The CALM Act

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Hoops is forgetting the public safety aspect of this issue.

[hooplala]

Hoops is forgetting the public safety aspect of this issue.

No no, I have no opinion because all we watch up here is curling.  My mistake.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Hoops is forgetting the public safety aspect of this issue.

No no, I have no opinion because all we watch up here is curling.  My mistake.

Okay, my joke is now ruined.  Out of this thread, for good.

[LMNO]

Hoops is forgetting the public safety aspect of this issue.

No no, I have no opinion because all we watch up here is curling.  My mistake.

Y'know, when you ascribe the asshattery of one poster to the rest of the group, it gives you the appearance of being petty and bitchy.


Have it out with Nimah if you must, but don't accuse the rest of us of belittling your posts.

[hooplala]

Hoops is forgetting the public safety aspect of this issue.

No no, I have no opinion because all we watch up here is curling.  My mistake.

Y'know, when you ascribe the asshattery of one poster to the rest of the group, it gives you the appearance of being petty and bitchy.


Have it out with Nimah if you must, but don't accuse the rest of us of belittling your posts.

But what if I am petty and bitchy?

[BadBeast]

Well, I've found having two small children running around the living room easily drowns out the loud commercials.  

You Monster! It's the children's spongy little minds that need protecting the most! Exposing them to pollutants like that, forces them to engage in acts that children are too young to understand or know what's being done to them........
        Before you know it, they'll be five years old, with the next 80 year's worth of Brand Loyalties, in undeletable jingle format rattling around their poor little brains. My friend's 3 year old son already knows which Motor Insurance Brokers he will use, which Credit card he'll have, which Premium Lager is best, ("Due to the freshestt Fuggles Hops, and their unique "Triple cold filtering process") He's never even been properly drunk yet, and he already knows he wants a Tequila Chaser with his Pint. That can't be right in a three year old, surely?

I blame teh Gubmant and Bill Shatner.

[Disco Pickle]

If people want to be lazy, Columbia bless them.

fair enough.  I still don't think you need new legislation when the FCC has it within their power to do this.

"willful misinterpretation" - eat a bag of double dipped chocolate dicks

Were I a guy who liked dicks, that would sound very tasty indeed.

let's pretend that the new wave in marketing is fliers. In this bizarro USA, marketers visit your house each night and slip some commercial inserts under your door. Every day, you go to your car, and there are 15 sheets of paper jammed underneath your windshield. The government passes a law saying you can't do this, or maybe you're only allowed to put up 1 flier per evening. The logical counterargument is "what, are you too lazy to remove a few sheet of paper from your windshield? That shit takes like 3 seconds." laziness isn't the point - the point is that the tactic was wasteful, annoying, and intrusive.  If everybody in the country is annoyed by it, (notice nobody is saying "I love loud commercials") why shouldn't the government do something to reel it in?

ok, except that this tactic is not wasteful (that I can see) it IS annoying and intrusive, but again if it's so damn loud that you can't have a conversation over the commercial, it was probably too loud during the program as well.

I can see a fair argument being made that I should be able to set my TV at one volume and not have to continually adjust the volume or risk damaging a speaker, as I bought the TV with the expectation that that's how it would function.

[Whatever]

S'ok Hoops, condsidering y'all watch what?  The Curling channel 24/7 up there, I'm sure you look forward to the commercials so you don't stab yourself in the fucking eye.

However, until you have actually experienced the huge volume jump in commercials (and it is not minor, I tried to explain, but I guess you didn't or couldn't read) you really have no true opinion on any of it!

Oh look, your metal disc isn't being swept in front of properly.....

Speaking as someone who grew up watching Canadian Television, you have no fucking clue of what you're talking about. 

You know, I was being a sarcastic bitch because he called me lazy.  I am well aware of what is and isn't on Canadien TV.  But s'ok I'm done as well.

[Cramulus]

ok, except that this tactic is not wasteful (that I can see) it IS annoying and intrusive, but again if it's so damn loud that you can't have a conversation over the commercial, it was probably too loud during the program as well.

the POINT of putting commercials up that high is that they suddenly grab your attention. It's MEANT to keep you from having a conversation IMHO.

I can see a fair argument being made that I should be able to set my TV at one volume and not have to continually adjust the volume or risk damaging a speaker, as I bought the TV with the expectation that that's how it would function.

exactly! You want to watch TV at a certain volume, so you set it to that level.

This works for about 6 minutes, and then you have to adjust it again

and 6 minutes later you have to adjust it again
and 6 minutes later you have to adjust it again
and 6 minutes later you have to adjust it again

whyyyyy? just so that somebody can be totally sure that I am paying attention to their commercial? If I wanted to hear it that loud, I'd turn my TV up!

[AFK]

Aren't there some newer TVs that can automatically adjust the volume to minimize the unsuspected blaring?  If not there should be damnit!  C'mon private sector, don't let me down!!!!

[hooplala]

ok, except that this tactic is not wasteful (that I can see) it IS annoying and intrusive, but again if it's so damn loud that you can't have a conversation over the commercial, it was probably too loud during the program as well.

the POINT of putting commercials up that high is that they suddenly grab your attention. It's MEANT to keep you from having a conversation IMHO.

I can see a fair argument being made that I should be able to set my TV at one volume and not have to continually adjust the volume or risk damaging a speaker, as I bought the TV with the expectation that that's how it would function.

exactly! You want to watch TV at a certain volume, so you set it to that level.

This works for about 6 minutes, and then you have to adjust it again

and 6 minutes later you have to adjust it again
and 6 minutes later you have to adjust it again
and 6 minutes later you have to adjust it again

whyyyyy? just so that somebody can be totally sure that I am paying attention to their commercial? If I wanted to hear it that loud, I'd turn my TV up!

To be clear, I'm not saying the loud commercials are not annoying.  They are.

I just don't think this is an issue for the government.

[Cuddlefish]

TBH, I'm okay with this. There's NO REASON for commecials to be that loud, it's not going to make anyone any more likely to buy a particular product. I don't watch a lot of television, but when I do, this kind of thing bugs the fuck out of me (Sure, I could mute the TV, but that's not the point. The point is, if I, every fifteen minutes decided to bust into someones house and start yelling, I'd be "disturbing the peace," but because these guys are advertising, so it's OK?)

Anyhow, while I'm all for this, I think it's only begining to scratch the surface of putting an end to deceitful/unethical advertising practices. Things I'd like to see addressed:

Commercials that contain no actual information about a given product, and, instead, shove a "cute" cgi character in your face telling you that "Geico is #1 in Car Insurance." (Seriously, watch some of these commercials. Sure, you and I know better than to let a cartoon tell us what to purchase, but I think we can all agree that most of us are an exception, and not the "rule").

False and generaized claims. I don't understand how many companies are allowed to make certain claims. No specific example comes to mind, but it seems that it's okay for companies to fudge, or completely fabricate statistics, and, sometimes, are allowed to outright lie about the quality/effectiveness of the product.

Pharmaceuticals should not be advertised on television. Your doctor, or a trained and licensed physician should be helping you decide what type of medication you should be taking. Not Pfizer.

Mega-corporations over-advertising. Seriously, who here has never heard of McDonalds? Quick answer: No one. If a company makes over a certain amount per year, they should be limited to certain types of advertising. I mean, really, does McDonalds, at this point, even NEED to advertise? Hell no, they're doing just fine. Plus, the only reason they DO advertise (because they know that everyone knows McDonalds) is so they can hook children into yelling and screaming "I WANT A HAPPY MEAL!"

In fact, while we're at it, there should be some form of regulation concerned with advertising to children (they axed Joe Camel, because ciggarettes are dangerous. Why not get rid of the Hamburgler, because triple bypass surgery is also dangerous?). It's really an underhanded tactic. You would be SO pissed if some member of a religious group tried to "indoctrinate" your child behind your back, but are you really okay with McDonalds, etc., doing it?

Plus, I think any company using words like "door buster" to advertise a sale should be arrested for attempting to incite a riot.

In the end, it doesn't matter, because TV stations exist because of advertisers. And as soon as this piece of regulation goes into effect, it's only a matter of time before companies "convince" the TV stations to LOWER the volume of their programming, basically bringing us right back where we started.

[Disco Pickle]

Aren't there some newer TVs that can automatically adjust the volume to minimize the unsuspected blaring?  If not there should be damnit!  C'mon private sector, don't let me down!!!!

I'm sure there are.  It's not like it's new technology.

[LMNO]

Run your stereo through a hard limiting compressor with a low threshold.


Anyway, before this gets much further, I'd like to point out that there is more to a loud commercial than merely volume.

It's long been known in music production circles that if you play two separate mixes for someone, and the only difference is that mix B is 3dB louder (and you keep that a secret from the listener), they will prefer mix B.  If pushed for a reason why, they will imagine that the EQ is "brighter", or that there's more "energy" in the mix*.

The point being, there's a psychological element at play when the commercials are louder.  It excites the nervous system (which triggers the endocrine system) in ways that a low volume commercial won't.  So the manipulation isn't just "louder so it gets your attention".  The manipulation affects your subconcious in ways you aren't aware of.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.







*Technically, that's true.  There is more acoustical energy when you make it louder.  Doesn't affect the mix itself, though.

[Cain]

Maybe it excites the nervous system to such a degree you can snatch at the controls and turn it down before you even consciously realize it's loud? 

You're so negative, LMNO, always willing to believe the worst of advertising people.  They just want to help us, and this is another example of their kind and giving nature.