The title of this post is a lyric from a song by The Who just to give everyone some music knowledge. I just want to go over previous generations and then what it’s looking like for our generation. The time period between 1900-1924 is known as the G.I generation because of WW1 and I don’t think they did much other than fight. From 25-45, the Silent Generation which consisted of main events like WW2 and the Great Depression. 46-64, Baby Boomers which Tom Brokaw coined the Greatest Generation. 1965-1979, Generation X which when compared with previous generations, Generation X represents a more heterogeneous generation, exhibiting great variety. They are diverse in such aspects as race, class, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. 1980-2000 is the Millennials or Generation Y which is marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies. Finally, 2000-Present is the New Silent Generation or Generation Z. I don’t have a problem with any of their names but I do have my own name for what I believe the current generation should be called, Generation Ad.

Now this doesn’t stand for AD like after death, it’s stands for Ad like advertisement. Our world is run by ads. Millions of jobs are created by people making ads. You need people to come up with the idea for the ad. People to create the ad. People to make sure the Ad finds the right people. People to track the ad’s success. Our world revolves around the ad. I believe that the Ad has become the most important part of our society that our entire generation should be named after it.

How does the economy work? People find a product or service that has demand, then they offer or sell it. How do they let people know about their product or service, Ads. The reason the Ad is so useful is because everyone wins. Let’s take the Superbowl commercials. A network buys the rights to a huge event watched by a hundred million people, then they sell commercial space for millions of dollars. The broadcast company wins for selling space and the companies win because they promote their name and product to a hundred million people. In the 1980’s and 1990’s TV, along with billboards and radios, were the main outlets of advertising. Welcome the internet.

I can’t stand internet Ads. I’m not talking about pop-ups so much as I am video ads. When you watch a show on Hulu you get a big fat ad to start the show and then 3 more just like TV. When I try to watch a video on Failblog they have the audacity to show a 30 second ad for Ax body wash before a nitwit hits himself in the balls with a skateboard that lasts 10 seconds. People put banners all over sites to generate revenue as their MAIN SOURCE OF INCOME. All this advertising is such a waste on me because I can’t even remember the product that’s being sold near all the time. Who buys this shit they are selling? The Ad has taking over the world and it’s literally everywhere. Every moment of every day is somebody, somewhere trying to sell you something. You can’t go your entire day with out an advertisement for something. You think in 1930 they were worrying about what brand of Shampoo they were going to buy? The way people promote items and market goods has driven the way we live our life.

The way Ads effect how you look or think has shaped us into who we are today. Is there a difference in the shoe MJ puts his name behind and the shoe Kobe markets? No, they are both made in China by 12 year olds. But when Kobe is throwing it down in his Zoom Kobe IV’s, you’re sold. Do I buy Geico because I like the funny talking lizard or should I buy Allstate because I want to be protected by David Palmer (24 joke). Fifty years ago you bought something because it was only down the street. Now you have hundreds of alternatives and it’s up to the advertisers of the world to sell you what you need. It’s really a sick and twisted world if you think about it. Ad’s are dollar signs to companies. Companies don’t work without Ads and I believe that the Ad has become one of the most important trademarks of this era.