I've been making a point of consuming as little American media as possible over the past few months, but yesterday I decided to watch a movie on US network television. The cultural difference is quite apparent when you compare commercials! I can't quite put my finger on it, but the commercials on the US stations seem to be intentionally alienating me. Sometimes on Canadian networks there are commercials where I'm not the target audience, but I get the impression that they don't mind if I sit in. But the US commercials make me feel like they actively don't want me there. Maybe it's because the American commercials seem to assume more strongly that the viewer is suburban and has a family of their own, I'm not quite sure yet. Also, they are positively infested with patronizing anti-drug commercials that trivialize the complexity of the problem.