Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

Oh, he tries, but he's so nice and they are so insistent. He does always tell them that everyone gets the same great deal, but they don't believe it.

I like these ads a lot. I think they're funny. The customers are wacky, but they aren't objects of ridicule. It's a gentle humor, something we don't see much anymore. I think State Farm hit the jackpot with this Jake. He seems like a guy you want to be friends with. And he's easy on the eyes.

I love Parker, too! She's the OG of this series of ads and still easily the best. I agree the actress nailed it and she has charisma. It will be interesting to see whether this launches more opportunities for her.

Me too, I think she's just ducky.

[Winston Wolfe]

On 11/25/2020 at 2:29 PM, chessiegal said:

Jake didn't get extra pizza - he didn't even order it. And you think Parker is going to say okay to a refusal? Not in a million years. Since this is just one of a about a dozen commercials with customers thinking Jake gave them something special, they are simply emphasizing that State Farm gives everyone great rates. I have no problem with it. I think it's funny.

Thing is, I've been a loyal State Farm customer for so long (with ZERO claims) I can't even remember who my previous carrier was. So where's my "Winston" promo?

[foxfreakinmulder]

Here's a commercial that makes me scratch my head. It starts with a mother and father waking up their kids in the middle of the night or early, early morning and they cook, set the table and sit. In walks a person (probably oldest son) in what looks like a chef's jacket/shirt, he looks at the family sitting at the table and says "you waited for me" then hugs mom and she says " happy first day" so if he was returning home after his first day on a job why would he say, you waited for me and why would they all get up and cook a meal at the time couldn't they do that later in the day? I can't figure this one out.

I forgot to add, I like John Travolta's Santa commercial, I think it's cute 🙂

Edited November 27, 2020 by foxfreakinmulder

[Ashforth]

29 minutes ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

Here's a commercial that makes me scratch my head. It starts with a mother and father waking up their kids in the middle of the night or early, early morning and they cook, set the table and sit. In walks a person (probably oldest son) in what looks like a chef's jacket/shirt, he looks at the family sitting at the table and says "you waited for me" then hugs mom and she says " happy first day" so if he was returning home after his first day on a job why would he say, you waited for me and why would they all get up and cook a meal at the time couldn't they do that later in the day? I can't figure this one out.

I forgot to add, I like John Travolta's Santa commercial, I think it's cute 🙂

I found this description on iSpot and I still don't get it:

"Waking at the painfully early hour of 2:30 a.m., this family utters no complaints as they rise early to bake bread and prepare nothing short of a feast with Kerrygold butter and cheeses -- all for their son arriving home, tired and spent from his first day on the job as a chef. Crafted with milk from Irish grass-fed cows, Kerrygold butter will deliver that home-baked taste that everyone craves."

[Ubiquit0us]

Shout Factory Network plays commercials for their "WTF?" programming ("What The Friday?") featuring bizarre out of context clips from movies, one in particular featuring a little boy (Peter Billingsley?) making a bicycle aroused!  😱

WTF? Indeed!  

[Ubiquit0us]

On 11/25/2020 at 2:33 PM, peacheslatour said:

Yeah, Parker doesn't strike me as the type to take no for an answer. I actually love her. I hope she has a long, successful career. She's got the "it" factor.

She's not going to do well if she keeps giving free pizzas, wings, and gallons of ranch dressing to Jake! 

[chessiegal]

6 hours ago, Winston Wolfe said:

Thing is, I've been a loyal State Farm customer for so long (with ZERO claims) I can't even remember who my previous carrier was. So where's my "Winston" promo?

Same with us - we've been with State Farm over 20 years, 2 cars bundled with homeowners. Last year my husband decided we must be able to get a better rate with another company. Turns out no, they are giving us the lowest rates for what we want.

[Ashforth]

6 hours ago, Winston Wolfe said:

Thing is, I've been a loyal State Farm customer for so long (with ZERO claims) I can't even remember who my previous carrier was. So where's my "Winston" promo?

They're all alliterative, so I guess yours (in your mind) would be the "Winston Wins" promo? What's your profession or talent that you would use to foist an un-asked-for gift on Jake? He'll be really sweet as he tries to decline it. If you get his number, pass it along, LOL.

This could be a fun game over in Small Talk. 

1 hour ago, Ubiquit0us said:

She's not going to do well if she keeps giving free pizzas, wings, and gallons of ranch dressing to Jake! 

Parker the pizza delivery gal is a hot mess. The actress who plays her is the bomb.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Ashforth

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Kerrygold commercial where they stay up late for the son is hard to understand, and my TV doesn't do closed caption on commercials, so the mother either says "It's your birthday" or "It's your first day" at work.   Since there's no cake, maybe it's the first day at work for him?

I'm so glad other posters corrected that.     It's your First Day, makes sense.  

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[chessiegal]

Yes, the Kerrygold commercial is the family celebrating his first day at work as a chef.

[Ashforth]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The Kerrygold commercial where they stay up late for the son is hard to understand, and my TV doesn't do closed caption on commercials, so the mother either says "It's your birthday" or "It's your first day" at work.   Since there's no cake, maybe it's the first day at work for him?

I'm so glad other posters corrected that.     It's your First Day, makes sense.  

 

I also thought she said Happy Birthday until someone posted that she said Happy First Day. The commercial still makes no sense at all to me. But I love Kerrygold butter, it is delicious.

[chessiegal]

3 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

I also thought she said Happy Birthday until someone posted that she said Happy First Day. The commercial still makes no sense at all to me. But I love Kerrygold butter, it is delicious.

It was his first day working as a chef. Chefs often work long hours and get home very late. They were celebrating his first day by having a meal ready for him when he got home.

[Ubiquit0us]

13 hours ago, chessiegal said:

It was his first day working as a chef. Chefs often work long hours and get home very late. They were celebrating his first day by having a meal ready for him when he got home.

How did they know when he would get home? It's not like x o'clock rolls around and he goes home... 

[Blergh]

One thing for sure re the State Farm Newer Jake- he sure has led a far more proactive life  outside the call center than the State Farm Original Jake who merely awkwardly piped up as to wearing khakis at 3 in the morning when the client's suspicious wife grabbed the phone! 

 

P.S. If he could send some of his beekeeper client's swarm to chase Flo off my TV and 'puter, I'll write the Queen to see if she could get him a knighthood! 

[Ashforth]

On 11/27/2020 at 7:29 PM, chessiegal said:

It was his first day working as a chef. Chefs often work long hours and get home very late. They were celebrating his first day by having a meal ready for him when he got home.

I get the concept but not the execution. When he comes through the door, he says, "you waited!" which might lead one to believe that the family held off on a holiday dinner until he got home. But the description by the advertiser seems to me to be that the parents rousted the younger kids from bed at 2:30 am to bake bread and make cheese plates because oldest brother finished culinary school and got a job.

Maybe I'm just jealous, I've had a lot of jobs in my life (including those that required me to work overnight) and my parents never arranged a full on family celebration to take place when I got home from work. To be honest, my siblings would have been livid and I would have been intoxicated, but to begin with, my parents would never have done it. Working was just expected in my family.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think what happened is a lot of the food was prepped and cooked earlier, the kids went to bed, and then everyone got up and had the meal ready when the son came home.

I have to say I've never understood the appeal of Pistachios, but the enraged Tortoise throwing nuts at the advertising man, and then jumping at the other one, does make me laugh.   However, I fail to see how that's going to sell nuts.  

[Haleth]

22 hours ago, Ubiquit0us said:

How did they know when he would get home? It's not like x o'clock rolls around and he goes home... 

That's how jobs work.

[crazycatlady58]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

That's how jobs work.

Unless you work in a restaurant or retail.  You get late customers you stay till they are finished. 

[Browncoat]

And then there's all the clean-up and possibly prep for the next day in the restaurant business, and the time that takes can vary wildly.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I just saw the Ford commercial with the Santas all running into the dealership, and taking SUVs.   So Santa is a car thief now?  

[Ubiquit0us]

18 hours ago, Ashforth said:

I get the concept but not the execution. When he comes through the door, he says, "you waited!" which might lead one to believe that the family held off on a holiday dinner until he got home. But the description by the advertiser seems to me to be that the parents rousted the younger kids from bed at 2:30 am to bake bread and make cheese plates because oldest brother finished culinary school and got a job.

Maybe I'm just jealous, I've had a lot of jobs in my life (including those that required me to work overnight) and my parents never arranged a full on family celebration to take place when I got home from work. To be honest, my siblings would have been livid and I would have been intoxicated, but to begin with, my parents would never have done it. Working was just expected in my family.

Plus, wouldn't he be tired after coming home at 2:30 and not in the mood to see food? 

 

[Bastet]

17 minutes ago, Ubiquit0us said:

Plus, wouldn't he be tired after coming home at 2:30 and not in the mood to see food? 

If it was his first shift in a professional restaurant kitchen, odds are he was at the bar with drinks and late night munchies with his coworkers before coming home, wanting nothing more than to crawl in bed ... only to find his family wanting to keep him up with yet more food.

I haven't seen the commercial, but it sounds dumb; everyone should be sleeping and they can celebrate at a far more convenient and enjoyable time.

[Ubiquit0us]

Am I the only one who wonders why the guy in the PSA against texting and driving(?) seems to be wearing a black leotard, a la Diedrick from Sprockets?

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I haven't seen the commercial, but it sounds dumb; everyone should be sleeping and they can celebrate at a far more convenient and enjoyable time.

In the commercial, the chef is really happy they did this for him. He thanks them for waiting for him. It's a nice commercial for butter and cheese (Kerrygold). No need to overthink it.

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

In the commercial, the chef is really happy they did this for him. He thanks them for waiting for him. It's a nice commercial for butter and cheese (Kerrygold). No need to overthink it.

Isn't that the whole point of these forums? It wouldn't be any fun if we didn't get to snark on minutia all the time.

[CrystalBlue]

I came to this thread to try and figure out the Kerrygold commercial as well!  I did catch it was Happy First Day and that the young man was wearing chef's garb, but I don't get the middle-of-the-night before dawn celebration.  They don't even sound Irish.  I love Kerrygold butter though.  If you eat butter and haven't had Kerrygold, I recommend splurging on it and budgeting on something else.  Your taste buds will thank you.  It's really delicious!

[Prevailing Wind]

15 hours ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Unless you work in a restaurant or retail.  You get late customers you stay till they are finished. 

Vets stay until the last patient is treated and the placed is cleaned & set up for tomorrow morning.  I'm sure all medical personnel, for human and animal, do the same.

[peacheslatour]

9 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Vets stay until the last patient is treated and the placed is cleaned & set up for tomorrow morning.  I'm sure all medical personnel, for human and animal, do the same.

There are no holidays or days off when you're a vet. The animals still need care. That never stops.

[janie jones]

On 11/29/2020 at 7:17 AM, crazycatlady58 said:

Unless you work in a restaurant or retail.  You get late customers you stay till they are finished. 

I think it might depend on the labor laws in your state and/or your company. I've worked in retail for 15 years, and my time off has always been predictable. Maybe a few minutes here and there, and occasionally the manager locks their keys in the office so you've got to wait until another manager shows up to let everyone out, but if I'm off at ten, I'm off at ten. It certainly isn't something other people wouldn't be able to plan around. I once had a customer stay until like fifteen minutes before we were scheduled to leave, and we probably only left five minutes late. I've never worked in a restaurant, so I can't comment on how things work there, but I don't understand why they don't have an idea of how long closing tasks will take and can't create a work schedule accordingly.

Nevertheless, I think it's ridiculous that the family would have dinner in the middle of the night for this dude.

[crazycatlady58]

19 hours ago, janie jones said:

I think it might depend on the labor laws in your state and/or your company. I've worked in retail for 15 years, and my time off has always been predictable. Maybe a few minutes here and there, and occasionally the manager locks their keys in the office so you've got to wait until another manager shows up to let everyone out, but if I'm off at ten, I'm off at ten. It certainly isn't something other people wouldn't be able to plan around. I once had a customer stay until like fifteen minutes before we were scheduled to leave, and we probably only left five minutes late. I've never worked in a restaurant, so I can't comment on how things work there, but I don't understand why they don't have an idea of how long closing tasks will take and can't create a work schedule accordingly.

Nevertheless, I think it's ridiculous that the family would have dinner in the middle of the night for this dude.

I agree with you about the family getting up to have a meal with him. You must have worked in a large department store. I work in a small retail store and have had people stay an hour past closing and we cannot ask them to leave. As for a restaurant again if you have someone come in at the last minute or sit around chatting you stay till they leave. Most small companies do not want to hurry a customer because an angry customer does not come back. Sadly a lot of people seem to be unaware that service people have lives outside of business. 

[janie jones]

I've never worked in a department store, only specialty retail, but yes, corporate-owned. But nevertheless, my point stands, which is that just because you work in customer service doesn't mean your family has no idea when you'll be home, and it would simply depend on where you work (and whether your state allows employers to keep employees late).

[proserpina65]

Am I supposed to know the guy in the Grub Hub commercials with Simone Biles?

 

On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2020 at 5:43 PM, SoMuchTV said:

There’s a commercial where a guy is watching a Game of Thrones-type show, keeps missing a crucial part, and says “Alexa, rewind ten seconds”. What I want to know is, if you have an Alexa, can you ever get past the commercial?

I keep telling him to stop ironing and watch the damned show, but does he ever listen?

 

On ‎11‎/‎20‎/‎2020 at 6:37 AM, Haleth said:

And don't forget clogging.  I thought the fencing was funny.

Me, too.  Maybe not as funny as the Ratt problem, but still amusing.

[proserpina65]

9 minutes ago, janie jones said:

I've never worked in a department store, only specialty retail, but yes, corporate-owned. But nevertheless, my point stands, which is that just because you work in customer service doesn't mean your family has no idea when you'll be home, and it would simply depend on where you work (and whether your state allows employers to keep employees late).

I worked for Borders for years.  We always had customers who would just hang around not buying anything after we were supposed to be closed, and we weren't allowed to chase them out.  So sometimes it meant that management had to stay longer than usually, especially during the holidays.  Managers and assistant managers were salaried, so the laws applied differently than it would to hourly employees.  And restaurant employees are a whole 'nother kettle of fish - you leave when the work is done.

 

[dleighg]

19 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Am I supposed to know the guy in the Grub Hub commercials with Simone Biles?

 

that is Jonathan Van Ness from the new version of Queer Eye. And no, he's not nearly as famous as Simone. With his hair in a bun I didn't recognize him (though I'm kind of face blind, and I've only seen that show once, so...)

[Ashforth]

18 hours ago, janie jones said:

I've never worked in a department store, only specialty retail, but yes, corporate-owned. But nevertheless, my point stands, which is that just because you work in customer service doesn't mean your family has no idea when you'll be home, and it would simply depend on where you work (and whether your state allows employers to keep employees late).

There is generally no federal law that governs how many hours an employer can require an employee to work - only that the employee must be paid for all hours worked and overtime if they work over 40 hours in a workweek (unless they're exempt from OT pay. It gets complicated.). Separately from that, there are a few specific federal laws that govern the number of hours that some employees, for example, truck drivers, can be required to work in a row without a specified rest period. State laws vary and can supplement but not negate federal law.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Ashforth
clarify what I said about overtime pay

[janie jones]

5 hours ago, Ashforth said:

State laws vary and can supplement but not negate federal law.

Yeah, that's why I said state. For example, in my state, if your boss keeps you past your scheduled work time, they have to pay you a penalty. It's not illegal for them to "make" you stay, but you have the right to refuse (without "retaliation") to stay past the schedule given to you in writing, and a lot of managers sure as hell aren't going to keep you late so they can pay you time and a half.

[Brookside]

"There are five days of the week. Fryday, Fryday, and Fryday".

I already hate the whole concept of Spam, but do I really need that to be reinforced by moronic advertising departments telling us they don't know how many days there are in a week?

[GeorgiaRai]

Is it not Thanksgiving in the Kerrygold commercial?  I guess I just assumed the guy's first day would've made him miss Thanksgiving dinner, so they delayed it until he was expected home.  

[Ashforth]

6 hours ago, Brookside said:

"There are five days of the week. Fryday, Fryday, and Fryday".

I already hate the whole concept of Spam, but do I really need that to be reinforced by moronic advertising departments telling us they don't know how many days there are in a week?

Going to Small Talk with this one.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Watchers,
Please take any further discussion of payroll and work hour rules as well as personal working experience to the Small Talk thread.  This it the thread for commercials that made us scratch our heads, not life experiences that challenged and/or annoyed us. If you don't head to the right thread, we will send Tom Selleck to your house to talk to you about reverse mortgages for three days straight with no sleep. 

[Prevailing Wind]

1 hour ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

Watchers,
Please take any further discussion of payroll and work hour rules as well as personal working experience to the Small Talk thread.  This it the thread for commercials that made us scratch our heads, not life experiences that challenged and/or annoyed us. If you don't head to the right thread, we will send Tom Selleck to your house to talk to you about reverse mortgages for three days straight with no sleep. 

Just as long as you don't send Judge Julie and her colostomy bag. YEEEEE HAAAA!!

[docmatt]

On 11/28/2020 at 5:38 PM, Blergh said:

One thing for sure re the State Farm Newer Jake- he sure has led a far more proactive life  outside the call center than the State Farm Original Jake who merely awkwardly piped up as to wearing khakis at 3 in the morning when the client's suspicious wife grabbed the phone!

I think I had heard that Original Jake was not an actor but an actual State Farm employee and New Jake is an actor and therefore more trained and available for multiple commercials

 

[Blergh]

2 minutes ago, docmatt said:

I think I had heard that Original Jake was not an actor but an actual State Farm employee and New Jake is an actor and therefore more trained and available for multiple commercials

 

Which makes sense. Still, even with his possible lack of thespian skills IMO the Original Jake was more appealing  and likable than Progressive Flo but then again, so is slime mold. 

[Ashforth]

1 hour ago, docmatt said:

I think I had heard that Original Jake was not an actor but an actual State Farm employee and New Jake is an actor and therefore more trained and available for multiple commercials

Original Jake was a tangential character in the first "Jake from State Farm" commercial. I always intensely disliked that ad, with the shrewish wife who thought her weird husband was cheating on her because he was on the phone at 3am whispering things to the insurance agent like, "Am I married? Does it matter? You'd do that for me?" ugh.

State Farm has built the new campaign around New Jake as the central character. I love him.

I also love Flo from Progressive, but I guess that's a different story LOL.

[Ubiquit0us]

I saw the Kerry Gold commercial you all were talking about and the son sounds annoyed to me. 

[Ashforth]

1 hour ago, Ubiquit0us said:

I saw the Kerry Gold commercial you all were talking about and the son sounds annoyed to me. 

There's a shorter version I've seen that doesn't show the parents rousting the younger kids out of bed at 2 am. The chef/son still seems thrilled that they're all gathered to have a family meal when he gets home and Mom jumps up to give him a big congratulatory hug. Not like the "damn, I was going to smoke a little weed, have a snack and go to bed" reaction that one might expect from a guy of his age after working a late shift. (Seen through the lens of my experience)

[peacheslatour]

56 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

There's a shorter version I've seen that doesn't show the parents rousting the younger kids out of bed at 2 am. The chef/son still seems thrilled that they're all gathered to have a family meal when he gets home and Mom jumps up to give him a big congratulatory hug. Not like the "damn, I was going to smoke a little weed, have a snack and go to bed" reaction that one might expect from a guy of his age after working a late shift. (Seen through the lens of my experience)

Mine too.

[Ashforth]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

Mine too.

Maybe @Ubiquit0us picked up on something we missed about the son's "You waited!" as being dismayed instead of delighted! 

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Ashforth said:

Maybe @Ubiquit0us picked up on something we missed about the son's "You waited!" as being dismayed instead of delighted! 

He didn't look dismayed. He looked delighted.

[Silver Raven]

There's an ad for Tide Clean & Simple where a little girl is eating a popsicle and it falls onto the floor.  I can't find the ad on video to post it here, but it looks to me like the mother just puts a holder on the popsicle and hands it back to her off the floor.

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by Silver Raven