Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Bastet]

The cake scenario really has me scratching my head - you spend all that money on a cake, but refuse to pay a little more to have it delivered?  (Obviously, I don't know that's what happened, but I have no idea why else she'd be doing it herself; I've certainly never encountered a bakery that didn't offer delivery for orders like that.)

Edited February 11, 2022 by Bastet

[smittykins]

The cake ad reminds me of the old AMC Pacer commercial with the sandwich guy assembling the looooooong sub in the back of said Pacer.

 

[CrystalBlue]

7 hours ago, smittykins said:

The cake ad reminds me of the old AMC Pacer commercial with the sandwich guy assembling the looooooong sub in the back of said Pacer.

 

Back when commercials were actually funny and clever!

[Gharlane]

On 2/12/2022 at 10:42 AM, smittykins said:

The cake ad reminds me of the old AMC Pacer commercial with the sandwich guy assembling the looooooong sub in the back of said Pacer.

 

I remember the one with a rabi performing a bris in the backseat. 😉

[Gharlane]

Speaking of Allstate, there's a commercial in which a woman driving her car is followed by a marching band. She starts driving faster than than they walk, making me wonder if she's screwing with them, but then she goes thru a car wash! She's totally fucking with them, right?

[chessiegal]

40 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

Speaking of Allstate, there's a commercial in which a woman driving her car is followed by a marching band. She starts driving faster than than they walk, making me wonder if she's screwing with them, but then she goes thru a car wash! She's totally fucking with them, right?

I took it as a visual representation of how Allstate is always with you, not something that happens in reality. Poetic license, a metaphor.

Edited February 14, 2022 by chessiegal

[chessiegal]

Here's an explanation of the Allstate marching band ad. I did not know Allstate was an official sponsor of the college football playoffs, but I still got the gist. Allstate - we've got your back.

Quote

Allstate celebrates its status of Official Sponsor of the College Football Playoffs in a new commercial.

The spot features a woman driving to Allstate, where she learns that she saved $718 for having switched to Allstate. The voiceover welcomes her to the “town” where they have just lowered their auto rates and “savings like that follow you everywhere.” The savings are illustrated through a marching band that follows the woman’s car even at a car wash, taking a “shower” along with the car.

 

[Gharlane]

Is Gronk (the football player) really as stupid as he behaves on the USAA commercials I keep seeing during every commercial break? No, Gronk, chugging your milk and slamming the empty carton on the ground while screaming wont make you eligible for their insurance... 

[Moose135]

3 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I remember the one with a rabi performing a bris in the backseat. 😉

That was an SNL spoof commercial, the Royal Deluxe II

 

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Gharlane said:

Is Gronk (the football player) really as stupid as he behaves on the USAA commercials I keep seeing during every commercial break?

As a football fan, I would say, yes, he is every bit as dumb as he looks.  He's smart with money, but otherwise he's pretty much the village idiot of the NFL.  I hate those commercials; there's nothing funny about being that stupid (whether real or an act).

[madmax]

 

3 hours ago, Gharlane said:

Is Gronk (the football player) really as stupid as he behaves on the USAA commercials I keep seeing during every commercial break? 

 

50 minutes ago, Bastet said:

As a football fan, I would say, yes, he is every bit as dumb as he looks.  He's smart with money, but otherwise he's pretty much the village idiot of the NFL.  I hate those commercials; there's nothing funny about being that stupid (whether real or an act).

He is the close friend of the son of one of my co-workers, and she says he is very intelligent.  Guess the stupid act pays well.

Edited February 14, 2022 by madmax

[mmecorday]

In an Olympic themed Comcast commercial, I thought the announcer said "No one knows more about Brazilians than athletes."

[millennium]

The Chevy/Sopranos Superbowl commercial:

 

I can't figure out what the takeaway is.   "A whole new truck for a whole new generation."   Okay, but a whole new generation of what?  Mobsters?   Jamie-Lynn Sigler was revisiting her role as Meadow Soprano, daughter of Tony Soprano.  The commercial recreates the opening of the show complete with the "got yourself a gun" theme song.  

I love the Sopranos as much as anyone but if you can get beyond nostalgia the spot is questionable.  Meadow and her brother A.J. (also in the commercial) were direct beneficiaries of a small fortune derived from murder, extortion and vice.  They were both fully aware of how their dad earned his income and both took full advantage of it despite that knowledge.   Are we supposed to feel warm and fuzzy that they are both thriving today?  That Meadow can afford a new all-electric Chevy Silverado when her upbringing and schooling were paid for with the blood of her father's victims?  In the commercial, Meadow's trip down Memory Lane takes her past Satriale's pork store, where the bodies of Soprano family victims were dismembered. 

I suppose Chevy and its ad agency decided that the nostalgia factor would outweigh any underlying considerations, but it doesn't mean those considerations just go away.

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by millennium

[Haleth]

14 hours ago, madmax said:

He is the close friend of the son of one of my co-workers, and she says he is very intelligent.  Guess the stupid act pays well.

He and my son in law have a mutual friend so SIL got to go out drinking with them after a game.  SIL said he really is that goofy.

17 hours ago, Moose135 said:

That was an SNL spoof commercial, the Royal Deluxe II

I remember this.  "Perfect!"  It was spoofing a commercial where a jeweler was cutting a diamond in the back seat.

[Cara]

In an Chevrolet Equinox commercial a couple is discussing what to have for dinner before they almost hit a taco truck. The guy names over several types of cuisine. He mentions Sushi. She says she had that for lunch. He later mentions seafood. She responds he knows she doesn’t like seafood. Correct me if I’m wrong, I am not a culinary expert. But I would consider Sushi to be in the seafood realm! 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Cara

[SnarkySheep]

There's a commercial for Red Cross, with a woman playing a super-slow rendition of "What the World Needs Now" on the piano in a house...then they pan out, and you see the house is actually a pile of rubble, with people outside trying to dig out anything salvageable, etc.

I get the gist - that people always have and need love and hope following disasters and tragedies - but it just struck me as a kind of weird way to portray that.

[Gharlane]

On 2/15/2022 at 6:51 PM, Cara said:

In an Chevrolet Equinox commercial a couple is discussing what to have for dinner before they almost hit a taco truck. The guy names over several types of cuisine. He mentions Sushi. She says she had that for lunch. He later mentions seafood. She responds he knows she doesn’t like seafood. Correct me if I’m wrong, I am not a culinary expert. But I would consider Sushi to be in the seafood realm! 

Not necessarily; some sushi doesn't contain seafood.

I do wonder how long they followed that taco truck before it parked and opened up for business, however.

[SoMuchTV]

This one is currently head-scratchy for me.  I think it was originally a Superbowl ad but now I'm seeing it all the time.  It's for a tax service that finds the perfect match for you.  The first woman finds the right provider, then pulls off her mask Scooby-Doo-villian style and is a different person, who has a different perfect match.  Then we have Jason Sudekis who presents his sort-of real circumstances ("I live in NY, make a show in London, and make a commercial in LA...") and he gets matched with yet another perfect tax pro.  Seems like a weird shift in tone.  Why not either have three different random people, or have other actual celebrities? Or was I supposed to recognize the first two people?  But why the un-masking?  I'm sure I'm overthinking this!

[SoMuchTV]

On 2/15/2022 at 6:51 PM, Cara said:

In an Chevrolet Equinox commercial a couple is discussing what to have for dinner before they almost hit a taco truck. The guy names over several types of cuisine. He mentions Sushi. She says she had that for lunch. He later mentions seafood. She responds he knows she doesn’t like seafood. Correct me if I’m wrong, I am not a culinary expert. But I would consider Sushi to be in the seafood realm! 

 

7 hours ago, Gharlane said:

Not necessarily; some sushi doesn't contain seafood.

I do wonder how long they followed that taco truck before it parked and opened up for business, however.

Yeah, I can give this a pass, I think.  There's some overlap between sushi and seafood, but in terms of what restaurant you're ordering from, it feels like there's enough of a difference.  "Seafood" in their area could be more like Bubba's all-you-can-eat fried platter.

[cynicat]

11 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Yeah, I can give this a pass, I think.  There's some overlap between sushi and seafood, but in terms of what restaurant you're ordering from, it feels like there's enough of a difference.  "Seafood" in their area could be more like Bubba's all-you-can-eat fried platter.

Taking to Small Talk

[peacheslatour]

Is that Idris Elba in the new Bookings.com ad?

[Cobalt Stargazer]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Is that Idris Elba in the new Bookings.com ad?

Yes, it is.

[peacheslatour]

13 minutes ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Yes, it is.

Thanks! I thought so. 😍

[Gharlane]

I swear I saw some sort of tourism commercial for Utah that ended with something like "We'll tell you how to vacation safely here!". Um, whut? 😲

[janie jones]

On 2/17/2022 at 3:38 PM, SoMuchTV said:

This one is currently head-scratchy for me.  I think it was originally a Superbowl ad but now I'm seeing it all the time.  It's for a tax service that finds the perfect match for you.  The first woman finds the right provider, then pulls off her mask Scooby-Doo-villian style and is a different person, who has a different perfect match.  Then we have Jason Sudekis who presents his sort-of real circumstances ("I live in NY, make a show in London, and make a commercial in LA...") and he gets matched with yet another perfect tax pro.  Seems like a weird shift in tone.  Why not either have three different random people, or have other actual celebrities? Or was I supposed to recognize the first two people?  But why the un-masking?  I'm sure I'm overthinking this!

I saw this ad today, and they just showed Jason Sudeikis. I imagine that they made the longer version for the Super Bowl with the intention of using the shorter version afterwards. They probably didn't think it would be worth it to spend the money to get three celebrities when you won't see two of them in most airings.

[KWalkerInc]

I saw an ad, I think for Turbo Tax, where a guy does a spittake.  There was a disclaimer that said, "Stream simulated.  Do not attempt."  It made me laugh, but it was confusing.  I think the guy was spitting out coffee, so I guess they were worried (legally) about someone spitting hot coffee and burning a family member?

[proserpina65]

16 hours ago, janie jones said:

I saw this ad today, and they just showed Jason Sudeikis. I imagine that they made the longer version for the Super Bowl with the intention of using the shorter version afterwards. They probably didn't think it would be worth it to spend the money to get three celebrities when you won't see two of them in most airings.

I've seen both versions over the last week.  In fact, the longer one is the one I've seen the most.

[Gharlane]

As much as they bug me, I ignore the lame Liberty Mutual ads, but there's one with a cowboy riding a bucking bull that (surprise!) turns out to be a coin-op kiddie ride that annoys me because the timer runs out while he's bucking and hooting and he suddenly goes quiet and stops moving. Was that intentional or were they sppsd to cut away before he did that and someone messed up?🤔

 

[Prevailing Wind]

The only thing I like in that ad is the bull is named "Mild Mitch."

[Gharlane]

Now that I think about it, how did he start it without getting up to put in another coin? 🤔

[madmax]

It's probably just me, but I don't get the State Farm commercial where Jake is talking to the people at a party(?) and he's talking about how the agent called him back right away and the woman says something like "blink twice if you need help."  WTF is that supposed to mean?

[CrystalBlue]

2 hours ago, madmax said:

It's probably just me, but I don't get the State Farm commercial where Jake is talking to the people at a party(?) and he's talking about how the agent called him back right away and the woman says something like "blink twice if you need help."  WTF is that supposed to mean?

I *think* it's because at the party/someone's small lawn yard gathering, no one would believe that Jake even has an agent because he's such a bad actor OR is a wannabe singer??? so him pretending to have an agent could be a sign of distress, as in he is an abused person or in some sort of imminent danger, he should blink twice for help.

Jake should stick to his driving a Hyandai ad.

For the record, I hate "new" Jake from State Farm commercials.

[Haleth]

10 hours ago, madmax said:

It's probably just me, but I don't get the State Farm commercial where Jake is talking to the people at a party(?) and he's talking about how the agent called him back right away and the woman says something like "blink twice if you need help."  WTF is that supposed to mean?

The "blink" woman is implying the person raving about the great service from an insurance company is being forced to say something good.  It's dumb.

[Leeds]

On 2/21/2022 at 9:57 PM, KWalkerInc said:

I saw an ad, I think for Turbo Tax, where a guy does a spittake.  There was a disclaimer that said, "Stream simulated.  Do not attempt."  It made me laugh, but it was confusing.  I think the guy was spitting out coffee, so I guess they were worried (legally) about someone spitting hot coffee and burning a family member?

When I think of body parts from which liquid "streams", I do not think of mouths.

[Browncoat]

This commercial for an app called Calm.  It lists the number 1 reason for not getting enough sleep as being on your phone right before bed.  But then it wants you do download this app to your phone to help you sleep.  So, phone is both bad and good for sleep?

[Blergh]

Fred and Ben Savage (of  Wonder Years and Boy/Girl Meets World fame) are pitching Goldfish snacks in a series of commercial playing  . ..kinda themselves. In this one, they get. .. transformed and one   wonders how might Winnie and Topanga have reacted to it.

 

[friendperidot]

Back to the Virgin Cruse Line using Like A Virgin. For the longest time, I heard the singing as "Like a virgin, we are marching, six to nine." It made no sense to me, I don't listen to Madonna and had never heard her sing the song. I looked up the lyrics, which are Like a virgin, when your heart beats, next to mine." Now, sometimes, I can hear the correct lyric, but I rather like my version. I wondered where the virgins were marching to and why. And I never got a memo back when that status applied to me.

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by friendperidot

[dleighg]

I live in an "affluent" county north of NYC. Basically a bedroom community for people who work in NYC or in our suburbs.

I have now (in the last hour or so) seen four ads for Tractor Supply. They are saying that they are here for folks with feed, who are raising corn, cattle, and horses, or something like that.

Wow, what a serious waste of money!

[debbie311]

Also a waste of money - those Car Shield auto warranty commercials that are on all the time here in California.  If you read the fine print at the end of the very lengthy commercial, it says "Not Available in California."

[Gramto6]

Someone here I think it was, said that nation wide ads were actually cheaper than ads targeted to certain areas. That explains why I get ads for food places that are a day's+ drive away, and liquor ads for delivery services to a state that has State Owned Liquor stores and you can only buy hard liquor there. 

It is frustrating sometimes watching ads for things there is no way I can get to to purchase. (Live in Montana.) However, I do enjoy living here in the country, with few people, little traffic and lots of space... It's a trade off...

[Bastet]

Yes, when that happens, rest assured the ad agency was not stupid enough to buy ad time specifically in a market in which the product/service being advertised is unavailable; it's a regional or national buy that happens to include one or more of those markets, but encompasses enough relevant markets that the bulk rate makes more economic sense than paying for individual markets.

[Haleth]

Plus Tractor Supply sells a whole lot more than cattle feed.  They have a huge inventory of home and garden products that anyone can use.  If there is a local store.

[Prevailing Wind]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

Plus Tractor Supply sells a whole lot more than cattle feed.  They have a huge inventory of home and garden products that anyone can use.  If there is a local store.

Pet supplies, too.

 

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

Plus Tractor Supply sells a whole lot more than cattle feed.  They have a huge inventory of home and garden products that anyone can use.  If there is a local store.

It's where I get seed for the wild birds.  They have the best prices around here on black oil sunflower seed.

[Gharlane]

16 hours ago, dleighg said:

I live in an "affluent" county north of NYC. Basically a bedroom community for people who work in NYC or in our suburbs.

I have now (in the last hour or so) seen four ads for Tractor Supply. They are saying that they are here for folks with feed, who are raising corn, cattle, and horses, or something like that.

Wow, what a serious waste of money!

Aren't there a lot of people getting tax breaks by claiming to be farmers there?

[SoMuchTV]

It’s head-scratching to me that that Applebees ad that has basically become a meme (because of the insensitive news placement) is still being shown. I know you spent a lot on it, but geez, maybe re-edit it before it goes back out there?

[dleighg]

5 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I know you spent a lot on it, but geez, maybe re-edit it before it goes back out there?

and even without the unfortunate news placement that we've all heard about, I am damn sick of seeing him shake his be-jeaned behind.

[Haleth]

What is the issue with the Applebees commercial?

[dleighg]

22 minutes ago, Haleth said:

What is the issue with the Applebees commercial?

CNN decided that they needed to go-to-commercial, but didn't want to completely break away from Ukraine reporting, so they had a split screen of bombings, with the Applebee's guy singing "a pair of jeans that fit just right" and shaking his behind. It was widely criticized as insensitive to put it mildly.

https://sports.yahoo.com/cnn-applebee-face-backlash-over-204331847.html

Edited March 7, 2022 by dleighg

[mmecorday]

When did Applebee's evolve into a place where you can go for a hoedown and some boneless chicken wings?