The one about 'The Office'

I don't watch a lot of TV because I don't find watching the same episodes over and over again on every channel that much fun. The only shows that I really do follow are LOST, Californication, and now recently The Office:



If you watch this show, you will know who Pam, played by Jenna Fischer, is. Now, every time I watch the show on Peachtree TV, an American network, this commercial comes on EVERY break:


(Sorry, the quality of this video isn't that great)

Also, I never see this commercial on any other time. There's obviously some rationale as to why this is and what great rationale it is.

The simple fact is: "You can't NOT like Pam". She's the office sweetheart, Jim's wife, and not Michael Scott. Viewers trust her and side with her almost all the time. So, when she appears again right after she's just been on, those feelings towards her are still present. You still trust her and you still think she has the best intentions at heart.

The simple fact is: "You can't NOT like Pam". When she starts talking about Proactiv and all its benefits, you just think she wants to share this fantastic product with you. WOW, what a purely altruistic action! Thanks, Pam! And with this, you go and buy barrels of it. Hopefully by purchasing this, you can now have clear beautiful skin like Pam and be as good as a human that she is. At least I do...

Nice tactic Proactiv. Nice.

BooTube

What do you do on a beautiful summer day, when you have no work, no cares, no stress, and all the free time in the world? Go check out funny videos on YouTube of course! Why spend time in the great outdoors and enjoy your life, when you can enjoy the shenanigans of other people all around the world!

Good thing all we've been getting for the past week is rain, so I have an excuse to stay in and watch videos like THESE.

Some of you might have noticed that the interface and layout of YouTube has changed a bit. Oh well, things change, we'll get used to it (Personally, I don't like it). But the biggest change is the homepage. The warm welcoming homepage and offers you suggestions of what you might like to watch, has turned into this:



Do you see it? Instead of that basket of goodies that you expect to see when the page pops up, you are punched in the face with a big fat ad. GREAT, now I have to scroll down to see my video suggestions. That's a half-second of time that I have to waste to ignore the ad, but once I do that, it won't bug me anymore! Right? Right?

Now, maybe I wanted to check out one of my favorite actors on Letterman that I missed the night before. Let's say I type Meryl Streep in the search box, and the first result is the one I'm looking for. Perfect! All I need to do is wait for the video to load up and then I sit back and enjoy Ms. Streep's wisdom.

Wait. What?



I panic. Where did this come from? I try and stop the video by clicking the two parallel lines in the bottom left hand corner. NO LUCK! It's locked me out! The only option is that I close the browser so I don't have to watch the ad, but, MERYL, I endure the ad, and wait for the countdown at the bottom to reach zero.

At last, the video I've been looking for! I watch. It finishes. I am content. Wait. What? No, no, no! Not again. I haven't even clicked anything but it starts to play another ad. Madness! They are persistent, evil, and invincible.

I am defeated.

I came onto YouTube to watch Meryl Streep and I had to pay for it with seeing three ads. Two of which were forced upon me with relatively no choice but to watch or close the page.

Before YouTube was a haven of amusement. No strings attached enjoyment that was free to bask in. Now, we must pay with our time. As meek as their inconveniences may be, they have changed our relationship with YouTube.

We're pretty good at tuning out ads on radio and TV though, right? What's one more medium to learn to ignore.