Logos on TV Sets

Last month, I looked at the "bugs" television channels put on the screen to be sure I am always aware of the kindly souls offering the programming.

TV manufacturers, too, don't want me to forget whose brand I own. They prefer to put their logo in a way that contrasts with what is around it. Phillips, Toshiba, and Sharp, for example, put their logos either in white or silver against a black background, or in black against a silver background:






Panasonic, at least, offers some sets with a silver logo against a silver background, which makes it a tad less obtrusive.

I'd be delighted to find a television set that didn't insist on advertising itself every time I look at it. Does any major manufacturer have such a product?

Creeping Logoism

Logos seem to grow. I have a Marmot down coat, bought about ten years ago, which has an inconspicuous logo that I was happy to tolerate, even though I generally do not like to display product names.



A little later, I bought a Marmot rain jacket. It had the Marmot "M" in an acceptable size. Unfortunately, I lost it. I replaced it with the new version, but now logo creep had struck. It had a white Marmot logo against a black background on the front:



And another on the right shoulder:



And yet a third on the back:



Now I'm a walking advertisement for Marmot, a firm whose clothing I appreciate, but whose unpaid billboard I am not happy to be. Is it my imagination, or are logos becoming more frequent as well as more obnoxious?

More Obnoxious Logos on the TV Screen

I suppose it's partly the fault of the news channels, which fill their screens with every manner of electronic busyness. Television channel logos have become increasingly obtrusive. I don't mind an occasional brief appearance of a logo. It may contribute to making copyright infringement harder? However, when logos are there all the time, and even change to make sure one doesn't tune them out, we have the makings of an abomination.

The worse example is Voom. At various points, a rainbow loco flashes in the corner of the screen. The last time this happened, I was watching a program on Italian art. Suddenly, the Voom logo appeared over a Carravaggio painting:


This hardly adds to one's appreciation.

Or take BBC America, which sometimes insists
not only on advertising coming shows on the bottom left, but thinks I need to be reminded what program I am watching on the lower left:




The Documentary Channel is a particular offender, with at least four different logos, among them:

The Learning Channel has its own vivid addition to my viewing pleasure:



Then there is the Discovery Channel:


Over time, one tunes these obnoxious logos out, at which point some channels change the logo, or add vivid color to make sure viewers don't forget what channel they are watching.

Am I the only one annoyed by these things?

Is anyone else annoyed by obtrusive product logos?

In a world filled with advertising, I dislike adding to the clutter by prominently displaying the manufacturers of the products I buy. I don't mind discreet product logos, but the more vivid the logo, the less likely I am to buy the product.
A few months back, I bought a Columbia jacket. Its logo was a little bigger than I like, but what was even more annoying was that there were six zipper tags, each with a prominent Columbia logo.

On the other hand, discreet logos like those of Apple, Nike, or Mercedes are appropriately unobtrusive. I can tolerate them, though I still prefer not to become an unpaid advertising agent for products I buy.

In this blog, which may take a while to get going, I plan to include photographs of what I think to be obnoxious and obtrusive logos. I welcome digital photographs of your "favorites" as well.