Quote:
Originally Posted by GA Russell
It occurs to me that it might behoove the advertisers to sponsor programs which are relevant to their products, so that the audience might be interested in watching the commercials rather than skipping over them.
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They try to do just that: They sponsor commercials which are expected to appeal to the type of person that is
expected to be watching the show, ie, if you're watching a daytime talk show, you are projected to be a home person, so you might be interested in home cleaning products... if you're watching a home improvement show, you might be interested in a pickup truck that can carry a lot of lumber... and you probably won't see a commercial for
Spongebob Squarepants during
The Vampire Diaries...
Obviously, there's not always a strong or even coherent connection, or the advertiser just wants to push their product at everyone possible; in which case, they try to make it
look like it will appeal to those who like the show it advertises by making it look like the show (brooding commercials with sexy young people during prime-time soaps, hard rock soundtracks and action during sports events, learned spokespeople during documentaries, etc). That can work, too.
I mean, they clearly don't
want you to turn away, and they hope you'll make some connection to their product. It's the over-zealous ad wonks who push the volume up (they probably know you're heading for the kitchen, and want to make sure you can still hear them) or try to go psycho with their 30 seconds to force you to watch the train wreck.
What it comes down to, though, is this: Program creators and their advertisers have absolutely no legal right to dictate exactly how you watch their shows in your own home. They can't stop you from fast-forwarding past the parts you're not interested in, re-watching the parts you really liked, or walking away during the commercials. The only thing they can do is try to give you a good reason to watch, and if they fail that... oh well.