Live TV: Don't Risk It during an Election Campaign!

OK – we all know we are in the middle of an election campaign – but seriously – do we really need so many of the same ad over the one night?

While I can’t speak for other markets, in Sydney last night (Sunday Aug 8th), the Labor ad telling us “don’t risk it” in relation to voting for Tony Abbott was played in just about every ad break from 6pm to 9.30pm over all three commercial channels. Some ad breaks featured two of the same ad, and then, when coupled with the union based ads about “work choices” it was three in the same ad break.

At our house, we generally avoid watching free to air live to avoid the need to see all the ads and so more shows can be watched in one night. Sometimes though – when we get to Sunday night – there’s nothing left to watch from the previous week so we end up having to watch some of Sunday nights’ shows live.

Our viewing for the night from 6pm included about an hour of Seven, over an hour of Nine and two and a half hours of Ten. Also watched Sky news briefly.

During all this viewing, the “Don’t risk it” ad was seen more than we could care to count. Even when not watching live, the ad clearly stood out during fast forwarding of ad breaks. Even watching just a few minutes of Sky News was no escape for the “Don’t risk it” ad.

Now I have to ask – who do they think is going to be swayed by having the ad on that often? Sure – there are undecided voters out there, but honestly – are any of them going to suddenly change their mind because they see one political party dominate the advertising over – not only their opposition but – all other advertised brands as well?

If anything – it should turn people off. Prime time TV ads on a Sunday night can’t be cheap. Think of where else this money could be spent – how many people the money could go towards helping.

Sure – fair enough for the parties to advertise to get your vote, but the same ad over and over is well and truly over kill and a gross waste of OUR money.

Can’t wait for the advertising black out next week. In the meantime, no more live TV for now!