Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Prevailing Wind]

I saw llama yesterday, too. It's Geico.

[sempervivum]

Wha?

This is yet another personal injury lawyer, but with a rando wild animal connection. 

The ad makes it look like the lawyer is some kind of gangster who keeps wild animals in order to dispose of his enemies (those damn talcum powder makers).

[Brookside]

I just saw a Charmin ad where the baby bear scratches its bare (sic) bottom back and forth across a wooden chair.  How is this supposed to make me want me to buy its product rather than a flame thrower to sanitize the chair?

Incidentally, has anyone heard/read anything about Charmin donating in these times of Coronavirus?  All I see on their website is a pledge to keep their bottom (ha) line going:

 We’ve seen many questions and comments and know you’re concerned about finding our products in store or online.

We understand how frustrating this is, and want you to know we take our responsibility to our consumers very seriously. We are producing and shipping Charmin at record highs and working on getting it to retailers as fast as humanly possible so everyone can #EnjoyTheGo!

Thanks so much for your loyalty and patience. From our family to yours, please stay safe and remember to spare a square for your neighbor!

[xaxat]

On 6/17/2020 at 2:21 PM, meep.meep said:

Why does Marco Polo have a llama?

Maybe they were trying to pass it off as a poor man's camel?

I don't understand why the Army is using a fifty year old song to recruit eighteen yea olds. Most of their parents weren't alive when it was released.

[mmecorday]

Very cool remix, though.

And when I think of songs from 50 years ago, I think of the doo-wop era. Nope. 1970. The age of Aquarius.

Man, do I feel old sometimes.

[elle]

8 hours ago, xaxat said:

I don't understand why the Army is using a fifty year old song to recruit eighteen yea olds. Most of their parents weren't alive when it was released.

 

5 hours ago, mmecorday said:

Very cool remix, though.

And when I think of songs from 50 years ago, I think of the doo-wop era. Nope. 1970. The age of Aquarius.

Man, do I feel old sometimes.

It sounds cool, but it one of those commercials that I wonder if they listened to the lyrics before they chose it.

[Haleth]

Oops. Never mind.

Edited June 24, 2020 by Haleth

[xaxat]

The song is "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago.

[Prevailing Wind]

1 hour ago, xaxat said:

The song is "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago.

Thanks. I did not understand the "Age of Aquarius" talk here.

[Haleth]

1 hour ago, xaxat said:

The song is "25 or 6 to 4" by Chicago.

Thanks for the correction. A song about a painful break up doesn’t make sense either. 

[smittykins]

Composer/keyboardist Robert Lamm has always claimed it’s about trying to write a song in the middle of the night —25 or(2)6 minutes to 4 in the morning.

[peacheslatour]

12 minutes ago, smittykins said:

Composer/keyboardist Robert Lamm has always claimed it’s about trying to write a song in the middle of the night —25 or(2)6 minutes to 4 in the morning.

That's what I always heard.

Spoiler

 

 

[Kimmmmmm]

Forgive me if this has been covered, and I'm not sure if this is even the proper thread, but that Folger's ad in which the young woman walks in on her father-in-law in the shower gives me the screaming creeps...

[Zahdii]

13 hours ago, Kimmmmmm said:

Forgive me if this has been covered, and I'm not sure if this is even the proper thread, but that Folger's ad in which the young woman walks in on her father-in-law in the shower gives me the screaming creeps...

Let me up the creep factor by imagining that after the initial OMG of them seeing each other naked, one or both of them then gets an expression of "Hmmm, nice!" followed by "Why don't we go have a cup of coffee and talk about this?"

[Bort]

For that matter, who walks into a bathroom where the shower is running and assumes no one is in there? 

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

For that matter, who walks into a bathroom where the shower is running and assumes no one is in there? 

Right? That is the dumbest commercial I've ever seen. Who thought that was a good idea?

[dleighg]

14 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

For that matter, who walks into a bathroom where the shower is running and assumes no one is in there? 

I thought that she thought it was hubby in there and she was going to "surprise him."

[Kimmmmmm]

43 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

For that matter, who walks into a bathroom where the shower is running and assumes no one is in there? 

Right?!?!?!  Although she may have thought her husband was in there?

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, Kimmmmmm said:

Although she may have thought her husband was in there?

Yeah, it's in the lyrics - "Your husband woke up first, now you've got something up your sleeve.  What you didn't know was you were surprising your father-in-law Steve".

So did she just not think about the fact her in-laws were visiting, used to it being only the two of them in the house?  Was she cognizant of their presence in the house, but figuring they'd use the guest bathroom?  Why she assumes it's her husband even with two additional people in the house isn't spelled out, but it is clearly stated that she thought she was getting in with her husband.

[Silver Raven]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

For that matter, who walks into a bathroom where the shower is running and assumes no one is in there? 

I thought she thought her husband was in there and she was going to join him.

[Bort]

I admit that I missed the beginning of the commercial and wasn’t paying attention until Steve was unveiled in the shower.

[peacheslatour]

57 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

I thought she thought her husband was in there and she was going to join him.

Even so, when i have house guests I would never walk into the bathroom without knocking first. Unless they have a guest bath and then that's even weirder and if it was the master bath...WTF?

[chessiegal]

When my oldest grandson was about 2 1/2, his mom told all guests to lock the bathroom door, as he was unclear on the concept of boundaries 😂

[Ashforth]

2 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I admit that I missed the beginning of the commercial and wasn’t paying attention until Steve was unveiled in the shower.

But... who is the guy in the shower with Steve? Is that the real surprise?

[Kimmmmmm]

1 hour ago, Ashforth said:

But... who is the guy in the shower with Steve? Is that the real surprise?

Not to mention the crowd that surrounds the daughter-in-law afterwards and pours her coffee, as if that will help her unsee...that

[Momomig]

I am scratching my head over this...  I am watching HLN this afternoon and seeing commercials I have seen many times before except all the actors have been changed. The Progressive spinner and his gf. The Progressive caricature artist and subject. The Persil guy. The people on the Perdue "hey, good lookin" commercial. Does anyone know what is good night on?

Edit. Going on. 

[Ashforth]

21 hours ago, Momomig said:

I am scratching my head over this...  I am watching HLN this afternoon and seeing commercials I have seen many times before except all the actors have been changed. The Progressive spinner and his gf. The Progressive caricature artist and subject. The Persil guy. The people on the Perdue "hey, good lookin" commercial. Does anyone know what is good night on?

Edit. Going on. 

Also the Downy Unstoppables ads. Same weird song, same suggestive dance moves, different actress.

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

Also the Downy Unstoppables ads. Same weird song, same suggestive dance moves, different actress.

Are we collectively losing our minds? I could swear Doug from Liberty Mutual is a different actor now.

[Ashforth]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

Are we collectively losing our minds? I could swear Doug from Liberty Mutual is a different actor now.

I think you may be thinking of an Allstate ad that has Dennis Haysbert and a character who is dressed and looks exactly like "Doug" filming a TV show -- but instead of doing his line, the Doug character starts talking about Allstate insurance.

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

I think you may be thinking of an Allstate ad that has Dennis Haysbert and a character who is dressed and looks exactly like "Doug" filming a TV show -- but instead of doing his line, the Doug character starts talking about Allstate insurance.

No, I'm well acquainted with President Palmer. I mean Doug, the guy with the stupid emu.

[Ashforth]

10 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

No, I'm well acquainted with President Palmer. I mean Doug, the guy with the stupid emu.

Right! Haysbert will always be Mr. President to me! But keep an eye out for the Allstate ad I mentioned, I swear the secondary character is meant to be a riff on Liberty Mutual's Doug. 

I haven't noticed a new Doug in the actual Liberty Mutual ads.

[Silver Raven]

On 6/25/2020 at 5:57 PM, Ashforth said:

But... who is the guy in the shower with Steve? Is that the real surprise?

He's the announcer.

3 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

Right! Haysbert will always be Mr. President to me! But keep an eye out for the Allstate ad I mentioned, I swear the secondary character is meant to be a riff on Liberty Mutual's Doug. 

I haven't noticed a new Doug in the actual Liberty Mutual ads.

Is it the LiMu ad where he's thinking back to the past when he had long hair? If so, that's the same guy.

 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Silver Raven

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

He's the announcer.

Is it the LiMu ad where he's thinking back to the past when he had long hair? If so, that's the same guy.

 

No, it's a new one. Maybe they started filming these in super dooper HD but Doug looks about 20 years older than usual.

Edited June 29, 2020 by peacheslatour

[Maverick]

 What the fuck is this supposed to be (other than creepy.... that's obvious). 

 

[janie jones]

I hate this whole series of Kroger commercials.

[Prevailing Wind]

Remember the State Farm ad where there's an accident and one of the guys sings, "Like a Good Neighbor..." and gets an insurance agent, where the other tries it and gets his mom, on hold with his company. She calls him Jimmy and Jimmy says, "You're not helping, Ma." - Jimmy is Doug. It's the same guy. He does a lot of insurance ads.

I never got the vibe that the guy who blows his acting lines (The desert never lies) by talking about Allstate was supposed to be Doug. If so, you'd think they'd have an ostrich or something nearby.

[bad things are bad]

17 hours ago, Maverick said:

 What the fuck is this supposed to be (other than creepy.... that's obvious). 

 

I am so with you on this! I'm baffled by this commercial and by the entirety of Kroger advertising these days. Oh boy fresh food!! What a differentiator in the grocery store segment! 

[Brookside]

On 6/24/2020 at 7:35 PM, Kimmmmmm said:

Forgive me if this has been covered, and I'm not sure if this is even the proper thread, but that Folger's ad in which the young woman walks in on her father-in-law in the shower gives me the screaming creeps...

Thank you for making me grateful that I've never had the misfortune of seeing this ad.

[Kimmmmmm]

1 hour ago, Brookside said:

Thank you for making me grateful that I've never had the misfortune of seeing this ad.

You're welcome...and I hope your luck holds out.

[chessiegal]

Taking the shower ad to small talk.

[cynicat]

9 hours ago, Brookside said:

Thank you for making me grateful that I've never had the misfortune of seeing this ad.

How did you manage that?  Teach us, oh wise one.

[Brookside]

7 hours ago, cynicat said:

How did you manage that?  Teach us, oh wise one.

A combination of the mute button and my laptop on, well, my lap.

[proserpina65]

On ‎06‎/‎08‎/‎2020 at 11:33 PM, Silver Raven said:

Uh, what?

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/IAFV/bleu-de-chanel-starman-song-by-david-bowie

 

All cologne and perfume commercials are weird.  Except for maybe the Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds one, say what you will about using a commercial long after the star is dead, but at least the concept of using her earrings to stake a poker player makes sense.

On ‎06‎/‎13‎/‎2020 at 1:35 PM, peacheslatour said:

Where exactly do Corona's breweries keep their "pure beach vibes"? In large vats? Does Pete Rodriguez wave a magic wand over the vats? Do they manufacture them or do the harvest them from Acapulco?

I don't think I'd want anything harvested from Acapulco right now.

 

On ‎06‎/‎28‎/‎2020 at 5:09 PM, Momomig said:

The people on the Perdue "hey, good lookin" commercial.

This is a series of commercials using the same song.  That's why the people are different. 

[Silver Raven]

So apparently Real California Milk products give you hallucinations.

 

 

[Browncoat]

I have no idea what this ad is for, but every time it comes on, I hear the woman say that her mother had a "grandma" seizure.  It takes me a beat to realize she says, "Grand Mal", but for that beat, I am very confused.

[Silver Raven]

OK, this isn't at all creepy.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/nrC0/vroom-com-dealership-of-horrors

 

[cynicat]

6 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

OK, this isn't at all creepy.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/nrC0/vroom-com-dealership-of-horrors

 

Wow, that's a great ad!  Everything that scares people, even clowns :-)

[Zahdii]

2 hours ago, cynicat said:

Wow, that's a great ad!  Everything that scares people, even clowns :-)

Nah, no spiders, thankfully.  Or dead people, again, thankfully.

[peacheslatour]

11 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

OK, this isn't at all creepy.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/nrC0/vroom-com-dealership-of-horrors

 

But only slightly exaggerated.

[SnarkySheep]

On 6/29/2020 at 8:03 PM, Maverick said:

 What the fuck is this supposed to be (other than creepy.... that's obvious). 

 

I live in CT, so I am not familiar with Kroger...and judging by this, I don't want to be..