Campbell Jones at the Rugby World Cup: Sing, pause for ad break, engage

REtailers trying to hijack our lust for watching rugby. Photo / Paul Estcourt

One of the surprises for rugby fans has been the appearance of new advertising slots in the opening moments before Rugby World Cup matches on all but one network. In the case of All Blacks games this has involved the introduction, after the national anthem and haka, of up to 90 seconds of advertising immediately before kick-off.

As with many social phenomena, perhaps most interesting here is the logic of justification that has been employed in support of this change. A representative of Television New Zealand argued in defence of this decision that "it's just commercial reality these days" (New Zealand Herald, September 9, 2011).

In this case, as in other cases that appeal to commercial reality, we find here an interesting use of the notion of "reality". First, if this were simply "reality" then it would have already been taking place. Equally, if this were reality then it would not require justification, but would simply happen. Moreover, if the unmitigated expansion of advertising were simply commercial reality, then the advertisements usually painted on the pitch would not have been removed for the Rugby World Cup.

So what is this commercial reality that we are watching here?

On the side of reality in this case is the market, while on the other side, watching it, is us. We are again being asked to believe that the rough and tumble world of business reflects reality, while any other consideration or sentiment is nothing but emotion, naive utopianism or the wishful dreams of a failed past.

Reality here involves deciding that commercial interests - in this case the interests of those that can afford advertising for their products - are more important than the interests of, for instance, those watching rugby.

Those defending commercial reality often present themselves as realists and in doing so consign us to their vision of reality - in this case that even if we have been waiting for this competition for as many as 24 years, we would be better placed to be contemplating our next shopping trip.

This rugby tournament has more than once been compared with the ancient games of the gladiators. These were events for entertainment and for the celebration of the rulers of empires. In the weeks to come it would seem that we are also condemned to witness the celebration of the rulers of today's Empire. They will take 90 seconds of our anticipation and desires to inform us that it is in fact not a rugby match that we wanted to watch. We will instead learn about the warm intimacy of sharing a telephone call and the merits of a 59-piece screwdriver set.

In this kind of situation we can see how "commercial reality" militates against the common interest. As with the law of supply and demand that charges us more the more that we want or need something, here again, the more we want something, the more we have to pay. This is what commercial reality attempts to do with our desires - the more we want to watch a rugby match, the more we will have something else put in front of us.

Dr Campbell Jones is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of Auckland.