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Advertisements have become naturalised into Polish reality and we all have got used to them. They are now treated as a fixed element in the architecture of any city, in papers' layout, television and radio programmes, etc. Advertising as such seems to be a useful phenomenon; nevertheless, it has some drawbacks which make it a constantly controversial subject. What does change however in this field is different aspects of controversy. It is no longer the "To be or not to be" question but rather how much time and space should be given to commercials and whether their quality should be censored .
If one wants to introduce limitation to anything it means that the phenomenon in question may carry harmful effects. It is certainly so with advertising. No one is immune to the great power of commercials. Especially children are very responsive to the colourful pictures presenting wonderful things, above all toys. As they are trustful, they believe that a great fun is possible only with a toy seen on TV; Barbie is a good case in point. If parents cannot afford it, it is difficult to explain to their daughter that she cannot have this doll because she does not see any obstacles on TV. Ads' task is to show only the positive sides of products, which is obvious to adults but not to children. They accept everything uncritically, not thinking that those products can, for instance, damage their teeth, as is the case with all kinds of sweets. Considering those bad points, some people postulate that advertising toys should be banned, as it is with guns and drugs. But, personally, I think it is hardly possible in a free market reality .
Leaving aside children's question, commercials should be limited just because they are irritating. Breaks during a film are sometimes useful, e.g. to make a cup of coffee or a short telephone call, not missing the action, on condition that they are of reasonable length and frequency. What is also annoying, but unfortunately often practised in TV is introducing breaks not only in the middle of a scene but even in the middle of a sentence, which is unacceptable. Television producers should pay more attention to televiewers' rights and keep to the time limits established for commercial breaks .
While the time and space intended for commercial breaks are measurable, no one can tell to what extent advertisements influence our minds. One might argue that he or she had certain reasons to choose between two products but I am afraid we let ourselves be unconsciously manipulated. Competition requires using more and more sophisticated means to gain new buyers' approval and it is not enough to say that something is the best. Specialists appeal to our unconscious needs to feel important and more worthy, and to belong to the elite. We can do nothing about this aspect of advertising but as for others we are not helpless. It should be controlled that TV stations obey the time limits and censorship should ban immoral and discriminating ads. Apart from that, my personal wish is that the artistic level of them were higher .
