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I noticed something recently when driving around town with the radio on. Whenever a commercial comes on, I automatically do one of three things: search for another station, "tune out" completely, or turn the radio off. I believe it's a Pavlovian response. Most of the time, I just tune it out. Do not ask me what the commercial was about as I haven't got a clue. No wonder advertisers tend to increase the volume, people simply find them annoying and drift off to Neverland.
I don't know which is worse, ads for attorneys or automobiles. Attorney ads seem particularly pompous. We have one law firm here in Florida, headquartered in Orlando, who we cannot escape from on the airwaves. The firm's founder seems to pop-up everywhere and his self-righteous monotone monologue drives me crazy. The moment I hear him, I have to change stations as I feel my esophagus start to backup with bile. Automobile ads are notoriously obnoxious as well, particularly the last five seconds where the announcer reads 1,000 words of fine print at warp speed. I wonder if radio stations understand how annoying these ads are and how listeners bailout the moment they hear them.
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The pollution on the airwaves tends to give me a headache, particularly when I'm driving. It's like having a gnat or mosquito constantly buzzing around you. Since you cannot swat it, like you can an insect, you become easily frustrated. No wonder people are abandoning AM/FM for XM with far fewer commercial interruptions, or turn to their CD player.
I wish there was a single channel for commercials, thereby alleviating the headaches from the other stations. I wouldn't even mind a separate channel for attorney ads and information, and one for automobiles. If I needed the information, I know where to tune into, but alas we all know this will never happen.
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Bzzz-bzzz-bzzz. Ugh! There is goes again. Hand me another Advil.
Keep the Faith!
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Copyright © 2013 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
Listen to Tim on WJTN-AM (News Talk 1240) "The Town Square" with host John Siggins (Mon, Wed, Fri, 12:30-3:00pm Eastern), KGAB-AM 650 "The Morning Zone" with host Dave Chaffin (weekdays, 6:00-10:00am Mountain), and KIT-AM 1280 in Yakima, Washington "The Morning News with Dave and Lance" with hosts Dave Ettl & Lance Tormey (weekdays. 6:00-9:00am Pacific). Or tune-in to Tim's channel on YouTube.
