect commercialism) than on cable TV or on public TV. Originally, all commercial network television in the USA was "free" to viewers (supported by advertising) unlike many nations which charge a yearly license fee to support ad-free TV. When cable TV started, it promised its paying customers specialty ad-free channels, but soon the ads appeared on most channels.

When public TV (and public radio) first started, they were to be ad-free (funded by non-partisan government agencies). Soon, politics and underfunding "forced" PBS to seek funds from corporate "sponsors" which placed many "soft sell," "feel good" ads, and corporate image-building ads. (How you can get mad at the oil companies when they sponsor such good programs?) At first, such ads on PBS were targeted at adults (Sunday mornings, talk shows), but now many of their sponsors are targeting pre-schoolers in their kids program; for example, the Juicy-Juice "feel good" ads and brand recognition ads so 4 and 5 year olds shopping with mother can point out the products.

People can tolerate more ads embedded into movies ("product placement") in the background scenes than in the close-up scenes when the movie's hero holds up a can of a soft drink, made by the corporation which owns both.

Pop-up ads and flashing banners online are quickly becoming one of the most annoying of intrusions.

Ads are almost everywhere in our society. You can't avoid ads. Ads are not going to go away.

For examples of many new techniques, see:

"Zipping and zapping ads works with VCRs, but not in reality."

Fortunately, most cities in the USA have laws against sound trucks with their loudspeakers blaring, but these trucks are common in other countries without strong laws or consumer advocates.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson's wife (Lady Bird Johnson) led a crusade for the "Highway Beautification Act" to get rid of the 600,000 billboards which had quickly developed on the new Interstate highway system. Under great public pressure, Congress passed the law.

But, after public interest died, the billboard advertising lobbyists quietly persuaded enough US Representatives to limit severely the funds available each year to pay the required "restitution" to the owners of existing billboards. Thus, almost 40 years later, over 200,000 huge billboards still remain "grandfathered in" on the Interstate highways.

Many cities today sell ad space (benches, bus stops) and "sponsorship" rights to city recreational programs, allowing temporary posters and signs at concerts, festivals, races, or any gathering of a large audience in public spaces.

In the schools, Channel One promises its advertisers that they will have no clutter, no other ads, in the valuable "day-part" (9 am to 3 PM) as they deliver a target audience of over 8 million students in 15,000 schools.

Watch TV one hour. Itemize ads by length (most are :30 second spots); product name; a descriptive "short title" and your notes on technique used.

For example:

:30 Pepsi | "beach fun" | association technique : youth, vitality, good times

:30 Ford | Mom's Mini-Van | association technique: Mom, kids, dog, groceries

:30 Nike | pick-up basketball game | plain folks, realism, then an NBA celebrity endorsement

:10 Promo | for future network TV show | action scenes

:10 Promo | for local news | blazing fire scene