Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[janie jones]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I watch a lot of shows on Great America Country channel. They have a commercial with this woman who decides to reorganize her bathroom. She mentions "donating her old towels, which she hasn't done in a long time". Who donates old towels? Don't old towels become rags?

I've donated old towels.  They were perfectly fine, but we had mine and my husband's and the ones we got when we got married and we didn't need that many towels.  And I can see people donating old towels if they remodel and the old ones don't match the new color scheme, if they're the kind of people who care about that sort of thing.

Edited June 16, 2019 by janie jones

[friendperidot]

I love buying donated old towels, they make great dog towels! I buy a couple for my dogs, buy some for donating to animal shelters, old blankets too, great for donating to homeless shelters or animal shelters, depends on the shape of the blankets. My own dogs get my old blankets. This winter we're going to fix a couple of shelters outside for some of the feral cats and I will cut old blankets to put into those shelters. Old blankets might go in the cat shelters too. 

[Prevailing Wind]

The animal hospital where I work LOVES donated towels.

[smittykins]

So does our local shelter.

[Jacqs]

[iMonrey]

Watch this Corona beer commercial, and tell me the guy at the bar isn't eye-fucking the bartender like crazy. He's also almost dry-humping the bar. If I were this guy's date I'd be more than a little concerned.

[peacheslatour]

40 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Watch this Corona beer commercial, and tell me the guy at the bar isn't eye-fucking the bartender like crazy. He's also almost dry-humping the bar. If I were this guy's date I'd be more than a little concerned.

Oh, yeah.

[Moose135]

Wait - so they're actually driving on a giant iguana that swallows them in the end? Is that really the image you want to give?

[peacheslatour]

12 hours ago, Moose135 said:

Wait - so they're actually driving on a giant iguana that swallows them in the end? Is that really the image you want to give?

Chameleon.

[mmecorday]

For the longest time, I thought the EMT in the commercials for Excedrin was saying, "I'm Hiram Grasshopper." It was only a few days ago that it dawned on me that he's actually saying, "I'm a migraine sufferer."

[chessiegal]

I'm seeing an ad for a product called MobileHealth for getting help if you fall. Evidently their hook is the woman saying when she fell, 3 handsome firemen came to rescue her. Hah! Wonder if you get your money back if ugly firemen show up.

Edited June 17, 2019 by chessiegal

[Brattinella]

3 hours ago, mmecorday said:

"I'm Hiram Grasshopper."

I will never forget this!  LOL!

[peacheslatour]

40 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

I will never forget this!  LOL!

Yep, it will be in my head forever, along with "I'm a spider!"

[Guest]

I saw a VW electric van commercial.

It started by ominously playing/flashing news stories about controversies of VW past (I think).  I didn't really remember or catch the details..

I came away thinking... are they reminding people that the VW was a fiery death trap in the 60s/70s so they could trumpet the new electric car being safe because there isn't a gas tank.

What's next, the electric Pinto?

[Moose135]

11 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Chameleon.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking, but could only come up with iguana.

[smittykins]

12 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

What's next, the electric Pinto?

Well, they attempted a flying Pinto once.  Didn’t work too well..,

[Tom Holmberg]

18 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

What's next, the electric Pinto?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKQ-U-rnLdo

[meep.meep]

22 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

I saw a VW electric van commercial.

It started by ominously playing/flashing news stories about controversies of VW past (I think).  I didn't really remember or catch the details..

I came away thinking... are they reminding people that the VW was a fiery death trap in the 60s/70s so they could trumpet the new electric car being safe because there isn't a gas tank.

What's next, the electric Pinto?

No, they are being required to remind people that they cheated on mileage and emissions testing as a strategy.  Commercial is supposed to say that they have turned over a new leaf.

It's like the Wells Fargo ads where they have to apologize for their policies where they opened a bunch of accounts without people's knowledge resulting in some of them going bankrupt.

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 11:36 AM, mmecorday said:

For the longest time, I thought the EMT in the commercials for Excedrin was saying, "I'm Hiram Grasshopper." It was only a few days ago that it dawned on me that he's actually saying, "I'm a migraine sufferer."

Whenever I see that commercial, I can't stop thinking about how much he looks like a whiner.

I hate ice skating but for some weird reason, I am intrigued by the Progressive Insurance on Ice show...

[sempervivum]

2 puzzling ones;

Gain dryer sheets (I think)- it's so powerfully scented, you'll either love it or...not. This would be like McDonalds advertising a burger as either really tasty...or not. Some ad agency got paid for this?

Thred Up-seems like an online Goodwill store, old clothes from places like Anthropologie. Did they not realize I'd immediately see their name as Fed Up?

[Tom Holmberg]

37 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Did they not realize I'd immediately see their name as Fed Up

Or Shred Up if you have a lisp,

[Ubiquitous]

1 hour ago, sempervivum said:

The Capitol One ad that has a smug looking Gen X guy sneering at an old school bank, with a classical façade and-gasp!-waiting lines and tellers.  According to him, they look at these fusty old things and go 'REALLY?'

Now, according to Mr. Smuggy, you can go into what appears to be a Starbucks, where you can stand in line for a coffee first and then for a teller. Or possibly the baristas are also tellers?

Yeah, I have all sorts of questions about how that would work...

[Ashforth]

On 6/17/2019 at 2:03 PM, chessiegal said:

I'm seeing an ad for a product called MobileHealth for getting help if you fall. Evidently their hook is the woman saying when she fell, 3 handsome firemen came to rescue her. Hah! Wonder if you get your money back if ugly firemen show up.

Ha! This approach would work on my 85 year old mother. Ever since she had a medical emergency several years ago and an EMT told her that she looks much younger than her age (she does), she is enamored of any young-ish male medical service provider. And they're all handsome to her. 😉

20 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Gain dryer sheets (I think)- it's so powerfully scented, you'll either love it or...not. This would be like McDonalds advertising a burger as either really tasty...or not. Some ad agency got paid for this?

This commercial is so weird. I can only assume that when they focus-grouped the product, a lot of people liked it and some had visceral negative reactions. So the ad contains sort of a warning.

[mmecorday]

Quote

So the ad contains sort of a warning.

Yeah, like a few years ago when Miracle Whip ran a series of commercials with quotes from people who strongly disliked that particularly polarizing sandwich spread. I remember one person saying that it tasted like lotion. Mmm, that's good eatin'!

[proserpina65]

On ‎06‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 10:29 PM, Brattinella said:

So, how is Silk Almond liquid  "progress"?

Certainly not for the environment, since almond trees require a LOT of water to grow.  And it's not any healthier, either.  So you got me.

On ‎06‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 1:10 PM, mmecorday said:

Because if you have OCD like my girlfriend does, your brain tells you when to mow and you can't tell your brain to shut up.

Or if you have an HOA who sends you nasty notes if the grass gets too long.

[proserpina65]

On ‎06‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 12:27 PM, Jacqs said:

So that's how helicopter parents got started!

[mmecorday]

See, if you're raising a child in the UK, there are loads of vehicles that are just waiting to run over your kid!

I think helicopter parenting started here in the U.S. during the Satanic Panic of the 80s.

Topic? I think Satan is behind that terrible rendition of "Go Your Own Way" in the Anoro commercial. The way that guy sings makes him sound like he's super constipated and needs Linzess.

[Annber03]

31 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

Topic? I think Satan is behind that terrible rendition of "Go Your Own Way" in the Anoro commercial. The way that guy sings makes him sound like he's super constipated and needs Linzess.

LOL! 

7 hours ago, Ashforth said:

Ha! This approach would work on my 85 year old mother. Ever since she had a medical emergency several years ago and an EMT told her that she looks much younger than her age (she does), she is enamored of any young-ish male medical service provider. And they're all handsome to her. 

Hee! That's so cute :D. 

[Tom Holmberg]

On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 1:54 PM, Ubiquitous said:

Yeah, I have all sorts of questions about how that would work...

There was a bank Washington Mutual which had branches on every corner.  They did sort of the same thing, they didn't have windows or counters.  The bankers stood at kiosks.  My boss wanted the Ref. Librarians to emulate this and get rid of the desk.  Then the Great Recession came and WaMu disappeared, bought out by a real bank.  If I go to a bank I want to give my money to somebody behind a window or counter, with a big honking safe behind them, not some random person standing around. I won't even use the drive-up.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Tom Holmberg

[elle]

On 6/17/2019 at 9:36 AM, mmecorday said:

For the longest time, I thought the EMT in the commercials for Excedrin was saying, "I'm Hiram Grasshopper." It was only a few days ago that it dawned on me that he's actually saying, "I'm a migraine sufferer."

I'm fascinated by his pretty eyes.

On 6/17/2019 at 1:53 PM, peacheslatour said:

Yep, it will be in my head forever, along with "I'm a spider!"

What commercial is that from and what is it really?

[Prevailing Wind]

"I'm a spider" is from some eye-saving drug.

My credit union uses those kiosk/teller things. It's not so bad. But if you want cash, they have to leave the kiosk and go "in the back" to fetch it.  NOW they've even stopped using deposit slips. You just walk up to them & tell them what you want to do.

[Ubiquitous]

14 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

There was a bank Washington Mutual which had branches on every corner.  They did sort of the same thing, they didn't have windows or counters.  The bankers stood at kiosks.  My boss wanted the Ref. Librarians to emulate this and get rid of the desk.  Then the Great Recession came and WaMu disappeared, bought out by a real bank.  If I go to a bank I want to give my money to somebody behind a window or counter, with a big honking safe behind them, not some random person standing around. I won't even use the drive-up.

By "kiosk", did you mean little stands, like what where Lucy dispenses psychological advice for a nickel? My credit union has used ATMs with closed circuit TV for performing transactions since the 1990's! I don't see anything like that in the commercial.  

[Prevailing Wind]

The kiosks are free-standing tall desks, several in the bank lobby. No wall of tellers. There's still a rope maze for the waiting queue and then you go to the next available teller, standing at his or her kiosk/desk, like they were hotel concierges or something.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Prevailing Wind

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

The kiosks are free-standing tall desks, several in the bank lobby. No wall of tellers. There's still a rope maze for the waiting queue and then you go to the next available teller, standing at his or her kiosk/desk, like they were hotel concierges or something.

"Yes, I got into banking so I could stand up all damn day."

[janie jones]

16 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

There was a bank Washington Mutual which had branches on every corner.  They did sort of the same thing, they didn't have windows or counters.  The bankers stood at kiosks.  My boss wanted the Ref. Librarians to emulate this and get rid of the desk.  Then the Great Recession came and WaMu disappeared, bought out by a real bank.  If I go to a bank I want to give my money to somebody behind a window or counter, with a big honking safe behind them, not some random person standing around. I won't even use the drive-up.

If it makes you feel any better, I banked at Washington Mutual and I never saw a kiosk at any branch I ever went in. 

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

The kiosks are free-standing tall desks, several in the bank lobby. No wall of tellers. There's still a rope maze for the waiting queue and then you go to the next available teller, standing at his or her kiosk/desk, like they were hotel concierges or something.

I don't know how often people rob banks like on TV where they make all the tellers put all the money in bags (vs just getting money from the one teller you walk up to -- which a teller I used to know told me is much more common than you'd think), but this would make that a lot more difficult.  I feel like it ends up making the line flow less smoothly.  You have to be looking around to see when a kiosk opens up, rather than just looking down a line.  I feel like "I can help you over here" gets uttered a lot more in a setup like this.

[elle]

Why, KFC, why would you ruin a perfectly good savory biscuit like that?  If I want a cinnamon bun, I'd get a cinnamon bun.  Don't fix what isn't broke.

[iMonrey]

Why does the hockey player ask Jennifer Garner how she got in there? Am I missing something? They're not in the penalty box are they? How did she get into the arena? I don't get it. (Obviously not a hockey fan.)

[Prevailing Wind]

10 hours ago, janie jones said:

If it makes you feel any better, I banked at Washington Mutual and I never saw a kiosk at any branch I ever went in. 

I don't know how often people rob banks like on TV where they make all the tellers put all the money in bags (vs just getting money from the one teller you walk up to -- which a teller I used to know told me is much more common than you'd think), but this would make that a lot more difficult.  I feel like it ends up making the line flow less smoothly.  You have to be looking around to see when a kiosk opens up, rather than just looking down a line.  I feel like "I can help you over here" gets uttered a lot more in a setup like this.

They don't keep cash in a drawer - they do have to go through a door with a push-button coded lock to get the cash. Any cash they receive is shoved down into a box, like how the dealers in Vegas handle cash - tiny slot, money inserted. Impossible to get to if you're a robber (or the teller for that matter.) I don't think they say, "Next..." any more than the tellers-in-a-row configuration when we're all waiting behind that maze.

[Haleth]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Why does the hockey player ask Jennifer Garner how she got in there? Am I missing something? They're not in the penalty box are they? How did she get into the arena? I don't get it. (Obviously not a hockey fan.)

Yes, they are in the penalty box.

[Ubiquitous]

14 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

They don't keep cash in a drawer - they do have to go through a door with a push-button coded lock to get the cash. Any cash they receive is shoved down into a box, like how the dealers in Vegas handle cash - tiny slot, money inserted. Impossible to get to if you're a robber (or the teller for that matter.) I don't think they say, "Next..." any more than the tellers-in-a-row configuration when we're all waiting behind that maze.

It seems like installing a bunch of ATMs in the wall would be easier and more secure.

[Nordly Beaumont]

I got so curious about the Arby's commercials - why do they say "Arby's, we have the meats!" pause "for sandwiches!" It's so weird. What else would the "meats" be for? So I googled it and found it's (supposedly) a way to let younger people know that they have more than just roast beef because apparently roast beef is for old people? I guess? Anyway, how does adding "for sandwiches" tell people they have more than just roast beef? Why do they have a personality-free gray haired man as the spokesperson if they want to bring in younger customers? Why not get some teenagers? I just don't get it.

[Brattinella]

I think Bob's Burgers has a great personality!  That would certainly draw the young crowd, IMO.

[peacheslatour]

9 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

I think Bob's Burgers has a great personality!  That would certainly draw the young crowd, IMO.

I love, love, love H. Jon Benjamin! All the way back to his days on Dr. Katz.

[Brookside]

On ‎6‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 2:38 PM, Tom Holmberg said:

There was a bank Washington Mutual which had branches on every corner.  They did sort of the same thing, they didn't have windows or counters.  The bankers stood at kiosks.  My boss wanted the Ref. Librarians to emulate this and get rid of the desk.  Then the Great Recession came and WaMu disappeared, bought out by a real bank.  If I go to a bank I want to give my money to somebody behind a window or counter, with a big honking safe behind them, not some random person standing around. I won't even use the drive-up.

My city's airport has kiosks for check-in.  In maybe a dozen flights I have never been able to use one successfully, even with the help of a real life agent.  So I end up at the desk anyway.  You can't go to the desk initially because some officious flunky makes you go to a kiosk.

On topic - the obnoxious Charmin bear, and many more.  Even as a toddler I knew that my teddy bear didn't have actual bodily functions. 

Edited June 23, 2019 by Brookside

[chessiegal]

We fly mostly Southwest from BWI and have never had a problem with the kiosks. A few years ago we flew from Paris to Florence on Air France. They had kiosks, and I was so surprised to see that our reservation was there. Not sure why I was surprised.

Our son-in-law works in banking, started as a teller. I mentioned to him our bank has started using "greeters" - how can we help you when you go inside. He said research has shown it cuts down on robberies. Our tellers have cash at their stations.

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 1:46 PM, Nordly Beaumont said:

I got so curious about the Arby's commercials - why do they say "Arby's, we have the meats!" pause "for sandwiches!" It's so weird. What else would the "meats" be for? So I googled it and found it's (supposedly) a way to let younger people know that they have more than just roast beef because apparently roast beef is for old people? I guess? Anyway, how does adding "for sandwiches" tell people they have more than just roast beef? Why do they have a personality-free gray haired man as the spokesperson if they want to bring in younger customers? Why not get some teenagers? I just don't get it.

I think the pause is sppsd to startle you or get your attention.

[InDueTime]

Everytime I see this Toyota ad, I wonder why he doesn't just offer to drive her to her location if he's going to miss her that much.🤔

[catlover79]

I don't understand the point of having "LiMu Emu" RADIO ads. An emu is great for a medium where you can actually SEE it. YMMV.

[LoneHaranguer]

There's a Progressive ad where a woman tells her kids that Jamie will be around a lot to help her with her insurance. What happened to that tool other ads bragged about? Is Jamie intending to cheat on his wife and making an excuse to be with this woman?

[bad things are bad]

On 6/14/2019 at 7:20 AM, kariyaki said:

On 6/14/2019 at 1:18 AM, elle said:

The commercial for John Deere that shows someone racing to mow their lawn before an incoming thunderstorm baffles me.  Why wouldn't you wait a day especially with that darkening sky?

as wet as it's been here this spring, you mow when you can because the next dry day could be a week away

21 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

Why do they have a personality-free gray haired man as the spokesperson

AAGH. Speak no ill of H Jon Benjamin. He's hilarious