Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising

[slowtiger]

from http://tpdsaa.tumblr.com/page/2

[Elodie]

I loved that one :

[Paul Fierlinger]

Back in the very early 60's Czechoslovakia, when TV started showing strings of commercials as a program on itself and just once a day in the evening when people got home from work, you could hear people in the crowded streetcars saying to each other, I got to hurry because I don't want to miss the commercials -- they were that popular, because they were as delightful as a breath of fresh air coming through an open window from the West.

[skomdra]

There is festival in Zagreb called something like the Night of the ad eaters and I never went, but it is always full, the concert hall, (3000 seats) for two days, and it is crazy popular. This is not sixties I am talking about

[Elodie]

Back in the very early 60's Czechoslovakia, when TV started showing strings of commercials as a program on itself and just once a day in the evening when people got home from work, you could hear people in the crowded streetcars saying to each other, I got to hurry because I don't want to miss the commercials -- they were that popular, because they were as delightful as a breath of fresh air coming through an open window from the West.

I assume there were no too much ads, just like now.

I don't have TV anymore for 2 reasons : ads and stupidity of "big-audience" shows.
And each time I'm traveling and watch TV in my hotel rooms, I realize how good my choice is.

[Paul Fierlinger]

In the late 60's I remember a panel discussion show I watched shortly after my arrival in NYC. The panelists were Americans who lived in the Soviet Union on account of their jobs; diplomats, engineers etc. When asked what they missed most in their current lives over there, they were all unanimous in their replies: Advertising! No billboards along the roads, no colors in shop windows and city lights, just a B&W world of gloom. Of course I sympathized, and I still do because I still have memories of living in a hole with no colors.

[Elodie]

Of course I sympathized, and I still do because I still have memories of living in a hole with no colors.

I think there is a difference between living in a post-communist hole with dark grey buildings and living in an advertising-free place.
In the case of Russia and other Slav countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia, etc...), towns were grey mainly because buildings and roads were colorless.

I saw Poland for the first time when I was a tiny little girl and yes, I always remind cities like grey / washed-out yellow towns.
But now, I notice buildings are full of color : red, pink, orange... I don't think billboards are really there to make cities prettier. It's the contrary, IMO, they spoil the landscapes.

In France, you'll see very few billboards (not like in the US, where you have miles of billboards on highways).
And, well, even if I don't agree, in most people's head, France is considered like one of the most beautiful country of the world.

Anyway, it doesn't mean I hate ads. Sometimes, I really have fun with ads. But I prefer to see them like a piece of work : is it fun, ballsy, impressive, well-done, etc...
And sometimes, indeed there is really good ads. And I appreciate to watch them, but I appreciate them just like I would do with any short film.

I don't like when they force me to buy something. I don't like to watch the same one 20 times in a day. And I really hate when they cut a film on TV.

[slowtiger]

I feel more of the opposite: can't there be at least parts of the world without ads? I like the approach of São Paolo: ban all big billboards.

It's possible to add colour to the world without ads. See non-western countries.

[Elodie]

Sometimes, it's even worse : there is a LED billboard in a commercial quarter of Metz and it's really painful to watch it, especially when you're driving by night.

[Paul Fierlinger]

It depends on what circumstances of experiences each of us carry from our past. I am not so surprised that the Ad Feast is held in Zagreb. Visit the moon and see what someone like me (or the panel of Americans in the SSSR) felt.

[neonnoodle]

There is at least one U.S. state I know of, Vermont, in which outdoor advertising is illegal. This, in addition to the natural beauty of the mountains and forests there, makes driving through a very relaxing experience.

[Paul Fierlinger]

(SIGH) Which only proves how difficult it can be for people to ever understand. Now imagine a Middle East peace conference.