I’m old enough to remember the birth of cable television service.
We were promised commercial-free viewing if we were willing to pay a monthly fee.
It didn’t last long, though.
First it was “limited” commercials on network channels with cable-only programming offered commercial-free.
Then slowly, insidiously, commercials began to appear in almost all cable offerings.
Advertising has always used the tactics of propagandists to entice the viewer into wanting to purchase something they might not otherwise want or need.
I have endured commercial breaks that have as many as eight commercials in a row.
It used to be maybe two commercials, then back to the program.
Most channels we pay for have nothing we wish to see.
Many of the channels we do watch run the same programs over and over for months.
Advertising has us addicted.
Just look at the anticipation generated at Super Bowl time.
Millions who are not football fans tune in just to watch new ads so they can discuss them at work on Monday.
While this bothers me, what really scares me is that people are willing to accept being “programmed” to embrace less than what we have been promised.
Candy bars are puffed full of air and touted as “light.”
In what other areas of our lives have we been conditioned to accept things that fall far below our expectations of decency, fairness and hope?
I’d ponder this more deeply, but my program just came back on.
Les Carnahan,
Port Angeles