So Sat. night, on my way back from the wack, I stopped at Future Shop and somehow got suckered into buying a Sirius Satellite radio system. It’s probably a pretty dumb thing to do, since I don’t drive very often, especially now that it’s warm out. But I was in one of my “hey, I’m a guy and I need to buy a gadget from time to time” moods, so I picked it up. Installing it is actually pretty easy — I plugged it in, opened the sunroof, stuck the antenna on my roof, and in about 10 minutes, I was listening to music. My first impression is that it’s pretty cool, although 95% of the 150 channels don’t really interest me. There are a few comedy channels, Howard Stern of course (which most people say is worth the $14/mo by himself), and some various Rock/Electronica stations that I don’t mind. The quality isn’t exacty CD calibre (although they claim it is), but I’ve been told it’s because of the shitty FM transmitter in these devices, and if I wire it right into my deck it will sound alot better. The one thing I’m still not really sure of is what the term “advertising free” means, because that’s really the main selling point for Sirius. In my mind, “Advertising-Free” == “No-Interruptions”, but I can tell that they don’t share the same mindset as me. Often after a song you’ll get a quick pump for the station, or another similar station, or some rock band telling you about a concert. Sure, it’s all music related content, but I’m pretty sure they are sneaking in advertisements here and there.
Which leads into my other big complaint of the weekend — why is everyone ok with 25 minutes worth of commercials in front of every movie? I remember when this concept first came out a few years ago.. I think it started with a simple Stella Artois commercial in front of a movie I was watching.. Everyone was booing and laughing. Hollywood keeps saying that movies are meant to be seen in the theatre, but who the hell wants to watch a movie with 10 ads in front of it. Think of all the extra showings they could have if they got rid of the ads and played an extra movie or two each day. And to top it all off, I don’t understand advertising in general. Who sees a commercial for something and goes out and buys it? Nowadays, I know about the cool gadgets months before they are ready for selling (thanks to slashdot and digg). I know what beer I like — I don’t need a movie screen to tell me. I know milk is good for me — seeing a guy drinking it on the big screen doesn’t make me want to go to the lobby and buy some. Car commercials — most people can’t afford to go buy the cell phone they really want, so how is having a car commercial for a $50,000 car in a movie targetted at teens and young adults going to sell more cars? I’m not a believer in the whole internet advertising thing either. I’m a firm believer than someday when people realize that advertising generally doesn’t work anymore, that companies like Yahoo and Google are going to disappear rather quickly. I don’t know a single person that clicks on google adsense ads when they’re bored,and hardly any people other than a few of my friends actually buy things online.
If Dr. Evil was here, I’m sure he’d be looking at me sadly and going “you just don’t get it, do you?”
Ugh.. tell me about it.. I got so mad at Devil Wears Prada on Friday… 20 minutes of ads!
Those ads allow the theatres to show movies more often. They get revenue everytime they show a “commercial” so that is why you can go see a movie at 2pm on a monday afternoon when there is only 2 people in the theatre. They are not making money from those two admissions – it costs more to run the movie and staff at that time then they get in in cash from ticket sales. If they didn’t have those ads before the film, you’d be limited to seeing the movie only in the evenings on week nights. I’m not a fan of the pre-movie commercial, but see it as a necessary evil that allows me the option to skip work during a weekday and catch a flick.
As for “who sees a commercial for something and then goes out and buys it?”….what prompted you to stop in at FutureShop and pick up a sat. radio?
HA HA HA.
So what do you think is better? Upsetting 90% of the population to satisfy the needs of the few who need to skip work to see a movie, or lowering the cost for everyone, and upsetting the 10%? Hollywood is in real trouble. If I can watch a movie at home and have a better experience, why would I pay money at a theatre?
My friends recommended the Sirius Radio.
I just don’t think most advertising is relevant. Does a kitten pushing some toilet paper down the stairs make you want to buy toilet paper? Not me. Word of mouth is the #1 form, and I still doubt online advertising completely.
I’m finding it much less of an appeal to even watch a movie these days. I feel like there are other things that I want to do… Not better than watching a movie, just that watching a movie doesn’t personally satisfy me as much anymore.
That being said I thought it would be worth it to see mission impossible on the screen, but it turned out to be a chance to pay watch ads *and* a crappy movie.