Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[mmecorday]

Quote

"Do you think I'm cute? I think I'm cute, just look at these dimples." Says child with exactly 0 dimples.

How DARE her parents choose to clean the house so that their little girl won't have to live in squalor! She's going to need years of therapy to get over that kind of neglect.

[LoneHaranguer]

16 hours ago, chessiegal said:

No kidding. I complained about this before. Find a child actor with dimples. Can't be that hard. Casting call - 4-5 year old girl with dimples.

Hollywood is full of "actors" who have a useful look, but difficulty delivering a line. It would have been easy to change the script.

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 3:15 PM, peacheslatour said:

I don't know if this is a local commercial or what but it's for one of those cold sculpting clinics. They show some before and after pics. In the first one, on the left, before pic is a slightly pudgy tummy and on the right hand after pic they show a somewhat flatter stomach. In the second set of pictures they show on the left some weird blobby looking mess and on the right, what appears to be the same weird blobby mess. I can't tell WTF it's supposed to be.

There's a cheesy ad for GoLo, some sort of diet plan, that features a bunch of "before" pictures arranged like their standing together and as the commercial progresses, each picture is replaced by an "after" photo, but one guy in the back left's picture looks the same, plus he's wearing clothes! Surely they could have used better photos? 

[mmecorday]

Quote

Surely they could have used better photos? 

Yes, they could have. And don't call me Shirley. 😄

[Ubiquitous]

There's a new Coffee-Mate ad in circulation in which they discuss that it's made from milk stirred a gazillion times to make it smooth, but isn't that product a NON DAIRY creamer?

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Ubiquitous said:

There's a new Coffee-Mate ad in circulation in which they discuss that it's made from milk stirred a gazillion times to make it smooth, but isn't that product a NON DAIRY creamer?

It doesn't say it's made from milk, just that it's triple churned. So I guess whatever chemical concoction it's made from is swirled around 3 times. 

[Ubiquitous]

I thought only milk was churned, but they apparently chose that word on purpose. 

[Tom Holmberg]

10 hours ago, chessiegal said:

just that it's triple churned...

...including once by your stomach. (Actually, I don't mind non-dairy creamers.  As a kid I'd eat a spoonful of it just because it was sweet.) 

[SunnyBeBe]

On 3/9/2019 at 3:02 PM, chessiegal said:

What is up with POSHMARK? We have women saying they sold them enough of their stuff to buy a car, pay for a wedding or a vacation. Really? Then you have the woman who got the designer shoes for $100 that retail for $700. I don't know how she walks in them - they look like a broken ankle waiting to happen.

I think that commercial worked, because I checked out Poshmark out of curiosity.  I wasn't all that impressed. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by SunnyBeBe

[janie jones]

There's this Dish (?) commercial advertising the voice remote.  They criticize this guy for his neverending scrolling, and tell him he can just tell the remote what he wants to watch.  But the reason people scroll and scroll and scroll is that they don't know what they want to watch.  Unless "show me something I'll feel like watching" will actually bring up stuff the person wants to watch, the voice remote isn't going to solve any problems.

Edited March 21, 2019 by janie jones

[Ubiquitous]

I think this was discussed before, but what's the deal with the electric car ad with the same guy in both and one playing the Flintstones theme and other the Jetsons theme? The cars are identical so the obvious interpretation is out...

[Tom Holmberg]

55 minutes ago, Ubiquitous said:

The cars are identical so the obvious interpretation is out...

"...the TV commercial is a playful take on the transition of personal transportation from the Stone Age to the reality of electric vehicles available today."

https://www.shootonline.com/video/deutsch-director-matt-piedmont-present-jetstones -electrify-america

[LoneHaranguer]

2 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

I think this was discussed before, but what's the deal with the electric car ad with the same guy in both and one playing the Flintstones theme and other the Jetsons theme? The cars are identical so the obvious interpretation is out...

The cars are not identical. The first is a four-door station wagon. The electric is a much smaller hatchback, reminding me of the tiny little things initially imported from Japan in the 70's. All the ad is saying is that electrics aren't as bad or as expensive as they used to be. They stop short of saying they've gotten as good as other cars, and don't give you any reasons to buy one. I think the ad is entertaining, but a fail when it comes to pushing a product.

[chessiegal]

What's up with the UnitedHealthcare commercial with the new parents who want to do a video chat in the middle of the night while they're changing a baby. Wife says "I've never seen that before". I have no children, and despite having 11 step-grandchildren, I have never changed a diaper, and never will. Are they concerned about the baby's poop or nether parts?

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

What's up with the UnitedHealthcare commercial with the new parents who want to do a video chat in the middle of the night while they're changing a baby. Wife says "I've never seen that before". I have no children, and despite having 11 step-grandchildren, I have never changed a diaper, and never will. Are they concerned about the baby's poop or nether parts?

Likely either diaper rash or diarrhea of some sort. I think it's vague on purpose to signify that there are a lot of things new parents don't know.

[Haleth]

8 hours ago, chessiegal said:

What's up with the UnitedHealthcare commercial with the new parents who want to do a video chat in the middle of the night while they're changing a baby. Wife says "I've never seen that before". I have no children, and despite having 11 step-grandchildren, I have never changed a diaper, and never will. Are they concerned about the baby's poop or nether parts?

I think the poop is an odd color, which can happen when a new food is introduced.

[janie jones]

I always thought it was some kind of rash.  (I think they would have seen poop of different colors before, unless they've never seen their own after eating different things.)  This commercial is like a Rorschach test.

Edited March 24, 2019 by janie jones

[chessiegal]

The baby is a newborn, so it's only ingesting breast milk (or, gasp!, formula), so a different food shouldn't enter into the equation.

[mmecorday]

Quote

There's this Dish (?) commercial advertising the voice remote.  They criticize this guy for his neverending scrolling, and tell him he can just tell the remote what he wants to watch.  But the reason people scroll and scroll and scroll is that they don't know what they want to watch.  Unless "show me something I'll feel like watching" will actually bring up stuff the person wants to watch, the voice remote isn't going to solve any problems.

Exactly. And I really don't want a device that tells me what I want to watch. Suggestions are nice, but anything other than that makes me think I need to get out the Reynolds Wrap and make myself a hat.

P.S. I would never make a tin foil hat.

[Bort]

Yeah, they’re always advertising remotes and devices that talk to you and such. I don’t wanna. I like scrolling through the TV guide and I like typing my texts, dammit. I’ve tried using the voice stuff, I end up saying, “Uhhhhh… ahhhhh…” a lot. 

[Tom Holmberg]

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 9:30 PM, janie jones said:

But the reason people scroll and scroll and scroll is that they don't know what they want to watch.

I guess I'm showing my age, but miss a really useful TV Guide.  The current version is almost useless.

[Brattinella]

32 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I guess I'm showing my age, but miss a really useful TV Guide.  The current version is almost useless.

I used to love the TV section of the Sunday newspaper.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I guess I'm showing my age, but miss a really useful TV Guide.  The current version is almost useless.

I use Titan TV's guide. It's pretty good.

[LoneHaranguer]

12 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Yeah, they’re always advertising remotes and devices that talk to you and such. I don’t wanna. I like scrolling through the TV guide and I like typing my texts, dammit. I’ve tried using the voice stuff, I end up saying, “Uhhhhh… ahhhhh…” a lot. 

Usually if you know what to ask for, you can tune it in easily enough without adding the problems of trying to do it verbally, but I can see the appeal. I hate the TV listings on the local Comcast service because the system is too dumb to give you just the channels to which you have access. The next-channel button has the same problem, and switching to a new channel is so slow, channel surfing is impractical.

[Ubiquitous]

24 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Usually if you know what to ask for, you can tune it in easily enough without adding the problems of trying to do it verbally, but I can see the appeal. I hate the TV listings on the local Comcast service because the system is too dumb to give you just the channels to which you have access. The next-channel button has the same problem, and switching to a new channel is so slow, channel surfing is impractical.

I always assumed that was a sneaky way to show you what you could be watching if you upgraded your service. 🙂

Does anyone else find the commercials with people being dropped off at the Mayo Clinic strange?

[Ubiquitous]

On 3/23/2019 at 10:59 AM, Kemper said:

I posted awhile back my distaste for the truck commercial...the "tailgate" one.  The one where everyone is singing "nah nah nah nah hey hey goodbye" ... and congregating on a hill.  Well.  They are playing it continuously during the NCAA tournament.  March Madness, indeed.

So what's the end game? Are they all going to leave those bumpers on the hill? Does the guy already there have a bunch of new bumpers to trade? 

[LoneHaranguer]

7 minutes ago, Ubiquitous said:

I always assumed that was a sneaky way to show you what you could be watching if you upgraded your service. 🙂

If that was the case, I'd expect them to highlight the one's you couldn't watch, to impress you with how many more channels you could be getting. 

[Prevailing Wind]

18 hours ago, mmecorday said:

Exactly. And I really don't want a device that tells me what I want to watch. Suggestions are nice, but anything other than that makes me think I need to get out the Reynolds Wrap and make myself a hat.

P.S. I would never make a tin foil hat.

...But an aluminum foil hat is another story.   Bwaahahahaha

[partofme]

17 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Yeah, they’re always advertising remotes and devices that talk to you and such. I don’t wanna. I like scrolling through the TV guide and I like typing my texts, dammit. I’ve tried using the voice stuff, I end up saying, “Uhhhhh… ahhhhh…” a lot. 

My mom has voice activated remote.  It's the coolest thing ever.  If you're looking for a specific show it will find all future airings of it for you.  You can also tell it to go to Netflix. 

I wish my Spectrum remote had this.

[Bort]

18 minutes ago, partofme said:

My mom has voice activated remote.  It's the coolest thing ever.  If you're looking for a specific show it will find all future airings of it for you.  You can also tell it to go to Netflix. 

Mine does that too, but it also does it by pressing the buttons. It's faster for me to use the buttons than trying to talk to it.

[xls]

WTH is this supposed to be?

the little girl from the ring?

momo??

[Tom Holmberg]

15 hours ago, kariyaki said:

You can also tell it to go to Netflix. 

But can you tell it to go to hell?

Edited March 26, 2019 by Tom Holmberg

[cynicat]

10 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

But can you tell it to go to hell?

I tell my Echo to do that all the time.

[Ubiquitous]

21 hours ago, xls said:

WTH is this supposed to be?

the little girl from the ring?

momo??

Holey crap. 

[peacheslatour]

15 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

Holey crap. 

Dear god, that's horrible.

[Brattinella]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

Dear god, that's horrible.

That is scary as hell, annoying and obnoxious.  WTH were they thinking?  Does this really appeal to anyone?  Yikes!

[Gramto6]

Dear God, what were they thinking? That ad would drive me as far away from their product as I could get!

[margol29]

I don't know if this is a local area commercial but I think it's for Tax Act. It shows people in a laundromat doing laundry and Tax Act is handing them $100 to do their taxes.

Why in a laundromat? Does Tax Act set up shop in laundromats?

Just weird!!

[Tom Holmberg]

28 minutes ago, margol29 said:

Does Tax Act set up shop in laundromats?

Maybe they launder money!

[LoneHaranguer]

33 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Maybe they launder money!

They want people to come clean?

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, LoneHaranguer said:

hey want people to come clean?

It'll all come out in the wash anyway.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Tom Holmberg said:

It'll all come out in the wash anyway.

I guess you could spin it that way.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

On 3/13/2019 at 4:20 AM, Brookside said:

Navage snot cleaning device.  Not only is the ad revolting, but the name has a completely random umlaut over the second "a".  

It's about as bad as needing a "personal incontinence advisor" - because I need someone to tell me how to be incontinent.

Apparently, it's pronounced "naw VAAZH!", or at least that's how they have the guy say it. And every time I see that commercial I wonder why anyone would buy that self-waterboarding kit. 

Edited March 29, 2019 by Ghost of TWOP Past

[Jacqs]

an Irish fire prevention PSA from a decade ago - you can see it here -  the child at the end who says "you forgot the battery, Mummy" became a meme. The child's earrings give a performance of their own...

[BigBingerBro]

Not really understanding the current ad for Mayo Clinic.   It a father and adult son on a road trip.  Something seems slightly off about the son as he seems anxious along the way.  Towards the end the son screams out over a lake or river, then they arrive and are walking into the Mayo clinic.   So, I guess the son is going in for treatment for something??  

[mmecorday]

Quote

an Irish fire prevention PSA from a decade ago - you can see it here -  the child at the end who says "you forgot the battery, Mummy" became a meme. The child's earrings give a performance of their own...

So when you die in a fire, some judgy bitch in the great beyond calls you out on it in front of a lot of shell-shocked strangers. Interesting.

[Ubiquitous]

There's an ad for yogurt that starts with a young woman in a cafeteria whose tray stacked with food misquoting (is that the term?) Oliver Twist and asking "Please sir, may I have less?" to the cashier at the end of the line. Bitch, you're the one who overfilled your tray with food!

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

Not really understanding the current ad for Mayo Clinic.   It a father and adult son on a road trip.  Something seems slightly off about the son as he seems anxious along the way.  Towards the end the son screams out over a lake or river, then they arrive and are walking into the Mayo clinic.   So, I guess the son is going in for treatment for something??  

There are a bunch of ads like that with people being dropped off and walking in alone. WTF?

[Neurochick]

On 3/9/2019 at 10:06 AM, Woopwoopkitty said:

This one has me confused for a long time.  I think it’s Cesar dog food.  There’s a man in a conference room of a high rise office building.  He’s sitting by the window snacking, and he’s wearing makeup shirt that has epaulets. There’s a small dog on the sill eating.

I thought he was a security guard, who'd brought his dog with him.  The dog finishes eating before he even starts.  But strange he brought the dog in the building with him.

[peacheslatour]

42 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

I thought he was a security guard, who'd brought his dog with him.  The dog finishes eating before he even starts.  But strange he brought the dog in the building with him.

If he works alone in the building all night maybe he just brought the dog for company.

[Brookside]

Hickies.  Apparently it's a way to "close" your sneakers without actually tying them.  Because kids today don't know how to tie laces, and calling something Hickies is such a hilarious marketing ploy.  If I am ever fortunate enough to have grandchildren, I will not be buying them Hickies and I will buy them one of those books that teaches kids fine motor skills like tying laces, buttoning, etc.