Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Ancaster]

On 2/28/2025 at 9:12 AM, proserpina65 said:

I haven't seen that one, but generally as long as someone stays on the drug, they usually keep off the weight.  Although diabetes drugs aren't meant for weight loss.

Not that you'd know that from the commercials.

One reason pharmaceutical ads should be banned - people without diabetes bug their doctors for diabetes drugs because the ads tell them they can help them lose buckets of weight.  The doctors either refuse to prescribe the unnecessary and expensive drug and lose the patient, or succumb to the pressure even though they know better in order to keep the patient.

Edited March 2 by Ancaster

[chessiegal]

You don't need to bug your doctor for glp-1 drugs. Look at all the ads for weight loss programs that provide glp-1 medication, including Weight Watchers. 

Edited March 2 by chessiegal
Additional info

[Red Bridey]

8 hours ago, chessiegal said:

You don't need to bug your doctor for glp-1 drugs. Look at all the ads for weight loss programs that provide glp-1 medication, including Weight Watchers. 

No, that's true, but you need to pay a lot more for them. Even if you have good health insurance with prescription drug coverage, most plans don't cover weight loss medication as medically necessary. Which is ridiculous because these drugs do work and end up being beneficial. If you can tolerate them, GLP-1 drugs reduce cardiovascular disease, kidney problems and substance addictions. But sometimes, insurance companies will say, "Oh, you lost the weight, you've lowered your A1C, you don't qualify for diabetes control drugs any more", so the patient loses access to the medication! Insurance companies are the worst.

[Prevailing Wind]

My sister in law is on Mounjaro and has lost a lot of weight. Better still, she's off ALL other diabetes meds. She's got great insurance, so they let her stay on Mounjaro.

My doc put me on it and I got violently ill from it. It's taken more than the reported 4 weeks to purge it from my system. My appetite is having a horrible rebound - I'm constantly hungry.

I hate those ads that make it seem "shoot this up and everything is hunky-dory."

[KWalkerInc]

In one of the T-Mobile ads with Zach Braff and Donald Faison at the opera (trying to watch basketball on a broken phone), Faison ends up chewing gum and reveals that he found it under his seat.  I think Braff's reaction is supposed to be disgust (understandably), but his response is weird in that in kind of comes across like he's jealous that he didn't find the gum and get to chew it himself.

[Ancaster]

This is a general observation.

Why has there been a recent rise in female constipation medications?  Dulcolax, Miralax, etc?  They're constant and frequent.

[Shrek]

16 hours ago, Red Bridey said:

No, that's true, but you need to pay a lot more for them. Even if you have good health insurance with prescription drug coverage, most plans don't cover weight loss medication as medically necessary. Which is ridiculous because these drugs do work and end up being beneficial. If you can tolerate them, GLP-1 drugs reduce cardiovascular disease, kidney problems and substance addictions. But sometimes, insurance companies will say, "Oh, you lost the weight, you've lowered your A1C, you don't qualify for diabetes control drugs any more", so the patient loses access to the medication! Insurance companies are the worst.

My old insurance company wouldn't even pay for Chantix to help me stop smoking and nobody can say that's not beneficial to them in the long term. But they (Ins) actually want people to die rather than pay for preventative care because it works out cheaper & therefore better for them in the long run.

I will say that they (Ins) are not all the same & some will actually pay for things that are preventative, the one I have now via Mrs. Shrek paid for the Chantix & I had stopped well before the end of the third month after over 40 years of smoking. The other thing is the price, I could have got Chantix myself, but the cost was $900 a month which is ridiculous. 

Insurance & drug companies are out of control in the USA but they're only going to get worse now. What's a few million $ in backhanders, it's a small price to pay for years of no controls.

[Browncoat]

3 hours ago, Ancaster said:

This is a general observation.

Why has there been a recent rise in female constipation medications?  Dulcolax, Miralax, etc?  They're constant and frequent.

Boomers + calcium supplements.

[Ohiopirate02]

14 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Boomers + calcium supplements.

Plus any other maintenance medication older people start to take on a daily basis. Working in pharmacy taught me that just about every prescription medication carries the side effects of constipation and diarrhea. Which one you get depends on your body, and a lucky few get both. 

Also, most Americans do not get nearly enough fiber in their diet.

[Prevailing Wind]

On 3/3/2025 at 2:57 PM, Ancaster said:

They're constant and frequent.

Unlike many folks' BMs.

[proserpina65]

On 3/3/2025 at 3:43 PM, Shrek said:

I will say that they (Ins) are not all the same & some will actually pay for things that are preventative,

Yeah mine is decent, and will pay for Ozempic as long as its prescribed for diabetes, but I do realize I'm lucky because many insurance companies are not like this.

 

[chessiegal]

I started reading the small print on the Wegovy ad. They say most people who stop taking Wegovy generally gain the weight back. They finish by saying if insurance doesn't cover it, it's $650/month. Wow. $650/month for the rest of your life to keep the weight off.

[Gharlane]

There's a smartie phone commercial I keep seeing with people slow motion yelling "Noooo!" over damaging their phone but the last one is a young woman on crutches who dropped her bag (maybe two) of groceries and her phone that leaves me wondering how she managed to hold two crutches and a bag of groceries and her phone in the first place! 🤔

[Ohiopirate02]

On 3/16/2025 at 1:00 PM, chessiegal said:

I started reading the small print on the Wegovy ad. They say most people who stop taking Wegovy generally gain the weight back. They finish by saying if insurance doesn't cover it, it's $650/month. Wow. $650/month for the rest of your life to keep the weight off.

This is true for almost all weight loss medications, diets, and even surgeries. There are too many variables when it comes to weight from genetics to behaviors and comorbidities.

[Browncoat]

Stanley Steemer is using the stalker song "Every Breath You Take" in their ads.

[Prevailing Wind]

9 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

This is true for almost all weight loss medications, diets, and even surgeries.

I was on Mounjaro for about two months & lost about 4 pounds. But it made me sick so I stopped it. Now, long after it should be purged from my system, my body is making up for lost time. I am hungry ALL the time. I'm sure I've put the 4 pounds back on & it probably brought some friends along for the ride.

Being hungry/eating all the time makes it really hard to check blood glucose levels because you're always trying to digest food. I hate diabetes.

[proserpina65]

On 3/16/2025 at 1:00 PM, chessiegal said:

I started reading the small print on the Wegovy ad. They say most people who stop taking Wegovy generally gain the weight back. They finish by saying if insurance doesn't cover it, it's $650/month. Wow. $650/month for the rest of your life to keep the weight off.

I'm actually surprised they admit the thing about gaining the weight back, even if it's just the small print.  The cost doesn't surprise me, though.

On 3/18/2025 at 7:43 PM, Browncoat said:

Stanley Steemer is using the stalker song "Every Breath You Take" in their ads.

I love that song but it is SOOOOO wrong for that commercial.

[lh25]

On 3/18/2025 at 4:43 PM, Browncoat said:

Stanley Steemer is using the stalker song "Every Breath You Take" in their ads

Saw that one today, my first thought was "get out your vacuum or a duster and clean those nasty vents".  OK, I realize it's about duct cleaning but still.

[Blergh]

Here's an Oldie but Baddie:

Back in the early 1970's there was a commercial for Nestea Iced Tea that had the jingle constantly repeating the lyrics of 'Tea,tea,tea,tea,TEA,tea

                                                                    Tea,tea,tea,tea,TEA,tea

                                                                    Tea, tea, tea, tea, TEA,tea

                                                                     Tea, tea,tea, tea, TEA,tea

                                                                     Tea,tea, Nestea  Iced Tea'

I mean, did they think the potential customers had to be constantly reminded of the eventual outcome of their product?!

[Gharlane]

On 3/22/2025 at 1:52 PM, Blergh said:

Here's an Oldie but Baddie:

Back in the early 1970's there was a commercial for Nestea Iced Tea that had the jingle constantly repeating the lyrics of 'Tea,tea,tea,tea,TEA,tea

                                                                    Tea,tea,tea,tea,TEA,tea

                                                                    Tea, tea, tea, tea, TEA,tea

                                                                     Tea, tea,tea, tea, TEA,tea

                                                                     Tea,tea, Nestea  Iced Tea'

I mean, did they think the potential customers had to be constantly reminded of the eventual outcome of their product?!

That commercial was in the late 1970's. My friend and I at the time would sing it repeatedly to the annoyance of everyone.

[Blergh]

23 hours ago, Gharlane said:

That commercial was in the late 1970's. My friend and I at the time would sing it repeatedly to the annoyance of everyone.

I think we can agree that it happened sometimes in the 70's. Regardless, it wouldn't be too long before they switched to the 'Take the Nestea Plunge.' with folks falling backwards into pools with tan water.

P.S. Let me guess: you and your friend would sing the earlier jingle during downpours on road trips many miles to the next rest stop.

Edited Tuesday at 10:14 AM by Blergh

[tearknee]

with the T swapped for...

[Gharlane]

12 hours ago, Blergh said:

I think we can agree that it happened sometimes in the 70's. Regardless, it wouldn't be too long before they switched to the 'Take the Nestea Plunge.' with folks falling backwards into pools with tan water.

I think the "Nestea Plunge" campaign was before the "Tea song" one, but I don't remember the pool water being brown.😲

 

I keep seeing a new pharmaceutical commercial which features an anime (or is it mango?) cartoon of this young woman who appears to be a lunatic, accompanied by what sounds like a poorly done computer voice narrating. I have no idea what's going on or being monologued. 

[mbluecpa]

22 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I keep seeing a new pharmaceutical commercial which features an anime (or is it mango?) cartoon of this young woman who appears to be a lunatic, accompanied by what sounds like a poorly done computer voice narrating. I have no idea what's going on or being monologued. 

Just came here to post about that one, which I’ve seen a lot lately; the animation and computer voice are really distracting. It took me a while to notice two different ones by the same pharma company - one for a mental health medication and the second for an MS drug.