Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Ashforth]

2 hours ago, janie jones said:

I wonder that, too.

I find it a little confusing when famous people play characters in commercials. Like, I saw several Apartments.com commercial before I realized Jeff Goldblum was playing a guy and wasn't just a celebrity spokesperson.

Wait, what? Jeff Goldblum is playing a character in those ads?

[theatremouse]

Yeah he introduced himself as some random name in the first of the series.

[CoderLady]

1 minute ago, theatremouse said:

Yeah he introduced himself as some random name in the first of the series.

Brad Bellflower. Who thinks up names like that?

[Prevailing Wind]

Beatrix Potter thinks up names like that.

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Beatrix Potter thinks up names like that.

So did J.R.R. Tolkien.

[cynicat]

We've talked about the Geico clogging commercial ad infinitum so this is more of an observation vs. love/hate.  

I was looking at the apartments and it only just registered that:

1. Those apartments are fabulous.
2. They don't look anything alike - even the cabinets are totally different colors.
3. The clogging family's apartment must be 5,000 square feet.  It's positively massive.
4. I would totally rent an apartment like that. (sans those upstairs neighbors)

 

[Silver Raven]

This ad makes zero sense.  What the heck is going on here?

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/tMzn/biotene-dream-sequence

 

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

This ad makes zero sense.  What the heck is going on here?

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/tMzn/biotene-dream-sequence

 

They're having good dreams, but having a dry mouth is waking them up, so if they used Biotene, they'd stay asleep and get to continue their dreams.

But when the first guy woke up, he still wouldn't be rich and the second guy would still have an unemployed adult kid living with him, so "Biotene: Delays the Inevitable Return to Your Sad Life" is the pitch, I guess.

[SoMuchTV]

“Pour a capful of Downey unstoppables in  your washer before each load, and stop odors for 8 weeks “ ( paraphrased). That doesn’t make sense. You have to keep putting the stuff every load? Or one dose lasts for 8 weeks? 

[dleighg]

7 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

“Pour a capful of Downey unstoppables in  your washer before each load, and stop odors for 8 weeks “ ( paraphrased). That doesn’t make sense. You have to keep putting the stuff every load?

I assume that these are people who don't wear (basically) the same clothes every week or two-- so if they sit in your closet for 8 weeks, maybe they still "smell nice" ?

[SoMuchTV]

1 minute ago, dleighg said:

I assume that these are people who don't wear (basically) the same clothes every week or two-- so if they sit in your closet for 8 weeks, maybe they still "smell nice" ?

Oh right that makes sense. 8 weeks after you wash that load. I’m already in NYE mode, apparently. 

[InDueTime]

Every time I see this Papa John's ad and hear the word "chunder-dome," I wonder if the creators of this ad are familiar with Australian vernacular. It doesn't make the product sound very appetizing to me. 

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/toX1/papa-johns-double-cheesburger-papadia-and-pizza-capsize

 

[Browncoat]

I come from a land down under where beer does flow and men chunder...

 

 

[ABay]

Hartford Health Care has been running this ad--a little girl gets a doll from a box and takes it up to her room to play with it, brushing its hair, etc. Then we see that she has been putting a mask on it and she puts it into a pile of other masked dolls and stuffed animals. Oh how precious because, you know, covid

To me, however, it is seriously creepy--this future serial killer has a pile of gagged victims.

[MargeGunderson]

On 1/1/2021 at 9:48 AM, ABay said:

Hartford Health Care has been running this ad--a little girl gets a doll from a box and takes it up to her room to play with it, brushing its hair, etc. Then we see that she has been putting a mask on it and she puts it into a pile of other masked dolls and stuffed animals. Oh how precious because, you know, covid

To me, however, it is seriously creepy--this future serial killer has a pile of gagged victims.

I like how you think.

[Ubiquit0us]

On 12/31/2020 at 6:56 PM, SoMuchTV said:

“Pour a capful of Downey unstoppables in  your washer before each load, and stop odors for 8 weeks “ ( paraphrased). That doesn’t make sense. You have to keep putting the stuff every load? Or one dose lasts for 8 weeks? 

Is that from the same ad campaign with the man mistakenly drying off his face with their dog's towel? Why are they keeping it there? How does he not recognize it? Do dogs make towels smell bad? 🤔

[Moose135]

4 hours ago, Ubiquit0us said:

Do dogs make towels smell bad?

You ever smell a wet dog?

Edited January 4, 2021 by Moose135

[CrazyInAlabama]

The new Nutrisystem commercial with Marie Osmond is bizarre.   Her hair looks like a wig from the after Halloween sale at the dollar store.  

 

I think a commercial is an obvious failure at promoting it's product, when several people are discussing what it means, why they used the storyline they did, and if it is even a good marketing tool. 

Edited January 6, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Ashforth]

On 12/31/2020 at 5:56 PM, SoMuchTV said:

“Pour a capful of Downey unstoppables in  your washer before each load, and stop odors for 8 weeks “ ( paraphrased). That doesn’t make sense. You have to keep putting the stuff every load? Or one dose lasts for 8 weeks? 

I think it means that one dose lasts for 8 weeks for the items you washed with it.

On 12/31/2020 at 6:05 PM, dleighg said:

I assume that these are people who don't wear (basically) the same clothes every week or two-- so if they sit in your closet for 8 weeks, maybe they still "smell nice" ?

The first Unstoppables ad that I can recall showed the teacher or principal or whatever she was pulling clothes out of the dirty clothes hamper and wow! They still smelled great! So she wore them.

18 hours ago, Ubiquit0us said:

Is that from the same ad campaign with the man mistakenly drying off his face with their dog's towel? Why are they keeping it there? How does he not recognize it? Do dogs make towels smell bad? 🤔

Taking this to small talk.

[peacheslatour]

21 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The new Nutrisystem commercial with Marie Osmond is bizarre.   Her hair looks like a wig from the after Halloween sale at the dollar store.  

I noticed that too. Oh no! Nutrisystem makes your hair fall out!

[Ashforth]

30 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The new Nutrisystem commercial with Marie Osmond is bizarre.   Her hair looks like a wig from the after Halloween sale at the dollar store.  

She has looked more and more like an AI video game character over the years. If she would lay off all of the fillers and Botox, she would actually look younger. As it is, she resembles a wax figure in a really, really bad wig. Can't she afford a better wig?

[janie jones]

19 hours ago, Ubiquit0us said:

Is that from the same ad campaign with the man mistakenly drying off his face with their dog's towel? Why are they keeping it there? How does he not recognize it? Do dogs make towels smell bad? 🤔

That has never made sense to me either. Why is the dog's towel in the bathroom, and why is it so awful to have used it? I don't want to accidentally use my dog's towel either, but it's not going to be my life's biggest regret either. The guy looks too distraught over it, to me.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, janie jones said:

That has never made sense to me either. Why is the dog's towel in the bathroom, and why is it so awful to have used it? I don't want to accidentally use my dog's towel either, but it's not going to be my life's biggest regret either. The guy looks too distraught over it, to me.

To paraphrase Rosanne: The towel is hairier than he is.

[Ubiquit0us]

5 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I noticed that too. Oh no! Nutrisystem makes your hair fall out!

Starvation and malnutrition will do that. Those meals are about the size of a deck of cards.

 

4 hours ago, janie jones said:

That has never made sense to me either. Why is the dog's towel in the bathroom, and why is it so awful to have used it? I don't want to accidentally use my dog's towel either, but it's not going to be my life's biggest regret either. The guy looks too distraught over it, to me.

There's a similar puzzling commercial (from The General?) in which a guy accidentally uses the dog's towel in the gf's bathroom and his face is white from the fur. Yuck! 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

There's a similar puzzling commercial (from The General?) in which a guy accidentally uses the dog's towel in the gf's bathroom and his face is white from the fur. Yuck! 

That poor guy. First he gets sprayed by the faucet then he uses Fluffy's towel. Talk about a bad first date! I hope she didn't serve spaghetti on inferior paper plates.

[proserpina65]

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2020 at 6:56 PM, SoMuchTV said:

“Pour a capful of Downey unstoppables in  your washer before each load, and stop odors for 8 weeks “ ( paraphrased). That doesn’t make sense. You have to keep putting the stuff every load? Or one dose lasts for 8 weeks? 

The fine print says something to the effect of "until you wear it".  So you put a capful in the load, and anything from that load will stay fresh in your closet/bureau/laundry basket for 8 weeks.  Once you wear it, however, it's gonna smell like you.  Which means the one where the woman pulls the sweater out of the dirty laundry and it still smells fresh is bull.

I think the dog towel commercial is for Gain.  I'm assuming it's a fresh dog towel 'cause a used one is gonna smell like dog.

[Crashcourse]

Every time I see this commercial, I'm confused.  Is it a man or woman?

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/tkKP/abreva-how-cold-sores-make-you-feel

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by Crashcourse

[chessiegal]

Can someone tell me who the young woman in the Discover commercial is where they are showing clips from movies and tv shows of people saying "no"? I get Dr. No and Matthew Perry, but the woman in the back seat of a convertible who says "no way" looks so familiar, but I can't remember who she is. I looked at iSpot and it didn't help. Thanks.

[janie jones]

20 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Can someone tell me who the young woman in the Discover commercial is where they are showing clips from movies and tv shows of people saying "no"? I get Dr. No and Matthew Perry, but the woman in the back seat of a convertible who says "no way" looks so familiar, but I can't remember who she is. I looked at iSpot and it didn't help. Thanks.

It's Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless.

[chessiegal]

19 minutes ago, janie jones said:

It's Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless.

Thank you.

[Ashforth]

5 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

Every time I see this commercial, I'm confused.  Is it a man or woman?

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/tkKP/abreva-how-cold-sores-make-you-feel

Maybe that's part of the point. Does it matter?

[Crashcourse]

3 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

Maybe that's part of the point. Does it matter?

I was just wondering, and this is the thread for commercials that made us scratch our heads, so I can post my thoughts here.  

[Ashforth]

6 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I was just wondering, and this is the thread for commercials that made us scratch our heads, so I can post my thoughts here.  

Of course! Both of us can.

[Crashcourse]

1 minute ago, Ashforth said:

Of course! Both of us can.

Yes, and that's just what I did. 

[theatremouse]

Move on.

[Haleth]

16 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Can someone tell me who the young woman in the Discover commercial is where they are showing clips from movies and tv shows of people saying "no"? I get Dr. No and Matthew Perry, but the woman in the back seat of a convertible who says "no way" looks so familiar, but I can't remember who she is. I looked at iSpot and it didn't help. Thanks.

Ugh, I am so.damn.sick of that commercial.  It seems to play constantly when I'm watching tv.

[friendperidot]

On 1/3/2021 at 11:52 PM, Moose135 said:

On 1/3/2021 at 7:47 PM, Ubiquit0us said:

Do dogs make towels smell bad?

You ever smell a wet dog?

yes, but you wash the towel. I have a dog towel hanging by the back door to wipe muddy paws. No one is going to mistake that towel for anything else. But it goes in the wash and come out just fine. It also has huge holes from where the dog chewed it, that's how I know it's the dog towel, that and it's a different color than my other towels. I don't use Gain, either.

[Ubiquit0us]

On 1/5/2021 at 2:51 PM, chessiegal said:

Can someone tell me who the young woman in the Discover commercial is where they are showing clips from movies and tv shows of people saying "no"? I get Dr. No and Matthew Perry, but the woman in the back seat of a convertible who says "no way" looks so familiar, but I can't remember who she is. I looked at iSpot and it didn't help. Thanks.

I've been meaning to ask who the woman wagging her finger right before Matthew Perry is. She looks like "Piper" from Charmed ("CANCELLED!), but I do not recognize the clip from any eps...

[dleighg]

yes, she has such a distinctive look-- I once tried to figure it out by googling but had no luck.

[janie jones]

On 1/7/2021 at 4:42 AM, Ubiquit0us said:

I've been meaning to ask who the woman wagging her finger right before Matthew Perry is. She looks like "Piper" from Charmed ("CANCELLED!), but I do not recognize the clip from any eps...

There are some non-clips of people saying no in those commercials (that is to say, there are actors they shot just for the commercial, against a plain background). Is she from one of those?

[meep.meep]

Are you talking about the woman with the enormous hoop earrings?  I've wondered about her too.

 

[Ubiquit0us]

On 1/8/2021 at 2:52 PM, meep.meep said:

Are you talking about the woman with the enormous hoop earrings?  I've wondered about her too.

I assumed she was the black friend in Clueless. 

I mean this girl.

 

[Bastet]

14 minutes ago, Ubiquit0us said:

I assumed she was the black friend in Clueless. 

I mean this girl.

No, that is not Stacey Dash (who played Dionne).

[meep.meep]

The one I was wondering about looks like she came from a movie in the 80s - she's white with short hair and big hoop earrings.

[peacheslatour]

I was sad every time I saw that commercial that uses the song Lonely. Then I looked it up and found out it's Bieiber. 

[Ubiquit0us]

I keep seeing a commercial for Dodge with Cletus and two little boys drag racing. Am I sppsd to know what's the reference?  Oh yeah, in one of them the one little tells us not to try and do their stunts. 🤷‍♂️

[QuinnInND]

The GoodRx one where the lady who's dressed as a waitress who goes to the pharmacy with 2 small kids. She looks way too old to have kids that young. Or is it just me? She looks mid 50s.

[chessiegal]

I still want to know why the boy is grabbing his crotch.

[peacheslatour]

38 minutes ago, QuinnInND said:

The GoodRx one where the lady who's dressed as a waitress who goes to the pharmacy with 2 small kids. She looks way too old to have kids that young. Or is it just me? She looks mid 50s.

That kind of life can make you old before your time.

Quote

I still want to know why the boy is grabbing his crotch.

Maybe they're there to pick up his crotch rot meds?

[chessiegal]

52 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Maybe they're there to pick up his crotch rot meds?

Yeah, I guess. He must have been directed to do it. Otherwise they would have reshot the commercial. Right?