I used to be lucky enough to be in the same situation when I was single. I remember when I first got together with the other half and I refused to be in the same room as the television if it was switched on. You can imagine how that went down and didn't last very longI feel myself quite lucky when it comes to being exposed to the advertising industry, I don't have a tv nor do I take papers or magazines.
I now am used to passive TV and the adverts that come with it. In fact the other half tends to mute the adverts, not because they are too loud (something I have since put a stop to by putting a dynamic audio processor in line with the telly!) but because I have a tendency to rant at them. Probably the most annoying thing I do is sing "well tonight thank god it's them instead of you" line from that god awful do they know it's Christmas song after every "oh no I have got some blackheads commercial". I invested in some noise cancelling headphones to block out the TV noise that I hear in the kitchen etc. Works a treat.
At times, yes. However I do know a lot of other people who have ditched the TV (although quite a few in favour of downloading films / programmes though - but without the ads). I used to have one of those gizmos that adbusters used to sell that put most tv's into standby mode. Good fun cycling past Dixons etc who leave their flat screen tellies on all night in their shop windows, doing a "cycle by" power off.It really is awful when you get to stand back and look at it. Doesn't make you feel well at all. We are definitely doomed and fuc*ing well deserve it.
It is surprising what difference you feel after stopping watching TV for a long time and reading papers / magazines etc full of ads etc. When you do have to see them again it's almost painful. I don't even listen / watch the news anymore and have started getting pissed off when people expect me to know what they are on about - kids in basements and this and that. It's quite surprising at how difficult it is to completely turn off from it all when you are surrounded by people so infected by advertising and news etc.
The telly really helps to turn people into spectators as well and wait for things to happen. Small example was the other day, cycling into work I watched cyclist after cyclist get clobbered by this big spiky vine that had grown into the cycle path, swerving about to avoid it etc. Not one person stopped and thought "you know, I'll spend 2 seconds to stop and snap that thing off". I got funny looks off people when I did just that. Obviously this cannot be pinned down to the TV but you?d think people would see such an easily solvable problem and do something.
The other thing you notice as well when you stop watching telly for a long time is just how pervasive the American culture is through this medium. It's not as easy for me now as it was as there's always some American 'comedy' blurting out of the goggle box these days in my living room but it's really interesting to see how the television is changing what people say and the intonation in which they are said. It's a massive homogenising implement really and has probably gone hand in hand with the homogenisation of most of everything else these days too.
Seeing that many car adverts was freaky enough, but a Hummer ad. In the UK? In Brighton? In my local arty cinema? It's a good thing I was already reclining or I'd have probably fallen over.