« Intelligent design, the flu and markets | Main | August trade in intangibles »
October 12, 2005
Consequences of information overload
It is exactly what you thought was going on -- the number and length of TV adds is increasing. In fact, some TV shows, such as Desperate Housewives, have been restructured into 6 acts (from 4) so there are more opportunities for ads, according to a recent story in USA Today - Ad glut turns off viewers. But more, is not always better:
advertising researchers say the cluttered airwaves, which also include logos and promos during shows, risk turning off viewers even from must-see shows and worsening recall of their ads.
The cluttering of the airwaves has an even more serious consequence that a sore thumb from hitting the mute button. The images can end up dulling our responses to the realities around us. One example is a recent ad featuring the Smurfs - where (according to the Wall Street Journal The Evening Wrap - War and Smurf):
The video begins with the Smurfs happily doing their thing, but ends with most of the village apparently slaughtered, with Baby Smurf left wounded and screaming amid the carnage. The cartoon is scheduled for wide airing in Belgium this week, but a sneak preview last week reportedly left several real-life babies crying, as well.
The reason to run the ad?
A spokesman for UNICEF, which is trying to raise money to rehabilitate child soldiers in Burundi's brutal civil war, told the U.K.'s Daily Telegraph that it made the cartoon because real-life images of war had lost the power to convince TV viewers to open their checkbooks.
Pictures of babies dying on the news we tune out; images of Smurfs in carnage still grabs our attention.
Interesting commentary on the de-sensitizing power of information overload. No wonder advertisers are worried about ad glut.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at October 12, 2005 4:30 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.athenaalliance.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/359