Soapbox Time: YouTube Advertising

Hey everyone. I'm not sure if this would fall under a sandbox moment, but I wanted to say my peace about something. *clears throat* So, I spend a lot of time on YouTube and since I'm not paying for the newly released YouTube Red service, I see ads in nearly every video. Obviously, there are different types of ads like the pre-roll, banner, and side panel, but there's an ad series that sticks out because it's been playing so often.

(Side Note: Just because I feel it's relevant, here is another YouTube video from Glove and Boots that I think does a better job talking about something I mention. In this case: YouTube advertising.)

The ads are from Best Buy with the basic message of "We have a bunch of gadgets and stuff. You should do your Christmas shopping at our stores." Now, it is before Thanksgiving so it seems early to go into Christmas shopping advertising, but Best Buy isn't the only one doing Christmas advertising on YouTube. So that's not really that big of a deal (if you ignore the over-saturation I'm feeling about Best Buy a month before Christmas). The thing that gets me is that every commercial ends with a slogan of "Win the Holidays at Best Buy".

This slogan rubs me the wrong way because it basically says the holidays are competitions to get other people the best stuff. I feel like this takes everyone back to middle school when you would gloat about your Christmas gifts to your friends, and that's not a time that I want to go back to. It also is a big "screw you" for people who don't put a lot of money into Christmas shopping. Someone could not have the income to put into gifts or have family members who don't want physical things for gifts or, I don't know, not celebrate Christmas. Going off of the ads though, these people would lose the holidays, so it stinks to be them. (One of the ads makes a comment that by buying something your family will love, they will love you. Yikes.)

So what am I going to do about it? To be honest, nothing really. I don't shop for a lot of electronics for Christmas gifts, and even if I did, I don't include Best Buy in the places I go (and even if I'm buying electronics, 90% of the time it's a DVD that I can get at Target). So I'm not going to get into a huff and say I'm boycotting the store because even during the year, I don't go there that often. The worst part about this all is that Best Buy's marketing works. The information stuck around longer than the length of the ad and I'm talking about it in a different context. This is why I don't like some types of advertising because it seems like a big trick to get someone to utilize your goods and/or services. I'll admit that advertising obviously serves a purpose of letting you know about stuff and things, but there are some times where it just feels nasty.

Alright, I'm getting off the soapbox now. I was definitely falling asleep at the computer before, so off to bed I go. Tomorrow will be Humane Society Anniversary Day and Mother Goose Day.

DFTBA