The wonderful world of televised consumerism READ THIS PLEASE

[FakeBoobsRule]

Nah man you're missing my point. Don't worry it's my fault for not clarifying; I'm saying it has nothing to do with whether or not you buy into the commercial, it's just the fact that you're watching it. Just the fact that somebody trying to sell you something, especially when you don't even want it, is not something you should voluntarily waste your time on.

Thanks for clarifying that but it doesn't change much for me. Welcome to the world of free market capitalism and marketing and advertising and competition and supply and demand. You've been bombarded with it for years, are you just now noticing it? None of these companies are holding you down with tape holding your eyelids open while you watch their commercials. You have a choice. Even if you don't have a DVR or download programs to your computer, you can just change the channel during commercials breaks or mute the damn thing or even switch it off. I can just tune out commercials and think of something else or do something else instead of letting them take over my thought process. I just don't think it is that big of a deal.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

i guess i just can't "turn my brain off" and watch tv passively like most do

Yep, we're on exactly the same page. That's what's bugging me, people have learned to just turn their brain off and absorb like a spounge. It's not about whether or not the commercial suceeds in selling to you, they've already suceeded in convincing you to give them your time and thoughts for that moment. And those moments add up to a sizeable piece of time.

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

None of these companies are holding you down with tape holding your eyelids open while you watch their commercials.

I know, that's the problem! The shere fact that we're willing to take it in.

I just don't think it is that big of a deal.

And understandable so, you've grown up with it. But it's the little things that matter, the things that everybody takes for granted. Environment shapes the mind, what you think about shapes who you are. I want a world that's more in balance, that doesn't waste its time thinking about useless crap, that doesn't get lulled into complacency by shallow entertainment. I'm not "just noticing this now" as you put it, everybody notices it, but it's when you actually think about it that makes a difference. I'm tired of just accepting the way the world is, we need to start thinking of what we want it to be. The mind is a precious thing.

[screwedcork]

and even if they don't succeed in selling directly to you, some amount of the information is going to be retained in your subconscious, which may very well affect your decisions in the future without you knowing about it.

but that's not what bothers me most. what bothers me most is watching the trained teenagers of my generation consciously absorb commercial messages, process them, and converse about them around me, and to know that i'm powerless to stop this on a small-scale, let alone the world.