I hate them with a passion. Ads are designed to be invasive, from the visual kind to the audible kind, it's all similar. The way audible ads for TV, radio or other such media, such as podcasts, are recorded and processed seems to maximize penetration into the brain, the way the voice is so loud and clear. I find it very irritating and think that such recordings could be used on me for "enhanced interrogation." The visual equivalent has to be the use of colors, shapes and animations to make ads impossible to ignore on a site or other visual medium. Is this just me? I could not tell you how many times I've heard people talk about 'tuning out' ads, but I can't do that. Not with how they are designed. I have to block them by any means possible, be it ad blocking software, skipping over them, or muting audio that is otherwise beyond my control. I feel as though I am under assault otherwise. I also hate the basic concept of being subjected to such "messages" against my will in the first place, and maybe it ultimately stems from that. But whatever the root cause, I have hated and blocked ads since adolescence.
I never watch ads except a course I took one that was about the effect of ads in politics. Or when I YouTube Superbowl commercials.
I blacklisted several car dealers who blared and blasted their way into my living room over the years. Swimming pool companies are almost as bad. I love the Farmers insurance ads -- respectful, not loud, well done, and humorous -- switched to them recently. There was a local RV dealer who had ads so good that I really miss them, but that's another exception to the bleakness that is standard fare.
