Painfull TV Adds: Whilst undeniably in the realms of... - Headway

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Painfull TV Adds

sospan profile image
20 Replies

Whilst undeniably in the realms of being a "grumpy old man" and finding so many things and people annoying. There are many adverts out there that are just annoying for the products, advert quality or the presenters e..g. anything involving "And and Dec !" but some have reached a new level to the point of being painful is the "Look After My Bills" advert where they repeat the phrase "automatically, automatically, automatically, automatically" in the same tone as you hear voices when coming round from a general anaesthetic. It just goes through me each time the advert is played.

The same thing with a channel 4 commercial for itself, where they keep the centre section of the screen still but scroll the view of the horizon up. For this type of advert there are rules on the number of seconds they are allowed to show flashing images before they can cause seizure or epileptic episodes. As long as the company's are 1 second below the threshold they advert is allowed. Interesting moral viewpoint of the company's - it is ok to take someone to within 1 second of being ill to promote your organisation !

There are probably a lot more adverts out there that cause physical and mental pain but you know what is like when you have a dodgy memory :-)

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sospan
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20 Replies
Kirk5w7 profile image
Kirk5w7

I too am in that realm of “grumpy old women” in my case.

I hate being treated like an idiot too but “go compare” is one of my pet hates.

Janet

sospan profile image
sospan in reply to Kirk5w7

Know what you mean. I know the guy (Wynne Evans) quite well and I am normally on his Radio show most months. He does take his alter ego with a pinch of salt and knows that a proportion of the people find the adverts as annoying as dragging finger nails on the blackboard :-)

Marnie22 profile image
Marnie22

Hi. I read your post with interest. Last October I needed to sort out a problem with my indoor TV aerial. I couldn't do it for a couple of days and for that time I was left without TV. I was already aware that I found TV ads tiring to my eyes and brain, but those two days without TV taught me a big lesson. I regularly suffer from sensory overload, which is exacerbated by cognitive fatigue. When I stopped watching TV, I suddenly realised just how much all the frantic movement and noise on TV ads was contributing to the problem. I also found that I didn't miss watching TV like I thought I would. I listened to the radio instead. I hadn't been able to enjoy TV in the same way since I got my brain injury anyway as I couldn't follow stories or remember plots. Anyway, here I am, all these months later and I never did get my aerial sorted. Instead I cancelled my TV licence! I know it's a drastic step that most wouldn't want to take, but I don't miss it at all. Most importantly for me, one irritation has gone away and my precious cognitive resources are not being wasted on a load of dumb adverts that seem to be designed to be as irritating as possible.

All the best! 😌🌸

sospan profile image
sospan in reply to Marnie22

Interesting one source of pain removed - now the continual arguing with TV licensing that you don't have a TV.

I once demolished an derelict property to build a new one. Whilst planning was being resolved, the site was empty, completely barren. Then the threatening letters from the TV licensing that I need to be covered. I sent them pictures, satellite images but they kept on going on about it for years.

It seems the authorities can't believe you can exist without a TV

Marnie22 profile image
Marnie22 in reply to sospan

Yes, I thought that I was going to have a shed load of problems like that........but, (crosses fingers,) so far, so good. It seemed ridiculous to me that when you apply online to cancel your TV licence you have to explain why you don't need it. I put in my explanation, but a while later I got an email saying that my TV was about to be renewed! To my amazement, I actually managed to get through on the phone and was assured that no payment had been taken and that my licence had been cancelled. Not a peep out of them since and I hope it stays that way! 🙂🌸

sospan profile image
sospan in reply to Marnie22

That's so different to mine. I used to speak to the contact centre and they would say it wouldn't be an issue, then another letter would arrive .......

Marnie22 profile image
Marnie22 in reply to sospan

Yes, I had heard that before. I am still keeping my fingers crossed, just in case......🙂🌸

swedishblue11 profile image
swedishblue11

I cancelled my tv license 5 years ago due to the amount of "dumbing down" of programs and the BBC's threatening vile tactics to force you to pay for all channels regardless whether they're BBC or not! Don't get me started on the outrageous salaries given to sport's personalities. I'm angered by the wastage of tax payer's money on the likes of Ant and Dec and other insignificant talentless twits...that's putting it mildly!!!

sospan profile image
sospan in reply to swedishblue11

You are so right about the dumbing down and "staged" programs. Why we have to have endless programs on "celebrities" cooking, dancing, dancing on ice, living in a jungle is just bizarre. Plus the endless programs showing low lifes (upper and lower classes) behaving badly for the camera is another astonishment.

You are right about the license, if the government passed a law that everyone must have a Sky, Netflix or another subscription, there would be an outcry. Just make the BBC be commercially dependent. This will also resolve the salary issues for the likes of Gary Liniker and the other highly paid people.

cat3 profile image
cat3

I'm sorry about your Mr. Evans and I'm sure he's a lovely person in his own skin, but under the 'Go Compare' guise he gives me murderous thoughts ; absolutely the most cringeworthy ad ! But most ads make me rage at the tv so I automatically look away & mute the sound at the outset.

It's the bulls**t they spin (as in 'HY-A-LU-RONIC acid' to make women look 50 years younger. Or the mindless Claudia Winkleman squinting through her fringe reading fan mail and claiming some woman would "Give her spleen for my hair"....😫)

The inflated claims from these companies is a bugbear second only to insulting our intelligence.

But there are those rare exceptions where I grab the remote to unmute .....................such as the AA woolly dog with the rap music and desk-fan, dreaming of days out in the car with the wind in its face ; no annoying voice-over just a quirky, clever little breath of fresh air. 🥴 x

sospan profile image
sospan in reply to cat3

feel better for that :-) :-) :-)

PS the dog is quite cool

BaronC profile image
BaronC

'Shove it right up, girls!'

Need I say more? Yes, you say?

Erectile dysfunction, now there's Numan

Enjoy your tea

Pairofboots profile image
Pairofboots

Not sure that has anything to do with the brain injury or just the passage of time. Half the things adverised I just wonder, why? Who buys this stuff? What did we do before the invention of? Do people realise that the product is sold for the manufacturers convenience, not yours? No, not old or grumpy, mature. 😂

No1wthayla profile image
No1wthayla

I live in the US and have similar issues with ads. One in particular is about virus. The wording of one phrase in particular: "Now that the world is IN a stand still." It should be "AT a stand still." I have a degree in English so maybe that is the problem. But just hearing it is awful.

There are others but I never attributed them to my brain. All stupid commercials annoy me and repeating ones (play video one, play video two, play video one again, play video two again), that really makes me frustrated.

sospan profile image
sospan in reply to No1wthayla

A lot of the "pain" is down to how our new selves perceive stimulus and the emotion it triggers inside our brain. Something as innocuous as grammatical errors can be just as bad for some people as thrash metal or rap music.

I was brought up in Wales and sometimes in does shock me the quality of English being spoken by some of the people in the UK. I have been wondering when with my head injury when the "h" became silent - people live in "ouses" and wear an "at" on the head or use "erbs" in cooking. I must be getting so old.....

No1wthayla profile image
No1wthayla in reply to sospan

I head surgery on my skull a month ago to fix some defects in the bone. They had to lift up the brain some to reach the defects. The full goal was to try and fix my hearing and balance. And I had some brain matter pushing through the openings that could have had serious complications. I get to do the left side when I tell them I'm ready. The same issues on that side too.

I thought advertisement annoyance was just me being weird. My family and most of my friends think it's strange that commercials bother me. Even actions that people do when they are around me can annoy me too. I would have never tied it to my brain. I guess I'm never too old to learn something new.

sospan profile image
sospan in reply to No1wthayla

Many people on here will confirm that quite often, the smallest thing possible can annoy - like my wife the other night cutting up her evening meal and the knife clattering and scraping her knife on the plate.

I hadn't noticed how loud or irritating it was - and now is every mealtime !

No1wthayla profile image
No1wthayla

With my hearing issues caused me to avoid group functions and I hated meetings. Either I couldn't understand what everyone was saying or the noise was hard on my ears. Never thought it was caused by bone defect issues. And some sounds are worse than others too. I totally understand the clattering sounds.

Amber-11 profile image
Amber-11

Hi at that beginning of lockdown there was an ad for car insurance on classic FM, that kept repeating a joke at the expense of a disabled person on a scooter driving badly. I did not appreciate it, I am insured without paying an extra premium by my home insurance if I cause an accident on my scooter or it is stolen, and I am careful and i have not had an accident touch wood.

Given the problems I have if the public can see I am disabled I thought this ad should have been banned. I wanted to complain.

I think when I am on my Scooter people can be quite cruel, if I am on the scooter compete strangers can say things that cause me distres, or push me and the scooter around , invading my personal space, not great when unneeded or wanted.

I can see what it is like when no one can see I am disabled, and when they can see I am it is usually a lot harder, sorry if this is not v cheerful,

On the plus side the scooter is great to help me not get so ill or housebound, and I can have more social life with people outside my home.

I hope everyone is ok with pandemic, I am enjoying going to local woods, I find the greenery in the woods therapeutic and restful.

plc38 profile image
plc38

I agree about annoying ads on TV. I hardly ever watch TV. I most often listen to Radio 3 instead.

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