Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[sempervivum]

Smirnoff ad- Ted Danson and Laverne Cox; something about 'who wore it best' (they're wearing the same blue suit). I must be dumb, but the point of this escapes me.

Also, Ted wears it best, Laverne. Your wig is a mess and you're wearing way too many accessories.

AND- Snickers ad with Elton John: this is just sad. He doesn't need the money, and why would anyone think this is good PR? He looks like a silly old relic.

Edited September 5, 2018 by sempervivum

[cpcathy]

Ted wears everything best, in my opinion.

[Jacqs]

There's an ad running here in Oz parodying the Grail Knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... a movie which is 29 years old. Says a lot about the age of the people behind the ad, doesn't it?

Edited September 6, 2018 by JacquelineAppleton

[mmecorday]

There's a commercial for some prescription drug or bladder leakage pad or denture cream -- I don't even know what the product is because I swear the woman in the ad is saying, "I'm a spider!"

[Brattinella]

8 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

the woman in the ad is saying, "I'm a spider!

Yes!  We delight in saying it along with her.  "I'm a spider!"

[Haleth]

19 hours ago, mmecorday said:

There's a commercial for some prescription drug or bladder leakage pad or denture cream -- I don't even know what the product is because I swear the woman in the ad is saying, "I'm a spider!"

I guess it does make people stop and listen every time though.  It gets your attention.

[friendperidot]

Quote

There's an ad running here in Oz parodying the Grail Knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... a movie which is 29 years old. Says a lot about the age of the people behind the ad, doesn't it?

or maybe the popularity or the iconic status of the movie.

[Bort]

On 9/6/2018 at 1:39 AM, JacquelineAppleton said:

There's an ad running here in Oz parodying the Grail Knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... a movie which is 29 years old. Says a lot about the age of the people behind the ad, doesn't it?

They could be even older. Maybe the reference is to the Grail Knight from Monty Python.

[Brattinella]

Clip-clop.  One of my all-time favorite movies that STILL makes me laugh!

[Ubiquitous]

On 8/22/2018 at 10:33 PM, Ashforth said:

WTF with the Applebee's ad using Melissa Etheridge's "Come to my window" to hawk their curbside delivery? I've always hated the song, but seriously, am I the only one old enough to remember the video for the song? With Juliette Lewis in a mental institution? Not a "thanks for the sack full of fried food!" moment.

All I remember from that music video is a woman stalking another and peeking in her bedroom window.

 

There's a new ad from Olde Spice that confuses me in which a couple are completing a jigsaw puzzle when he notices it's them completing the jigsaw puzzle surrounded by Old Spice bottles and starts freaking out while looking at the puzzle and the box it came repeatedly. Is fhe puzzle changing every time he looks at it?

[Jacqs]

2 hours ago, kariyaki said:

They could be even older. Maybe the reference is to the Grail Knight from Monty Python.

No, the knight tells the ad's star to "choose wisely". It's definitely Indiana Jones, not Monty Python. 

[Ubiquitous]

15 hours ago, backformore said:

This commercial bugs the hell out of me.   

It's funny for older women to be admiring a young man's physical assets.   

What if the genders were reversed?  a bunch of old guys give a young women a tight sweater, then drool over her doing yard work? 

 

 

This commercial confused me for a long time b/c I did not realize she was knitting the sweater her grandson is wearing in the 2nd part, which is kinda gross. It didn't help that I thought she was knitting socks or maybe a scarf. Why would he wear a sweater when doing yardwork? 

[Bort]

12 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

This commercial confused me for a long time b/c I did not realize she was knitting the sweater her grandson is wearing in the 2nd part, which is kinda gross. It didn't help that I thought she was knitting socks or maybe a scarf. Why would he wear a sweater when doing yardwork? 

I don’t think that’s her grandson, it’s the yard guy.

[Jacqs]

A lot of things wouldn't be done if the genders were reversed. In the last few days here in Australia a horrific female child abuser got off with a wet lettuce leaf punishment and even the women in the child abuse charities pointed out that a man in that situation WOULD HAVE GONE TO JAIL!

[Maverick]

 Why does the guy with awful fake Southern accent in the Stoufers commercial keep saying "Urban Bistro".    He says Bourbon Bistro in the dialogue but when he just says the name of the product he doesn't enunciate the Band it sounds like Urban.

[proserpina65]

11 hours ago, Maverick said:

 Why does the guy with awful fake Southern accent in the Stoufers commercial keep saying "Urban Bistro".    He says Bourbon Bistro in the dialogue but when he just says the name of the product he doesn't enunciate the Band it sounds like Urban.

He's saying Urban Bistro because that's the name of Stouffer's new line of frozen dinners.  The bourbon comes in the name of one particular dinner: Kentucky bourbon-glazed chicken.

[mmecorday]

If your hand is talking to you, someone might have slipped some LSD in your coffee. Or you could have moderate to severe Dupuytren's Contracture or DC.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wnSE/endo-pharmaceuticals-dupuytrens-contracture-hand-is-talking#

[Brattinella]

2 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

If your hand is talking to you, someone might have slipped some LSD in your coffee. Or you could have moderate to severe Dupuytren's Contracture or DC.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wnSE/endo-pharmaceuticals-dupuytrens-contracture-hand-is-talking#

I saw that ad and what a horror that condition is!  I had to look it up, too. 

[Silver Raven]

How about "Ads that just flabbergast you?" I just saw an ad for pills to treat your broken penis which happened during sex.

[QuinnInND]

21 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

How about "Ads that just flabbergast you?" I just saw an ad for pills to treat your broken penis which happened during sex.

Wait. What???? A broken penis?? ? 

[Brattinella]

41 minutes ago, QuinnInND said:

Wait. What???? A broken penis?? ? 

I know someone that this happened to. :(

[Rinaldo]

I knew it was a real thing, but I wasn't aware that the condition was amenable to treatment by pill. I would think that in that situation one would get to an ER posthaste, not wait around for a commercial that promised to help.

[Brattinella]

34 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

I knew it was a real thing, but I wasn't aware that the condition was amenable to treatment by pill. I would think that in that situation one would get to an ER posthaste, not wait around for a commercial that promised to help.

After I read that comment, I looked for what kind of magic pill would fix it.  Come to find out, the pill is either Viagra or Cialis.  I guess keeping it hard is a fix, of sorts?

[QuinnInND]

I had to look that up. I had no idea it was an actual thing that could happen! Yikes. And yeah, I'd probably want to go to the hospital instead of getting some pill. 

[Silver Raven]

1 hour ago, Brattinella said:

After I read that comment, I looked for what kind of magic pill would fix it.  Come to find out, the pill is either Viagra or Cialis.  I guess keeping it hard is a fix, of sorts?

The ad wasn't for one of those, I didn't really pay attention to the pill name, I was too stunned with the subject matter.

[Brattinella]

3 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

The ad wasn't for one of those, I didn't really pay attention to the pill name, I was too stunned with the subject matter.

I didn't see the ad.  I did a search for pills broken penis.  Out of the top 20 or so results, they all said Viagra or Cialis.  Do you have a link?

[amass]

I’m not going to google because I don’t want to start getting targeted ads but it was something like peronies disease... a curved penis, not broken

[QuinnInND]

2 hours ago, amass said:

I’m not going to google because I don’t want to start getting targeted ads but it was something like peronies disease... a curved penis, not broken

All penises have a natural curve when they're erect. Some more than others. I've seen a ton of them. Don't ask why. I didn't realize this was a problem. 

[Brattinella]

Taking this to small talk.

[Haleth]

There is a political ad running in the Indy area where the candidate is using a clip of himself and the president at a rally.  (Don't worry, mods, I'm not going to get into anything political.)  I usually change the channel when any political ad comes on, but this one has me mesmerized because the president has green hair.  A lovely shade of chartreuse.  I don't know why the makers of this ad didn't adjust the color but it is the most distracting thing.

[Jamoche]

"Clean Purple - the power of bleach and ammonia"

Together?!?!!!

No. actually, but I can't find any list of ingredients beyond "water-based". Oh, but they do say it's alkaline, unlike those dangerous acids:

Quote

When a liquid is acidic, a pH litmus strip turns red meaning it’s corrosive and could be dangerous. When its alkaline, with a pH of 12 or higher, the strip turns purple. When the alkalinity is in the optimal range, a cleaning solution can be powerful yet gentle, and that’s Purple.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that once you get too alkaline, you get into the caustic end of the scale. So I zoomed in on a pic of one of the bottles - potassium hydroxide, aka lye.

[Gam2]

On 9/14/2018 at 1:23 PM, mmecorday said:

If your hand is talking to you, someone might have slipped some LSD in your coffee. Or you could have moderate to severe Dupuytren's Contracture or DC.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wnSE/endo-pharmaceuticals-dupuytrens-contracture-hand-is-talking#

I had this in my left hand. After about 6 years of it getting worse, I had surgery. It was quite a recovery because I had so much swelling in my finger and palm. I was in therapy for about 4 months and in recovery for about a year. That surgery is no joke, believe me. 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Jamoche said:

"Clean Purple - the power of bleach and ammonia"

Together?!?!!!

No. actually, but I can't find any list of ingredients beyond "water-based". Oh, but they do say it's alkaline, unlike those dangerous acids:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that once you get too alkaline, you get into the caustic end of the scale. So I zoomed in on a pic of one of the bottles - potassium hydroxide, aka lye.

"I love the smell of napalm in the bathroom."

[mmecorday]

Quote

I had this in my left hand. After about 6 years of it getting worse, I had surgery. It was quite a recovery because I had so much swelling in my finger and palm. I was in therapy for about 4 months and in recovery for about a year. That surgery is no joke, believe me. 

I'm sure it is no joke. I was merely commenting on the oddness of the commercial, not snarking on the condition. My mother had it too.

Edited September 17, 2018 by mmecorday

[theatremouse]

On 9/16/2018 at 12:53 PM, Jamoche said:

"Clean Purple - the power of bleach and ammonia"

Together?!?!!!

No. actually, but I can't find any list of ingredients beyond "water-based". Oh, but they do say it's alkaline, unlike those dangerous acids:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that once you get too alkaline, you get into the caustic end of the scale. So I zoomed in on a pic of one of the bottles - potassium hydroxide, aka lye.

I think they just chose a really awkward way to phrase it. I don't think they're suggesting the product actually mixes the two, but rather they're implying people who usually choose to clean with bleach do so for Reasons B and people who choose to clean with ammonia do so for Reasons A, and look at our fancy product that has the benefits of both sets of Reasons.

[janie jones]

It doesn't really make me scratch my head, but I couldn't find any sort of "unintended message" thread.  (Although I thought there was one?)

Anyway, I'm half Filipino, so part of me likes that this commercial includes a Filipino family, but on the other hand, this commercial just makes me think of Filipino spaghetti (as in, spaghetti found in the Philippines), which I do not enjoy, so it doesn't make me find the food in this commercial particularly appealing.

Edited September 19, 2018 by janie jones

[Prevailing Wind]

On 9/14/2018 at 1:23 PM, mmecorday said:

If your hand is talking to you, someone might have slipped some LSD in your coffee. Or you could have moderate to severe Dupuytren's Contracture or DC.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wnSE/endo-pharmaceuticals-dupuytrens-contracture-hand-is-talking#

Or you could be Señor Wences...

[mmecorday]

I remember those commercials! Thanks for sharing!

[Brattinella]

Señor Wences!  I loved him!  Topo Gigio, too.

[Ashforth]

WTH Acura, using Sympathy for the Devil to sell its RDX model. As if its the vehicle singing the song. They do realize it's a song from Satan's point of view, right?

Yeah, dude, my car is SATAN! Woohoo.

[proserpina65]

On ‎09‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 3:53 PM, Jamoche said:

"Clean Purple - the power of bleach and ammonia"

Together?!?!!!

No. actually, but I can't find any list of ingredients beyond "water-based". Oh, but they do say it's alkaline, unlike those dangerous acids:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that once you get too alkaline, you get into the caustic end of the scale. So I zoomed in on a pic of one of the bottles - potassium hydroxide, aka lye.

Clean Purple - it'll kill you so you don't have to clean the bathroom!

Or even better:

Clean Purple - for people who'd rather die than clean!

Edited September 19, 2018 by proserpina65

[friendperidot]

I don't think the Charmin Bear Mom (who won't pick up a pair of kid's underwear off the bathroom floor) and the Red Baroness Mom (who wipes up spilled milk with her sock and still wearing it) are cut from the same motherhood cloth.

[Jacqs]

Looking at this Suzy Homemaker ad from the seventies, I get the feeling that it would have been considered retrograde even at the time and the way they've dressed the child actress reminds me of how they dressed Vicki in Small Wonder a decade later and it's for the same reasons - to project the image of a certain type of femininity and to indicate that the child is a "proper young lady".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ70VuVqCj4

[smittykins]

I thought it was going to be about the line of toy appliances from the late 60s/early 70s.

Edited September 20, 2018 by smittykins
Add link

[mmecorday]

I begged my mother for an Easy Bake Oven when I was little. She told me that I had a grandmother next door with a real oven and I should go over and help her with dinner. Then I'd go over there and I'd say, "Mom told me to help you with dinner." Then Nanny would promptly get on her yellow wall telephone and snap at Mom for sending me over when she knew full well that my grandmother didn't like children underfoot when she was working in her kitchen. Ah, childhood.

Topic? Commercials these days sure do suck!

[Jamoche]

11 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

Looking at this Suzy Homemaker ad from the seventies, I get the feeling that it would have been considered retrograde even at the time and the way they've dressed the child actress reminds me of how they dressed Vicki in Small Wonder a decade later and it's for the same reasons - to project the image of a certain type of femininity and to indicate that the child is a "proper young lady".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ70VuVqCj4

I was a child in the 70s and you are totally right. I think I would've thought "why is that kid dressed like someone from Little House on the Prairie?"

[Ashforth]

On 9/19/2018 at 11:33 AM, proserpina65 said:

Clean Purple - for people who'd rather die than clean!

OMG! That's me!

[Jacqs]

13 hours ago, Jamoche said:

I was a child in the 70s and you are totally right. I think I would've thought "why is that kid dressed like someone from Little House on the Prairie?"

Yeah. It's a reactionary response to girls wearing trousers and shorts and the adults behind the advert - who grew up during the Depression -  still wishing girls dressed like child Shirley Temple.

[Tom Holmberg]

21 hours ago, mmecorday said:

Commercials these days sure do suck!

I would have wanted one of these:

 

[peacheslatour]

The Macy's commercial using the song Come and Get Your Love? I always thought that song was by a Motown group but it's actually a band called Redbone, an all Native American band.