A millennial named Fred Asquith was expressing his views about streaming services, and what started as an expression of discontent soon turned into a tirade. In a monologue filled with expletives, the harried viewer even labelled other viewers as being gaslit.
Fred Asquith was talking to Newsweek when he vented his frustration about streaming services.
His angry outburst was soon joined by his fiancée, who revealed how often they would turn on a movie to help them go to sleep, only to be rudely awakened by a high-pitched advertisement.
The millennial’s observation soon went viral, with many netizens joining the discussion.
Fred stated that he would spend half an hour trying to gauge the plot of a film, and when he finally decided to settle down and watch the flick, an advert would appear at the most impromptu moment.
It could be a turning point of the film, and an advert rudely interrupting the flow of the movie could drive any viewer mad.
Fred, in his tirade, did not hold back, and his monologue was filled with expletives. A sample of what he said is reproduced below:
“Now that we have TV, it’s f—ing worse because I can’t skip the commercials. I have to go back to a f—ing menu on a smart TV and click on something new to switch the station. We’re paying for it, which is the worst part of it.”
Fred Asquith, who is also a comedian based in the United Kingdom, posted the video on TikTok under the username @fredasquith on February 17. His video has raked in 100,000 likes and 1.2 million views.
Asquith lamented how viewers were forced to endure adverts when they watched television two decades ago. Fast forward to the present, when we have the option to fast-forward ads and record live TV, things have changed, and the torture of adverts is returning.
Many streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime, which started with ad-free subscriptions, have returned to old ways and introduced ad-supported tiers.
Users were quick to react to the viral video—
One user posted on X:
“Everyone just needs to go back to cable TV until these streaming services remember what they are there for.”
A second person commented:
“We usually cancel all but one subscription, then binge-watch, cancel, re-subscribe to one I canceled previously, rinse and repeat.”
Asquith could not have agreed more.