From my personal experiences over the years, what things did I find overrated? Many of these items have been advertised and marketed repeatedly over the years. My list of overrated items were compiled over the last few years -- how did my actual experiences compare with how the brand was marketed, portrayed or talked about in the media?
Some of these items receive so much hype but the actual experience was not close to the hype and sometimes quite disappointing. A large advertising budget for someone's brand does not necessarily guarantee a positive perception.
Overrated...Wrigley Field (Beer and tickets are way too expensive. If your seat is above row 30 or so or you're in the upper deck on the first base line, often, you'll have the pleasure of breathing exhaust fumes of idling buses while the game goes on. It's called the friendly confines of Wrigley Field but friendliness only extends to those who can afford it)
Overrated...ESPN's Monday Night Football. (Over the last several years, ESPN has not had great match ups or strong football draws play on Monday night. The current announcers are ok but lack some persona, accuracy and pizzazz. I suspect they're trying to capture the magic of the early 1970's that included such strong personalities of Cosell, Meredith, and Gifford era. That phenomenon will never be duplicated). One thing to note, after this post was published, it was announced on February 28th that Jason Witten bolted the MNF booth after a mediocre year of broadcasting to rejoin his former team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Overrated...Acura MDX (It drives ok but the 2020 model may cost between $45 - 50,000. The cargo space is lacking a little width for an SUV and the mileage is average with today's technological advances. The media interface and driver options can be programmed with some research and experimentation but are not always user friendly, in other words, it lacks an intuitive approach)
Overrated...CNN Online (Look, there's no question CNN has some very quality journalists and reporters but one must remember, it's a cable media business. This media corporation is in hog heaven that so many Democratic candidates are running for President in 2020. Just think of how many Town Halls they can have in 2019 for Democratic candidates? It's a cash cow. One thing about CNN online, anything you want to watch a video whether it's 1 - 3 minutes long, you're generally hit with an ad that can't be ignored, rarely are there freebies here. If you peruse their site, it won't take long before you're hit an popup asking you, "Do you want your news summarized each morning?" In addition, the pages are loaded with ads, it's challenging to read an entire article without having to wade through many ads. One more thing about their online medium, there's many Content Sponsors who try to engage the reader in click bait. It's another way of CNN adding revenue but the reader may get tangled up in having to scroll from slide to slide, sometimes having to review 50 or 60 slides to finish the slide show. Do they scrutinize these advertisers?)
Overrated...Summer weather in the Midwest (Winter appears in late November although you could get 10 inches of snow around Thanksgiving. It continues through March. Spring and Winter battle each other during April and May. You'll eventually have some nice weather in late May into early June and then the bugs appear which means mosquitoes are prevalent during most of the summer (especially with occasional rain)
Overrated...Disney World (clean and well organized but too scripted and too expensive and sometimes too crowded. Some locals who have visited DW over the years and state to Disney, "Just open my wallet and take what you need."
Overrated...NFL (I'm not able to watch an NFL game live. With so many ads the interfere with the product on the field, the games' momentum is destroyed. Halftime is typically 15 minutes and the half-time show is typically 4 minutes which leaves 11 minutes of commercials. One other thing, could we do away with the 2 minute warning? We're all aware with the clock hits 2 minutes remaining in the 1st and 2nd half)
Overrated...Super Bowl and The Super Bowl Pregame (About 8 hours of pregame with at least 25% of the time spent on ads. Sometimes the game is uneventful, some may say you can enjoy the commercials and half-time show but no guarantee they'll be entertaining. In addition, why start at 6:30 ET on a Sunday night, you do a disservice to those folks out East who have to get up early the next day for work?)
Overrated...Local meteorologists (With the Internet, I don't have to wait 20 minutes to get the weather forecast)
Overrated...NBA Basketball on TV (NBA teams have too many timeouts per game. The action on the court can be great but like the NFL, there's a lack of continuity and flow watching it on TV. However, NBA basketball in person can be more entertaining as teams have developed various games and acts to keep fans engaged during the stoppage of play)
Overrated...Chicago Tribune (You can sometimes find more ads and classifieds in the business section than actual business news. They now include ads on the front pages of some of the newspapers' sections. You can't spend more than a few minutes perusing the online version before you're targeted with ads and subscription options)
Overrated...Commercial sports radio (Commercial says it all and sometimes callers don't get enough time to state their comment(s) and question(s))
Overrated...Lake Michigan (If you live nearby, you experience the dampness of this Great Lake in Winter and Spring, however, this lake may only provide a few weeks respite from hot weather in July and August)
Overrated...Illinois Lottery (They'd have to pay me to play the lottery or watch the lottery drawing on TV)
Overrated...Wisconsin Dells (Commercialism has destroyed a once beautiful landscape. How many visitors to a water park or casino actually take time to visit the Wisconsin River and view the glacier carved sandstone formations?)
Overrated...Car Sun Roofs (In the Midwest, how often will you use them?)
Overrated...Consumer Reports (I appreciate their service and it can be used as a guide when researching a given product. However, often the product models that they recommend are not available for purchase so it becomes challenging when trying to make a wise consumer decision)
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