I agree with you, but I downvoted to build your character. You're welcome!

There are much better ways to teach that.

You could apply that same logic to pretty much any hardship that builds character. It's not a good argument.

If that's your goal, wouldn't it be better to just pause the TV every 10 minutes or so for a few minutes at a time? That would have the same effect in terms of delaying gratification, and it's strictly better because you're not exposing your child to commercials.

Pausing the TV every 10 minutes is much harder as a parent on many different levels.

Commercials can teach kids about long term instant gratification when it comes to toys. If they want something they see on TV, then they can wait until their birthday/Christmas to get it and decide which ones they want most.

They can also learn that often toys on TV seem more fun than they are in real life. They can learn to be more skeptical when it comes to advertising through experience.

Commercials are not really the problem. It is spoiling kids and buying them something every time they demand it that causes issues.

Can't the same be achieved just by limiting/ scheduling screen time?

(And a while host of other parental techniques incidentally)