Lifestyle: Britons shun advertising overkill

The British are being bombarded by so much commercial information that one third of the population is now actively trying to avoid advertising, according to a new report.

The average British commuter sees 80 to 100 commercial messages between getting up and reaching their office each day. The average person will see 250 television advertisements per week, 350 poster sites and 400 press adverts per week, according to the Henley Centre's Media Futures report.

Advertising on eggs, in pub toilets or on petrol pump nozzles means that each day we are exposed to 1300 commercial messages. In total there are 11,000 television adverts broadcast every day in 1997, compared with 1987 when there were 500 shown a day. The reason for this has been an explosion in media and in commercial products. In 1950 each Sainsbury's supermarket stocked 550 product lines. In 1997 each store carries over 20,000 different products. Research by media buying agency Western Media indicates that one in three people is now what is termed an "ad avoider" - someone who goes out of their way to ignore advertising.