Last year, the pressed-potato-snack company pushed the idea of “stacking:” piling several chip flavors together to create something that also still tastes mostly like Pringles, but maybe with some chip-flavor-dust accents whose combination, you might convince yourself, tastes like another food. This year the company enlisted Adult Swim hit “Rick and Morty,” the cartoon that gleefully celebrates nihilism. The resulting ad is actually funny, with Rick finding himself trapped inside a Pringles commercial, but the ad still manages to sell the concept of stacking. (YouTube screenshot/TNS)
There was a time when we could skip YouTube ads, and now we have to click next until there is an option to skip. There was also a time when we did not have to pay for streaming services without ads, and now we have to pay for a premium subscription to acquire that privilege.
It feels as though no matter what you do throughout your day, you are bound to be shamelessly harassed by advertisements.
I’m bombarded with ads on social media, in movies and shows, billboards, at the store, on buses, by people with business cards, while reading news stories online or even in the newspaper, and the list really goes on. To say that all of this is overwhelming would be a severe understatement.
It’s very clear that we are the product and not the thing that is being sold to us, especially when it comes to our data being tracked to personalize the ads we get.
Your data is valuable which is why it is sold to advertisers, insurers, and data brokers. You may have had an experience with searching something up on one device and then getting an advertisement about that thing on another device, this is not a coincidence.
Being a product feels so dehumanizing. We’re forced to look at ads that are geared toward us in hopes that we purchase a certain product. I don’t like the idea of companies knowing exactly who I am and what I like so that they know how to bother me.
We are shown roughly 5,000 ads every single day; the least these companies can do is make them enjoyable, and even that is difficult for them to do.
Ads feel soulless and empty because we are well aware of the fact that all companies want is our money and attention. There is a complete disconnect between the consumer and marketer.
When there are good advertisements everyone is over the moon; finally something that interrupts our day but in a way we can enjoy.
An example of this would be the ad campaigns of Troye Sivan, Katseye, Young Miko, and Jungle with GAP that perfectly encapsulate the interests of Gen Z viewers.
I enjoyed every single moment of these ads from the music, dancing, clothing, and artists, everything was perfect. There was nothing annoying about these ad campaigns because there was effort to garner the attention of a younger audience.
Despite having the ability to not only stop bothering people with the amount of ads they put out but also make their ads something people want to watch, companies just don’t.
The problem is that companies are leaning towards simplicity when it comes to their advertisements. This is increasingly apparent when comparing old ads to new ones; there is a stark contrast that proves that creativity in marketing is no longer valued.
I used to love watching the Party City Halloween commercials, looking at magazines for clothing and toys, and all the Christmas commercials the world could offer. There was a magical charm to advertising that just completely disappeared from the world.
It’s like companies know that they don’t have to try anymore because people will pick the most convenient option anyways.
People are getting tired of this though.
Many people like myself have an intense hatred towards ads. There is even a subreddit for people to express their hatred for ads and commercials they think are overplayed or just simply annoying.
I may not be able to get rid of ads completely, but I will still yell to myself or anyone that is around about the fact that multiple ads played in a row while I was watching a Youtube video. That’s the closest I’ll get to solving the ad problem for now.
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