Advertising in the Media

Wow my May is getting so busy. It's unbelievable. In the first two weeks alone, I have a Computer User Group Meeting, A Meeting with the Daycare, a Meeting with the pediatrician, a Women's Health Expo, A Teeth Cleaning, A Pedicure, A 2-day Conference out of town, A Wedding to attend, an appointment with my Midwife, and Mother's Day.

Holy Jeez. This morning I was contemplating various things.... such as the local radio stations, which I am beginning to loathe. We used to have several great stations to choose from, but as they have sold and restructured them, it's really sad how their music selection and DJ's have gone downhill. The best morning show in the area, without a doubt, was Dwyer and Michaels on Q106.5- and then one day Dwyer and Michaels announced that they would me moving to another station. And then their old station changed and started to play Bob and Tom Mornings. Now I have nothing against Bob and Tom. They can be funny. They just aren't really my listening choice. At all. Okay, I don't like them. I lied.

Well, now, there are 5 local stations that I USED to be able to listen to, and they are ALL playing Bob and Tom Mornings. It's like a freaking monopoly and it annoys the piss out of me. There are literally no radio stations that actually play MUSIC in the morning. And none of them have that local flair like Dwyer and Michaels. And whenever I catch music in the morning, I start to think of summer and ice cream and windows down and all sorts of happiness filters through me.... but it almost always ends with one song. This morning I got lucky and heard "angel is the centerfold" for a few minutes before I was thrust back into "too much talk." ACK. I am so sick of the radio not playing any music., and playing nothing but Bob and Tom Mornings. If I wanted to listen to people talk all the time I could totally switch to AM. What happened to AM radio being talk radio and FM radio being music? Or with Dwyer and Michaels, a nice BALANCE of music and talk.

Add that to the fact that there are so many TV commercials, playing at 15 decibels louder than the show they are interrupting.... and I have begun to heavily rely on TIVO and iPod for my entertainment needs. I don't watch any shows live. I TIVO everything and watch it later when I can fast forward through commercials. My husband always thinks I am a little insane when he talks about a new movie and I haven't seen the preview. Ahh the miracles of advertising avoidance. I don't read the newspaper. If I want news I look online. I don't listen to the radio, I either have CD's or my iPod with all the music I could ever want. I have iTunes new music Tuesday's to tell me what new music is worth a listen, or artist websites to tell me when new things are coming out.

The older I get the more I hate the advertising that is blatantly shoved down our throats. Magazines so full of reply cards and stiff paper ads that you can't hardly read the thing. I do like certain advertisements, especially now in baby magazines or scrapbooking magazines when I can actually see what's new out there. But really, do I need to see an ad for macaroni and cheese? I know what macaroni and cheese is. And the advertisements for prescription meds. I really believe in the idea that you participate in your own medical care, but this is RIDICULOUS!

So that's my thoughts for the day. For now.