Commercials: Not Just For Selling Stuff
Although the DVR ranks up there with the most miraculous of modern technologies and is cherished by many as the cornerstone of civilized existence thanks to its gift of freedom from the tyranny of commercial interruption, a new study is purporting to show that, yet again, people just have no idea what's good for them. TV ads, allegedly, make watching shows more, not less, fun.
In the research, conducted by professors at UC San Diego and NYU, a group of undergrads who watched an episode of Taxi with its original commercials enjoyed it more than a group who watched it ad-free. Other, similar experiments repeated the results—because, or so the theory goes, our brains favor novelty, and what starts off fun soon loses its allure, which is revived by an interruption.
But there's also the possibility, of course, that after being subjected to the intelligence-insulting content of most commercials, any TV show will seem Emmy-worthy in its brilliance.
