LoneHaranguer

If that was the case, I'd expect them to highlight the one's you couldn't watch, to impress you with how many more channels you could be getting.

I'd have more confidence in their results if they had excluded identical twins, since there could be an advantage to having a wombmate with the same DNA.

Usually if you know what to ask for, you can tune it in easily enough without adding the problems of trying to do it verbally, but I can see the appeal. I hate the TV listings on the local Comcast service because the system is too dumb to give you just the channels to which you have access. The next-channel button has the same problem, and switching to a new channel is so slow, channel surfing is impractical.

According to their ad, the correct pronunciation is RACK-uh-ten and spelling it "rackuhten" would probably work for that. I'm not sure there's a good way to translate the syllables individually in a generic way that'll get you an unambiguous ra-ku-te-n. A "koo" would probably work more often that "ku", but the last two really need to be done together.

So it's a standard transliteration that's at fault? Longer representations of each syllable would have reduced, if not eliminated the ambiguity.

Maybe everyone is dressed for working in air-conditioned buildings and the weather isn't cold.

Since it's a Japanese company, doesn't that mean they had a choice in how to translate their name from its native script into a Latin character set? Pronunciation shouldn't have been an issue if their marketing department/company had gotten it right.

Or at least make the official pronunciation a top guess. Maybe "ra-cute-n"? I would have never put the "k" with the "ra".

The cars are not identical. The first is a four-door station wagon. The electric is a much smaller hatchback, reminding me of the tiny little things initially imported from Japan in the 70's. All the ad is saying is that electrics aren't as bad or as expensive as they used to be. They stop short of saying they've gotten as good as other cars, and don't give you any reasons to buy one. I think the ad is entertaining, but a fail when it comes to pushing a product.

I wonder whether they intended to highlight that the bags don't have many chips in them (why else would he be wanting at least three of them?).

Is your friend trying to sterilize the dishes? The dishwasher can use hotter water than a person can in a sink.

There was a time some years ago when the media seemed to be obsessed with the sex lives of kids in public school. They mentioned that it had become trendy for girls as young as 10 to perform oral sex on classmates to be "popular". I'm sure they were engaging in some sensationalism, but middle school age probably makes more sense than when they're already in high school or college.

It might help to know what character the guy is meant to resemble. Is his car associated with anyone in particular?

Hollywood is full of "actors" who have a useful look, but difficulty delivering a line. It would have been easy to change the script.

Routine diagnosis doesn't require you to know much. There's a reference that lays out everything (tests treatments, probable causes, etc) starting with a patient's initial complaints.

I thought they were just aiming for "valley girl". I just googled why they might be doing that, and indirectly got pointed to the Kardashians reality show.

There have been a lot of characters on TV that have gotten by on one name. If they pull a MacGyver and reveal her missing name in the finale, I hope they do it more smoothly.

I can't say I've paid close attention when it's been run. I do remember the girls doing some weird body move later in the ad. Apparently nobody else at the party is impressed by the pizza since it's sitting there untouched with the box open. When you put out a fresh pizza, you generally leave the lid down, so that the pizza stays hot. The open lid says "hey, there's still pizza left if you want some before we put the leftovers in the fridge".

I don't know how a frame gets picked to represent a video, but the girl on the right in it looks horrified to me, not amazed.

She cut it open. It was stuffed with lots of little foam pieces, so there wasn't any cutting up needed to make a mess. 🙂

I just watched it and it was actually rated three Vivian heads, but the Miracle Bamboo got five and isn't as expensive. Google also pointed me to a detailed review that suggests the guy's real innovation is that you can buy it in a choice of fill levels. The ads I've seen make it sound like you can adjust the fill yourself.

Was it their idea? Should the kids be concerned that they're outfitted as pigs, and their grandfather is being a wolf?

I do like the callback to the classic commercials with the two-sided medicine cabinet. IIRC, that guy was even more obnoxious than the pillow guy. I can do without the rest of the ad.

If the company is just looking for name recognition, its ads don't have to make sense. The stupidity of their ads has probably made them the most frequently mentioned insurance company here.

He already is, and quite a bit of time was spent having the other characters comment on it. I doubt the writers intend to do a reversal. It's more likely he'll be getting married than Raj.