UNITED STATES—It is only August and I’m already tired of watching TV. Why? Well, the political ads are just relentless and annoying as hell. Every time I turn on the television to watch local news, I’m inundated with political ads from both the right and left and 90 percent of them are negative. I was once told by a political pundit that if you’re basing your vote on political ads, then you may as well not vote.
I actually have to agree with that assertion because those political ads are simply to highlight the good of one candidate and the bad of another. Some Americans can see through the BS, others not so much. I mean I was watching local news the other day and there was literally like six political ads during one (and I mean one) commercial break during a TV series that I was watching.
I haven’t done this in a while, but I simply turned off the TV; I had had enough, I’m so sick of being inundated with the ads that just don’t stop. Don’t we have enough hatred and turmoil in this country? Do we truly need the negativity in an ad, within politics to say the least to add onto that? No, we don’t, but that is the nature of politics, be as nasty as you can to your opponent. I wonder how politicians would react if the public TOTALLY let them know how they felt.
I have shifted to watching premium channels on Cable like HBO, Showtime and MGM+ because I don’t have to worry about seeing relentless ads during the minimal few hours I have to decompress from work and not worry about all the stressors in life.
The scary thing is that it is ONLY August, and we still have September and October to go. The ads if anything are about to grow in magnitude even more and I just don’t think it is something I can handle in 2024. The 2016 and 2020 Presidential Elections were tough and divisive, but 2024 feels like another beast; one that I cannot even describe with words.
You know what I would like to see when it comes to political ads? I want to see the candidates tell me their stance on certain issues, I want you to point out your successes or accomplishments not what your opponent has done wrong, because let’s be honest, who is vetting those facts for the commercial? Yeah, it is called ad revenue America, and the local news outlets are going to take that money because that’s how companies stay afloat, money matters.
I REALLY need a pause on the political ads, if I could just get 24 hours, where I don’t have to see a political ad on my TV screen it would be like finding spare change on the ground that one never expected. Do I expect it to happen? Not a chance, but one could hope right?
Written By Zoe Mitchell
