Done seeing ads?

[Scandium]

I've realized I'm not basically not exposed to ads anymore, with a few minor exceptions.

Canceled cable last year so don't see any ad-supported TV, just netflix and amazon video. 
Have adblock on desktop and mobile browsers so never see internet ads, including ~95% of youtube ads.
Subscribe to the digital version of economist which only has a single ad page when I open the app.
Live in a county with no billboard ads, and have to drive some distance to see any.
Don't listen to radio, and if I do it's NPR (which does have "sponsored by..")

Few other exceptions being the youtube app on my phone which you can't block, reddit app, and the roku screen saver.. But most of the time I barely see any ads for anything anymore! Even with my limited media consumption before I feel I saw them all the time.

I (like everyone..) think I'm not very influenced by ads so it's not a huge deal to me, I just find them irritation more than anything. I don't have anything profound to say about it, but I thought it was interesting. Do you think you see more or fewer ads now than in the past? Where/how are the remaining places where ads can't be avoided (in apps!)? And are there ways to avoid those too?

[genesismachine]

I'm kind of in the same boat. I've been reading a lot of behavioral economics books and concluded everyone (including myself, and I'm even aware of how the tricks work!) is affected by ads whether they realize it or not. Although obviously there are degrees of effectiveness depending on the individual.

Sometimes, the advertising can affect you indirectly like if you see a couch advertisement, you may think your living room needs sprucing up and buy a rug. Or it might get you into that 'how can I buy something to make this problem go away' mindset.

If I could, I would happily pay to get rid of the remaining 5% of ads that I do see every day.

[Dollar Slice]

I also see very few ads now (don't watch TV or movies, usually click out of any video with an embedded ad, use an adblocker on my browser). It's a wonderful thing.

I'll be the exception to your "everyone" who thinks they aren't influenced by ads. I'm not sure if I'm easily influenced or if I just notice it more, but I absolutely feel a clear influence. Food commercials make me want that food, car commercials make me think driving a car looks fun and luxurious, etc. And it's not just ads, but all kinds of media. Most media subconsciously suggests to us that what it presents is true or real or normal. This is how people live, this is how people look, this is how people act, etc. It's a very powerful effect on your brain to immerse yourself in that kind of fiction for hours every day like some people do. Even when it's not trying to sell you a specific product, I think it's a big part of the consumer lifestyle. For example, people watch TV and movies and see people who are constantly at restaurants and bars and coffee shops, presented as a totally normal thing that everyone does.

[LPG]

I'm in the same boat, almost never encountering ads. I haven't had a TV connection since 2007, stream video on Netflix or Amazon Prime, and really get all of my entertainment quite commercial free. It feels very liberating!

Recently I was driving from the Bay Area to Sacramento, and decided to listen to the SF Giants game on the radio. I'm not into baseball, but my aunt is a huge Giants fan and keeping up on the Giants gives me more things to share with her. So, cool. This was probably the first time I experienced radio commercials in 15 or 20 years. I was shocked by how predictable they were! It was a very obvious pattern.

Step 1: Fear! Anxiety! Insecurity! Something about your life is terrible!
Step 2: Introduce product/service as the savior to this very "real" problem.
Step 3: Claim that it's really quite inexpensive, so you don't feel guilty about spending too much money on it, or even think twice about it. just buy, buy, buy!

In the 1.5 hr drive I think I heard one that used humor to get attention, but the rest were this standard pattern. I can't imagine what being bombarded by that steady stream of manufactured insecurity does to people's brains. And, yes, I'm 100% certain that it does work and convinces people to spend more money. Maybe not instantly, maybe not on that specific product, but once that insecurity sinks in I bet that people will eventually do anything to get it out.