No ad breaks, please!

Many Interruptions

And the winner is...,” pop comes an advertisement. All TV viewers are disturbed by the advertisements coming at the crucial moments while they are glued to their favourite shows. Love them or hate them, but there’s definitely no ignoring commercial advertisements on Indian television.

Youngsters tell Metrolife that while there are a few advertisements that are equally entertaining as the show, at times they do get irritating.

Akanksha, a student, says that there was a time when she used to hate them but of late she has started to enjoy these little breaks. “There are a few ads that are really creative.

Though they may not lure me into buying the product, they definitely ignite my curiosity on what’s going to happen next,” she adds. Such mixed reactions come from many people. But there are those who simply don’t like the pop-ups coming and interrupting their favourite show.

For Dhruv, a student, advertisements are a big pain specially during the telecast of live sporting events. “During movies or serials, I don’t really mind advertisements. But when there is a live telecast of a cricket match, a sudden break for advertisement gets very irritating. During the recent India-South Africa cricket series, the channel actually had advertisements popping out of the pitch. It was very distracting but luckily they have stopped it for the World Cup,” he adds.

Many actually fondly reminisce about few television advertisements that was part of TV watching earlier.

“Some advertisements like the old cola drinks or the jingles of washing powders, somehow remain in the memory even today. I remember, as kids, we all loved the ‘rasna’ girl and we even wanted to dress like her. Today, somehow advertisements just don’t have that same magic on people,” says Smitha, a professional.

Apoorva, another student, is satisfied with the fact that a few channels have become sensitive to the viewers’ need for less advertisements.

“Of late, there are few channels that screen movies which have only one break, making the viewing pleasurable. Hopefully more and more channels will follow suit else one can always change the channel,” she smiles.