Uncentered.com

An internet junkie’s ramblings

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This is just a place for me to rant about politics, society, technology, or whatever else strikes a nerve.
Don't try this at home.

Does anyone else remember when product placement wasn’t so pervasive? Does anyone remember when cable television was completely commercial-free? As each day passes, someone else forgets about these golden days, and it will only get worse.

The fierce capitalist in me agrees wholeheartedly with the media corporations. Let them milk every single penny out of advertisers where ever possible. They must add more and more product placement because of those pesky PVR users that are skipping commercials. It’s all about the bottom line.

The consumer in me is choking to death. I watch the commercials and get bombarded by product placement throughout entire TV shows. Where is the benefit for me? I wouldn’t mind it if commercials were eliminated and we went back to full 30 minute episodes of content. This would also solve the problem of people changing channels endlessly looking for something to actually watch.

The problem is actually much worse than you even realize. Everyone can spot the easy ones: a can of soda suspiciously facing the camera, the car logo perfectly placed on the screen, boxes of cereal taking up half of the screen. Don’t forget about all of the “sponsored segments,” such as highlight reels, replays, statistics, and even sponsored clocks. These days the media companies literally go out and get every piece of a set and wardrobe sponsored down to the shoes. The logos aren’t visible, but those retailers can now put some famous show on their resumes. Those spontaneous hip clothes that people wear in reality shows are all carefully hand-picked and paid for.

Gone are the days when shirts are blurred for swear words and drug references. When you see a shirt or hat blurred now, it means that the retailer didn’t want to cough up the money to be paraded around on the show-of-the-week. The media companies don’t want to stand out; they want to blend in. Be a part of the culture. Be the obvious choice. The advertisements have become so ubiquitous that they are starting to feel natural. When you watch TV and don’t notice the advertisements in every scene, they win. While there isn’t much I can do to stop it, I refuse to allow it to go unnoticed.

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