Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Calamity Jane]

25 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

I have been seeing this one commercial for the Microsoft Surface Pro and it sounds like the hipster who uses it to design Broadway sets says his name is Beowulf. I know I must be hearing this wrong because I can't imagine anyone naming a child Beowulf.

My closed caption says that indeed his name is Beowulf.  Perhaps self-bestowed?  

Can this be for real?  Just saw a commercial for a product named VIPoo that supposedly keeps your poo from stinking up the bathroom.  ???????  All the way through, it seemed like a parody, so I'm still not convinced it was for an actual product.  

[HighMaintenance]

On 10/19/2016 at 2:45 PM, ennui said:

16 hours ago, xaxat said:

 

Anyone you have just met who seems that hesitant about holding your baby. . . 

IS SOMEONE YOU DON'T WANT HOLDING YOUR BABY!

Simple solution. Just, oops...drop the baby. Then your overly proud hipster friend won't be asking you to hold anything of theirs ever again. Problem solved.

[Moose135]

39 minutes ago, Calamity Jane said:

Can this be for real?  Just saw a commercial for a product named VIPoo that supposedly keeps your poo from stinking up the bathroom.  ???????  All the way through, it seemed like a parody, so I'm still not convinced it was for an actual product.  

Yes, it's real - Amazon carries it.  Note - I did log out of my Amazon account before looking for it, as I don't want to be bombarded with "suggested products" based on having viewed it while logged in to my account.

[Calamity Jane]

1 minute ago, Moose135 said:

Yes, it's real - Amazon carries it.  Note - I did log out of my Amazon account before looking for it, as I don't want to be bombarded with "suggested products" based on having viewed it while logged in to my account.

OK, what can I say but HOLY CRAP.

[Maverick]

1 hour ago, Calamity Jane said:

OK, what can I say but HOLY CRAP.

AROMATICALLY INERT CRAP?

[ennui]

2 hours ago, Calamity Jane said:

Can this be for real?  Just saw a commercial for a product named VIPoo that supposedly keeps your poo from stinking up the bathroom.  ???????  All the way through, it seemed like a parody, so I'm still not convinced it was for an actual product.  

I gather you don't watch QVC. They've been hawking a product called PooPourri for years and years. 

[Calamity Jane]

3 minutes ago, ennui said:

I gather you don't watch QVC. They've been hawking a product called PooPourri for years and years. 

I live a very sheltered life, apparently.

[theatremouse]

2 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I have been seeing this one commercial for the Microsoft Surface Pro and it sounds like the hipster who uses it to design Broadway sets says his name is Beowulf. I know I must be hearing this wrong because I can't imagine anyone naming a child Beowulf.

His name is Beowulf Boritt. Real dude. Real name. Has Tonys.

[Brattinella]

What kind of pretentious twit names their infant Beowulf?

[Silver Raven]

Beowulf Boritt's father is a Jewish immigrant from Hungary whose grandparents died in Auschwitz.  Gabor Boritt is a renowned professor and author of American history and a Civil War expert.  He lives in Gettysburg and teaches at Gettysburg College.  Beowulf's brother Jake is a filmmaker and his brother Daniel is an ornithologist.

[Brattinella]

I still think it is pretentious.

[LoneHaranguer]

I've been seeing a Microsoft ad where a fellow talks about drawing things with Acrobat and says he wouldn't be able to do the same thing on a Mac. What is he talking about? AFAIK, Acrobat is available for Macs as well (although you can do better with the open-source software for unix-based systems). Is Acrobat crippled on Macs like Microsoft Office is?

[ennui]

51 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

What kind of pretentious twit names their infant Beowulf?

After reading this, I think it's a great name.

https://daveallenwriter.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/of-beowulf-and-baby-names/

Best quotes:  

“They say you have a monster here. They say your lands are cursed… I am Beowulf and I am here to kill your monster.”

When the movie came out in 2007, I was also fond of telling my wife, along with all of our pregnant friends at the time, that Beowulf would make an excellent baby name. Not only would it be unique, but it would provide the child a lifelong catchphrase he could adapt to any situation (“I am Beowulf and I am here to hand in my homework,” or “I am Beowulf and I am here to clean your gutters.”)

[Maverick]

1 hour ago, Brattinella said:

I still think it is pretentious.

Especially when his brother is named Jake. 

[janie jones]

3 hours ago, ennui said:

I gather you don't watch QVC. They've been hawking a product called PooPourri for years and years. 

You can get it at Bed Bath & Beyond, too.

[theatremouse]

2 hours ago, ennui said:

When the movie came out in 2007, I was also fond of telling my wife, along with all of our pregnant friends at the time, that Beowulf would make an excellent baby name. 

That movie actually has very little to do with the original text. But it is a solid name. It's similar to naming your kid Ulysses.

3 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

I've been seeing a Microsoft ad where a fellow talks about drawing things with Acrobat and says he wouldn't be able to do the same thing on a Mac. What is he talking about? AFAIK, Acrobat is available for Macs as well (although you can do better with the open-source software for unix-based systems). Is Acrobat crippled on Macs like Microsoft Office is?

I thought they were talking specifically about the surface which is both laptop and touchscreen and the gist was with a Mac you'd need to buy a separate peripheral to draw directly on it with a stylus and use whatever professional software, not about the software being crippled necessarily. I don't remember if there are Mac laptops now that do the touchscreen thang too. I know you can draw on an iPad or iPad pro, but those don't do the "also a laptop" thing Surface likes to brag about, not that you can't buy a keyboard, but then it might be an issue of the combination of software+whichever device. At least that's what I think they're going for. It's a weak argument, but if they get real humans to say stuff in testimonials and it's not a written script for an actor, they get more leeway on saying stuff that's bullshit because the point isn't that it's true, it's that the person saying it believes it and the statement is their own words/opinion.

[Calamity Jane]

3 hours ago, Brattinella said:

I still think it is pretentious.

May well be, but not his fault that that's his name, so pretentious (perhaps) of the parents but not of the person.  

[Brattinella]

32 minutes ago, Calamity Jane said:

May well be, but not his fault that that's his name, so pretentious (perhaps) of the parents but not of the person.  

That's what I said.

What kind of pretentious twit names their infant Beowulf?

Edited October 28, 2016 by Brattinella

[Calamity Jane]

5 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

That's what I said.

What kind of pretentious twit names their infant Beowulf?

Sorry, guess I mis-read.  

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, theatremouse said:

But it is a solid name. It's similar to naming your kid Ulysses.

Especially if you want him to get beat up every day at lunchtime. ;-)

Edited October 28, 2016 by Moose135

[mmecorday]

Maybe when he was little his parents observed him wielding his baby rattle like a cudgel.

Seems like an interesting guy. I don't always trust closed captioning. On Sunday my CC interpreted something Chris Hardwick said as "cry sock." I really needed that laugh.

[OSM Mom]

"Are you receiving nudie payments? " 

Oh.  *Annuity* payments .  Learn to annunciate dude. 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

That movie actually has very little to do with the original text. But it is a solid name. It's similar to naming your kid Ulysses.

Robert Oscar Sam Edward Benjamin Ulysses David.

Rosebud.

/god, I'm old.

[ennui]

4 hours ago, OSM Mom said:

"Are you receiving nudie payments? " 

Oh.  *Annuity* payments .  Learn to annunciate dude. 

When things like that happen to me, I wonder if it's time to get my  hearing checked. I'll have to change my attitude ... "it's not me, it's you."

21 hours ago, Moose135 said:

Especially if you want him to get beat up every day at lunchtime. ;-)

Or, he could be the coolest kid in the class.

[bilgistic]

It's a lot of name to live up to, but I think it's perfect that he works in theatre.

[Rinaldo]

On 10/29/2016 at 0:21 AM, bilgistic said:

It's a lot of name to live up to, but I think it's perfect that he works in theatre.

I totally agree. Theatergoers have been noticing the name Beowulf Boritt in Playbills for some years now -- it's a hard name not to notice, which is a good thing in the theater. My friends and I were naturally curious about the provenance of the name, but upon discovering that it's what his parents named him, stopped thinking about that. Anyway, he's a fantastic designer. His revolving three-story structure for Act One (also telecast on Live from Lincoln Center) deservedly won him a Tony, and his design for Sondheim on Sondheim, an assembly of video screens that reconfigured in surprising ways throughout the show, was one of the most ingenious things I've ever seen.

[Sandman87]

12 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

I totally agree. Theatergoers have been noticing the name Beowulf Boritt in Playbills for some years now -- it's a hard name not to notice, which is a good thing in the theater. My friends and I were naturally curious about the provenance of the name, but upon discovering that it's what his parents named him, stopped thinking about that. Anyway, he's a fantastic designer. His revolving three-story structure for Act One (also telecast on Live from Lincoln Center) deservedly won him a Tony, and his design for Sondheim on Sondheim, an assembly of video screens that reconfigured in surprising ways throughout the show, was one of the most ingenious things I've ever seen.

Because the function of scenery is to distract the audience from how much everything else sucks?

[Brattinella]

That latest KFC ad, is that Flo?

[riley702]

Which one is the latest one?

[Brattinella]

I think the Hot Chicken Tenders ad, where she is lying on the bed with a poodle skirt and bobby socks.

[riley702]

It does look a bit like Flo in a different wig, but according to iSpot, it's Autumn Wendel.

[Brattinella]

Ah, thank you riley702!

[ari333]

Puzzler. The drug "Abilify" (for depression?) has been associated with causing compulsive gambling. There's some kind of class action suit - if I have the terminology right. This ad comes on so many times a day, I want to throw something

[friendperidot]

I think it's a local or regional furniture store, Furniture Factory Outlet, but a young couple has bought their first home and could afford to furnish it at FFO. They purchased furniture, tables, lamps and Walmart. Or at least that's what I thought they were saying. Finally figured it out as wall art.

[ari333]

hehehehehehe Walmart. ......wall art

Also a nudie (annuity)  payment heh :-)

Ive misheard some funny things, but they escape me at the moment

[smittykins]

"On the next Pitbulls and Pierogies..."

[cynicat]

George Foreman has a commercial for this weird company called "Invenia".  At least that's what I've been hearing. Oh, InventHelp.  Even after learning the correct name, I still hear Invenia.  

[Sandman87]

I always hear "Invenell" from that commercial. He should team up with Sylvester Stallone and Mike Tyson to make a truly unintelligible ad.

[riley702]

I'm always amused by his "What do I do wiff my idea for a new product?" 

[Prevailing Wind]

14 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

He should team up with Sylvester Stallone and Mike Tyson to make a truly unintelligible ad.

SNL already did that with Tarzan, Tonto & the Frankenstein Monster. hahahaha.

[Brattinella]

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

SNL already did that with Tarzan, Tonto & the Frankenstein Monster. hahahaha.

*snort* One of the funniest bits they ever did!  RIP Phil. :(

[St. Claire]

On 10/27/2016 at 10:52 PM, Moose135 said:

Especially if you want him to get beat up every day at lunchtime. ;-)

My cousin named his first son Isaac Galileo. His younger son is Felix Mandela. I love my cousin, but...yeesh.

[Dirtybubble]

Maybe I'm dumb but I am not getting these letitgo ads.  So is this site like eBay?  Is the point of everything just to show that you can sell your item quickly?  Why are the Village People standing in the middle of the damn road?!  UGH I hate these things!

 

[Sandman87]

And have you noticed that the person doing the selling in the LetItGo ads is never the person who owns the item? Makes it look like a site for fencing stolen goods.

[LoneHaranguer]

21 hours ago, Dirtybubble said:

Why are the Village People standing in the middle of the damn road?!

They couldn't get John Travolta? I think him dressed in a Saturday Night Fever outfit would have been the way to go for a disco ball.

[Sandman87]

They should have gotten Olivia Newton-John on roller-skates.

[ennui]

13 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

They should have gotten Olivia Newton-John on roller-skates.

Donna Summer. 

[BookWitch]

Donna had her last dance in May of 2012.

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 11/2/2016 at 4:17 PM, Dirtybubble said:

Maybe I'm dumb but I am not getting these letitgo ads.  So is this site like eBay?  Is the point of everything just to show that you can sell your item quickly?  Why are the Village People standing in the middle of the damn road?!  UGH I hate these things!

 

 

Maybe they just needed a new disco ball. *shrug* I don't mind the ad too much.

[smittykins]

Are there seriously kids out there who don't know the difference between a planter(or whatever it is)and a toilet?