Ads, ads, ads! Aren’t you sick of them already?
We’re living in an era drowning in advertisements. They’re everywhere – like trash on the streets. Waiting at a bus stop? Flyers taped on the pole, offering land-for-sale, quick loans, or “dream jobs.” Go online? You get ambushed with 30 seconds of product pitches, enough to make you want to smash the skip button. Once, I even visited the website of a “prestigious” law firm, hoping to read an article. Instead, my entire screen was a jungle of ads. Thanks to AI – oh, it’s smart all right, almost creepy – it knows exactly what I’ve been searching for and keeps feeding me updates like some clingy ex.
Sometimes, I can’t even find the little “X” to close it. Annoyed to death, I just click out. Didn’t learn anything, just left frustrated. If I were a content creator, I’d never cram ads like that. Irrelevant images and sounds only scatter people’s brains. If someone wants to buy, they will. No need to choke them with banners like force-feeding ducks.
I’ve become allergic to sales pitches – at the park, on the street, basically everywhere. Even if I’m not in a hurry, do I really want to waste minutes listening to someone ramble? Nope.
The worst? Once I was riding my motorbike into a turn when suddenly – a swarm of real estate sales reps popped up, shoving flyers into people’s faces. While we were driving! Dangerous doesn’t even begin to describe it. Some folks grabbed one only to toss it immediately. Others, at red lights, had flyers stuffed into their baskets without asking. The road looked like a confetti explosion – except uglier. Who’s supposed to clean up that mess?
And the conversations – oh boy:
“Excuse me, can I borrow just a minute of your time?”
“Sorry, I’m super busy pretending to ignore you.”
“Sir, would you like to try our massage chair?”
“Nah, your chair costs more than my rent. Pass.”
“No worries, it’s free! Just let us take some photos.”
“Not happening. My face isn’t your marketing material.”
“Uncle, buy three get one free!”
(Yeah, sure… probably means pay for four!)
“Auntie, cooking oil is on sale, 5-liter bottle, save big!”
“Thanks, but I cook with pork fat only.”
And don’t get me started on YouTube and TikTok. Endless discount deals, ladies screaming at the top of their lungs: “Unbelievable price! Biggest sale ever!” Like a broken record drilling into your skull. Housewives eat it up, smash the like button, and rush to order. Then the product arrives and – surprise! instant regret. Either return it (paying extra shipping, of course) or cry into the packaging.
Some defend themselves:“But I sell good stuff! If I don’t shout, no one will buy!” Fair point. A good product is useless if it collects dust in the warehouse. So yeah, we yell. Loud. Louder than a street hawker on steroids.
And then there’s the worst breed of all – cold calls. Stock investments, real estate, “exclusive offers,” always with some too-good-to-be-true pitch. The victim usually hangs up mid-sentence or yells something unprintable.
I once saw a Grab driver weaving through traffic, trying to answer one of those calls. He finally lost it:
“I don’t have money! Stop asking me to buy land!”
“I’m just a motorbike taxi guy scraping by, okay?!”
What, you think I drive a Camry? I can barely afford gas for my scooter!”
