I haven't blogged since the inauguration because I haven't been anywhere or done anything that anyone would be interested in.  However, I now have a complaint and I want to know how many of you share it.

I hate commercials even more than I hate red lights. To begin with one can only imagine how many thousands of dollars sponsors pay for a 3 second ad on a tv show, when our economy is like it is. Their money could be spent in much better ways. But what really irks me is that during a 30 minute show on tv, you see many of the same ads over & over. Maybe it was cute/funny/interesting the first time, but by the end of the program you can only groan. Actually, the sponsors should know that most of us use commercial time to a) get something to eat or drink or b) go to the bathroom, so for the most part we aren't seeing the ads. For those that actually sit through them, I'd like to know how much of the ad actually sinks in, makes you buy/order the product, or even remember what the product was in the first place.

I counted during an hour long show the other night & there were 6 commercial breaks. During each of those breaks there were 7 commercials. After the show was over, I could remember there was a car commercial, but not the make. I knew there was a diet commercial, but don't have a clue whether it was NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, or Jenny Craig. I did watch one ad where they were spouting off all the benefits of something, but instead of listening, I was trying to read the small print at the bottom which said something about "these are not real people, but paid actors." I wondered if I was the only one to notice that. Also on a lot of the ads advertising diet aids, while the people are going on and on about how much weight they lost, there is fine print at the bottom saying "these are not typical results, the average weight loss is 12-14 lbs., combined with diet and exercise." So what's the point????

The only commercials that really stick in my mind are the ones with really cute babies, or some other type of critter. I mean, doesn't everyone recognize the GEICO gecko? Or the two squirrels in the road that almost get run over, but the last one makes it to the side just in time & they both do a "fist bump?" I have no idea what that ad is actually advertising, I just like the squirrels. Now there's one for some diet aid with a little fuzzy, orange critter trying to sabotage your weight loss plans. He's cute & I think it's funny when they xerox him. Can't for the life of me remember what diet aid it's for, however. M&M's always have cute ads & I always remember them, as well as the Budweiser Clydesdales. Still, after an hour long show in which I've been subjected to 6 commercial breaks, with 7 products advertised each time, if you asked me what ads I remember I'd be hard pressed to recall more than one or two. Each commercial lasts about 3 seconds, so that's 21 seconds for each break. The ads run so fast, it's no wonder no one notices the small print at the bottom of some.

Furthermore, the ads keep getting more & more personal. Frankly, I don't care to hear about KY Yours & Mine, a female's feminine hygiene products, even when some are wrapped up in a pretty box with a bow on top, and I don't care about some guy's problem with ED. Not to offend anyone, but today I noticed a rather lengthy & very explicit ad for a massager that fits on one finger, has little rubber "legs" on one side & vibrates. I think that was the last straw.

With ads in magazines, newspapers, billboards & the Internet, I wish sponsors would keep tv a little cleaner. I realize the revenue from those ads are what keeps shows on the air, but there's already too many shows on the air as it is and half of them are dumb anyway. Sponsors should spend their big bucks more responsibly in my opinion. I may resort to taping all of my favorite shows just so I can fast forward through all the misinformation & hyperbole I'm being exposed to! What do you think?