My ex used to write car commercials, and I asked her why they all had that goofy tone and all sounded the same in a weird way. I told her that I couldn't remember a single dealership from all the commercials I'd heard, since that tone lets me filter them out. She told me that was just because I wasn't in the market for a car, and if I was, that same tone would make the car commercials stand out. Sure enough, when I was in the market for a car years later, I realized she was right!
That's a great point. So much of advertising is just providing awareness, too. I may not be in the market for a particular product, but if I've heard their ads a million times, even if they're annoying, once I go to buy, I will probably give them more weight than some unknown brand, especially if it's a low stakes purchase.
Yep. HN (and similar community) conversations on this topic are always so snobby, but in reality all it points to is this community mostly wanting to buy different things. Everyone here is just as susceptible.