Since we'll never see v-chips capable of blocking all tv commercials we need to see a compromise. Divide all commercials into about 30 classes and allow viewers to select a limited 5 categories to block at one time. This could possibly increase competition in producing quality ads but most are already aimed at target audiences anyway. So why not give everyone else a break?

Some of us just have a really low tolerance for some sounds, images, topics and eleminating 10% or so would be a major improvement.

It may be possible to allow feedback to producers.
-- oyea6, Apr 23 2002

My TV remote has a mute button. (I mean, it has a button which, when pressed, toggles the TV between the muted and non-muted states; I don't mean that it has a button which is incapable of speech, although this is also the case. In fact, it has several such buttons.)
-- angel, Apr 23 2002


Mute is fine but then you have to pick up your remote twice to mute and unmute. Also a temporary blank screen would provide a few undistracted moments once in a while that could free ones mind to contemplate more enjoyable thoughts. And then, without having to be mindful of it your program would return. No channel surfing required. Unless thats your thing.
-- oyea6, Apr 23 2002


Of course the downside of this is that it would interfere with all the adverts which are incredibly annoying but stick in the mind and are thus highly effective. Wait, did I say downside?
-- pottedstu, Apr 23 2002


I would recommend people watch TV without adverts instead. Avoiding the very thing that pays for your broadcasting is a recipe for trouble.
-- Aristotle, Apr 23 2002


I thought you wanted a chip that blocks Victoria's Secret commercials. (And those Herbal Essence ads - 'a truly organic experience'. They go a little over the top when the woman gets a spurt of suds shot over her face.)
-- waugsqueke, Apr 23 2002


rain_n_ice: It sounds like you should find yourself a better cable service. I make it a point of avoiding any pay TV channel that features adverts.
-- Aristotle, Apr 23 2002


pottedstu: The best and most recent research shows that "likeability" and not recall is the factor most closely tied to advertising effectiveness (based on correlation with sales). I don't know where you're from, but here in my city I am plagued by United Furniture Warehouse ads; I will take their jingle to my grave, but never, never, never will I darken the door of that den of stupidity. So, advertising agencies don't annoy us on purpose - they annoy us because they and their clients have such a misguided notion of how to appeal to us, and it doesn't help when the media is poorly planned and men in their 20s are inundated with ads for new, cleaner-than-ever yeast infection remedies. As for the commercial v-chip idea, it's important to note that as technologies like TiVo allow us to filter out "interruption model" advertising (the commercial breaks we're accustomed to right now), advertisers will be driven to include their branding in the content itself, where it cannot be ignored or removed. Hence, the unfortunate and creepy "Pottery Barn" episode of *Friends*. (Not that it's such a great show, anyway.)
-- earl, Apr 23 2002


Paying for the cable service and paying for programming are two different things. It is quite possible to pay for cable that delivers only advertising supported channels (at least here in Seattle). To pay for non-advertising supported channels is to pay for "premium channels."
-- bristolz, Apr 23 2002


I think a two-way commerical by-pass button would be better. The users still need to watch 5 minutes of commerical but now they can pick half of them by choice. Press a button you skip to the next commercial but you can skip only 2 commercials at a time. That way, the TV company can sell more commercial in the same time spot. The company can find out which commercial are reaching the audience and what product are getting interest. The hard selling one will be gone very quickly but more interesting or visual intricted one will appear more often. Win-Win-Win situation.
-- bing, Apr 23 2002


Very interesting bing, could be a workable compromise.
-- oyea6, Apr 23 2002


I think the TiVo would be in a good position to provide something like this -- it already has a "skip 30 seconds ahead" button, so it's almost there now.
-- Jeremi, Apr 23 2002


I,m sorry I don't know TiVo but if they would ad options for 1,2,3,4,5 min I'd have to check that out.
-- oyea6, Apr 23 2002



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