Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

We've got an ad in Georgia where the guy's looking straight at the camera and talking. I don't know what his message is, because I'm stuck looking at his face. His eyes aren't level and when he smiles, the right side of his face gets those smile wrinkles and an "apple cheek" and his mouth widens. But the left side of his face is immobile. Looks a lot smoother, too. At first, I thought he had had a stroke, but then I decided it was too much botox gone wrong.  People are such idiots when it comes to their appearance.

Could be Bell's palsy.

[jennblevins]

I really hope they were just playing an old recording, but the pledge drive guy on our local PBS station just said that there’s “never been a better time to visit Europe.”  Okay, let me just hop on this plane and I’m sure they’d let me in ...

[elle]

On 10/29/2020 at 6:12 AM, Ubiquit0us said:

On 10/28/2020 at 7:02 AM, TattleTeeny said:

There's some Pringles (I think) one with a woman who says this type of Pringles is "not really Pringles," just like the picture her kid is drawing is "not really Daddy." And then she gives him a sarcastic "Oookay" when he says that it is. Am I missing something? Is it "funny"? How does this even make sense? What the fuck is wrong with her? (And even if the kid had drawn a perfect charcoal portrait, that portrait also would not really be Daddy, as it is a piece of paper and Daddy is, presumably, human.)

I thought she was hinting that her husband is not the child's father. Does she resent the child's real father for leaving her or her husband not divorcing her? 🤔

I think it is that she is negatively commenting on her child’s artistic ability and being really dismissive of the child’s feelings.  I don’t find the commercial funny at all.

[friendperidot]

Isn't SNHU another diploma mill type school? I constantly yell at their ads, the one young lady says "look, master's degree." I yell, you'd be better off going to a real school and getting a real master's degree that actually let you get a job in your field. Another woman is weeping, saying she's doing this for her children. Well, her children would be better off seeing her go to a real school and getting a real degree that would let her get a job. I briefly worked in HR many years ago and we just tossed resumes in the trash with those kind of degrees.

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, friendperidot said:

Isn't SNHU another diploma mill type school? I constantly yell at their ads, the one young lady says "look, master's degree." I yell, you'd be better off going to a real school and getting a real master's degree that actually let you get a job in your field. Another woman is weeping, saying she's doing this for her children. Well, her children would be better off seeing her go to a real school and getting a real degree that would let her get a job. I briefly worked in HR many years ago and we just tossed resumes in the trash with those kind of degrees.

No, they're  real college, established in 1932. They have a campus, sororities, fraternities and sports teams.:

Since 1973, Southern New Hampshire University has been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and is approved by the New Hampshire Department of Education Division of Higher Education—Higher Education Commission. The School of Business is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs. Some programs have specialized accreditation, such as the sport management programs, which are recognized by the North American Society for Sport Management, and the hospitality administration program, which is recognized by the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration.

Nationally, it is a member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education,[67] and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.[68] At the state level, it is a member of the New Hampshire College & University Council (NHCUC), a consortium of higher learning institutions in New Hampshire.

[friendperidot]

ok, then I owe them an apology. And I'll quit yelling at their commercials.

 

[Prevailing Wind]

On 11/3/2020 at 7:31 PM, friendperidot said:

ok, then I owe them an apology. And I'll quit yelling at their commercials.

 

OK! God knows there are enough commercials that DESERVE yelling at.   LOL.   I know we're not supposed to mention politics, but we managed to get a run off scheduled for early January, so Georgia isn't through with those commercials - which means LESS time for the Medicare ads. Oh, joy. I'm gonna yell at all of 'em. Even the Big Pharma ads.  I'm already fed up with the Weather Tech Xmas gift ads. I should just watch Amazon Prime & give up commercial breaks altogether.

Do you ever wonder when a big event is scheduled that gets advertised a lot, if the products that normally advertise in those time slots can notice a dip in their revenue when the Special Event (Macy's ONE DAY SALE!) takes up a lot of the ad time?  If there's no appreciable dip, do they reconsider their advertising budget? Why not?

[spaceghostess]

On 10/17/2020 at 4:53 AM, dleighg said:

Not to mention that your freezer is probably already full of "The Farmer's Dog" dog food LOL.

How many people want to fill up a freezer with... dog food? 

Re: The Farmer’s Dog ads, if I were friends with the guy who has a Husky and talks about “quality poops,” I’d never let him hear the end of it. I mean, never. But the one with the African American guy and his Bichon Frise? Best human/dog chemistry ever and I love them.

[spaceghostess]

Does anyone else find it distracting that Robbert Larson (Retired Burglar and Family Man) from the SimpliSafe ads is the same actor who plays the owner of "BeardBrand" on the postage.com (or whatever) ads? Good for him, though. Those spots are in crazy-heavy rotation on CNN (where I’m spending way too much time these, days, but that’s a whole other story).

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by spaceghostess
Typo

[janie jones]

49 minutes ago, spaceghostess said:

Does anyone else find it distracting that Robbert Larson (Retired Burglar and Family Man) from the SimpliSafe ads is the same actor who plays the owner of "BeardBrand" on the postage.com (or whatever) ads? Good for him, though. Those spots are in crazy-heavy rotation on CNN (where I’m spending way too much time these, days, but that’s a whole other story).

 

According to this iSpot.tv page, the BeardBrand guy is Eric Bandholz, and according to this iSpot.tv page, Robbert Larson is Peter Davis.

[spaceghostess]

5 hours ago, janie jones said:

According to this iSpot.tv page, the BeardBrand guy is Eric Bandholz, and according to this iSpot.tv page, Robbert Larson is Peter Davis.

Wow, I was positive it was the same guy; I just figured he was putting on a doofy voice when playing the burglar! 

Edited November 6, 2020 by spaceghostess
Autocorrect trying to CONTROL my THOUGHTS.

[Ubiquit0us]

I pondered about which forum to post this, but for now, it's more bewildering than annoying. There's a new commercial for Genesis Beer that features a mug being poured, interspersed with old footage from a football game and Joe Namath saying "wait for it..."  and I have no clue what's going on b/c as I said before, it's VERY old footage so why is there ANY suspense about the outcome of the clip and why we're waiting to drink it before the metaphorical "money shot". Is Joe Namath in that clip? Are we sppsd to be surprised by what happens in the football game?  How will this enhance the beer? 🤷‍♂️

[KWalkerInc]

It was Joe Montana.  The one I saw I think had several old Notre Dame clips as part of it, and he was in one of them (wearing #3).  I was surprised that Notre Dame and its alumni have an "official beer" in Guinness.

[elle]

22 hours ago, Ubiquit0us said:

I pondered about which forum to post this, but for now, it's more bewildering than annoying. There's a new commercial for Genesis Beer that features a mug being poured, interspersed with old footage from a football game and Joe Namath saying "wait for it..."  and I have no clue what's going on b/c as I said before, it's VERY old footage so why is there ANY suspense about the outcome of the clip and why we're waiting to drink it before the metaphorical "money shot". Is Joe Namath in that clip? Are we sppsd to be surprised by what happens in the football game?  How will this enhance the beer? 🤷‍♂️

Just a theory, it isn’t that there is suspense about what will happen rather the anticipation of a favorite moment.  It is like watching a movie you’ve seen a bazillion times but you still savor the hero’s sudden arrival, the denouement revealing the solution to a whodunnit, and so on.

[xaxat]

This kid has 700 bucks to drop on Christmas gifts? I wish I had her allowance when I was growing up.

[elle]

This isn’t about the product the commercial is promoting, it’s insurance after all, but a head scratching query about how they made the Geico commercial with the neighbors decorating their houses.  The guy whose house gets progressively more elaborate seems not to change his position on the ladder. Is he up against a green screen?  I can’t imagine him climbing down between shots for the crew to add more decorations.  That would be a lot of downtime for the actor, npi.

[Colleenna]

On 11/6/2020 at 12:12 PM, spaceghostess said:

Does anyone else find it distracting that Robbert Larson (Retired Burglar and Family Man) from the SimpliSafe ads is the same actor who plays the owner of "BeardBrand" on the postage.com (or whatever) ads? Good for him, though. Those spots are in crazy-heavy rotation on CNN (where I’m spending way too much time these, days, but that’s a whole other story).

 

 BeardBrand dude is hot.....

[Ubiquit0us]

15 hours ago, elle said:

This isn’t about the product the commercial is promoting, it’s insurance after all, but a head scratching query about how they made the Geico commercial with the neighbors decorating their houses.  The guy whose house gets progressively more elaborate seems not to change his position on the ladder. Is he up against a green screen?  I can’t imagine him climbing down between shots for the crew to add more decorations.  That would be a lot of downtime for the actor, npi.

I cannot say I ever thought about it until you asked, but maybe they add or subtract decorations between takes while he stays on the ladder or the ladder is on a track and they move the ladder to a different house and yard. 🤔 

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, Ubiquit0us said:

I cannot say I ever thought about it until you asked, but maybe they add or subtract decorations between takes while he stays on the ladder or the ladder is on a track and they move the ladder to a different house and yard. 🤔 

I assumed it was CGI.

[elle]

4 minutes ago, Ubiquit0us said:

I cannot say I ever thought about it until you asked, but maybe they add or subtract decorations between takes while he stays on the ladder or the ladder is on a track and they move the ladder to a different house and yard. 🤔 

Interesting, never thought about the guy moving between houses nor about them subtracting things rather than adding them.

2 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I assumed it was CGI.

I thought that may be the case too, like with a green screen, but the commercial has been around for years.  Was CGI that good 10 years ago?

I had not thought about how they made the commercial before this year.  For some reason after seeing it for the third or fourth time in an hour, I started to wonder?

[chessiegal]

2 minutes ago, elle said:

Was CGI that good 10 years ago?

The tv show Lost aired from 2004-to 2010 and they had some amazing CGI on that show.

[SoMuchTV]

There’s a commercial where a guy is watching a Game of Thrones-type show, keeps missing a crucial part, and says “Alexa, rewind ten seconds”. What I want to know is, if you have an Alexa, can you ever get past the commercial?

[Brookside]

The Always sanitary towels with the tagline "What the Gush".  I know what they're talking about, but I really don't need a commercial highlighting it, especially with that nauseating turn of phrase. 

[BookWitch]

Paper plate spaghetti. 

Why does the guy go through so much trouble to make grandmas spaghetti only to put it on a paper plate and dump it in her lap? Shouldn't the meal AND the girlfriend rate the good china?

[janie jones]

23 hours ago, BookWitch said:

Paper plate spaghetti. 

Why does the guy go through so much trouble to make grandmas spaghetti only to put it on a paper plate and dump it in her lap? Shouldn't the meal AND the girlfriend rate the good china?

I posted about this, I think in the Hate thread. This girl should get out. He's too lazy to wash dishes. And cost can't be a factor, because they sell good plates at the dollar store (and probably Goodwill) for cheaper than a pack of paper plates.

 

[xaxat]

There's a local ad running here that is in old school standard definition (with black bars). How is that possible in 2020?

It's for an insurance agency that has been around forever, so I guess it's possible that it really is ten plus year old, but all you need to make a professional looking high def ad now is an iPhone and a stabilizer. Your teenage granddaughter who's on Tik Tok can probably knock it out in an afternoon.

Edited November 17, 2020 by xaxat

[Ubiquit0us]

On 11/9/2020 at 3:50 PM, elle said:

I thought that may be the case too, like with a green screen, but the commercial has been around for years.  Was CGI that good 10 years ago?

I had not thought about how they made the commercial before this year.  For some reason after seeing it for the third or fourth time in an hour, I started to wonder?

I'm not sure the commercial is ten years old, but I thought CGI, at least of the quality in this commercial,  is too expensive to be worth it. 

I never thought about these questions before now, too! 

[debbie311]

There's a commercial for some type of COPD drug.  The woman is sitting on her couch, takes the scissors and cuts off her hospital ID band (which indicates she is a COPD patient), then gets up and collects an ash try and coffee mug, takes them to a flea market and sells the coffee mug.

I don't get it.  Why get rid of a coffee mug if you have COPD? Is it because people who smoke also drink coffee, and they can't drink coffee without smoking?

[sempervivum]

Am I the only one baffled at the casting choice for the Spectrum Business service ad? A disheveled looking middle aged woman in a garish blue pantsuit and badly curled, very root-y (not in a fashionable way) blonde hair talking about professional phone and internet standards seems like an odd pick.

[Ashforth]

On 11/18/2020 at 11:20 AM, sempervivum said:

Am I the only one baffled at the casting choice for the Spectrum Business service ad? A disheveled looking middle aged woman in a garish blue pantsuit and badly curled, very root-y (not in a fashionable way) blonde hair talking about professional phone and internet standards seems like an odd pick.

OMG I HATE HER. The blue pantsuit, the slightly different shade of blue blouse, the blue shoes that match the blouse. She's condescending to her "client." Spectrum is awful and this commercial inadvertently reflects that.

[elle]

Geico commercials

Ratt problem - clever and fun with a bit of nostalgia thrown in

Aunt problem - okay but still amusing 

Fencing problem - a real stretch, a definite miss for me

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, elle said:

Geico commercials

Ratt problem - clever and fun with a bit of nostalgia thrown in

Aunt problem - okay but still amusing 

Fencing problem - a real stretch, a definite miss for me

I hadn't seen that one, so I looked it up, and it's definitely my least favorite of the series thus far.  I've liked, to varying degrees, the clogging, Ratt, and aunt problems, and I don't hate the fencing one, but it's a bit of a dud compared to the others.

[Prevailing Wind]

I'm fond of the Aunt one because in my younger days, I had a suitcase like Aunt Joanie's.  I haven't seen the fencing one.  I thought Ratt was weird, but I loved the clogging problem. That kid brushing his teeth while dancing was a master.

[Haleth]

7 hours ago, elle said:

Geico commercials

Ratt problem - clever and fun with a bit of nostalgia thrown in

Aunt problem - okay but still amusing 

Fencing problem - a real stretch, a definite miss for me

And don't forget clogging.  I thought the fencing was funny.

[sempervivum]

I guess I just don't have a heart, but I am mystified by the current Kerrygold butter/cheese ad. This is the one where the family wakes up at 2:30 a.m., and gets up to make a gigantic dinner. The son (?) comes in and asks 'You...you waited for me?'. I'm reallllly having to read between the lines here, but is this kid a chef or possibly a medical worker (white uniform) and is this supposed to be Thanksgiving? I don't actually see a turkey, just a lot of casserole-ish looking stuff, and there's also a lot of cheese slicing going on- what does this mean?

The 'son' is super good looking, btw.

Edited November 20, 2020 by sempervivum
clarity

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think the Kerrygold commercial son is having a birthday, and they made a dinner and party for him. 

[janie jones]

13 hours ago, elle said:

Geico commercials

Ratt problem - clever and fun with a bit of nostalgia thrown in

Aunt problem - okay but still amusing 

Fencing problem - a real stretch, a definite miss for me

The fencing one is the only on that doesn't make sense. Why are the neighbors fencing in their house? Ratt in the house, that makes sense, there's the ratt problem. The clogging neighbors were clogging in their own home. Ants and aunts are both in your house, so that's logical. But the neighbors have no reason to be in the protagonists' house, the protagonists don't have to let them in, and actual fencing is not inside the house or on the patio or in the middle of the lawn.

I think they've run out of ideas.

[Moose135]

39 minutes ago, janie jones said:

I think they've run out of ideas.

About three cavemen ago...

[elle]

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

I hadn't seen that one, so I looked it up, and it's definitely my least favorite of the series thus far.  I've liked, to varying degrees, the clogging, Ratt, and aunt problems, and I don't hate the fencing one, but it's a bit of a dud compared to the others.

 

12 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I'm fond of the Aunt one because in my younger days, I had a suitcase like Aunt Joanie's.  I haven't seen the fencing one.  I thought Ratt was weird, but I loved the clogging problem. That kid brushing his teeth while dancing was a master.

 

9 hours ago, Haleth said:

And don't forget clogging.  I thought the fencing was funny.

Clogging!  How did I miss the clogging commercial?  I guess my 2 brain cells didn’t recognize it as part of the series.  And I like that one, I try to watch a different dancer each time it comes on.  Prevailing Wind you said it, that kid is great!

[CrazyInAlabama]

I hate the Geico fencing one.   

[chessiegal]

In one of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America ads, there is a female doctor telling the man and his wife that his cancer has metastasized. The actor playing the doctor looks so familiar to me. Mr. Google isn't helping me out. When I go to iSpot, it says the ad has been removed by the advertiser. Does she look familiar to anyone else?

[xaxat]

Kind of weird to associate Santa and Christmas with the violent movie Pulp Fiction.

 

Spoiler

The scene after the dance at the diner is the one where Vincent has to stab Mia in the heart with a huge syringe. Is that Mrs. Claus' fate?

 

[Browncoat]

9 minutes ago, xaxat said:

Kind of weird to associate Santa and Christmas with the violent movie Pulp Fiction.

 

  Reveal spoiler

The scene after the dance at the diner is the one where Vincent has to stab Mia in the heart with a huge syringe. Is that Mrs. Claus' fate?

 

Only if

she's OD'ing and it will save her life.

[dleighg]

7 hours ago, xaxat said:

Kind of weird to associate Santa and Christmas with the violent movie Pulp Fiction.

 

I guess, but I've never seen the movie Pulp Fiction, and I *HAVE* (many times) seen the clip of John Travolta doing that move and so I just get the "kinda cool" vibe. 

[peacheslatour]

7 hours ago, dleighg said:

I guess, but I've never seen the movie Pulp Fiction, and I *HAVE* (many times) seen the clip of John Travolta doing that move and so I just get the "kinda cool" vibe. 

It's one of my favorite movies of all time. Drags a bit in the middle but the rest is awesome. YMMV, obviously.

[sempervivum]

Is State Farm really OK with 'Jake' getting extra pizzas from 'Parker' and MANY extra steaks (plus some bacon thrown on top) from 'Maya', supposedly because he gave them such a great deal on insurance? This seems kind of shady to me. Shouldn't he at least be shown politely refusing the bonus food?

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, sempervivum said:

Is State Farm really OK with 'Jake' getting extra pizzas from 'Parker' and MANY extra steaks (plus some bacon thrown on top) from 'Maya', supposedly because he gave them such a great deal on insurance? This seems kind of shady to me. Shouldn't he at least be shown politely refusing the bonus food?

Jake didn't get extra pizza - he didn't even order it. And you think Parker is going to say okay to a refusal? Not in a million years. Since this is just one of a about a dozen commercials with customers thinking Jake gave them something special, they are simply emphasizing that State Farm gives everyone great rates. I have no problem with it. I think it's funny.

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Jake didn't get extra pizza - he didn't even order it. And you think Parker is going to say okay to a refusal? Not in a million years. Since this is just one of a about a dozen commercials with customers thinking Jake gave them something special, they are simply emphasizing that State Farm gives everyone great rates. I have no problem with it. I think it's funny.

Yeah, Parker doesn't strike me as the type to take no for an answer. I actually love her. I hope she has a long, successful career. She's got the "it" factor.

[janie jones]

On 11/23/2020 at 6:02 PM, xaxat said:

Kind of weird to associate Santa and Christmas with the violent movie Pulp Fiction.

 

  Hide contents

The scene after the dance at the diner is the one where Vincent has to stab Mia in the heart with a huge syringe. Is that Mrs. Claus' fate?

 

I don't immediately associate the dance scene with that other scene, so the commercial doesn't bring to mind violence, to me. I also think the better reference is Samuel L. Jackson's "Happy Holidays with cheese" t-shirt.

[Ashforth]

On 11/25/2020 at 1:22 PM, sempervivum said:

Is State Farm really OK with 'Jake' getting extra pizzas from 'Parker' and MANY extra steaks (plus some bacon thrown on top) from 'Maya', supposedly because he gave them such a great deal on insurance? This seems kind of shady to me. Shouldn't he at least be shown politely refusing the bonus food?

Oh, he tries, but he's so nice and they are so insistent. He does always tell them that everyone gets the same great deal, but they don't believe it.

I like these ads a lot. I think they're funny. The customers are wacky, but they aren't objects of ridicule. It's a gentle humor, something we don't see much anymore. I think State Farm hit the jackpot with this Jake. He seems like a guy you want to be friends with. And he's easy on the eyes.

On 11/25/2020 at 1:33 PM, peacheslatour said:

Yeah, Parker doesn't strike me as the type to take no for an answer. I actually love her. I hope she has a long, successful career. She's got the "it" factor.

I love Parker, too! She's the OG of this series of ads and still easily the best. I agree the actress nailed it and she has charisma. It will be interesting to see whether this launches more opportunities for her.