Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Haleth]

11 hours ago, janie jones said:

I'm a millennial who hasn't stepped foot inside a bank in years, but I'd rather go to an actual bank if I needed to talk to a human being than go to a bank-cafe.

I've found that talking to an actual person face to face gets you better solutions.  (Especially if you smile. 😊)  Works for Comcast, works for Verizon, and would probably work for online banks too. 

Having a "coach" at a "cafe" is probably a good marketing tool.  They seem to be few and far between though.  The map I found only shows 39 locations nationwide, of course only in the largest cities.  The closest one to me is 250 miles away. 

[mmecorday]

Quote

Does anyone really go to bank branches anymore?

I do. My work doesn't offer direct deposit so I actually have to go to the bank and cash my check. And I write checks all the time. It's just easier for me to keep track of my spending.

[Prevailing Wind]

Check writing...going to small talk.

[proserpina65]

18 hours ago, HighMaintenance said:

Also, I have never encountered a town with a lack of coffee shops.  You can throw a rock from one Starbucks to the next, not to mention the plethora of Dunkin’s, Brew Buddies, Wawa’s and mom & pop joints. Should we anticipate Capital One coffee in the stores soon?

I know plenty of towns with no coffee shops.  In the smallish, mostly rural Maryland county where I live, there are at least 3 towns with no coffee shops, and two towns which only got a coffee shop within the last few years.  The town I live in has 3, but that's counting the one where you choose from a wide variety of coffee which you can buy in bean or ground form, and then take it home to make yourself - no sitting and drinking it there.  (BTW, Wawa is not a coffee shop; it, like 7-11 and Royal Farms, is a convenience store where you buy your cup of coffee and leave.  You don't drink it there.) 

Now, admittedly, most of these little rural towns are unlikely to get a Capital One café, either.  I don't hate the commercial, exactly, but I do think they could explain the concept better.

Oh, and most of those towns do have at least one bank.

19 hours ago, chessiegal said:

With 2 daughters and 11 grandchildren, my husband writes birthday checks every month. I just paid a county bill with a check. If you pay by credit card, they have a surcharge.

Exactly.  There are bills I pay online, but only the ones where there's no surcharge to do so.  The others I pay by check.

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2020 at 1:16 PM, HighMaintenance said:

I am thoroughly confused by those commercials with the hot DILF who is advertising capital one bank. So he proclaims THIS is the future of banking! And I am looking at all the actors in the background who are basically lounging in chairs looking at laptops and sucking down coffee. In one of the versions of the commercial, there’s actually a barista serving coffee at a counter. So, the future of banking is essentially Starbucks?

I think this has been discussed before, but it's basically a café with ATMs on one side. I have no clue why this is so revolutionary or future-forward.

 

23 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Old El Paso currently has a series of commercials where the taco shells are anthropomorphized and talk.  That particular one involves a mommy taco bowl, a daddy taco bowl, and a vegan kid taco bowl.  There are other ones.  I find them all kind of disturbing since someone is going to eat the tacos.

Just to be clear, the child taco bowl claims to be a vegan. AFAIK, Old El Paso does not offer "vegan taco shells". I think this ad campaign is one that looks better on paper than after execution.

[peacheslatour]

9 minutes ago, Ubiquitous said:

I think this has been discussed before, but it's basically a café with ATMs on one side. I have no clue why this is so revolutionary or future-forward.

 

Just to be clear, the child taco bowl claims to be a vegan. AFAIK, Old El Paso does not offer "vegan taco shells". I think this ad campaign is one that looks better on paper than after execution.

Thank you. This is what I've been trying to say.

[proserpina65]

37 minutes ago, Ubiquitous said:

I think this has been discussed before, but it's basically a café with ATMs on one side. I have no clue why this is so revolutionary or future-forward.

The commercial does not communicate it very clearly then.  It's not a good advertisement for the product.

[proserpina65]

43 minutes ago, Ubiquitous said:

Just to be clear, the child taco bowl claims to be a vegan. AFAIK, Old El Paso does not offer "vegan taco shells".

I meant that the kid was a vegan, not that the actual taco shell was.  Sorry for any confusion.

[trudysmom]

I'm confused by the Celebrity (I think) Cruise commercial that has Go Ask Alice playing in the background.  I mean, a song about drugs, really?  Isn't a cruise supposed to relax you (never been on one), so why the drug reference?  

[dleighg]

This Walmart commercial seems to use the chords of Elton John's Rocket Man, and even hints with "buying diapers 3 am" which seems to reference "zero hour 9 am". Seems like they come *this* close to actually playing the background chords.

https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/videos/live-better-together

1 minute ago, trudysmom said:

I'm confused by the Celebrity (I think) Cruise commercial that has Go Ask Alice playing in the background.  I mean, a song about drugs, really?  Isn't a cruise supposed to relax you (never been on one), so why the drug reference?

I've had the same thought, but I guess it is so awesome that it is an "out of body experience."

[Haleth]

15 hours ago, trudysmom said:

I'm confused by the Celebrity (I think) Cruise commercial that has Go Ask Alice playing in the background.  I mean, a song about drugs, really?  Isn't a cruise supposed to relax you (never been on one), so why the drug reference?  

The song is White Rabbit.  But yeah, whoever approved the commercial must be on drugs.

[Hyacinth B]

On 1/18/2020 at 3:47 PM, trudysmom said:

I'm confused by the Celebrity (I think) Cruise commercial that has Go Ask Alice playing in the background.  I mean, a song about drugs, really?  Isn't a cruise supposed to relax you (never been on one), so why the drug reference?  

Maybe they were inspired by this 2018 Royal Caribbean cruise filmed for a British reality TV program:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5846369/Cruise-ship-filmed-Channel-4-reality-descended-drug-fuelled-orgy.html

"A cruise ship being filmed for a Channel 4 reality show allegedly descended into a 'drug-fuelled orgy' during a 'mad' week-long sojourn around the Mediterranean..."

[trudysmom]

Hyacinth B, that's disgusting and sad.  I don't cruise, I've been tempted at times but I keep thinking I'd feel trapped and have no way to leave, lol.  

Love your user name, by the way.  Trudysdad and  used to watch Keeping up Appearances, haven't seen it in years though.  

[peacheslatour]

3 hours ago, trudysmom said:

Hyacinth B, that's disgusting and sad.  I don't cruise, I've been tempted at times but I keep thinking I'd feel trapped and have no way to leave, lol.  

Love your user name, by the way.  Trudysdad and  used to watch Keeping up Appearances, haven't seen it in years though.  

"That's Booquaay!"

[meep.meep]

On 1/16/2020 at 3:00 PM, chessiegal said:

With 2 daughters and 11 grandchildren, my husband writes birthday checks every month. I just paid a county bill with a check. If you pay by credit card, they have a surcharge.

I have to pay my property taxes twice a year with a check.  That's one I don't want to mess around with potentially going astray.

 

[kb3]

On 1/3/2020 at 2:28 PM, Colleenna said:

Yeah, but where do "oven" and "stove" fit? Does an oven "ov"? Does a stove "sto"? 😁

In the UK it’s called a cooker.  As construction workers are called builders   Though why the back of a car is called either the tuck or the boot has still got me baffled 

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

So I've been seeing a lot of those late night adverts for gimmicky devices, and they keep saying something like, "And now you can get two! Just pay a separate fee." So, the deal is to get two for the price of two? Or what? 

Edited January 24, 2020 by Ghost of TWOP Past

[smittykins]

Usually they mean “separate shipping and handling,” which can almost add up to the regular price of the second item.

[Zahdii]

9 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

So I've been seeing a lot of those late night adverts for gimmicky devices, and they keep saying something like, "And now you can get two! Just pay a separate fee." So, the deal is to get two for the price of two? Or what? 

Don't buy from infomercials!  Google the horror stories of people who've tried.  The separate fee for a second item just "for the cost of shipping" is pretty much a scam, because that the company sets the price of that second shipping fee, and it's very close to the price of the item you just bought.  If the item is flawed, you have to go through hell and back to get them to replace it.  If you just change your mind and decide you don't want it, you pay a restocking fee that is comparable to what the item cost in the first place.  There are a lot of hidden fees that will shock you, and good luck calling the company to get the charges reduced or cancelled.  

While you're going through all that, the product you bought is often available at someplace like Walmart with no shipping fee, even though the infomercials still insist that it's "Not sold in stores".  A plus for buying from an established store is that if the item is defective or disappointing, you can return it to the store and someone else gets to fight with the seller about returns and replacements.

I think that when something is initially sold only through TV, print, or the internet, it's often simply a marketing tool to gauge interest in the product.  If the seller gets enough people to express interest by asking for more information or actually buying the product, they then quietly make the item available through stores.  The original commercial still insists that you can only buy from them, but it's a lie.

Let other people test these products for you.  Wait until they've been around long enough for you to find the complaints that real customers have, and then pick it up at Target for less than what the commercial will sell it for.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Thanks for the advice, but I was not contemplating ordering the water-powered flashlight, the magic magnifying glasses with built-in lights, the special forces sunglasses, or any other of that bric-a-brac. 😂

[peacheslatour]

17 minutes ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Thanks for the advice, but I was not contemplating ordering the water-powered flashlight, the magic magnifying glasses with built-in lights, the special forces sunglasses, or any other of that bric-a-brac. 😂

C'mon! Not even the magical facelift in a jar? I know I can't live without it.

[smittykins]

According to the new Froot Loops commercial, a “complete breakfast” now consists of cereal, fruit, and milk, no toast/bagel/muffin.  Interesting, 

[peacheslatour]

26 minutes ago, smittykins said:

According to the new Froot Loops commercial, a “complete breakfast” now consists of cereal, fruit, and milk, no toast/bagel/muffin.  Interesting, 

Too many carbs.

[Colleenna]

2 hours ago, smittykins said:

According to the new Froot Loops commercial, a “complete breakfast” now consists of cereal, fruit, and milk, no toast/bagel/muffin.  Interesting, 

Where's the  protein?  That's  ALL carbs.

[peacheslatour]

These old guys hawking Medicare, Reverse Mortgages and Life Insurance are all rich. retired ex jocks. Why don't they get dentures that fit? Joe Namath and Mile Ditka are unintelligible.*

*Alex Trebeck excepted of course. He sounds great.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Colleenna said:

Where's the  protein?  That's  ALL carbs.

There's protein in the milk.  But more sugar.

Depending on the cereal, it might have protein (Fruit Loops, though?).  But more sugar.

Fruit?  Some have protein, yes.  But, obviously, lots of sugar.

And they used to also include a bagel/muffin/piece of toast?!

Maybe by "complete" they mean "complete your daily carb allotment in one meal".

[SoMuchTV]

4 hours ago, smittykins said:

According to the new Froot Loops commercial, a “complete breakfast” now consists of cereal, fruit, and milk, no toast/bagel/muffin.  Interesting, 

 

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Too many carbs.

 

2 hours ago, Colleenna said:

Where's the  protein?  That's  ALL carbs.

 

38 minutes ago, Bastet said:

There's protein in the milk.  But more sugar.

Depending on the cereal, it might have protein (Fruit Loops, though?).  But more sugar.

Fruit?  Some have protein, yes.  But, obviously, lots of sugar.

And they used to also include a bagel/muffin/piece of toast?!

Maybe by "complete" they mean "complete your daily carb allotment in one meal".

I think since the dawn of time, sugary cereals have been advertising themselves as “part of a complete breakfast “.  They’re just adjusting things around the edges. 

[smittykins]

I think it was the 70s when the “part of this complete/nutritious breakfast” thing began(and it was comprised of cereal, toast, juice, and milk).

Or, according to TV Tropes, “adjacent to this complete breakfast.”

Edited January 26, 2020 by smittykins

[shapeshifter]

IMO this is a terrible PSA-type commercial. The concept was solid but the script is horrific and pretty much ridicules the message —again, in my opinion:

 

[Prevailing Wind]

WTH?  At first, I thought they were saying his name was "Colin" (pronounced ala Colin Powell) which would make him being an asshole a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Where is this ad showing? They're certainly not saying "asshole" on commercial TV, are they?

 

[elle]

1 hour ago, smittykins said:

Or, according to TV Tropes, “adjacent to this complete breakfast.”

Any link to TV Tropes needs to be accompanied by a "Could lead to falling down a Rabbit Hole" warning. 😉

[Colleenna]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

There's protein in the milk.  But more sugar.

8 g protein  & 12 g carbohydrate  in an 8 ounce glass of whole milk.

[elle]

There is a travel site commercial with a short version and a long version.  In the one we just see her and her dog, she is searching for a hotel with spa then adds a search for a pet friendly hotel.  Then in the longer one, we see the whole family where she is searching for flights.

My head scratching moment is me wondering why she would subject her dog to a plane trip just for a vacation?  And, why an ad agency would think this was a good idea.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

WTH?  At first, I thought they were saying his name was "Colin" (pronounced ala Colin Powell) which would make him being an asshole a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Where is this ad showing? They're certainly not saying "asshole" on commercial TV, are they?

I don't have cable, so I'm not sure. I wondered if it could be a fake commercial on some level even though the end screen directs to the legitimate registerme.org web page of Donate Life America and to their #cansavealife Twitter hashtag. --l wondered if it was a student senior project not sanctioned by Donate Life America, but apparently it's legit.
Weird, if you ask me, but I don't have healthy enough tissues even if I wanted to donate, so I'm not the audience.
But it seems to me the "asshole" guy in the ad would only donate his body if he knew he had some undetectable disease that would be fatal to the donor recipients. 
Weird, if not totally illogical.

[crazycatlady58]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

IMO this is a terrible PSA-type commercial. The concept was solid but the script is horrific and pretty much ridicules the message —again, in my opinion:

 

Well that's....uh...different? May I ask where it is shown?

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Well that's....uh...different? May I ask where it is shown?

I'm a little ashamed to admit I first saw its YouTube link on FaceBook (which is why I explored its legitimacy), but I only get over-the-air TV and Hulu commercials, so if it's on any cable station I would not know.
Has anyone here who gets cable or satellite seen it?

Edited January 26, 2020 by shapeshifter

[crazycatlady58]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I'm a little ashamed to admit I first saw its YouTube link on FaceBook (which is why I explored its legitimacy), but I only get over-the-air TV and Hulu commercials, so if it's on any cable station I would not know.
Has anyone here who gets cable or satellite seen it?

I get cable and I have not seen it but I tend to stay on Food Network, TLC, and Discovery so am not sure if it would be shown on those channels. It is the language that makes me wonder. As someone else said not sure of the use of asshole on prime time.

[Colleenna]

48 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

I get cable and I have not seen it but I tend to stay on Food Network, TLC, and Discovery so am not sure if it would be shown on those channels. It is the language that makes me wonder. As someone else said not sure of the use of asshole on prime time.

It's  old, from 2016. It's  real --- a product of  The Martin  Agency. I wonder if maybe the  language  got it pulled  from  rotation  pretty quickly,  which is why none of us ever saw it. 

[peacheslatour]

Remember good old Mr. Dumass? Good times.

[Ashforth]

4 hours ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Well that's....uh...different? May I ask where it is shown?

I think this ad is hilarious. It does seem a bit off that a hard-drinking smoker would make a great organ donor, but I think the idea is to grab people's attention with humor and get them thinking about organ donation.

I assume that the ad was made for distribution on the internet. For one thing, it's way too long to be a TV ad, and for another, the language would indeed limit the stations that would air it.

Edited January 26, 2020 by Ashforth

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Ashforth said:

I think this ad is hilarious.

I do too -- "even an asshole can save a life".

And I don't even find it hard to believe a congenital jerkwad would choose to be an organ donor, especially if all he has to do is check a box on his driver's license application - even an asshole can save a life, because even an asshole can get to that question and put no more thought into it than, "Yeah, sure.  I'll be dead; what the hell do I care?"  He doesn't have to actually delve into caring thoughts about the lives he could potentially save/dramatically improve if some of his organs are viable and a match upon his death.  

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

21 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I think since the dawn of time, sugary cereals have been advertising themselves as “part of a complete breakfast “.  

The 'dawn of time' being the mid-70s. Get off my lawn, you punk kid. 

[SoMuchTV]

4 minutes ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The 'dawn of time' being the mid-70s. Get off my lawn, you punk kid. 

Excuse me? Do we have to get into a “where-were-you-when-you-heard-Kennedy-was-shot”-off?

And my complete breakfast included SUGAR Frosted Flakes, thank you very much. 

🙂

 

[dleighg]

Just now, SoMuchTV said:

Excuse me? Do we have to get into a “where-were-you-when-you-heard-Kennedy-was-shot”-off?

And my complete breakfast included SUGAR Frosted Flakes, thank you very much. 

I'm not quite old enough to remember him getting shot, but I was alive, and yeah, I ate Frosted Flakes also. And Captain Crunch. And Lucky Charms. Good times.

[SoMuchTV]

7 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I'm not quite old enough to remember him getting shot, but I was alive, and yeah, I ate Frosted Flakes also. And Captain Crunch. And Lucky Charms. Good times.

Haha. There was a time, I think in the 70’s, when the word “sugar” was purged from the names of several cereals. Pretty sure they didn’t change the recipe though. And I think we’re still on-topic here, because, commercials.

Edited January 26, 2020 by SoMuchTV

[Colleenna]

Just now, SoMuchTV said:

Haha. There was a time, I think in the 70’s, when the word “sugar” was purged from the names of several cereals. Pretty sure they didn’t change the recipe though. And I think we’re still on-topic here, because, commercials.

Heh. I still  remember the  jingle for Sugar Corn Pops... "Kelllloggs Sugar Corn Pops --- Sugar Pops are tops!" But they're  just called Corn Pops  now. Anybody else  remember  Sugar Smacks?

[peacheslatour]

21 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I'm not quite old enough to remember him getting shot, but I was alive, and yeah, I ate Frosted Flakes also. And Captain Crunch. And Lucky Charms. Good times.

Ah, Cap'n Crunch. I would eat that stuff until the roof of my mouth was raw as hamburger. 

[Browncoat]

Cap'n Crunch -- never gets soggy in milk!  

[Colleenna]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Cap'n Crunch -- never gets soggy in milk!  

I loved CC... Peanut Butter  Crunch. 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Colleenna said:

Anybody else  remember  Sugar Smacks?

Yep. And, perhaps worst of all, it was before dental floss.*

It was around the same time I recall seeing a soft pack of Kools in the shelf in the door of the refrigerator --possibly the last pack before my Dad quit cold turkey and lived another 55 years. Or maybe it was Lucky Strikes? My ex-husband still had a threadbare favorite t-shirt when I met him in the early 1980s that advertised Kool cigarettes --he didn't smoke-- unfortunately one of his friends thought I'd appreciate having it torn off of him since it was so old, but it was one thing we both liked.
In terms of marketing, the spelling of the brand was presciently hip, but this ad spot definitely did not foresee the #MeToo movement with regards to the guy not taking "no" for an answer:

 

_____________

* I remember where I was when Kennedy was shot and when the Twin Towers came down.