Commercial Media.

   "What is commercial media?" I hear you say? Well, oh young one, I have just typed it into Google and the first thing that has come up is the definition of advertising. Commercial media is a profit-driven media production. Notice the word "commercial"? Commercials! Advertisers! I never really thought about it before until now. Advertisers would have to be the main customers of commercial media. I just wish that the choice of advertising wasn't so ANNOYING! I can't tell you how many times I have punched a poor, unsuspecting cushion on my couch because of how annoying ads can be.

Exhibit A: Karicare Happy Toddlers. Sure the product might make toddlers happy, but the ads don't make ME happy. Honestly. Those laughs make me want to kill something. Plus they are on pretty much every two minutes which means if I'm watching a show, all I will hear for half of it will be some stupid toddlers and their stupid, annoying laughs. ARGGHHHH. Plus, all those stupid 'dings'. Whyyyyyyyyy.......

Exhibit B: Webuyanycar.com.au. Most annoying song ever. It is effective though. But in the worst way possible. I would buy every car in the world to get this ad to stop playing. And it just seems to go on forever...

Sadly though, it is commercials like these, that keep commercial media up and running. It's kind of a depressing thought to think that television shows, news programs, etc, only exist just to support advertisers (that's a harsh way of looking at it), but I suppose it's the end goal for most things these days - to make money. Commercial media does have other purposes though. In order to make their money, they must generate an audience and by observing their audience's patterns and behaviours they can predict what sort of things to advertise in order to maximise the effectiveness of this advertising. It's just like all the tailored ads we see on the internet, though not AS tailored as that. That stuff is kind of creepy. 

Advertisers not only advertise through commercials, they also advertise effectively through sponsoring programs. And they match a certain brand to a television show. For example, we've all heard of the "Ahh Bra", as Bruce mentioned in the lecture, and another product has come up called "Eyesential" which is a wrinkle defying serum. I often see these particular ads on Sunrise or The Morning Show on channel 7 where they have a special advertising segment where people from the company come in to talk about their product and offers. This is effective because it fits the type of audience who would typically watch that show - middle aged women/people. But money making sure is at the top of their list. Another type of effective advertising on television is product placement. I notice this mostly in shows like Masterchef. What with the Campbell's Real Stock and fresh produce from Coles. 

Advertising is everywhere!