Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Sue Anne]

On 9/20/2018 at 2:45 PM, LucindaWalsh said:

I don't get the point of an Aldi commercial I watched earlier. Are they mocking their customers? Are they saying their olive oil choices are as weird as that youngish looking mother being obsessed with that man as a grown child in her basket? What is the point of this commercial?

I don't get it either- I find it disturbing, and it does not make me want to go to Aldi.

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, Sue Anne said:

I find it disturbing

Actually, I find just going into Aldi's kind of disturbing. 

[Westiepeach]

32 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Actually, I find just going into Aldi's kind of disturbing. 

I have never been in an Aldi’s  

[Duke2801]

What’s the deal (cue Seinfeld voice) with that Whole Foods commercial where the guy is humming some song whilst grinding nuts? Then the chick walks by and sings ? “Brandon” ?. 

 

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dT2V/whole-foods-market-whatever-makes-you-whole-nut-butter

[Brookside]

I'm sorry for anyone who suffers from duPuyten's contracture, but the ad with the talking hand telling us how to fix it is beyond disturbing.

Edited September 23, 2018 by Brookside

[Silver Raven]

7 hours ago, Duke2801 said:

What’s the deal (cue Seinfeld voice) with that Whole Foods commercial where the guy is humming some song whilst grinding nuts? Then the chick walks by and sings ? “Brandon” ?. 

 

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dT2V/whole-foods-market-whatever-makes-you-whole-nut-butter

I think she's saying, "Grindin'", but it sounds like Brandon.  It's from this video:

[Jaded]

All of those Whole Foods commercials seem uncomfortably awkward to me.

[Jacqs]

god, eighties McDonalds ads make you scratch your head. Wish i could've been crowned Homecoming Queen at a Maccas:

[chessiegal]

4 hours ago, Jaded said:

All of those Whole Foods commercials seem uncomfortably awkward to me.

Am I wrong that I never saw a Whole Foods ad until Amazon bought them? I have a friend who refuses to shop there because she says they don’t treat their employees fairly, but it’s the one place I can find decent seafood and other proteins. But I have to say their pushing Amazon Prime down my throat is distasteful.

[Duke2801]

10 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

I think she's saying, "Grindin'", but it sounds like Brandon.  It's from this video:

 

AHHHH OK that makes much more sense.  Thank you!  

I agree they need to fire their ad agency though. All of their recent commercials are terrible. 

Edited September 23, 2018 by Duke2801

[bilgistic]

11 hours ago, JacquelineAppleton said:

god, eighties McDonalds ads make you scratch your head. Wish i could've been crowned Homecoming Queen at a Maccas:

Dear god, that song! The finger kiss at the end! What in the world! Creepy incestuous vibes.

It brought up a memory of my having had a birthday party at McDonald's in my very young childhood. I remember we got a tour of the kitchen and got to see the french fry...fryer. Heady times.

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎9‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 12:29 AM, 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

Why is the baby doll named "Suzy Homemaker"?

[mmecorday]

Quote

god, eighties McDonalds ads make you scratch your head. Wish i could've been crowned Homecoming Queen at a Maccas:

OMG, I remember this commercial! She's crowned homecoming queen and her brother is going to miss her because ... now she has to leave town so she can reign over the magical realm of Homecoming? It was dumb them and it's dumb now.

Quote

Why is the baby doll named "Suzy Homemaker"?

Because Suzy Homewrecker didn't make it out of the board room discussion.

Edited September 23, 2018 by mmecorday

[Tom Holmberg]

On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 10:14 PM, LucindaWalsh said:

It made me think I was in a storage room where all ready to be tossed food from other grocery stores was being stored.

Yep, that's Aldi's. I'd go there, maybe, if I was starving.

3 hours ago, mmecorday said:

Because Suzy Homewrecker

I think that would be a hit.  She could be to G.I. Joe, what Ken is to Barbie.

[Jacqs]

9 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

Why is the baby doll named "Suzy Homemaker"?

and the kid has some makeup on, i think?!

[Tom Holmberg]

On ‎9‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 12:39 AM, JacquelineAppleton said:

Wish i could've been crowned Homecoming Queen at a Maccas:

Maybe she attended Hamburger University (which is an actual thing, if you didn't know).

[funky-rat]

On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 11:14 PM, LucindaWalsh said:

I went in one one time to see why some people on another thread raved about it. It was horrible. It made me think I was in a storage room where all ready to be tossed food from other grocery stores was being stored. I made one quick swing around and left, never to return. 

When Aldi first came to our area, around 1993, I liked it.  I don't mind off-brand groceries, as most are made by major manufacturers.  I could shop for most of our food for the week for under $30.  Then the junk aisle showed up a few years later - full of anything but food (off-brand electronics, junky toys, etc).  Then it became 2 junk aisles, and took up half the store. Then they started to change their food offerings, and the quality went WAAAAY downhill, and costs went up.  Now it's not uncommon to see rotten fruit, stale bread, etc.  I stick with Save A Lot instead when I want the off-brand stuff or am strapped for cash.

[LoneHaranguer]

2 hours ago, funky-rat said:

Then they started to change their food offerings, and the quality went WAAAAY downhill, and costs went up.  Now it's not uncommon to see rotten fruit, stale bread, etc. 

FWIW, the local Aldi just remodeled. Wider aisles and better food (no more mold smell near the produce), but they're in a hurry to get what they spent back, so noticeably higher prices.

[funky-rat]

30 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

FWIW, the local Aldi just remodeled. Wider aisles and better food (no more mold smell near the produce), but they're in a hurry to get what they spent back, so noticeably higher prices.

Ours remodeled too, but it didn't get any larger, and they've actually increased the junk aisles to 2.5 now.  One thing they didn't touch in the remodel was the floor.  Still that horrible burnt orange tile. For the cost of some of their stuff now, I find I'm better off going to the grocery store and using their e-coupons and combining them with sales.  Price isn't much more.

[QuinnInND]

Commercial comes on. "Do you own a house or condom?" ? What? Oh.. "condo" Enunciate people. Thanks American Home Warranty. 

[Haleth]

There are still a few things I can only get at Aldi, but when a brand spankin' new Fresh Thyme opened up across the street I started shopping there more for produce.

[meep.meep]

On 9/21/2018 at 7:07 AM, Tom Holmberg said:

I would have wanted one of these:

 

Well who wouldn't!  All those nerf guns I got for my kids seem wimpy compared to the Johnny 7.

[proserpina65]

On ‎09‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 11:14 PM, LucindaWalsh said:

I went in one one time to see why some people on another thread raved about it. It was horrible. It made me think I was in a storage room where all ready to be tossed food from other grocery stores was being stored. I made one quick swing around and left, never to return. 

Clearly you weren't in the nearest Aldi to where I live.  It's not Whole Foods fancy, but it's on about the same level as other grocery stores in the area.  They don't carry name brands, but their prices are really good.

Edited to note that obviously the quality varies greatly by location.  Glad I'm near a good one.  Oh, and I bought my weed whacker there several years ago; it's still buzzing along, although I did have to buy a new rechargeable battery last summer.

Edited September 25, 2018 by proserpina65

[sempervivum]

Re: Aldi's- do they still charge a quarter to use one of their shopping carts? I went there once, and having to pay for the cart guaranteed it was the only time. 

I can't understand what the Safe Auto Insurance ads are supposed to be selling- some are about 'terrible quotes' (which are so nonsensical I can't even remember one), and one about some 'funny' device or app called 'Farnhaan' , which does impossible/stupid things like 'send calories to your enemies'. It appears that these have been on for more than a year, so they must be successful? I personally would no more buy insurance from them than I would buy Snuggle dryer sheets (God, how I hate that simpering bear).

[LoneHaranguer]

5 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Re: Aldi's- do they still charge a quarter to use one of their shopping carts? I went there once, and having to pay for the cart guaranteed it was the only time. 

They don't really charge a quarter since you get it back when you put the cart back with the others. The idea is to coax people not to just leave their carts in parking spaces. Only some Aldi's do it.

[QuinnInND]

5 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

They don't really charge a quarter since you get it back when you put the cart back with the others. The idea is to coax people not to just leave their carts in parking spaces. Only some Aldi's do it.

Or walk off with them and leave them by the bus stop or wherever. 

[sempervivum]

12 hours ago, QuinnInND said:

17 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

They don't really charge a quarter since you get it back when you put the cart back with the others. The idea is to coax people not to just leave their carts in parking spaces. Only some Aldi's do it.

Or walk off with them and leave them by the bus stop or wherever. 

Oh, I understand that. Don't care. It made me feel like I was shopping in a ghetto store, except I don't think they would even use this tactic. To me, it just says 'Hey Customer-we don't trust you!'

[janie jones]

It seems like more of a hassle than anything.  But regarding trust, I don't see how it's any different from stores whose carts lock after certain point in the parking lot or whatever.  What I think is trashy is the places that have a big pole sticking out of the cart so you can't even get the cart out the door.

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, sempervivum said:

Oh, I understand that. Don't care. It made me feel like I was shopping in a ghetto store, except I don't think they would even use this tactic. To me, it just says 'Hey Customer-we don't trust you!'

It's one of the ways Aldi keeps their prices down.  My problem is that I don't always have a quarter with me.

 

Back on topic: There's a new annoying Verizon guy commercial with people trying to get music service for a party in the desert.  I find myself hoping they steal Verizon guy's phone and leave him there.

[funky-rat]

33 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

It's one of the ways Aldi keeps their prices down.  My problem is that I don't always have a quarter with me.

If you ask the cashier, they'll give you one, but they want it back when you're done.

[proserpina65]

15 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

If you ask the cashier, they'll give you one, but they want it back when you're done.

I did not know that, thanks.

[funky-rat]

17 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I did not know that, thanks.

I only know because I dropped a quarter in my cup holder once before going there.  Apparently wherever I stopped prior (can't recall), someone stole my quarter.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

The Aldi ad features the young man asking his mother why Aldi's olive oil is so good or special or some other thing no young man has ever asked his mother outside of a commercial.  The mother then describes what he assumes is the olive oil but she is really speaking about her special little angel (who asks useless questions about olive oil) and gets all choked up.  Her son thinks she is verklempt over olive oil since, having been her son for nigh on 18 years, he cannot in any way whatsoever figure out  what his mother would be talking about.  My takeaway is her idea of her son's greatness is very far from the truth.

[stillhere1900]

On 9/27/2018 at 8:54 AM, sempervivum said:

Oh, I understand that. Don't care. It made me feel like I was shopping in a ghetto store, except I don't think they would even use this tactic. To me, it just says 'Hey Customer-we don't trust you!'

What's a "Ghetto store" ?

[Tom Holmberg]

In the ad for JourneyCare the husband says that he and his late wife grew up in the same house.  It seems odd. (Not that there's anything wrong with it.)

Edited October 1, 2018 by Tom Holmberg

[Brattinella]

3 hours ago, stillhere1900 said:

What's a "Ghetto store" ?

That would be the store with bars on the windows, where you have "floorwalkers" following people as they walk the aisles. 

[meep.meep]

You people are making me happy that we don't have Aldi's around here - so confusing.

I am scratching my head about the Apple Watch commercial where the blonde guy keeps multiplying into increasingly more fit versions of himself.  The head scratching comes from the fact that when I first watched it, I thought all these guys were wearing green shirts, and now, most of the time I watch it, they are wearing blue shirts.  But sometimes it's back to green.

Are there multiple versions of this?  Do different stations broadcast with differences in color that noticeable?  Am I losing it?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Ubiquitous]

I never noticed his clones being more fit. 

[Silver Raven]

On 9/27/2018 at 7:54 AM, sempervivum said:

Oh, I understand that. Don't care. It made me feel like I was shopping in a ghetto store, except I don't think they would even use this tactic. To me, it just says 'Hey Customer-we don't trust you!'

I hate the stores that have a tall pole welded onto their shopping carts so you can't take them out the door.  I usually shop at such stores because they have sodas on sale, and there's no way I can carry three or four or five 12 packs of sodas to the car at one time.

[millennium]

I was up all night, my mind running in circles.   Just before bed I saw a commercial for Red Lobster.   The announcer said, "Hurry in, before Endless Shrimp ends."   "Endless" implies that the shrimp is without end.  How can they say it will end if it is Endless?  How can it be Endless yet ultimately end?    Are they gaslighting us?   My head!

I also feel bad for Dennis Quaid.   Not just because he's the new Esurance spokesman, but because his star has dimmed so much that they deemed it necessary for the characters in the commercial to refer to address him as Dennis Quaid.

[mmecorday]

There's an attraction just up the road from where I live in Virginia called Endless Caverns. I remember David Letterman mocking the name one night on his show. I picture people walking around in underground caves for all eternity until they become mole-like creatures.

[Tom Holmberg]

3 hours ago, mmecorday said:

I picture people walking around in underground caves for all eternity until they become mole-like creatures.

C.H.U.D.s!

[proserpina65]

7 hours ago, millennium said:

I also feel bad for Dennis Quaid.   Not just because he's the new Esurance spokesman, but because his star has dimmed so much that they deemed it necessary for the characters in the commercial to refer to address him as Dennis Quaid.

I'm not sure that's the reason, but I can't really articulate what I mean.  Gonna have to think on it.

[janie jones]

13 hours ago, millennium said:

I also feel bad for Dennis Quaid.   Not just because he's the new Esurance spokesman, but because his star has dimmed so much that they deemed it necessary for the characters in the commercial to refer to address him as Dennis Quaid.

I've never met a celebrity, but I have a feeling I'd want to call them by their full name if I did, and I don't think I'm alone.  I think that's why they're addressing him as Dennis Quaid, not because they think we won't otherwise know who he is.

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, janie jones said:

I've never met a celebrity, but I have a feeling I'd want to call them by their full name if I did, and I don't think I'm alone.

I think I'd be the same way, yeah :D. It'd feel so informal if I just called them by their first or last name, almost as though I'm acting like I'm friends with them or something. 

Obviously if they said, "Oh, you can just say my first/last name, it's fine", then I would, but yeah, otherwise I think I'd probably be as formal as possible. 

[millennium]

5 hours ago, janie jones said:

I've never met a celebrity, but I have a feeling I'd want to call them by their full name if I did, and I don't think I'm alone.  I think that's why they're addressing him as Dennis Quaid, not because they think we won't otherwise know who he is.

I'm from a generation that would address him as Mr. Quaid (and I suspect many if not most millennials would too).   I find it stilted and awkward for someone to address him as "Dennis Quaid," as in, "Thank you, Dennis Quaid."   That's not how most folks speak.   That they do it in the commercials makes me think it's either for name recognition or to make the commercial a bit quirkier.

[jennblevins]

7 minutes ago, millennium said:

That they do it in the commercials makes me think it's either for name recognition or to make the commercial a bit quirkier.

I agree that sometimes it’s used for quirkiness purposes. 

But I also think there’s a tendency to think of celebrities by their full name, at least for me. Dennis-from-accounting or Dennis-my-sister’s-ex, in my head, is just “Dennis”, but Dennis Quaid is “DennisQuaid,” almost one word. So I fear if I ever met a celebrity, I would call him or her by their full name, just because I’m used to thinking of them that way. Fortunately, I’ve never met anyone who was the least bit famous.

[Rinaldo]

5 hours ago, millennium said:

I'm from a generation that would address him as Mr. Quaid (and I suspect many if not most millennials would too).   I find it stilted and awkward for someone to address him as "Dennis Quaid," as in, "Thank you, Dennis Quaid."   That's not how most folks speak.   That they do it in the commercials makes me think it's either for name recognition or to make the commercial a bit quirkier.

Yes, the one time I was introduced to a TV star, I addressed him as "Mr. Lastname," just as I would anybody I'm not on first-name terms with. (He immediately responded with "Call me Firstname," but I never had occasion to do so -- he was immediately called away.)

In the case of this commercial, the full-name usage is all part of the humor of pointing out all the typical idiotic things that commercials do to win us over, even as it does them (and knows that we know, etc.).

[janie jones]

6 hours ago, millennium said:

11 hours ago, janie jones said:

I've never met a celebrity, but I have a feeling I'd want to call them by their full name if I did, and I don't think I'm alone.  I think that's why they're addressing him as Dennis Quaid, not because they think we won't otherwise know who he is.

I'm from a generation that would address him as Mr. Quaid (and I suspect many if not most millennials would too).   I find it stilted and awkward for someone to address him as "Dennis Quaid," as in, "Thank you, Dennis Quaid."   That's not how most folks speak.   That they do it in the commercials makes me think it's either for name recognition or to make the commercial a bit quirkier.

FWIW, I'm a millennial, and while I said I'd want to call a celebrity by their full name, I didn't say that I would.  But I feel the same as @jennblevins.  I think of their names as one unit

[funky-rat]

2 hours ago, Rinaldo said:

Yes, the one time I was introduced to a TV star, I addressed him as "Mr. Lastname," just as I would anybody I'm not on first-name terms with. (He immediately responded with "Call me Firstname," but I never had occasion to do so -- he was immediately called away.)

Ditto.  When I met Jim Belushi, I referred to him as "Mr. Belushi" and he told me "That's my dad.  Please call me Jim."  He was incredibly nice, and left me with a funny story.  :)