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I don't believe that TV exists for any purpose other than to deliver a fresh piping hot stream of advertising content to your eyes for the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week you sit there watching it.
I had an interesting discussion with my mother one day. She watches a PHENOMENAL amount of TV, most of which is complete garbage in my view. Shows about buying houses and redecorating them, shows that tell you what 'good taste' is, that kind of thing. I went in there one day during an ad break and asked her: 'If TV has a general, overarching purpose, a reason for existing, then what is it?'
She thought for a while, staring kind of blankly at the screen, these pretty images of brand new products twisting and undulating before her eyes, then she turned back to me and answered: 'Education. News. Entertainment.'
She never even thought to mention advertising. Such a significant part of any given hour of TV viewing is advertising, and yet, she never thought to include it as part of TV's prescribed function. And this was even with the ads playing in front of her!
So I suppose the question from this is, is advertising a by-product of financing the 'quality' shows that 'educate and entertain' us, or is TV simply there to provide an endless stream of commercial images to keep us buying?
Discuss.
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