Broadcast Blandness

There is a certain fascination about watching live broadcasts of foreign TV channels, in part because of the knowledge that, at the same time, people thousands of miles away are watching the exact same thing.  Moreover, there's that feeling that you are watching something 'forbidden', in that you know that these networks aren't really intended for your eyes.  Lately, thanks to the magic of one of those highly dubious Roku apps I like so much, I've been taking in quite a lot of US TV.  Obviously, the time difference means that I'm seeing a lot of what, to the US East Coast, is afternoon schedules, but staying up to the early hours, I can watch prime time, but it is, nonetheless, a fascinating experience.  The nature of the app means that many of its sources are undoubtedly of dubious legality, meaning that the availability of channels can vary from day-to-day, making for a somewhat fragmented viewing experience, (most of the main networks - CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox - clearly have more secure servers and streams, as they are rarely available direct, but many of their affiliates seem to have less secure broadcast streams, particularly those in the Mid-West, making their prime time schedules regularly available).  Apart from establishing that the flagship programming on the traditional networks is even blander, less varied and formulaic than here in the UK, the thing which has interested me the most have been the commercials.  Now, foreign TV ads have long been a source of fascination for the UK, mainly because it is always interesting to see how stuff is sold in different markets, but it seems that even these are now becoming more homogenised.  A fair proportion of the ads I've seen on the main US channels this past week have actually been the exact same ads used in the UK.  The product name varies, but the ads are the same as those running in the UK.

Voltarol, for instance, is Voltaren in the US, but uses the same commercials, just with a US voiceover and the US product name.  The Sensodyne ad, you know, the one with that woman brushing her teeth, glancing into the basin and seeing blood, looking up and seeing, instead of her reflection in the bathroom mirror, that posh-sounding Sensodyne woman who lectures her on the benefits of the product, also runs on US TV.  The posh bird even still has her English accent.  The only difference is that the ad is now advertising Parodontax, a toothpaste marketed in the US by the owners of the Sensodyne brand, (they also own Voltarol/Votaren).  In addition to these, there's also a series of ads for a windscreen replacement service called Safelite, which, despite having a different name, uses the same jingle (with the company name changed, obviously) as UK windscreen replacement service Auto Glass Direct, (Presumably, both are part of the same group).   Although not identical to the UK ads, they are very similar.  There are other ads for international brands which are the same on both sides of the Atlantic, but with the actors redubbed with location appropriate accents, (they doubtless also run in other overseas, non-English speaking, markets redubbed as appropriate).  I find this convergence of commercials rather disappointing, but not surprising.  It is all part and parcel of globalisation.  As more and more of the world's trade lies in the hands of fewer and fewer multinational conglomerates, it is only logical that they should want to present the same corporate image worldwide.  Moreover, it cuts costs if you can run the same ad anywhere in the world.  A concept that extends to TV itself, with the rise of streaming giants with global presences, television stations and their output will, inevitably, become ever more homogenised across markets.  It's already happened in retail: the brands dominating high streets and malls the world over are now all pretty much the same.  Stand in the middle of a shopping mall just about anywhere in the world and - on the basis of the shops you can see - you'd be hard pressed to say exactly where you were.  Not so much global 'brandification' as global 'blandification'.