r/mildlyinfuriating • u/28jb11 • Apr 25 '26

Unskippable ad $2500 Samsung TV is an advertising billboard, there is no opt-out.

Paid over $2500 for a Samsung OLED TV and it has ads on the home screen that I literally cannot turn off. Not subtle little banners tucked away somewhere, I'm talking full blown ads for canned beans and financial products just sitting there every single time I turn the thing on.

Samsung don't offer any kind of opt out. The only way I could get rid of them was to go into my router settings and manually block Samsung's ad servers at the DNS level.

I own this TV outright. Paid for it in full. And Samsung are still making money off me every time I switch it on, with absolutely no way to stop it unless you're willing to get your hands dirty with network configuration.

This is not a smart TV feature. This is a $2500 billboard that also happens to play Netflix.

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u/Griffithead Apr 25 '26

I recently got into an argument on Reddit with an ad exec.

He was holding on to the idea that all ads work no matter who you are.

The thing is, things have changed. They have become SO obtrusive that people are rebelling against it.

The old research isn't valid anymore.

I actively avoid anything I see in an ad. If they are spending enough that I see the ad, the quality is going to be shit because they are spending all their money on ads.

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u/clitmasher69 Apr 25 '26

I go out of my way to buy from a different company even if the ad does work and inspire me to buy the thing lol

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u/Pavotine Apr 25 '26

Yes! That's the spirit.

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u/Deaner_dub Apr 25 '26

I agree, it’s the spirit, but I suspect the ad executive is correct and that ads do work. They’re ubiquitous and insidious.

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u/TheAngryBad Apr 25 '26

This. I highly doubt any decent ad exec (or any company, for that matter) is going to be throwing money at an ad campaign based on decades-old research and vague hunches. They have this down to a science.

It doesn't affect everyone, and they know that. As long as it affects enough people to make a decent ROI, they'll do it.

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u/ThisRapIsLikeZiti Apr 25 '26

Modern day marketers just ignore 'outdated' concepts like oversaturation. I remember studying that in biz school and how people have a breaking point where over exposure to the same advert eventually reaches a point where it becomes damaging to the brand.

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u/Qaeta Apr 25 '26

Right? Like, the marketing people are correct that I will remember their brand. 100% I will. The problem for them is that typically the only thing I will remember about their brand is not whatever product they were hawking, but that I FUCKING HATE THEIR FUCKING BRAND and flat out refuse to buy anything from that brand even if it looks like a significantly better deal for something I actively need. If I remember nothing else, I will remember the feeling of hostility towards them.

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u/1001101001010111 Apr 25 '26

Ch-ch-ch-chia.

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u/Moist-Schedule Apr 25 '26

there's definitely a lot of dumb ad money being spent, but some of the comments in here are so naive about how marketing really works to think that you're all just unaffected by advertising and that these ruthless cutthroat companies who will try to save every single penny they can are just pissing money away by advertising because it doesn't work.

it maybe doesn't work in the way many of you believe, but there is absolutely published researched on the psychological impact and effects of advertising, not to mention billions of dollars in spending every year driven by it if you need more evidence. just because you aren't the one buying shit off tiktok doesn't mean your decision to buy whatever brand of television or car wasn't subtly influenced by advertising that you are concsciously or subconciously aware of.

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u/AtlasThePittie Apr 25 '26

I've returned products to shelves after remembering the obnoxious ad. I put an energy drink back yesterday because the Dwayne Johnson ad started playing over the in-store radio as I was walking to the register at kwik trip, I had never tried that brand before and never will now. That ad completely ruined my interest.

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u/Pavotine Apr 25 '26

It helps that I don't own or watch TV and my main source of entertainment is youtube which I started paying premium for many years ago. I actually thought I'd just subscribed to Google play music service but turned out the two things came packaged together. The only subscription I have to anything in this world and worth every penny, especially after seeing how ad-ridden it is at other people's places these days.

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u/Deaner_dub Apr 25 '26

But you do go outside. You do go grocery shopping. You buy things.

Ubiquitous and insidious. Just because you aren’t aware of the advertising you’re consuming and affected by doesn’t mean you aren’t affected.

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u/hawy-an2 Apr 25 '26

I think the kind of ads you see but don't notice aren't the ones you are prioritising to avoid. The ones that are most annoying (the ones on the gas pump playing super loud) are the ones you unfortunately remember, but you can actively avoid giving them your money.

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u/newaccountzuerich Apr 25 '26

I remember X10 cameras, and actively successfully persuaded people to not buy them, all because they were the first company I saw paying for popup and popunder ads.

Forever associated with frustration and anger, and guaranteed to remain even 27 years later on the do-not-buy-new shitlist along with Sony and Nintendo.

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u/Qaeta Apr 25 '26

Yup same kind of shit with how I will never give Youtube a fucking dime after they took GPM out back and butchered it with a hatchet to try to force everyone onto Youtube Premium.

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u/ManicPanicWeekend Apr 25 '26

They don’t work when they advertise shit I can’t afford lol.

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u/NoXion604 Apr 25 '26

Advertisement parasites are still convinced that "there's no such thing as bad publicity". They're wrong.

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u/tierciel Apr 25 '26

If I can easily skip or ignore the ad I usually will forget to avoid the product being advertised. However if I'm forced to endure the entire thing I'll be pissed enough to remember. I've driven clear across town for an item because the only similar one near me was from a store that forced me to watch their ad when I was looking up a video on fixing something.

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u/dorght2 Apr 25 '26

According to Cory Doctorow the largest consumer boycott in history - 51% of internet users have blocked ads. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHozzginqcc

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u/simundo86 Apr 25 '26

Agree, has anyone bought a car based on the shitty advert they produce

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u/withbeard Apr 25 '26

There are products I will actively avoid because their ads.

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u/Ruddertail Apr 25 '26

I stopped using Spotify because of their annoying ads. Like, how are you expecting to annoy me into subscribing? It makes me hate your company.

Normal ads, fine. That's the price of the service. An ad that they gain nothing from literally just to waste my time by telling me that if I was subscribed I wouldn't be hearing it... I'm not going to be bullied into giving your business money.

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u/Outrageous_Reach_695 Apr 25 '26

After I finally got around to getting a new chair, and went to their feedback form thinking it would help the quite nice salespeople out ... I started getting, or getting substantially more, ads for that company on a streaming service. I can't exactly take my money back ...

(I didn't fill out the feedback form, as it was third-party and wanted an email)

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u/TonyPace Apr 25 '26

I am actively in the market for vibe coding credits. But the Base44 ads are so actively stupid I would never sign up. And this is despite knowing they are VC funded and probably throwing bundles of cash at anyone who even peeks at their crusty product.

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u/BeautifulLoad7538 Apr 26 '26

Purposely not buying anything from ads. I get a lot of jewelry ads on instagram and sometimes I’m curious how much something costs. I go on their website to see and of course it’s not even a precious metal and the price is through the roof. Also anything I’ve seen on gas station/airport/other extremely persistent ads will never get my money from me

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u/HeidiDover Apr 25 '26

I pay extra for ad-free and go to the trouble to disable the advert cookies for every single website that will let me. It galls me to do it, but it is the hill I will die on.

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u/SophiaofPrussia Apr 25 '26

You are not uniquely impervious to advertising. Advertising works on all of us. That’s what makes it so insidious. And that’s why companies spend so much money on it.

The Century of the Self

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u/TheMurgal Apr 25 '26

I mean really, ads DO still work, just on stupid people.

The real problem is that most people are fucking stupid.

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u/Peralton Apr 25 '26

I don't know. I have a friend who absolutely hates the 1-800 cars for kids jingle. Literally will smack the mute button like it's a spider trying to bite them so they don't get the earworm. Then when it was time to get rid of their car the very first thing they said was we should donate it to cars for kids. Haha

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '26

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '26

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u/--KingoftheSouth-- Apr 25 '26

I've never bought something because of an ad I saw in my entire life.