Wednesday, October 27, 2004

8/10/04, San Diego

What I had forgotten about US TV is how the shows are so broken up by ads that you don’t feel like you are watching a show with interruptions, but that you are watching 30 minutes of rubbish interrupted by a through-line you’re interested in.

Shows are broken up into 5 minute chunks, and the ads come so frequently they really start to irritate you. There are some adverts so irritating, and so frequent, that you want to go right out to the supermarket and smash up the shelf. Unfortunately, the manufacturers will soon realise they have an image problem and issue a new set of happier, bouncier and more frequent adverts.

America leads the way in advertising. Very few openings are unexplored. The backs of public benches are common places to see the face of some real estate agent grinning at you in a way that doesn’t make you want him to know where you live, let along have a copy of your keys. The latest thing seems to be advertising on the separators used to keep your stuff apart from the guy in front’s at the supermarket queue. Again, mostly taken up by real estate agents. There really is too many of them in California.
It’s hard to know where to advertise next. I don’t know if it’s been done yet, but I’m thinking of tattoos above the chests of prostitutes. Perfect place to advertise flowers, chocolates and other gifts for the errant husband.

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