I thought the countdown to V was because ABC knew it had a loyal and substantial audience watching Lost and that they had a dud of a show with the stupid V remake. Trying to drag the folks they had into watching that dumb show.

My rule is to keep a list of all products that make use of intrusive advertising, and to boycott said products. Anyone who stuffs a flyer on my doorknob or under my car windshield will never have me as a customer. I've added the show "V" to my list. Due to the horrendously large, bright-red V countdown ticker next to the already pointless and annoying ABC bug at the bottom corner of the screen, I swore I'd never watch another episode of "V" (i'd only seen 4 and was not all that invested in the show to begin with).

What pisses me off the most is that I can see the advertising execs sitting around their big wooden table discussing the "V timer bug" saying asinine shit like "countdown timers make people excited" and "bright red gets the attention of the eye" and "the timer will build anticipation and get people to stay tuned to watch 'V' after Lost" ... never mind the annoyance.

The problem is that advertisers know that there is no such thing as bad press. Any attention is good attention. Even if your products are proven to enable pedophile child rapists and are responsible for the rape-deaths of 100,000 children, any complains about it is just free advertising. Why? Because it works.

More people need to be like me. THINK for a second, ask yourself if you're annoyed by an advertisement, and if you are, don't use the product. Why should you reward people for bothering you? Keep a list of advertisements that bothered you due to their intrusiveness and don't use those products - ever. One person can't make a difference but many people can.

I guess I've just programmed myself to not even notice the garbage everybody puts at the bottom of the screen these days. All the articles complaining about it were a surprise to me. Just let it go people.

My number one rule is to work toward ignoring all advertising whatsoever. The only exception is when I encounter an ad so offensive or stupid that I make a mental note to never buy that product.

Thanks ABC. The V during the show was not that bad. But the V that burned into my screen because you used BRIGHT RED is a great touch. I was able to see the RED V when I switch away from ABC for about 10 extra minutes.

I guess this is a new form of advertising. (ghosting adverts)

When I saw the red V, I thought of one thing. I was watching the local news and the reporter said check out this as he was pointing to the ground. No one watching the news could see it because they had some stupid thing scrolling at the bottom of the screen.

TV viewing - very much like reading - is about immersion: Forgetting about your own life for a little while and being drawn in to the drama. All these pop-ups and corner-promotions ruin the illusion for me - the red "V" especially so. I was on the fence about continuing with V and this stunt is just about the final nail in the coffin.

I noticed it and it was annoying. Not enough for me to write a comment about it. But enough for me to write a comment on an article complaining about it.

the V didn't bother me

People will whine about a coming attraction bug on the large screen yet they'll gladly pay for the same program to watch on a small postcard sized iphone/touch screen. Hmmm America in the 21st century gotta love it.

Gee I don't know but I'm glad they are actually promo'ing a show with Lost as the lead-in so in 6 months, if it ends up being canceled, we don't get "Why didn't ABC ever promo V for all us sci-fi/character driven show fans to watch?" whines.

The red "V" in the corner didn't really bother me or distract me as much as it did everyone else. Not as much as how boring these episodes of "LOST" have been this season, and I am a HUGE fan of the show. I think that there must be a lot of frustration with the show, and everyone is projecting it on to that little red "V." If "LOST" was having a better end run, then I doubt some many would have even noticed.

Lost in all of this is what people should have been offended by--how terrible "V' is becoming after just five episodes, after what was a fairly promising start. Seriously, that show is sinking into the muck. I'm thinking about the "Bionic Woman" reboot. Hope it doesn't reach "Knight Rider" territory. Sort of along the lines of what TheGeoffMan wrote, I kind of thought I was watching "V" on NBC too.

BTW, there is NOTHING more obnoxious than people whose primary critical contribution to these blogs is pointing out other people's spelling and grammatical errors. Get a life.