why would people CHOOSE to watch commercials?!

[cygnus]

so i was planning on watching the super bowl today with my parents. they have a recorder that we use so that we can skip through the commercials in programs. they were completely appalled that i wanted to start watching later on to skip the commercials! my mom actually began lecturing me about how i 'have no idea of what's going on or how things work' because i refuse to watch commercials (i mainly watch hockey and star trek on tv without commercials and not much else - i mostly hate tv). my parents said that the commercials are the best part of the super bowl. that they are very creative at this time. how is it even tolerable that corporations spend millions of dollars just to have an ad on at prime time? i basically said 'you guys are fucked up' and left... i don't understand this.

[Abra]

Super Bowl is today? Huh.

[ninja9578]

We only watch the commercials during the super bowl because the superbowl commercials are awesome. Here comes kickoff

[cygnus]

We only watch the commercials during the super bowl because the superbowl commercials are awesome. Here comes kickoff but isn't that a problem - that people think the commercials are awesome? if you were to remove the entertainment aspect of it, wouldn't it be more apparent how millions of americans sitting in front of screens watching programming (sent from people unknown to them who only care about their viewers' potential consumption) is pretty fucked? maybe it's just because i haven't payed attention to the super bowl for several years...

[Tyler]

Meh I dunno. I don't watch much television, and I don't watch sports. Some commercials are funny the first couple of times you see them, but I can't imagine being anxious to see commercials.

[Alric]

I don't know the commercials seem pretty stupid this year. Or perhaps I simply outgrew superbowl commercials, and while they may of been funny 10 years ago when I was still a kid, they are not as much anymore.

[ChrissyMaria]

You're not alone, I hate commercials too, I think they purposefully dumb down society and are for cave people, (no offense). We pay for tv, why they heck do we have to see their dumb ads that last up to 5 minutes at times just 1 ad. Not to mention all the depression commercials with depressing music and 1,000 dangerous side effects, and the other drug commercials that say ask your doctor! ASK YOUR DOCTOR, TAKE VALTREX, SIDE EFFECTS MAY INCLUDE EXPLOSIVE death! lol...anyway they suck

[Kraftwerk]

Yeah.. I didn't watch the superbowl today. I was sick so I stayed home all day and watched anime movies. Americas pretty screwed up when we *want* to watch commercials.

[Universal Mind]

The commercials during the superbowl tonight were LAME.

[Oneironaut Zero]

why would people CHOOSE to watch commercials?! Because, as with most entertainment, there is more than one side to the whole 'commercial' thing. On one side, you have the fact that commercials only exist to try to sucker you into buying their product - often insulting your intelligence while doing so. On the other hand, you have the artistic value of commercials. Not everyones get so hung up on the fact that commercials are aimed at 'hooking' you, that they can't appreciate creative/entertaining advertising. A funny/interesting commercial is a funny/interesting commercial, regardless of its intent. If Hitler made a hilarious commercial, I'd watch it. I wouldn't send him money for it, or be stupid enough to buy his product, but I'd enjoy the commercial. That being said... The commercials during the superbowl tonight were LAME. Yes. They were. Very lame.

[cygnus]

Not everyones get so hung up on the fact that commercials are aimed at 'hooking' you, that they can't appreciate creative/entertaining advertising. regardless, it's still advertising and you have to wonder about the collective effects of so many people watching this stuff. the super bowl is kind of a big marketing event (not that it's so different from any other day) and there has to be some part of your brain still registering a projected false sense of inadequacy and need even if you're not hung up about it. i don't think criticism is getting hung up about anything, i think it's a necessity.

[Maria92]

I just like that some of them are funny as hell. This year sort of sucked, but the magic fridge one was epic in its time. I could care less that Budweiser or whatever sponsored it, or that they were advertising their product. It was funny, imho. That is why people look forward to superbowl commercials...because they're funny. How is it all that different from watching a stand-up comedian or hearing a good joke, beyond the sameless product placement? Long story short: I could care less what the commercial is advertising, as long as it makes me laugh.

[khh]

What else would we be doing during the commercial breaks?

[Siиdяed]

Super what?

[ClouD]

I don't mind commercials if they're creative/beautiful/brilliant, which is about 1/1000. Never watched super bowl.

[kingofclutch]

Yeah, don't really see the point of watching the Super Bowl for the commercials. Might as well just watch the commercials by themselves after if that's all you want. I didn't even watch the SB this year, too hung up that the Vikes lost.

[Hidden]

Super Bowl is today? Huh. Story of my life. =) I dunno about whether it's bad to watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials, but that magic fridge one was hilarious! Maybe I should start watching the Super Bowl. I couldn't care less about football, but I'd like to see more entertaining advertisements.

[AURON]

I actually found a some of the commercials this year entertaining. Now would I go out of my way to watch them? No, but if I were in your situation, I'd probably watch the game commercial free, and just search youtube for the best ones. Out of the commercials, there are always a few that makes me laugh, and they always have a couple of big budget movie previews. Prince of Persia anyone?

[Bayside]

regardless, it's still advertising and you have to wonder about the collective effects of so many people watching this stuff. the super bowl is kind of a big marketing event (not that it's so different from any other day) and there has to be some part of your brain still registering a projected false sense of inadequacy and need even if you're not hung up about it. i don't think criticism is getting hung up about anything, i think it's a necessity. Why does it matter though? That's like asking why people like to watch movies. Movies are just another form of entertainment meant to suck you in so you pay money to go see them. Music is made to be catchy and interesting, so you find yourself wanting to listen to it again and again, and pay to go see the artists that perform it, or buy their records. If it's entertaining, then what's the problem? What's the terrible collective effect that it's going to have on people? They might buy the product in the commercial, so what? I'm not too sure what you mean by saying people have a false sense of need and inadequacy from watching them, I've never really felt anything from a commercial past "That was entertaining." or "That was not very entertaining." I'm just not really seeing the problem here, maybe you can make it more clear for me.

[cygnus]

how about you explain how a consumer culture does NOT create a false sense of need - by this meaning that what we need and what we want are not the same, and the mixing of the two is influenced externally through marketing. how could our form of capitalism even survive without misdirection? but i'm getting into some other territory - i just thought it was weird that my parents chose to watch commercials when the program was being recorded.

[khh]

i just thought it was weird that my parents chose to watch commercials when the program was being recorded. That makes no sense. Maybe they forgot.

[Kromoh]

Commercials suck. I could elaborate, but it's not like I need to.

[Xei]

lol America.

[Kromoh]

lol America. Very enlightening post, may I add.

[Alric]

What I always found funny, was that the people who put ads on during the superbowl, are the companies everyone knows anyway. Like 10 coke commercials during the superbowl is really going to get people to finally buy coke if they never had before.