Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[PrincessPurrsALot]

On 1/26/2021 at 8:28 AM, Ubiquit0us said:

This morning,  I saw a commercial for some sort of massage device and oh my gawd what the hell is it doing? 😱😱😱

 

I watched the link.  All I can think of is the Moral Orel episode when his mom starts buying damn near industrial vibrators at the hardware store.  Do you need a massager that will beat you into a bloody pulp?  Would you like to tear tendons off of bone?  Have I got the tool for you! 

[Woopwoopkitty]

On 1/26/2021 at 7:17 PM, QuinnInND said:

I've seen that one! It's an odd concept, and the slow motion doesn't help. 

For me, it’s the way they change from black & white to color. It always cracks me up in commercials how they use B&W for the “problem” portion of it, then vibrant color for the solution.  Not subtle!

[friendperidot]

I know not what y'all are talking about with the massagers, and I don't really think I want to. lol.

But, what I came here to say was a few months ago, I posted about my confusion with the home meal delivery service, Wholesome Foods or Healthy Foods or something, it's Daily Harvest, just saw their ad again, I couldn't understand what they were scooping out of a cup of frozen silver metallic looking stuff. I think they did something with the color on that ad, I haven't touched the color adjustments on my tv. But the past few weeks, it's showing up pink, so I guess it's some kind of frozen, strawberry or cherry ice cream or smoothie.

Edited February 3, 2021 by friendperidot

[peacheslatour]

I just saw that commercial for Martha and Marley Spoon. Okay, I know Martha but who the heck is Marley? The only ones I know about were Jacob Marley and the other was a dog.

[chessiegal]

10 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I just saw that commercial for Martha and Marley Spoon. Okay, I know Martha but who the heck is Marley? The only ones I know about were Jacob Marley and the other was a dog.

Marley Spoon is the name of the company that produces the meal kits. 

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Marley Spoon is the name of the company that produces the meal kits. 

For a while I thought Martha was bringing out a line of dog food like Rachel Ray.

[Ashforth]

I'm currently cracking myself up when the Snoop Dog and Martha Stewart Puppy Bowl ad comes on and Martha says, "Everything's better with puppies" by adding in my head, "they're delicious!"

[Prevailing Wind]

9 hours ago, Ashforth said:

I'm currently cracking myself up when the Snoop Dog and Martha Stewart Puppy Bowl ad comes on and Martha says, "Everything's better with puppies" by adding in my head, "they're delicious!"

It's a good thing.

[BookWitch]

Thinx using red for blood instead of blue. 

[sempervivum]

Lysol ads with sick kids lying around on stairs, etc.-??? I'm not a mom, but do parents really let their sick kids leave their beds and wander randomly around the house with their toys? And leave them alone long enough that they end up in the living room with their heads on a bookshelf, where they fall asleep? Hey parents, here's a helpful hint: make your ailing children stay in bed until they recover, that way you'll only need Lysol in the bedroom and bathroom!

[peacheslatour]

48 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Lysol ads with sick kids lying around on stairs, etc.-??? I'm not a mom, but do parents really let their sick kids leave their beds and wander randomly around the house with their toys? And leave them alone long enough that they end up in the living room with their heads on a bookshelf, where they fall asleep? Hey parents, here's a helpful hint: make your ailing children stay in bed until they recover, that way you'll only need Lysol in the bedroom and bathroom!

Not only did I have to stay in bed but I was only allowed toast with no butter and tea with no sugar all day. I was allowed a normal dinner.

The World According To Detergent Commercials. Makes me wonder if we were the only family on earth who didn't have a giant mud wallow in our back yard.

[Browncoat]

Since we only had one television in the house, I was allowed to make a bed on the sofa during the day when I was sick.  Of course, I had to be happy with whichever channel was on, since we didn't have a remote control TV.  On the other hand, there were only four channels.

[sempervivum]

4 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I was allowed to make a bed on the sofa during the day when I was sick.

My mother's rule was 'if you're too sick to go to school, you're too sick for TV'. And she was a stay-at-home for most of my grade school years, so it was enforced. Faked 'sick days' had very little appeal, as a result!

[Trey]

On 2/4/2021 at 11:59 AM, BookWitch said:

Thinx using red for blood instead of blue. 

We need a barf emoji.

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

My mother's rule was 'if you're too sick to go to school, you're too sick for TV'. And she was a stay-at-home for most of my grade school years, so it was enforced. Faked 'sick days' had very little appeal, as a result!

I was allowed to have our one and only black and white tv in my room. But out it came when my dad got home from work. It was a fair swap though because he brought me Archie comics and Hostess fruit pies.

[Prevailing Wind]

Taking sick bed stories to small talk...

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Lysol ads with sick kids lying around on stairs, etc.-??? I'm not a mom, but do parents really let their sick kids leave their beds and wander randomly around the house with their toys?

I wasn't quarantined in my room when sick.  When I was at my most miserable, I was in my parents' bed during the day as they had a TV in their bedroom and I didn't and watching TV between dozing off was about all I could do.  Then I progressed to being based on the couch in the den, watching that TV, until I felt well enough to read again, at which point I went back to my room.  And any wandering I wanted to do throughout this process was a good sign, and good exercise to build me back up; at no point was I told I had to stay put somewhere.  I had a cold, not Ebola. 

[elle]

I saw a commercial online* that ties back to the watching tv while sick comments.  It is for a new streaming service with Sir Patrick Stewart hosting a cocktail party on the Paramount mountain with Stephan Colbert as bartender and it only gets weirder from there.  It reminded me of how when you would be sick, dozing on the couch or bed with the tv on, and the tv sounds seep into your dreams.  It is that nonsensical.

*as I am typing this, a next chapter type commercial for this service came on, which without the context of the first one makes less sense.

[Haleth]

11 hours ago, elle said:

I saw a commercial online* that ties back to the watching tv while sick comments.  It is for a new streaming service with Sir Patrick Stewart hosting a cocktail party on the Paramount mountain with Stephan Colbert as bartender and it only gets weirder from there.  It reminded me of how when you would be sick, dozing on the couch or bed with the tv on, and the tv sounds seep into your dreams.  It is that nonsensical.

*as I am typing this, a next chapter type commercial for this service came on, which without the context of the first one makes less sense.

There are a whole series of them advertising the network.  The one that did make me laugh has Snookie asking Coach Cower if his clipboard can really talk.  (I know that sounds weird unless you've seen it.)

[elle]

10 hours ago, Haleth said:

There are a whole series of them advertising the network.  The one that did make me laugh has Snookie asking Coach Cower if his clipboard can really talk.  (I know that sounds weird unless you've seen it.)

Weird is the whole vibe of these commercials.

[QQQQ]

In the Loan Depot commercials, what does the little girl say at the end? Cuz I hear it as "Leave me alone, daddy." And that's way creepy.

[chessiegal]

44 minutes ago, QQQQ said:

In the Loan Depot commercials, what does the little girl say at the end? Cuz I hear it as "Leave me alone, daddy." And that's way creepy.

She says "You need a loan? Daddy."

[QQQQ]

38 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

She says "You need a loan? Daddy."

Ok, so then it's not creepy, just stupid.

[Ubiquit0us]

There's what I think is a car commercial featuring enthusiasts and I always wonder 1) if the "fashionista" is a guy or girl and 2) what the is the last guy saying (it sounds like "arh rah arh ear eh!" ).

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Ubiquit0us said:

There's what I think is a car commercial featuring enthusiasts and I always wonder 1) if the "fashionista" is a guy or girl and 2) what the is the last guy saying (it sounds like "arh rah arh ear eh!" ).

I find that Lexus commercial stupid, because no gearhead is going to be enthused about driving a Lexus.

[Prevailing Wind]

I don't remember what car it's for. Two sweaty women come from yoga class, sit in the car, and the driver turns on the cooling seats.  I do not understand a single thing the passenger says. Is she even speaking English?  (Except for the last "cool!")

[Annber03]

Just saw a commercial for a regional jewelry store, and they were talking about how the sales and whatnot went beyond their "wildest expectations"...

...except at first it sounded like the voiceover guy said, "wild sexpectations". Cue me sitting here like, "...wait, what? Oh."

[chessiegal]

Is Guy Fieri so well known it makes sense to feature him in a Hawaii Kings bread commercial? I watch a lot of the food channels owned by Discovery, so I'm well aware of who he is, but I know people who wouldn't have a clue.

And speaking of Discovery, I understand seeing the never ending commercials for the Discovery+ streaming service on channels owned by Discovery. But seeing commercials for Discovery+ on channels like The Weather Channel and 24/7 news channels seems strange. I realize Discovery owns the largest lifestyle network, but I guess I didn't realize how widely known it is.

[peacheslatour]

11 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Is Guy Fieri so well known it makes sense to feature him in a Hawaii Kings bread commercial? I watch a lot of the food channels owned by Discovery, so I'm well aware of who he is, but I know people who wouldn't have a clue.

And speaking of Discovery, I understand seeing the never ending commercials for the Discovery+ streaming service on channels owned by Discovery. But seeing commercials for Discovery+ on channels like The Weather Channel and 24/7 news channels seems strange. I realize Discovery owns the largest lifestyle network, but I guess I didn't realize how widely known it is.

Guy Fieri better known as The Thing That Ate The Food Network.

[chessiegal]

25 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Guy Fieri better known as The Thing That Ate The Food Network.

And thus my question. I know people who never watch the Food Network.

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

And thus my question. I know people who never watch the Food Network.

He's everywhere.

[Browncoat]

23 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

He's everywhere.

Unfortunately.  I'm not a fan.

[peacheslatour]

13 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Unfortunately.  I'm not a fan.

Nor am I. He irritates the crap out of me and the food he endorses is fatty, disgusting, unhealthy slop.

[theatremouse]

I don't enjoy him, but agree he is near-ubiquitous. Certainly famous enough for endorsements.

[Gramto6]

9 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Nor am I. He irritates the crap out of me and the food he endorses is fatty, disgusting, unhealthy slop.

I think his food is geared towards people on the road or anyone, maybe lower income (but don't want to go there) that just want to fill up for a reasonable price.  Not people looking for healthy, veggie type foods. I don't know, I think that there are a lot of people in this country that that food really is the go to type food.  (Look at the obesity stats...) Sad but true

[Prevailing Wind]

Featuring Fieri in a commercial is no more baffling for some people than featuring sports figures are for me. To me, the Mannings are unknown except as grown men who play games for obscene amounts of money. <shrug>

[peacheslatour]

34 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Featuring Fieri in a commercial is no more baffling for some people than featuring sports figures are for me. To me, the Mannings are unknown except as grown men who play games for obscene amounts of money. <shrug>

Same here. Could not care less.

[chessiegal]

I'm still surprised Fieri is known well enough outside FN to be a spokesperson. As I said, I know people who never watch FN, and I've never seen him on TV other than FN.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I'm still surprised Fieri is known well enough outside FN to be a spokesperson. As I said, I know people who never watch FN, and I've never seen him on TV other than FN.

@Prevailing Wind drew a good comparison - there are lots of people who don't watch a particular sport (or any sport at all), yet athletes are spokespeople because there are enough viewers who do know who they are that it's effective.  Like me with auto racing; I have zero interest, and couldn't name a single driver, so the dude in the Domino's commercial means nothing to me, but there are enough fans out there it made advertising sense to go with him. 

There are enough Food Network viewers that the guy who has 83 shows (okay, maybe it just seems that way, but he's all over the channel's line-up) has a Q score that makes him a viable option for pitching a product, especially one that's food related.

[Ubiquit0us]

On 2/13/2021 at 11:41 AM, chessiegal said:

Is Guy Fieri so well known it makes sense to feature him in a Hawaii Kings bread commercial? I watch a lot of the food channels owned by Discovery, so I'm well aware of who he is, but I know people who wouldn't have a clue.

I cannot stand that douchebag poser and remember hate-watching his cooking show that took place in his parent's basement. 

[cynicat]

15 hours ago, Bastet said:

There are enough Food Network viewers that the guy who has 83 shows (okay, maybe it just seems that way, but he's all over the channel's line-up) has a Q score that makes him a viable option for pitching a product, especially one that's food related.

Don't forget that he owns a number of successful restaurants in Vegas and NYC and has been a guest on lots of those afternoon time wasters like Ellen and Wendy.  Love him or hate him, he did a really nice thing by using his clout to raise money for restaurants and workers impacted by the COVID shut down through his Restaurant Employee Relief Fund

[ebk57]

7 hours ago, cynicat said:

Don't forget that he owns a number of successful restaurants in Vegas and NYC and has been a guest on lots of those afternoon time wasters like Ellen and Wendy.  Love him or hate him, he did a really nice thing by using his clout to raise money for restaurants and workers impacted by the COVID shut down through his Restaurant Employee Relief Fund

From Wiki:

Fieri's first New York City restaurant, Guy's American Kitchen and Bar, opened in 2012 to brutal New York Times coverage by Pete Wells that Larry Olmsted of Forbes called "the most scathing review in the history of the New York Times", and "likely the most widely read restaurant review ever." Fieri, for his part, accused Wells, the nation's highest profile reviewer, of using Fieri's fame as a platform for advancing his own prestige.[17][18] The restaurant's location in the highly trafficked Times Square enabled it to appear on Restaurant Business's list of the top 100 independent restaurants as ranked by sales for four years in a row. It closed at the end of 2017.[19]

"Best" restaurant review I've ever read!  🙂

The actual NYT review

[CrazyInAlabama]

That review was epic!   

I don't like his commercials either, I don't like being yelled at.  

[janie jones]

This isn't a headscratcher, but I wasn't sure where else to put this:

I was surprised that they actually use the term "pubic hair" to market the new Venus razor. I've only heard them talk about your "bikini area.'

[sempervivum]

1 hour ago, janie jones said:

I was surprised that they actually use the term "pubic hair" to market the new Venus razor

Yeah, I would be fine without hearing that. The ad also shows a woman kind of groping around her upper inner thighs with her hand and the razor, and I didn't want to see that either.  I was already icked out by the ad that mentions 'blood' and shows red liquid; you have to wonder what are we going to be forced to see next. It's interesting that advertisers never felt it necessary to show urine or yellow stuff in Depends ads, or poop in diaper ads, yet somehow we all knew what the product was for/ #get off my lawn#old person grumbling.

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, janie jones said:

I was surprised that they actually use the term "pubic hair" to market the new Venus razor. I've only heard them talk about your "bikini area.'

It's progress, I guess.  Yet not really, because Venus is saying women need not just a special razor but an entire line of products (a cleanser/shave gel combo, the razor, and a soothing serum) for their pubic hair and skin.

My favorite razor commercials are those from Billie, the only brand with commercials that show women shaving hair.  Commercials for men's razors show men shaving hair.  Since, ya know, that's what the product being advertised is used for.  But commercials for women's razors show women shaving already bare skin (because when it's on women, body hair is suddenly so gross we can't even look at it for the time it takes to eradicate it).  Except Billie.

[bankerchick]

3 hours ago, janie jones said:

I've only heard them talk about your "bikini area.'

Or in some commercials, your 'intimate area.'

1 hour ago, sempervivum said:

It's interesting that advertisers never felt it necessary to show urine or yellow stuff in Depends ads, or poop in diaper ads,

I think the Charmin bears are heading that way.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

I think the Charmin bears are heading that way.

Ugh. Don't give them ideas. The Charmin bears are gross enough already.

[CrystalBlue]

45 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Ugh. Don't give them ideas. The Charmin bears are gross enough already.

Who thinks this stuff up anyway?  Mad Ave Ad Exec:  "Hey guys, last night my asshole was itching like crazy!  Gave me an idea we could use for those Charmin Bears..."

[WinnieWinkle]

The Downey commercial with the guy who sniffs his laundry and gets taken back in time  - what's weird to me is what room is he in?  The room is huge and seems  like it's a living room but there is a washer and dryer and ironing board in there.  Is it meant to be a really big kitchen and you just don't see the other appliances?