One of my colleagues here at Media Relations Agency sent me a link the other day that really caught my attention. Fox 9 Morning News featured a segment last week describing how Congress is trying to stop television commercials from being so loud. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the proposed bill earlier this year, and now that it has been approved by the House it only needs President Barack Obama’s signature to become law.
The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM Act, would require the FCC to construct new industry sound regulations. These regulations would then be enforced in the beginning of 2012. It would require that commercials not be any louder than the loudest part of the segment just before it. This means you would no longer need to constantly adjust the volume every commercial break (thank goodness!) The United States is actually behind the curve on this one, though; Israel, Russia, France, Great Britain and Australia already have laws in place that regulate noisy advertisements.
So what does this mean to marketers? The CALM Act is just another item to add to the already long list of reasons why advertising isn’t as effective as publicity. People already tune out commercials, and with the advent of TiVo and DVR, skip them completely. Before, commercials were able to catch your attention by using higher volume levels than their surrounding programming, but soon they may not have that tactic to fall back on anymore.
Publicity doesn’t have these problems. We love telling our clients that the only thing that outsells a good news story is more good news stories; after all, consumers pay attention when they’re engaging with the programming, so what better way to promote your product than by using the media to get a share of that attention?
Now is the time for your company to take control of this powerful promotional channel. The reasons to choose PR over advertising just keep stacking up. Call us and we’ll talk about getting your product in the news.
To watch the newscast that aired on Fox 9 Morning News, visit www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/congress-works-to-end-loud-commercials-dec-1-2010
