There are only so many commercials during the Olympics, regardless of whether you are watching via the NBC app or cable. Many of these commercials feature athletes whose stories about overcoming adversity or achieving greatness are somehow associated with an airline. These commercials are a result of your investment in the Olympics. Then, another.It's generally fine. Ryan Murphy, an American swimmer/nice guy/hottie, will talk all day about his migraines. ALL. ALL. However, there is one commercial for the Tokyo Olympics I can't stand. It ends with a bang but a knock brush.They are simply too stupid.This is Slack and their ad titled "Work in Progress". The 30-second spot is a cheerful, cheery advertisement about the future work. It includes the very lucid line "the Future is Forward Movement from the Now" and declares that the pandemic was pretty Great for Work.It plays about 37,000 times per broadcast section, according to my calculations. I have been screaming from the room in an attempt to do anything but listen to the offensive ads again.Why? It begins and ends with Slack’s trademark sound, the "knockbrush." This is the default sound Slack's 12,000,000 daily active users hear when they receive a message from their bosses, HR reps, or colleagues.According to the CEO of Slack, the sound is a "pavlovian reaction." He is right. Notification sounds can trigger our brains to focus on a particular moment or mindset. Hearing the Slack notification instantly triggers the jolt that something is urgently needed at work. This is exactly what you want during your Olympics-watching leisure time!The Slack sound in this ad has not only irritated me as a knowledge worker. Many people saw the knock brush's use as an attack.This ad is a disgusting way to make Olympic viewers feel. The sound is only a part of the problem that makes it so irritating.Slack advertises that the future of work is "a future that works in our favor." This could refer to a remote work culture, where communication is possible via Slack. Flexible work arrangements are becoming more common because of the pandemic. This is something that some workers appreciate. On the flip side, work has also reached into the home and is just a knock-brush away.It is great to work from home. Slack can be chaotic, however. Slack's need to perform in a meaningful way saps my energy. It is like an application that runs in my brain all the time. Also, remote work doesn't necessarily mean that you should stan Slack.Slack's advertisement is *this* close to being fully memorized. It is almost as intrusive in my brain as Slack. It is only the possibility of gazing upon the highest human potential that makes repetition of Olympics ads bearable. Ryan, shilling for a company is fine. .Slack was hesitant to say "nah", but decided to use a humorous monologue to remind viewers that they are here to work and that there is a bright future ahead. It's Tuesday, 9 p.m. Please, can I watch some table tennis competition?
