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Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

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Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#71
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3:30pm-7:00pm -- homework + tv (mostly tv) OR practice. 7:00pm-8:00pm -- dinner with the family (during tv, possibly) 8:00pm-11:00pm -- homework + tv (mostly tv) 11:00pm-1:00am -- tv --- Even including sports practice, we've cracked over five hours, and that's from when I was in grade school.

It's interesting to me that you would stay up until 1 am as a grade schooler. That is quite late

I pulled all-nighters in grade school to maximize my media intake (in this case browsing message boards) while still getting homework done.

Guessing kids these days do the same to stay on top of snap, insta, tiktok, reddit, etc.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#73

Netflix puts the ads directly inside the shows they control themselves. This way no adblock can censor them, and Netflix can prance around pretending they are saints for not showing ads. Example "Hey let's call an uber" says character A. "I watched X on netflix yesterday" says character B.

It's called product placement [1].

There are rules restricting it in the UK, which must complicate broadcasting some American TV shows.

There are also companies using software to replace the branded product according to different markets — so they can rebrand that cereal box for the rerun if necessary.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_placement

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#74
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Average parents?

That just can't be the average. That must be the very top of the curve. For it to be the average, with the very bi-modal distribution coming from parents who have no-screens policies, the average in that other cluster would have to be like 8 hours a day. I just don't believe that's possible with any frequency.

Top of the curve is closer to 16-20 hours a day. As in, if they didn't fall asleep, it'd literally be 24 hours. Lots of parents let their kids eat and sleep in front of the tv, and that's nothing new to this generation.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#75

Good riddance. The last time I watched TV with ads was for the superbowl, and even those nicely produced ads I found absolutely grating. There's no way I can go back to ads between tense moments in TV shows. It's like seeing the internet with an adblocker for the first time.

Similar thing here - the only time I now encounter video-ads-making-noise is at the cinema before a film, and it's becoming unpleasant enough there that I've largely stopped going to the cinema.

It's not (or not just) that they're getting worse, it's that once the familiarity wears off you can't help but see how psychologically damaging and hostile they are.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#76

"The average 2-5 year old is spending over 1,600 hours a year watching television." This seems nuts to me. That is 4.5 hours a day! For a 2 year old? Who are these parents...

Childcare is super expensive. I think there are a ton of people who can’t afford it and use screen time to supplement. It keeps the kid safe in one spot while you can get stuff done. Keep in mind that letting a child play outside by themselves is essentially illegal.

> child play outside by themselves is essentially illegal.

No it's not.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#77
post #10

Worth. Every. Penny. I went to my parents house with my son. He was 4. They turned on cartoons. Then he said, "Dad why'd you change the show? I don't want to watch this." It was a commercial. I had to explain commercials to my son. It was at that moment I realized how much of my tv watching as a kid was commercials.

Brand marketing towards children is a real and effective thing. There was a study done on wrapping basic food (carrots/apples) in McDonalds branding and kids said it tasted better [1]. Always seemed scary to me.

Glad my kids don't have the same amount of brainwashing as I did. However, we have our own generational problems to deal with, like YouTube "merch" begging, clickbaiting, etc. Now that I think about it, maybe I'd rather they'd see TV adverts...

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/kids-think-food-in-mcdonald-s-wrappe...

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#78
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I know the exact scene you're talking about in Bones, it was a super obvious advertisement. Car starts making beeping noises "Why's the car beeping?", "Oh, it's the new lane assist feature in my Toyota Prius. It lets me know if I'm starting to drift across the lane because I'm distracted." Then they get to the destination and they show off the automatic parallell parking.

Everything in the new Jurassic Park movies is mercedes. Even the weird sphere-car thing is made by mercedes. There is also a prominently featured starbucks in the dinosaur park. The movie is aware of how ridiculous is getting and a character says "Verizon Wireless presents The Indominus T-Rex!!!". I guess the writers took a jab at the producers and their deals. ------ But the worst was in the recent Jim Jarmusch film…

Not exactly a hall of shame, but you might have a good time looking through https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ProductPlacement/Live...

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#79
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I know the exact scene you're talking about in Bones, it was a super obvious advertisement. Car starts making beeping noises "Why's the car beeping?", "Oh, it's the new lane assist feature in my Toyota Prius. It lets me know if I'm starting to drift across the lane because I'm distracted." Then they get to the destination and they show off the automatic parallell parking.

Everything in the new Jurassic Park movies is mercedes. Even the weird sphere-car thing is made by mercedes. There is also a prominently featured starbucks in the dinosaur park. The movie is aware of how ridiculous is getting and a character says "Verizon Wireless presents The Indominus T-Rex!!!". I guess the writers took a jab at the producers and their deals. ------ But the worst was in the recent Jim Jarmusch film…

I kind of liked how Amazon's Alexa device was used in Mr Robot. It actually got to provide plot driving insight into Dom's psychological state.

Re: Netflix Saves Kids from Up to 400 Hours of Commercials a Year

#80
post #10

Worth. Every. Penny. I went to my parents house with my son. He was 4. They turned on cartoons. Then he said, "Dad why'd you change the show? I don't want to watch this." It was a commercial. I had to explain commercials to my son. It was at that moment I realized how much of my tv watching as a kid was commercials.

were the ads really all that bad though? I don't remember asking for much more than video games, board games, hungry hungry hippos, McDonalds, Sunny D, etc. Kids today get crazy ads on Instagram and are asking for Supreme shirts, Yeezus shoes, Kylie Jenner makeup kits.

Yes, they were that bad and were getting worse. By the late 90's, most ads directed at young children were reminiscent of a bad acid trip. Flashing lights and colors, non-stop quick-cuts and people literally screaming over and over for you, a child of 6 or 7 years, to BUY THE THING! YOU GOTTA HAVE IT! COLLECT THEM ALL!

It was absolutely terrifying and we should all be collectively ashamed for allowing it to persist and to happen in the first place.

Here's a random example I just found on YouTube (first 30 seconds): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXzR3-w3vEQ

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