Are We Being Drowned in Advertisements?

No matter where you go, you are going to be subject to advertising. From labels at the grocery store, to commercials on your tv, even logos on clothing. Unless you lock yourself in a dark empty room, advertising will find you.  You may have suddenly become overwhelmed at the thought of this, but the question is, do we really even notice it anymore? Does it really feel like advertisements are being shoved down your throat on a daily basis? Maybe if you went out with intention of counting how many ads you saw in a day, then you would feel like it was a bit of a sensory overload. On the average day, a trip to the mall, or on your way to work/school, you're probably not thinking too much about it. Of course you notice some ads, because that's their purpose, but I don't necessarily feel like it's always too much. 

When we noticed advertisements, it's usually not for more than a few seconds.  This is because, unless the ad is of great importance to us (if we are the target audience), or strikes a strong emotion, we don't really care. Due to how many ads we see in a day, sometimes I think we barely even notice we are being advertised to. When you purchase a drink at a convenient store it's probably because you are thirsty, not because you want to advertise for that company, because we don't even realize we are doing it, and for free!

As a design student it's possible that I am biased, because I like seeing interesting new ads and mentally critiquing/improving the ones I don't like, I'm ok with it. At the end of the day the amount of advertising that is out there isn't going to change, and if it does it will only be more. It's a fact of life and something that we have already become accustomed to. As long as the advertisements are sustainable (now that's a whole other blog post) and pleasing to the eye, I support the onslaught. Bring it.