Ads are getting out of control, inundating apps, streaming services, roadside views, and even smart refrigerators. They eat up 10 minutes before the previews begin at the theater, cover the skyline views at beaches, and bombard you for daring to read an article online.
The frustration is palpable on the r/CommercialsIHate subreddit, where a Reddit user posted an all-too-familiar scene of column banners, draping each pillar of an overpass as far as the eye can see. “Definitely feels dystopian,” a response post read, an understandably cynical viewpoint.
Photo Credit: Reddit
Photo Credit: Reddit
Consumers can’t escape online either, with pop-up ads filling the screen, each with a deceptively hidden exit button. According to Statista, ads chew up an average of 15 minutes per hour during prime-time broadcast programs.
The averages are better on streaming platforms at 4 to 9 minutes, but the time frame for adverts is growing at different rates across platforms.
Ads break up skyline views, are plastered on shop windows, dominate radio programs and podcasts, play at fuel pumps, invade video games and theatrical showings, and permeate nearly every aspect of online engagement.
Unfortunately, consumer attention is its own currency, driving countless brands to data-driven targeting and personalization — many of them miss the mark by a mile but bombard prospective customers all the same.
The result is advert oversaturation, pushing mass consumption, leading to excessive waste and pollution.
For instance, the United States dominates the global ad market while leading the way in waste per capita at 12%, according to World Atlas. Landfills generate additional complications, such as planet-overheating pollution, soil degradation, and water contamination.
Fortunately, ad-blocker communities, privacy advocacy groups, media literacy groups, and digital detox movements are growing. But with the world’s marketers spending $1.1 trillion in 2024 alone, according to Statista Market Insights, it’s an uphill battle.
One Redditor responding to the OP found the humor in the ridiculously redundant pillar banner campaign, however: “Wtf even are her arms doing?”
A Top 1% Commenter pointed out the distracting nature of the ads: “That seems safe while driving, not.”
Regrettably, there are no laws against obnoxious roadside advertisement campaigns.
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