I had the same experience. I'm in the correct target demographic because I'm interested in meditation and not yet doing it actively, but the ads have reduced my interest in meditation more than anything has increased it.

This is the first time I'm hearing anything about headspace and the whole idea of ads in a meditation app is simply absurd! Even if they don't play while you're supposed to be meditating, aren't ads one of the features of our world which is known for detracting from mindfulness?

The ads are not in the app itself - headspace seems to spend a lot in marketing and you can get hammered by repetitive ads promoting it in youtube, etc.

End result is associating the app with annoying ads.

Yeah my bad I wasn't clear enough. You get hammered on Youtube and the like, with short sentences that are used as well in the app itself and with the same voice.

So you end up hating the guy and its made phrases. A shame, really.