How I (don’t) Watch, Listen to, or Otherwise Engage with Advertising

Advertising is brainwashing. The thinking person should do everything in their power to avoid being influenced by it.

Advertisers note – this is my relationship with advertising.

1. TV – When watching TV, I always have the remote in my hand (ask my wife). When an ad comes on, it is muted immediately. I would ‘mute’ the image too if I could. I pay only enough attention to the ad to know when it’s over. This applies to virtually all ads. If I’m watching TV alone, I actually switch to the PVR and play something previously recorded until the ads are over. In this case, I neither see, nor hear the ads. And of course, I often record TV shows, then fast forward through the ads.
2. On My Computer – I actually didn’t even know there were ads  on the computer until it was pointed out to me. I completely ignore them. On Youtube, when they inject an ad ahead of what I want to watch or listen to, I use a similar technique as for TV – mute the ad until it can be skipped, then immediately skip it.
3. Games – When Microsoft learned that I played a lot of FreeCell, they began trying to force me to watch an ad before I play. There’s a little button – ‘To disable ads, tap here.’ – This is like punching me in the face and saying: ‘let me know if you want me to stop’. It’s not a question of whether I want them to stop. I want them not to have done it in the first place. Needless to say, I’ve quit playing FreeCell.
4. On my car radio – I have a half-dozen preset channels. When I turn the radio on, if I hear talking (an ad), I immediately switch channels. Believe me, this happens in seconds. If I hear talking on the next channel, I switch again. I continue this process until I find a channel that’s playing music. If there are none (which happens), I listen to the CD player in the car.

I’m sure I’m not typical. If I was, the advertising industry would probably collapse. Most people are happy to be continually bombarded with mind-melting drivel. I know I’m not being a good little consumer by allowing advertising companies to brainwash me. Too bad.

Does anybody actually care what I do? Probably not, but for the record, now you know.