Skipping Irritating Commercials at the Push of a Button – is the End Nigh for TV Advertising?
TV commercials are without a doubt, the most popular and effective of all mass media advertising forms. Coupled with all kinds of marketing techniques such as catchy jingles and melodies, animation, special effects, as well as injecting humor, makes TV advertising a powerful marketing tool. Testament to this is the existence of the cutthroat commercials industry and exorbitant advertising fees companies are willing to splurge to convince millions of viewers to buy their products. Think of a 30-second spot during the annual Super bowl that can cost about 2.5 million dollars. This has come a long way from the very first TV commercial aired in July 1941, when Bulova Watch Company paid WNBT a trifle US $9. Most TV ads run from a few seconds to a several minutes, including program-length infomercials. This advertising is so powerful such that virtually everything has been sold on television, from household goods and services to successful political campaigns. Its visual impact has attained
