It’s not Billy Mays’ fault that his voice could drive a train down a dirt road.
How many times have you peacefully dozed off in front of the TV, a dog snoozing under each arm, only to be slapped into consciousness by:
I have removed startled dachshunds from my neck one too many times.
Apparently, loud commercials are also the bete noir of California Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo, who introduced the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act last June. The bill would prohibit commercials from being broadcast louder than the programs they reside in.
The advertising industry is: a) up in arms about any more federal regulation of what they do and how they do it; b) denying that commercials are being broadcast louder than TV programs; and c) admitting that making the commercials louder may be annoying, but it is effective in getting people’s attention.
They’ve been drinking too much of their own Kool-Aid again. Do they really think that making consumers angry is the way to go? I know that annoying commercials have never gotten me to buy anything and have made me vow to never buy certain products, including everything pitched by the stentorian Mr. Mays.
Online, the ad assault on the senses continues, with purveyors of rich media advertisements continually coming up with new ways to annoy. Pock-up blocker enabled? Too bad. We’ve got your flashy, shaking ads, your auto-play video ads, your expandable ads (those awful things that fold across the page or explode in size when you mouse over them) and your floating ads (the ones that bob and weave across the page, daring you to click on the little “x” that will make them go away, then moving at the last second so you click on the ad anyway).
And with people up-armoring their browsers to block all advertising, what’s a marketer left to do? What is left behind once the ads are gone?
Content.
Learn to love it. It’s the final frontier.