Forced Interruption is the practice of pushing marketing messages and content to people when they’re not actively seeking it—fighting against natural attention patterns and creating resistance.
Common Forms
- Display advertising
- Pop-up interruptions
- Unsolicited emails
- Cold outreach
- Interruptive content
- Forced video ads
The Problem
Forced Interruption:
- Fights natural attention patterns
- Creates resistance and resentment
- Builds negative associations
- Wastes resources on unwilling audiences
- Decreases effectiveness over time
Why It Persists
Organizations use interruption because:
- Industrial-age thinking about attention
- Belief in scarcity of awareness
- Desire to control timing
- Pressure for immediate results
- Lack of better alternatives
The Alternative
Natural Discovery enables:
- People finding when seeking
- Organic attention
- Positive associations
- Efficient resource use
- Increasing effectiveness
The digital age enables natural discovery—interruption is fighting against how value naturally wants to flow.