TV stations owe viewers a commercial break
TV stations owe viewers a commercial break
JAKARTA (JP): Have you heard any good advertisements on TV lately? I say heard because when there is a commercial break on TV the volume goes up so loud that you don't need to see the ad to know it's on. And the blast of sound practically embeds the name of the product being advertised into your brain.
Being a shift worker, I don't normally reach home until 9:30 p.m. By the time I turn the TV on it's late enough to make me feel I'm disturbing the peace in my quiet residential area whenever an ad comes on. If I adjust the sound to an acceptable level, sure enough when a program resumes I can't hear it.
While watching a movie, if I get comfy on my worn lounge and nod off I know it won't be for long. For an ad will come on and blast me out of my snooze, the wall common to my neighbors will all but vibrate and I'll start to worry that next door will send the police to my door to charge me for noise pollution.
I realize commercial breaks are also calls of nature breaks. And that the sound is probably meant to follow us into the bathroom. But how many times does one person relieve themselves during one program??
It's almost amazing we don't have total power failure whenever commercials on various TV stations overlaps time slots. The extra megatons of decibels surely cause a surge in power output.
In this age of high technology, I presume most viewers press the "mute" button on their remote controls every time an ad comes on. If TV stations considered this perhaps they'd stop tampering with the sound transmission dial.
And then perhaps they would also consider the West's subtle form of commercial brainwashing. There they increase the sound ever so slightly as to be imperceptible. This way people subconsciously hear a commercial and it sinks in. Here it's more like brainwashing by torture, scare tactics.
I curse the day my remote control broke, was repaired, and promptly died again. I guess I pressed the "mute" button far too often.
Oh please Remote, forgive me the abuse and work again!
-- Linda Hollands