8 ms·

Disney says Hulu will accept political issue ads

23 points by samizdis 4y ago

tablespoon 4y ago
There must be no respite.
- albatross13 4y ago
  Toxic ads will continue until morale improves.
  - raverbashing 4y ago
    don't forget to tell people who just bought an original DVD that pirating is wrong
    - albatross13 4y ago
      pirating is morally correct.
- chrsig 4y ago
  - SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
    Isn't that what Hulu subscribers did? They went to a company that dug a hole, stuck their heads inside, but now the hole inspectors have come and demanded that Hulu fill it in because nobody should be allowed to stick their head in a hole. As far as I'm aware, nobody's argued that Hulu has special characteristics that make it uniquely important to politics. The advocates' argument is simply that all platforms should have political advertising because politics is very important.
    - chrsig 4y ago
      By definition, if you want to escape reality, you need to disconnect from it. How can you expect disney, the largest entertainment company in the world, to disconnect you from reality? By using hulu at all you're explicitly opting into reality. By being on the internet at all, you're participating in reality. You can of course opt to participate in reality and try to adjust it to your liking. Most of it you have quite little control over, though.
      - dabbledash 4y ago
        "By using hulu at all you're explicitly opting into reality." I pay for the ad-free tier. I guess you can "opt out of reality" after all. And there's no real reason why a company can't exclude specific types of ads its customers are likely to find (particularly) annoying.
        chrsig 4y ago
        You do understand that the content your consuming also attaches you to reality, right?
        dabbledash 4y ago
        Great. Then I guess desiring not to be inundated with political ads doesn't amount to a desire to avoid "being reminded that reality exists."
        chrsig 4y ago
        Being inundated with political ads is currently part of reality. Mere desire will not change that.
        tablespoon 4y ago
        > Being inundated with political ads is currently part of reality. "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." So would you agree that reality in 2020 was having some asshole get in your face without a mask, and if you didn't like it, then you should have been reminded that "this is reality, deal with it"?
  - junofan 4y ago
    “reality” is an interesting term for the Party Line.
  - newaccount2021 4y ago
  - claytongulick 4y ago
    > there is no respite for being reminded that you exist in reality. In the place we go to explicitly and purposefully escape reality temporarily. Entertainment.
  - tablespoon 4y ago
    > Until then, yes, there is no respite for being reminded that you exist in reality. What do you mean "reality"? We're talking about political issue ads here. Is it "reality" to be constantly nagged/threatened/scared to agree with all kinds of contradictory things in every possible place?
    - chrsig 4y ago
      > Is it "reality" to be constantly nagged/threatened/scared to agree with all kinds of contradictory things in every possible place? Yes. but also (in the US) that mass shootings are happening on an increasing basis, fascism is on the rise, women no longer have a right to abortion, corporations are given increasing amounts of personhood, the medical system is broken, infrastructure is falling apart, covid - and all that entails, a huge chunk of the population is brainwashed into thinking the election was rigged and refuses to acknowledge evidence to the contrary... but yeah, also, ads.
      - tablespoon 4y ago
        So basically, everyone should be sea-lioned until you think the world doesn't have any more problems? > but yeah, also, ads. No, the issue isn't ads per se. No one's complaining here about some funny beer commercial. And frankly, ads are literally nothing but short-form propaganda, which makes them even more obnoxious and inappropriate for political issues.
        chrsig 4y ago
        > So basically, everyone should be sea-lioned until you think the world doesn't have any more problems? Freedom of speech means putting up with people saying things that you don't agree with or want to hear. Deal with it. Stop using hulu, or pay more for more to opt out of advertisements. You do not have a right to ad-free entertainment. You live in a society where money talks and bullshit walks. It would seem that there's more money for disney in showing you those ads than they're making off of the people that may cancel their subscriptions due to running the ads.
  - dabbledash 4y ago
    Why would that be acceptable if entertainment is not?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- WilTimSon 4y ago
  There's always a respite, except people are not morally comfortable with pirating or using extensive ad blocking, it seems, though the latter is far more common, of course. Honestly, I see no issue in making it so that I don't ever have to see an advertisement if it can be avoided, especially a targeted advertisement. Same goes for pirating a piece of media if the licensed version has DRM. I'll pay for it, sure, but I'll pirate a copy and read/watch that. I pay for my Spotify account and I have no ads, I can listen to whatever music I want, that's the kind of service that makes me happy. I know that Spotify apparently has regional restrictions but I have not run into any of those yet, which might say something about my taste being narrow? Either way.
  - poidos 4y ago
    I’ve seen many ads on paid Spotify. Large banners advertising podcasts on opening the app, a “podcasts to look at” row in the home page. They’re thankfully less frequent as of late, though.
    - the_only_law 4y ago
      I hate this. My home screen used to display things like new releases I might like (separate from the release radar playlist). Now I more often see droves of podcasts I don't care about and have ever expressed interest in.
    - erulabs 4y ago
      Erm - those aren’t ads? If you’re already paying and there is product on the shelf of the store you’re already inside of… that’s just a product.
      - WilTimSon 4y ago
        Yeah, that's like saying YouTube's recommended videos are ads. Sure, they promote stuff, but they're a completely different category to the drivel they run before videos, where I have to watch commercials for products I'd never use. One is promoting the platform's content, one is going "Get yourself to Aldi and buy a pipe cleaner! Now!"
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
game-of-throws 4y ago
I wonder why people pirate TV shows.
mchusma 4y ago
I cancelled Hulu for a few months simply because I was watching a romantic comedy and they showed a Horror commercial that was so gross that I cancelled on the spot. I don't like political ads, but there are good arguments for them. Ads for horror movies that involve grotesque things I have to hide my kids from? I don't see the value there. At least let me opt out or something. I have not watched horror in 20 years and have no intention of ever watching it.
- AlexTWithBeard 4y ago
  Wait. Are you saying there are commercials in paid subscriptions?
  - the_only_law 4y ago
    Yes, you can pay more to remove them I believe.
    - powerhour 4y ago
      You can pay more to remove some commercials but not all. From their FAQ: > Q: I subscribe to Hulu (No Ads) but I’m still seeing ads during on-demand videos > A: Most of our streaming library is ad-free for Hulu (No Ads) subscribers, but there are a few shows that will still have ads.
  - jasonlotito 4y ago
    For live TV there are ads, but that's because there are ads during live TV, regardless. However, Hulu does offer up ad-free options. https://help.hulu.com/s/article/hulu-no-ads https://help.hulu.com/s/article/hulu-no-ads Basically, people opt-into seeing ads. They can opt-into seeing no ads, too. It's not rocket science.
    - registeredcorn 4y ago
      I thought the same thing until about 2 minutes ago. https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials
dabbledash 4y ago
When will these companies learn that shriekers on twitter don't represent the preferences of their actual customer base? Or maybe it won't matter, because since normal people have other things to worry about it always pays to give in to the loudest, most obnoxious people. In which case, i guess we can look forward to a future where everything is influenced by the most unhinged. "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."
- erulabs 4y ago
  Nietzsche called it “the tyrannomania of impotence”. I can’t just imagine being so passionate about — ads?
  - SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
    Well, I mean, the passion doesn't come from a vacuum here. The controversy here was started by a group of campaign directors. You can be and I am concerned about the media dynamics here, but it's not a big mystery why campaign committees would care deeply about buying a lot of ads or why Disney might decide it's a good business move to let them.
    - erulabs 4y ago
      Oh absolutely - totally agreed about folks who’s jobs this is or who’s revenue it represents. I am more flabbergasted by the “boycott” from normal customers who are apparently outraged they won’t be seeing ads they already agree with.
      - SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
        As far as I've seen reported, there was no boycott or grassroots outrage here. I think this is just a story of Disney accepting demands from a somewhat controversial industry with strong government connections that they must be allowed to advertise on Hulu.
jasonlotito 4y ago
People that are complaining about ads can opt-into add-free viewing. https://help.hulu.com/s/article/hulu-no-ads https://help.hulu.com/s/article/hulu-no-ads I don't see the issue. You don't want to see ads, there are numerous ways to go about this. I really don't see the issue. You have a lot of choices to watch things without seeings ads.
- xeromal 4y ago
  Annoyingly enough, they will still show previous of shitty shows you're not interested in watching.
- berkeleyjunk 4y ago
  I have done this but it is not really a matter of "opting in". This is simply paying more for removing ads. People on the cheaper plans do not get to check a box to opt out of an ad. The price for the ad free plan is almost double that of the plan with ads ($13 vs $7).
- registeredcorn 4y ago
  https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials
hirundo 4y ago
> Broadcasters are required by law to accept ads from political candidates on any topic, no matter how controversial it may be. > Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press I think this law amounts to compulsory speech by the broadcaster, and SCOTUS should strike it under strict scrutiny.
- lovecg 4y ago
  Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC?
- enragedcacti 4y ago
  Broadcasters is a specific terminology referring to companies that broadcast on airwaves licensed from the federal government and have thus agreed to stipulations based on that license. If broadcasters weren't limited in that way, a private company would be leveraging federal government resources to selectively broadcast speech by some politicians but not others, which sounds like a freedom of speech issue that warrants concern as well in my book.
- onedognight 4y ago
  Broadcasters trade these rules for exclusive access to the radio spectrum. We all agree to not broadcast overtop them and they agree to equal access. The internet doesn’t play by these rules.
  - hirundo 4y ago
    Since Hulu doesn't use scarce radio spectrum, I wonder how applying this restriction to them is rationalized.
    - enragedcacti 4y ago
      This isn't being applied by the FCC, its being implemented in a response to public and political feedback, presumably on the basis that Disney allows advertising on most of their other ad-supported platforms which have more conservative audiences. Axios didn't do a particularly good job of clarifying the relevance of information about broadcasters in their piece.
izzydata 4y ago
Thankfully I have control of my computer and can decide what does and does not display on it. Thank you adblockers.
alkaloid 4y ago
I stopped downloading torrents when streaming came along. I maxed out my Hulu subscription to avoid commercials. Hulu forces commercials on me anyway. And now I get to watch commercials about 'Merica, which apparently dictates worldwide political matters. Sweet.
- dmix 4y ago
  Isn't Hulu only available in America?
  - alkaloid 4y ago
    I'm still a little shady. But only a little.
- clircle 4y ago
  Did Hulu start airing commercials to those paying for the premium plan?
  - registeredcorn 4y ago
    I was wondering the same thing. Personally, I consider those opening seconds of "You are watching (channel)" as a sort of ad, especially since it can't be skipped, but I haven't seen any outright ad breaks on premium. Yet.
    - clircle 4y ago
      Checking hulu.com, it looks like the $13/month plan is ad-free
- AlwaysRock 4y ago
  If you are outside the US do you actually get served US political ads?
  - dogma1138 4y ago
ffggvv 4y ago
disney shows itself time and time again to be an organ of the DNC.
- imgabe 4y ago
  More like the other way around, I think.
  - tablespoon 4y ago
    > More like the other way around, I think. Honestly, it doesn't have to be an either-or thing. It could be a symbiotic quid-pro-quo.
tialaramex 4y ago
Everything which matters is a political issue, that's sort of the point, that's what politics is. The United States of America is substantially founded on this sort of blindness of what constitutes an actual political issue, which is how you got a "Land of the free" built by enslaved people. So this policy is actually about what type of political issue ads will be allowed. Hulu would always have allowed various advertisements lauding Capitalist ideology, which is certainly a political issue, but perhaps before this change it might not have allowed you to point out that Women's Rights are Human Rights for example.

23 points by samizdis 4y ago

tablespoon 4y ago

There must be no respite.

albatross13 4y ago
Toxic ads will continue until morale improves.
- raverbashing 4y ago
  don't forget to tell people who just bought an original DVD that pirating is wrong
  - albatross13 4y ago
    pirating is morally correct.
chrsig 4y ago
- SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
  Isn't that what Hulu subscribers did? They went to a company that dug a hole, stuck their heads inside, but now the hole inspectors have come and demanded that Hulu fill it in because nobody should be allowed to stick their head in a hole. As far as I'm aware, nobody's argued that Hulu has special characteristics that make it uniquely important to politics. The advocates' argument is simply that all platforms should have political advertising because politics is very important.
  - chrsig 4y ago
    By definition, if you want to escape reality, you need to disconnect from it. How can you expect disney, the largest entertainment company in the world, to disconnect you from reality? By using hulu at all you're explicitly opting into reality. By being on the internet at all, you're participating in reality. You can of course opt to participate in reality and try to adjust it to your liking. Most of it you have quite little control over, though.
    - dabbledash 4y ago
      "By using hulu at all you're explicitly opting into reality." I pay for the ad-free tier. I guess you can "opt out of reality" after all. And there's no real reason why a company can't exclude specific types of ads its customers are likely to find (particularly) annoying.
      - chrsig 4y ago
        You do understand that the content your consuming also attaches you to reality, right?
        dabbledash 4y ago
        Great. Then I guess desiring not to be inundated with political ads doesn't amount to a desire to avoid "being reminded that reality exists."
        chrsig 4y ago
        Being inundated with political ads is currently part of reality. Mere desire will not change that.
        tablespoon 4y ago
        > Being inundated with political ads is currently part of reality. "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." So would you agree that reality in 2020 was having some asshole get in your face without a mask, and if you didn't like it, then you should have been reminded that "this is reality, deal with it"?
- junofan 4y ago
  “reality” is an interesting term for the Party Line.
- newaccount2021 4y ago
- claytongulick 4y ago
  > there is no respite for being reminded that you exist in reality. In the place we go to explicitly and purposefully escape reality temporarily. Entertainment.
- tablespoon 4y ago
  > Until then, yes, there is no respite for being reminded that you exist in reality. What do you mean "reality"? We're talking about political issue ads here. Is it "reality" to be constantly nagged/threatened/scared to agree with all kinds of contradictory things in every possible place?
  - chrsig 4y ago
    > Is it "reality" to be constantly nagged/threatened/scared to agree with all kinds of contradictory things in every possible place? Yes. but also (in the US) that mass shootings are happening on an increasing basis, fascism is on the rise, women no longer have a right to abortion, corporations are given increasing amounts of personhood, the medical system is broken, infrastructure is falling apart, covid - and all that entails, a huge chunk of the population is brainwashed into thinking the election was rigged and refuses to acknowledge evidence to the contrary... but yeah, also, ads.
    - tablespoon 4y ago
      So basically, everyone should be sea-lioned until you think the world doesn't have any more problems? > but yeah, also, ads. No, the issue isn't ads per se. No one's complaining here about some funny beer commercial. And frankly, ads are literally nothing but short-form propaganda, which makes them even more obnoxious and inappropriate for political issues.
      - chrsig 4y ago
        > So basically, everyone should be sea-lioned until you think the world doesn't have any more problems? Freedom of speech means putting up with people saying things that you don't agree with or want to hear. Deal with it. Stop using hulu, or pay more for more to opt out of advertisements. You do not have a right to ad-free entertainment. You live in a society where money talks and bullshit walks. It would seem that there's more money for disney in showing you those ads than they're making off of the people that may cancel their subscriptions due to running the ads.
- dabbledash 4y ago
  Why would that be acceptable if entertainment is not?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
WilTimSon 4y ago
There's always a respite, except people are not morally comfortable with pirating or using extensive ad blocking, it seems, though the latter is far more common, of course. Honestly, I see no issue in making it so that I don't ever have to see an advertisement if it can be avoided, especially a targeted advertisement. Same goes for pirating a piece of media if the licensed version has DRM. I'll pay for it, sure, but I'll pirate a copy and read/watch that. I pay for my Spotify account and I have no ads, I can listen to whatever music I want, that's the kind of service that makes me happy. I know that Spotify apparently has regional restrictions but I have not run into any of those yet, which might say something about my taste being narrow? Either way.
- poidos 4y ago
  I’ve seen many ads on paid Spotify. Large banners advertising podcasts on opening the app, a “podcasts to look at” row in the home page. They’re thankfully less frequent as of late, though.
  - the_only_law 4y ago
    I hate this. My home screen used to display things like new releases I might like (separate from the release radar playlist). Now I more often see droves of podcasts I don't care about and have ever expressed interest in.
  - erulabs 4y ago
    Erm - those aren’t ads? If you’re already paying and there is product on the shelf of the store you’re already inside of… that’s just a product.
    - WilTimSon 4y ago
      Yeah, that's like saying YouTube's recommended videos are ads. Sure, they promote stuff, but they're a completely different category to the drivel they run before videos, where I have to watch commercials for products I'd never use. One is promoting the platform's content, one is going "Get yourself to Aldi and buy a pipe cleaner! Now!"
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

game-of-throws 4y ago

I wonder why people pirate TV shows.

mchusma 4y ago

I cancelled Hulu for a few months simply because I was watching a romantic comedy and they showed a Horror commercial that was so gross that I cancelled on the spot. I don't like political ads, but there are good arguments for them. Ads for horror movies that involve grotesque things I have to hide my kids from? I don't see the value there. At least let me opt out or something. I have not watched horror in 20 years and have no intention of ever watching it.

AlexTWithBeard 4y ago
Wait. Are you saying there are commercials in paid subscriptions?
- the_only_law 4y ago
  Yes, you can pay more to remove them I believe.
  - powerhour 4y ago
    You can pay more to remove some commercials but not all. From their FAQ: > Q: I subscribe to Hulu (No Ads) but I’m still seeing ads during on-demand videos > A: Most of our streaming library is ad-free for Hulu (No Ads) subscribers, but there are a few shows that will still have ads.
- jasonlotito 4y ago
  For live TV there are ads, but that's because there are ads during live TV, regardless. However, Hulu does offer up ad-free options. https://help.hulu.com/s/article/hulu-no-ads https://help.hulu.com/s/article/hulu-no-ads Basically, people opt-into seeing ads. They can opt-into seeing no ads, too. It's not rocket science.
  - registeredcorn 4y ago
    I thought the same thing until about 2 minutes ago. https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials

dabbledash 4y ago

When will these companies learn that shriekers on twitter don't represent the preferences of their actual customer base? Or maybe it won't matter, because since normal people have other things to worry about it always pays to give in to the loudest, most obnoxious people. In which case, i guess we can look forward to a future where everything is influenced by the most unhinged. "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."

erulabs 4y ago
Nietzsche called it “the tyrannomania of impotence”. I can’t just imagine being so passionate about — ads?
- SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
  Well, I mean, the passion doesn't come from a vacuum here. The controversy here was started by a group of campaign directors. You can be and I am concerned about the media dynamics here, but it's not a big mystery why campaign committees would care deeply about buying a lot of ads or why Disney might decide it's a good business move to let them.
  - erulabs 4y ago
    Oh absolutely - totally agreed about folks who’s jobs this is or who’s revenue it represents. I am more flabbergasted by the “boycott” from normal customers who are apparently outraged they won’t be seeing ads they already agree with.
    - SpicyLemonZest 4y ago
      As far as I've seen reported, there was no boycott or grassroots outrage here. I think this is just a story of Disney accepting demands from a somewhat controversial industry with strong government connections that they must be allowed to advertise on Hulu.

jasonlotito 4y ago

People that are complaining about ads can opt-into add-free viewing. https://help.hulu.com/s/article/hulu-no-ads https://help.hulu.com/s/article/hulu-no-ads I don't see the issue. You don't want to see ads, there are numerous ways to go about this. I really don't see the issue. You have a lot of choices to watch things without seeings ads.

xeromal 4y ago
Annoyingly enough, they will still show previous of shitty shows you're not interested in watching.
berkeleyjunk 4y ago
I have done this but it is not really a matter of "opting in". This is simply paying more for removing ads. People on the cheaper plans do not get to check a box to opt out of an ad. The price for the ad free plan is almost double that of the plan with ads ($13 vs $7).
registeredcorn 4y ago
https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials

hirundo 4y ago

> Broadcasters are required by law to accept ads from political candidates on any topic, no matter how controversial it may be. > Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press I think this law amounts to compulsory speech by the broadcaster, and SCOTUS should strike it under strict scrutiny.

lovecg 4y ago
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC?
enragedcacti 4y ago
Broadcasters is a specific terminology referring to companies that broadcast on airwaves licensed from the federal government and have thus agreed to stipulations based on that license. If broadcasters weren't limited in that way, a private company would be leveraging federal government resources to selectively broadcast speech by some politicians but not others, which sounds like a freedom of speech issue that warrants concern as well in my book.
onedognight 4y ago
Broadcasters trade these rules for exclusive access to the radio spectrum. We all agree to not broadcast overtop them and they agree to equal access. The internet doesn’t play by these rules.
- hirundo 4y ago
  Since Hulu doesn't use scarce radio spectrum, I wonder how applying this restriction to them is rationalized.
  - enragedcacti 4y ago
    This isn't being applied by the FCC, its being implemented in a response to public and political feedback, presumably on the basis that Disney allows advertising on most of their other ad-supported platforms which have more conservative audiences. Axios didn't do a particularly good job of clarifying the relevance of information about broadcasters in their piece.

izzydata 4y ago

Thankfully I have control of my computer and can decide what does and does not display on it. Thank you adblockers.

alkaloid 4y ago

I stopped downloading torrents when streaming came along. I maxed out my Hulu subscription to avoid commercials. Hulu forces commercials on me anyway. And now I get to watch commercials about 'Merica, which apparently dictates worldwide political matters. Sweet.

dmix 4y ago
Isn't Hulu only available in America?
- alkaloid 4y ago
  I'm still a little shady. But only a little.
clircle 4y ago
Did Hulu start airing commercials to those paying for the premium plan?
- registeredcorn 4y ago
  I was wondering the same thing. Personally, I consider those opening seconds of "You are watching (channel)" as a sort of ad, especially since it can't be skipped, but I haven't seen any outright ad breaks on premium. Yet.
  - clircle 4y ago
    Checking hulu.com, it looks like the $13/month plan is ad-free
AlwaysRock 4y ago
If you are outside the US do you actually get served US political ads?
- dogma1138 4y ago

ffggvv 4y ago

disney shows itself time and time again to be an organ of the DNC.

imgabe 4y ago
More like the other way around, I think.
- tablespoon 4y ago
  > More like the other way around, I think. Honestly, it doesn't have to be an either-or thing. It could be a symbiotic quid-pro-quo.

tialaramex 4y ago

Everything which matters is a political issue, that's sort of the point, that's what politics is. The United States of America is substantially founded on this sort of blindness of what constitutes an actual political issue, which is how you got a "Land of the free" built by enslaved people. So this policy is actually about what type of political issue ads will be allowed. Hulu would always have allowed various advertisements lauding Capitalist ideology, which is certainly a political issue, but perhaps before this change it might not have allowed you to point out that Women's Rights are Human Rights for example.