Noisy ads.

[Wispy68]

Why do TV adverts have to be so much louder than the programme we're watching. Oooh, it's so annoying. (Especially when I'm having a little snooze in front of the box!!!)

[andy hughes]

It's based on a well-founded principle that people pay attention to a message if it is loud - sometimes the louder the better. Army Sergeant-Majors don't yell to hear the sound of their own voices - it's to obtain an unconditional response to an order. If you attend a wedding - no-one dances to 'background music', but when the music is turned up, you can get people to move onto the dance floor. A similar, but slightly more subtle variation is used in making adverts louder than programmes, so the message can be absorbed, even on a subliminal level.

[Obo]

doesn't the fact that the ads wake you up when you are snoozine therefore making you notice them, answer your own question?

[mikewith]

Surely the fact that you have to reach over for the remote (or even, God forbid, get up and walk over to the TV) to turn the racket down, means that you make a possitive decision NEVER to buy that product?

[ms]

I thought that it was something to do with the fact that a lot of people get up to make a drink during the adverts and making them loud means you can still hear them from in the kitchen

[Brains trust]

Also bear in mind that the audio is heavily compressed in a commercial to make it more 'punchy'.

[bimsey]

Just keep the mute button to hand, works every time.

[cupra]

This very question was asked on a consumer programme a couple of years ago (I forget which one). A representative of a commercial station insisted that they didn't change the volume. Hmmm........!