Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[LoneHaranguer]

19 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Yeah, or you can just hire someone who looks older than the "nephew" and eliminate the whole problem.

They couldn't because the point of the ad is that she qualifies for the new plan because she just turned 55. They could have made her Paul's older sister, but that would be making clear how old Paul is getting. Time for a younger spokesman? I think they're done with the "I used to push this other company's products" theme.

[friendperidot]

Quote

That kind of thing can happen if your grandparents started their family when they were young and spaced out having kids, or your grandfather got remarried to a younger woman (making the aunt in question your parent's much-younger half-sister).

Don't think I've seen that one yet, but I have an aunt that is 3 months older than me. She is my mother's full sister, my mother was the second oldest of a family of 7, the first 5, then several miscarriages, then my uncle who is 5 years older, then my aunt, a late in life surprise baby.

[7isBlue]

Weird!

https://ispot.tv/a/wQcP

Edited June 30, 2018 by 7isBlue

[Prevailing Wind]

I keep seeing this car commercial - I don't remember which car, so big fail there - where two women are in the vehicle and the car starts reading a text out loud from Jill, who's super-excited about dinner tonight. The car describes the emojis (women dancing with bunny ears, etc.) and the driver says something about Jill being excited about dinner tonight and the passenger makes a reply. I've seen this thing countless times and never, at any viewing, have I been able to understand WTF the passenger is replying.  I guess it's because I'm old - it's not exactly hearing loss, it's comprehension loss - but I don't understand it and if I could remember what car it is, I'd be sure never to buy one.

[riley702]

6 hours ago, 7isBlue said:

Weird!

https://ispot.tv/a/wQcP

Creepy!

[smittykins]

32 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I keep seeing this car commercial - I don't remember which car, so big fail there - where two women are in the vehicle and the car starts reading a text out loud from Jill, who's super-excited about dinner tonight. The car describes the emojis (women dancing with bunny ears, etc.) and the driver says something about Jill being excited about dinner tonight and the passenger makes a reply. I've seen this thing countless times and never, at any viewing, have I been able to understand WTF the passenger is replying.  I guess it's because I'm old - it's not exactly hearing loss, it's comprehension loss - but I don't understand it and if I could remember what car it is, I'd be sure never to buy one.

Buick.

[DrSpaceman]

14 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I keep seeing this car commercial - I don't remember which car, so big fail there - where two women are in the vehicle and the car starts reading a text out loud from Jill, who's super-excited about dinner tonight. The car describes the emojis (women dancing with bunny ears, etc.) and the driver says something about Jill being excited about dinner tonight and the passenger makes a reply. I've seen this thing countless times and never, at any viewing, have I been able to understand WTF the passenger is replying.  I guess it's because I'm old - it's not exactly hearing loss, it's comprehension loss - but I don't understand it and if I could remember what car it is, I'd be sure never to buy one.

She is replying in some type of emojis.......I can't understand or remember the ones she says.  And I agree, I don't get it.  Then she says something like "her emoji game I strong". 

Seems like a bad attempt by Buick to appeal to a "younger" crowd.  Not even sure how it relates to the car.  The car has Bluetooth.  Most all cars do now.  So what?

[Haleth]

8 hours ago, DrSpaceman said:

Seems like a bad attempt by Buick to appeal to a "younger" crowd.

Good luck with that, Buick.

[Prevailing Wind]

Does anyone else remember the three vent-holes Buicks used to have on the front fenders?  When I was 3, the people that lived next to us had a Buick and for years after that, whenever I saw a car with those 3 holes, I called it a "Joanie Feeden" after my playmate. Never could pronounce "Buick" properly until I was about 10.

[YaBoii]

The new Orbit commercial with the British kid getting bullied annoys me. As if anyone these days "beats kids up for lunch money". And even if they did if a kid just ate some gum and then hit on a girl with a bully holding up against a wall, the bully would beat the crap out of him. But no, "nerds are cute and orbit gives you unlimited confidence". Plus why is a British kid in America being that nerdy anyways? they are massively popular here in America

"I love what you're doing with your hair" as the bully just stands there doing nothing about the nerd impressing a girl.. sure that's how bullies act.

Not to mention the way the girl just walks right past the "charming" kid being bullied without saying a single word to try to stop it.

Edited July 1, 2018 by YaBoii

[CoyoteBlue]

Zillow ad where a mom and daughter are getting kicked out of their one-bedroom apt, so she gets on ZIllow and finds a new place where the child can actually have her own room.

Um, if it's that easy, maybe you could have done that years ago, Mom? Thank god those developers took over your apt building and forced you to make an effort.

[mmecorday]

There's another Zillow ad in which it appears a man buys the home that he grew up in and unearths a time capsule that he buried in the yard. Everything was kept in a metal box and when he digs it up, it's got some dents, but it's not rusted and the contents are perfectly preserved. Yeah, right. So I guess no groundwater at the old home place, then.

[Jamoche]

On 6/29/2018 at 8:24 PM, DrSpaceman said:

She is replying in some type of emojis.......I can't understand or remember the ones she says.  And I agree, I don't get it.  Then she says something like "her emoji game I strong". 

Seems like a bad attempt by Buick to appeal to a "younger" crowd.  Not even sure how it relates to the car.  The car has Bluetooth.  Most all cars do now.  So what?

Or a genius attempt to appeal to the older crowd who don't understand modern things like emojis but think they do :)

[chessiegal]

Can someone explain to me how  "Good2Go" auto insurance works? You buy just enough insurance to make you legal so you can drive your car. What does that mean?

[Bastet]

4 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Can someone explain to me how  "Good2Go" auto insurance works? You buy just enough insurance to make you legal so you can drive your car. What does that mean?

I'd guess that means they specialize in monthly-payment policies that just meet the state-mandated minimum coverage, for people who can't afford any more than that.  That way, people can register their cars, won't get in trouble for not having insurance if they get pulled over, etc.  If there's ever an accident, there will barely be anything to pay out, but they qualify as insured. 

[mmecorday]

The Red Baroness needs to fly away and take the hausfrau who thinks it's impressive that her family ate a frozen pizza for dinner with her. Also, if you mop up spilled milk with a sock that you're wearing -- and still wearing -- I wouldn't admit that I'm too lazy to wash a soiled sock that probably stinks.

[ooh.boo]

On 6/29/2018 at 7:15 AM, Prevailing Wind said:

I keep seeing this car commercial - I don't remember which car, so big fail there - where two women are in the vehicle and the car starts reading a text out loud from Jill, who's super-excited about dinner tonight. The car describes the emojis (women dancing with bunny ears, etc.) and the driver says something about Jill being excited about dinner tonight and the passenger makes a reply. I've seen this thing countless times and never, at any viewing, have I been able to understand WTF the passenger is replying.  I guess it's because I'm old - it's not exactly hearing loss, it's comprehension loss - but I don't understand it and if I could remember what car it is, I'd be sure never to buy one.

I think she says, “Woman nodding head yes.” 

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, mmecorday said:

The Red Baroness needs to fly away and take the hausfrau who thinks it's impressive that her family ate a frozen pizza for dinner with her.

That commercial is dumb - if you didn't know what she was referring to with her dinner brag, you'd think she had made a mega-healthy meal so delicious her picky family didn't realize she'd sneaked all that nutrition past them.  But, no, she popped a frozen pizza in the oven and, gasp, got her kids and man-child husband to eat it.  Now there's a feat.  Next she'll tell me she served hot fudge sundaes for dessert and, OMG, they polished them right off. 

Edited July 4, 2018 by Bastet

[peacheslatour]

35 minutes ago, Bastet said:

That commercial is dumb - if you didn't know what she was referring to with her dinner brag, you'd think she had made a mega-healthy meal so delicious her picky family didn't realize she'd sneaked all that nutrition right past them.  But, no, she popped a frozen pizza in the oven and, gasp, got her kids and man-child husband to eat it.  Now there's a feat.  Next she'll tell me she served hot fudge sundaes for dessert and, OMG, they polished them right off. 

She washed dishes with her hair up in a chip clip? Look out Wonder Woman!

[mojoween]

Also The Red Baron is a real person so there is no need to suddenly make him female.

In a span of a half hour tonight I saw ads for Sears, whose last store in my county will be closing for good in September, and Kmart, whose stores all closed in like three counties more than a year ago.  Weird.

[BookWitch]

Anoro-some kind of asthma inhaler that's using Fleetwood Macs "Go your own way". Did Fleetwood ok this?

 

Quilted Northern-guy standing in his driveway wrapped in packs of the stuff picking up the paper. Are there still a lot of people that get the paper that way?

[Browncoat]

3 minutes ago, BookWitch said:

Quilted Northern-guy standing in his driveway wrapped in packs of the stuff picking up the paper. Are there still a lot of people that get the paper that way?

My parents do, and several of my neighbors and I get a print paper, but it gets put in a mail-box-like box, not just thrown in the driveway.  Though as far as I know, none of us goes to get the paper wrapped in toilet paper.

Edited July 5, 2018 by Browncoat

[peacheslatour]

7 minutes ago, BookWitch said:

Anoro-some kind of asthma inhaler that's using Fleetwood Macs "Go your own way". Did Fleetwood ok this?

 

Quilted Northern-guy standing in his driveway wrapped in packs of the stuff picking up the paper. Are there still a lot of people that get the paper that way?

We do. They throw it on the front porch. I have a serious addiction to the NY Times crossword puzzle. Has there ever been a good toilet paper commercial?

[chessiegal]

Our newspapers (2) both get thrown on the driveway. Our driveway is the school bus stop, so on school days, one of the kids put them on our door step.

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Our newspapers (2) both get thrown on the driveway. Our driveway is the school bus stop, so on school days, one of the kids put them on our door step.

Nice!

[Tom Holmberg]

57 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Has there ever been a good toilet paper commercial?

Basically you can't really advertise what the product does and, despite some people's objections to the contrary, there's not THAT much difference between brands- it's paper for wiping your butt, for God's sake.  Until they  start selling geese for that purpose (a la "Gargantua and Pantagruel" https://knowledgenuts.com/2014/08/11/why-you-should-wipe-yourself-with-a-gooses-neck/ ) the ads are going to stink.

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Basically you can't really advertise what the product does and, despite some people's objections to the contrary, there's not THAT much difference between brands- it's paper for wiping your butt, for God's sake.  Until they  start selling geese for that purpose (a la "Gargantua and Pantagruel" https://knowledgenuts.com/2014/08/11/why-you-should-wipe-yourself-with-a-gooses-neck/ ) the ads are going to stink.

They used to call it "bath tissue" and talk about softness and so forth. At least they had some delicacy about it. But , you're right no commercial is gonna be great when the product is used for doing something gross.

[CoderLady]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

They used to call it "bath tissue" and talk about softness and so forth. At least they had some delicacy about it. But , you're right no commercial is gonna be great when the product is used for doing something gross.

Cue the series of ads in which a Brit chick asks how clean your bum is after using the advertised (can't remember which one! Yay!) product.

[QuinnInND]

6 hours ago, BookWitch said:

 

 

Quilted Northern-guy standing in his driveway wrapped in packs of the stuff picking up the paper. Are there still a lot of people that get the paper that way?

I love the next door neighbor. The WTF look on his face is priceless. 

[smittykins]

13 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

They used to call it "bath tissue" and talk about softness and so forth. At least they had some delicacy about it. But , you're right no commercial is gonna be great when the product is used for doing something gross.

I can remember when the toilet was referred to as "the bathroom bowl."

[Haleth]

10 hours ago, CoderLady said:

Cue the series of ads in which a Brit chick asks how clean your bum is after using the advertised (can't remember which one! Yay!) product.

I noticed her voiceover has been replaced by another woman in the current ads with the kids using scripted language to describe how clean they are after using the product.  (Is it Cottonelle?)  I hate those ads, kindergarteners would never use descriptions like "shimmering mermaid."

[Jacqs]

45 minutes ago, Haleth said:

I noticed her voiceover has been replaced by another woman in the current ads with the kids using scripted language to describe how clean they are after using the product.  (Is it Cottonelle?)  I hate those ads, kindergarteners would never use descriptions like "shimmering mermaid."

little kids are not treated too good during the making of commercials. 

[funky-rat]

18 hours ago, BookWitch said:

Anoro-some kind of asthma inhaler that's using Fleetwood Macs "Go your own way". Did Fleetwood ok this?

They only use a small amount of the song, so I'm not sure how that works.  It irritates me because the voices are all auto-tuned to the hilt, and that's like nails on a chalkboard to me.  

[Bort]

I'm not sure how much control Fleetwood Mac has over their music, but since it's a cover and the record company apparently okayed the usage, the band might not have any say.

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Basically you can't really advertise what the product does and, despite some people's objections to the contrary, there's not THAT much difference between brands- it's paper for wiping your butt, for God's sake.  Until they  start selling geese for that purpose (a la "Gargantua and Pantagruel" https://knowledgenuts.com/2014/08/11/why-you-should-wipe-yourself-with-a-gooses-neck/ ) the ads are going to stink.

I'll argue about there not being that much difference between brands (Scott should use "It's sandpaper for your ass!" as its slogan), but yeah it's hard to do a tasteful, funny, decent toilet paper commercial.

(Extra points for Gargantua and Pantagruel.)

47 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I'm not sure how much control Fleetwood Mac has over their music, but since it's a cover and the record company apparently okayed the usage, the band might not have any say.

It all depends on who owns the rights.  I tried to look that up after the COPD drug commercial which used Go Your Own Way (there's also a car commercial - Jeep, maybe?) but it was too complicate to figure out.

[Tom Holmberg]

10 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Extra points for Gargantua and Pantagruel.)

I always pounce when there's a chance to use "Gargantua and Pantagruel"!  (I actually buy Scott, it's cheap and the roll lasts a long time. ;)

[Sandman87]

Apparently the "Little Lungs in a Great Big World" PSAs are telling me that if I smoke, I'll either end up being impaled by a moose, or else I'll accidentally set myself on fire blowing out the candles on my birthday cake. So smoking is bad, mmmkay?

 

17 hours ago, smittykins said:

I can remember when the toilet was referred to as "the bathroom bowl."

Sounds like the name of the big annual football game in Stockton, CA.

[Haleth]

19 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I'm not sure how much control Fleetwood Mac has over their music, but since it's a cover and the record company apparently okayed the usage, the band might not have any say.

I would guess that since Lindsey Buckingham wrote it he probably still owns the rights.  Maybe that's why he was kicked out of the band recently. ;)

[Jamoche]

Even the writers of a song can lose rights to it to the record company 

On 7/5/2018 at 6:32 PM, CoderLady said:

Cue the series of ads in which a Brit chick asks how clean your bum is after using the advertised (can't remember which one! Yay!) product.

Cottonelle. They used to use a puppy, and I found it easy to remember puppy = the brand I liked, but then the bum ads started so now I just buy whatever's on sale that isn't Charmin or Cottonelle.

[chessiegal]

I don't understand not buying a product because of a commercial if it's something you like. It's cutting off your nose to spite your face. I boycott businesses for moral or ethical reasons. Won't go to Chick-fil-A or Poppa Johns. I'm not crazy about Panera Bread commercials but I love their food. Not going to stop going there.

[Prevailing Wind]

If it's a product that I'm pretty much indifferent to brands, I'll chose the one with the least annoying commercial. I'd never NOT buy a Honda because of an idiotic commercial, though.

[friendperidot]

Quote

Has there ever been a good toilet paper commercial?

Mr Whipple, "don't squeeze the Charmin!" wasn't horrible until it was over used.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, friendperidot said:

Mr Whipple, "don't squeeze the Charmin!" wasn't horrible until it was over used.

That's right. I forgot all about that. It was a really good way to handle a product like tp without going into too much detail about what it's for. I mean who doesn't know what tp is for? They don't have to go into specifics.

[Jamoche]

17 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I don't understand not buying a product because of a commercial if it's something you like. It's cutting off your nose to spite your face. I boycott businesses for moral or ethical reasons. Won't go to Chick-fil-A or Poppa Johns. I'm not crazy about Panera Bread commercials but I love their food. Not going to stop going there.

It's TP - once you get beyond bargain-basement sandpaper there's not much to dislike. Although with Charmin it's mostly because the stuff sheds. Hating the bears is just a bonus.

[Silver Raven]

1 minute ago, Jamoche said:

It's TP - once you get beyond bargain-basement sandpaper there's not much to dislike. Although with Charmin it's mostly because the stuff sheds. Hating the bears is just a bonus.

This  Charmin is awful.

[chessiegal]

7 minutes ago, Jamoche said:

It's TP - once you get beyond bargain-basement sandpaper there's not much to dislike. Although with Charmin it's mostly because the stuff sheds. Hating the bears is just a bonus.

But it's not just tp I see posters say they won't buy because of a commercial. It runs the gamut of products/establishments.

[Jamoche]

24 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

But it's not just tp I see posters say they won't buy because of a commercial. It runs the gamut of products/establishments.

It's generally not a case of "I adore $product, but that ad - ew! Never again!", though. More like stuff that comes down to a coin toss, or "There was a 1% chance I might buy a Chevy but now it's zero". Ad agencies want us to choose based on their ads - well, it works both ways.

[Browncoat]

I am disinclined to patronize Sonic because of their commercials.  I hate those guys, and the women aren't any better.  They give me the impression that if I eat there, I'll become an idiot like them.  I have plenty of other choices for food, thanks.

[riley702]

OK, I'm going to expose my ignorance over the "Snowfall" show promo. I get it's about drugs. But when the gunshots are heard, little glass drug vials drop to the ground. Why are they empty and capped? If it was a drug deal gone wrong, why aren't they full or at least uncapped with drug residue? Then, I noticed they were smoking like they were supposed to be bullet cartridges. This makes no sense to me. What am I missing?

[proserpina65]

On ‎07‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 7:38 AM, Haleth said:

I would guess that since Lindsey Buckingham wrote it he probably still owns the rights.  Maybe that's why he was kicked out of the band recently. ;)

Songwriters don't always own the rights to their songs.  Depends on the contracts they signed with the record company.  That's why Michael Jackson owned the rights to most of the Beatles' songs for so long.