No, but by all accounts, it's much worse (according to the tourists we get from America). Face it, nobody forces you to sit through advertising, it's a choice we all make. If you don't like television advertising, don't watch. If you don't like the ad-bot here, ignore it. If people shove junk mail in your letter box, throw it away. If people spam your e-mail, block them (or get a Yahoo account that filters out 95% of it). If people call you at home, get an answering machine to screen your calls, or do what I do and simply don't bother answering calls that come at intrusive times.

Advertising is like insults, it's up to us how seriously we take it, and this is the sole determinant of how intrusive it becomes.