Is it really brainwashing?

There are allot of aspects that go into it depending on who you are and who they are marketing to. Allot of it is comfort, and trust. If you see a add allot then you are more likely to buy that product instead the competition because you know that brand more then the other one because you have seen it on your TV allot. One of my rules is, I dont buy food products advertized on TV because EVERY food tv add is junk. Even the ones that claim they are natural, they can say all natural but not organic. They still have crap such as soy(GMO) and corn syrup.
Off topic...

I wish I was more aware when I was younger. I have wasted allot of my life staring at a piece of glass and killing my body with crap. At least I can see now. I like to think that we as spirits have chosen to be hear in order to bring about positive change. Their are people that cannot see it no matter how much you throw at them and their are people that can see it at first glance. Its up to us to try and have a impact. TV is very addicting I know its a bigger problem then crack. It turns brains into mush, teaches people that they cant have the luxuries and hot women by becoming a nerdy scientist. Have you seen the movie idiocracy? Thats how I see the majority of the American population, I blame the tube. Now that we have the internet we dont need the TV for information. Its controlled one way unlike the net witch is two way so its harder to get stations to be fair. I hope the problem will be addressed soon. I hope its not to late.

Heh, that's another difference for me then. If I see an AD a lot, I'm more likely to boycott it from being annoyed. I think I just have a lower tolerance for repetition than most people.

You're so right about televised food. Those &%#*ing corn syrup "sugar is sugar" commercials. How do they get away with lying like that?

I can definitely see what you mean about tv addiction. My wife can't fall asleep without it on. To me that's just crazy. I get the need for distraction noise, but why leave yourself open to subliminal programming like that? When you can choose to listen to instrumental music or nature ambience? She says it doesn't have the same effect.

I never wanted a tv in the bedroom in the first place, but at least we worked out a compromise; I naturally stay up later than her, so I ask her to put it on a timer so that it's off when I come to bed. The way I see it, we have to let each other be each other. We're always compromising though. In the car, sometimes she listens to the radio (pop radio, which is still weird for me. I grew up with headbangers, so I've never met someone who seriously listened to pop without making fun of it), and sometimes I play the bands I enjoy. We can even veto certain songs or bands that one of us doesn't like.

Anyway, I just don't get why anyone would use the television as a moral compass in the first place. It's just entertainment. It's fiction. Sure, you can always find a moral thread to a story if you try, but you don't HAVE to agree with it. You can examine it and discard it if it doesn't make sense. Maybe people just don't realize how much freedom they really have? Maybe the guidance they receive makes people feel comfortable? Like you said, comfort and trust.