Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Bastet]

16 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I think it's Japanese. 

No, it's Spanish - Albert Pla's recording of "El Lado Mas Bestia De La Vida".

[Prevailing Wind]

I stand corrected. Thank you. It's still a not-cute ad.

[SoMuchTV]

The “quicker picker upper” ad I just saw where the guy spills his coffee and it’s about to reach his winning lottery ticket - just pick up the ticket!! Worry about what kind of paper towels you have later!

And the Charmin ad for the mega rolls so you don’t have to replace them so often, and they’re “guaranteed to fit”.  How does that work? You see the roll is a little too big for your holder, and instead of setting it on the counter for a day or two, you take it back to the store? And explain to the kid at the customer service desk that it doesn’t fit! And it’s guaranteed!

[CrazyInAlabama]

Charmin sells plastic extenders for TP holders, they look cheap and cheesy, but they do sell them.    I bought a couple of the extenders at Walmart, and they look flimsy.   You may have to tell other house residents that if they break the extender, they have to buy one of the stand up kind that holds big rolls.  

Edited April 13, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[SoMuchTV]

1 minute ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Charmin sells plastic extenders for TP holders, they look cheap and cheesy, but they do sell them.  

Oh is that what the “guarantee” is? If you email or tweet them or whatever, they’ll send you an extender? Actually, that would work for me. 

[Haleth]

Has anyone else noticed that toilet paper rolls are getting narrower and narrower.  I guess that's how they can make the rolls thicker (and charge more) so they barely fit onto the holder anymore.

[SoMuchTV]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

Has anyone else noticed that toilet paper rolls are getting narrower and narrower.  I guess that's how they can make the rolls thicker (and charge more) so they barely fit onto the holder anymore.

Yes!  It was especially obvious back during The Great Toilet Paper Crisis of 2020.  I scored some exotic foreign TP on Amazon, and I was very impressed that it almost filled the whole width of the holder.  The domestic stuff just seems to be getting narrower every time I buy it.

[Prevailing Wind]

I know we've discussed the obnoxiousness of "Wet Teddy Bears," but I'm still baffled - how does anybody come up with the concept of a wet teddy bear? I mean, irrespective of pairing it up with what is usually a hot dog stand, and how in the hell that's supposed to sell insurance...just selling teddy bears from a hot stand is weird enough, but who in the world comes up with making them wet?

[janie jones]

14 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I know we've discussed the obnoxiousness of "Wet Teddy Bears," but I'm still baffled - how does anybody come up with the concept of a wet teddy bear? I mean, irrespective of pairing it up with what is usually a hot dog stand, and how in the hell that's supposed to sell insurance...just selling teddy bears from a hot stand is weird enough, but who in the world comes up with making them wet?

Wouldn't the hot dogs be in water if it were a hot dog cart? Switch out the hot dogs for teddy bears and you have wet teddy bears.

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, janie jones said:

Wouldn't the hot dogs be in water if it were a hot dog cart? Switch out the hot dogs for teddy bears and you have wet teddy bears.

Yes, but hot dogs in water in the cart makes sense. Wet teddy bears is a stupid idea.

[janie jones]

26 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

Yes, but hot dogs in water in the cart makes sense. Wet teddy bears is a stupid idea.

The question was "how does anybody come up with the concept of a wet teddy bear," not "is a wet teddy bear a good idea."

[Moose135]

4 minutes ago, janie jones said:

The question was "how does anybody come up with the concept of a wet teddy bear,"

I suspect strong narcotics are involved...

[Prevailing Wind]

2 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I am more creeped out by bear feet.

Bear claws, on the other hand...

[proserpina65]

On 4/9/2021 at 6:14 PM, peacheslatour said:

This is in Spanish, yes? Don't they realize how many Americans speak Spanish? WTF were they thinking?

Hey now, maybe drug-using transvestite prostitutes are the market Air BnB is going for?  Who are we to judge?

[janie jones]

The new Progressive commercial with 3/5 of NSync confused me. Flo is with some random dude. At first wondered what happened to Jamie's face, and then I realized it wasn't Jamie, and then I was wondering what happened to Jamie. I was too busy being distracted by that to even think much about 3/5 of NSync. (If they've shown this guy before, I haven't noticed them. They seem to usually introduce new characters when the rest of the regular ones are there, not in place of where a regular one would have fit.)

[sempervivum]

Ford commercial: Once upon a time there was a colt, which for some reason is lying down in the snow in a mountain range. Some (mountain) goats 'rescue' it and raise it, until it goes into a cave and comes out as a Bronco truck. 

Um. 

[peacheslatour]

31 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Ford commercial: Once upon a time there was a colt, which for some reason is lying down in the snow in a mountain range. Some (mountain) goats 'rescue' it and raise it, until it goes into a cave and comes out as a Bronco truck. 

Um. 

I'm fairly indifferent to car commercials but truck commercials are the absolute worst. All macho posturing and faux manly, rah rah USA drivel.

[meep.meep]

I noticed that in the Liberty insurance commercial with the Wet Teddy Bear stand - the customer doesn't pay!  He says "I'll take one" and the guy slaps the teddy bear in the container, and the customer just walks away.

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, meep.meep said:

and the customer just walks away.

I had noticed he just walked away, and assumed he pre-paid. That's funny....

[Gramto6]

3 hours ago, dleighg said:

I had noticed he just walked away, and assumed he pre-paid. That's funny....

Would you pre pay for a wet teddy bear??? Would you pay at all for a wet teddy bear? And I ask who would want a wet teddy bear??? Who is this ad aimed at??? Fail!

[SoMuchTV]

13 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Would you pre pay for a wet teddy bear??? Would you pay at all for a wet teddy bear? And I ask who would want a wet teddy bear??? Who is this ad aimed at??? Fail!

On my 99th viewing, I did notice that the guy (or maybe the voiceover) said something like "we do things differently".  Not that that makes it make any more sense.

[proserpina65]

21 hours ago, meep.meep said:

I noticed that in the Liberty insurance commercial with the Wet Teddy Bear stand - the customer doesn't pay!  He says "I'll take one" and the guy slaps the teddy bear in the container, and the customer just walks away.

The customer says something about "Isn't this a hot dog cart?", then walks away after the guy points to the Wet Teddy Bear sign.

[meep.meep]

But he never hands over any money.  I may have gotten the dialog wrong.

[Prevailing Wind]

16 hours ago, meep.meep said:

But he never hands over any money.  I may have gotten the dialog wrong.

No, you're right - no money, no ApplePay, or whatever people pay with nowadays. No tip, either.

 

[Moose135]

I'm not going to pay - and certainly won't tip - if a guy hands me a wet teddy bear instead of a hot dog.

[janie jones]

If he had paid before receiving the teddy bear, then people would be complaining about either him not getting his money back after storming off, or something to do with him demanding his money back.

[WinnieWinkle]

Normally I like the Ikea commercials but the new one with all the revolving little worlds and the song "my book of dreams" or something playing just bugs me no end.  I mean I get it - we can all make a difference - but still the commercial just rubs me the wrong way.  Cloying I think is the word I'm looking for.

[SoMuchTV]

On 4/12/2021 at 8:37 PM, SoMuchTV said:

And the Charmin ad for the mega rolls so you don’t have to replace them so often, and they’re “guaranteed to fit”.  How does that work? You see the roll is a little too big for your holder, and instead of setting it on the counter for a day or two, you take it back to the store? And explain to the kid at the customer service desk that it doesn’t fit! And it’s guaranteed!

I have to come back and give Charmin credit where credit is due.  If you go to their website, they do indeed offer to send you a free roll holder extender to handle the mega rolls.  One per household.  I filled in the form and sure enough it turned up in my mail a few days later.  Oh, and it didn't fit any of the holders in my house.  LOL.

[peacheslatour]

Get one of these. We love ours.

[revbfc]

Nothing to see here, just a French toilet paper ad.

 

[SoMuchTV]

I just saw an ad for Dr. Pepper where their team was in some kind of lockup for 15 (?) years and they’ve just now perfected their sugar-free version. What the heck? Haven’t they had Diet   Dr. Pepper forever?  Are they saying that was crap but now we have a good version?  I’m one of those people who doesn’t like any artificial sweeteners so maybe there’s a quality hierarchy that I’m missing. 

[theatremouse]

There's Diet and then there's Zero Sugar, of pretty much every major soft drink now. They're different. Diet is like "light", as in it intentionally tastes different from "regular". The Zero Sugar stuff supposedly tastes the same as the regular sugar-containing stuff. Before Zero Sugar was a thing, brands used to pretend Diet tasted the same, but everyone knew that was a lie. I have no idea if it's closer to true with Zero Sugar, and they seem to both have the same artificial sweeteners, although perhaps in different proportions? Anyway, in theory that's why both exist: diet is for people who want it to taste like fake sugar. Zero Sugar is for people who do not want it to taste like fake sugar, but also don't want it to contain real sugar.

[AnnA]

Some brands have completely abandoned the "Diet" label in favor of "Zero" - Arizona iced tea is one and Schwepps Ginger Ale is another.  I know those two because I buy both of them.

Edited April 25, 2021 by AnnA

[Prevailing Wind]

4 hours ago, AnnA said:

Some brands have completely abandoned the "Diet" label in favor of "Zero" - Arizona iced tea is one and Schwepps Ginger Ale is another.  I know those two because I buy both of them.

Then there's Vernor's, who's abandoned "Ale" - it's now Vernor's Ginger Soda.  Are there really people who thought it had alcohol in it?

I used to drink Diet Dr Pepper all the time - two 10 oz. bottles per day during the week.  People would ask me how I could drink that slop that doesn't taste like Dr Pepper at all - I told them I thought of it as a different beverage entirely. I didn't expect it to taste like Dr Pepper, so I wasn't disappointed in it.

Another reason for "Zero" - it's more manly than "Diet." Coke did studies on it - men did NOT want to drink anything labelled "diet," so they came up with Coke Zero, so men could have a sugar-free beverage and still be Macho.

[Gramto6]

Wow! Who knew! Geeze label names are so "sexist" men need "zero' instead of "diet" yeah no... don't buy any of that $shit....

[bankerchick]

Hard to imagine that a man whose masculinity was threatened by 'diet' would be ok with 'zero.'

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by bankerchick

[janie jones]

22 hours ago, revbfc said:

Nothing to see here, just a French toilet paper ad.

 

I don't know what that creature is, but if we're talking about animaux that shit in the woods, I prefer this ad over the Charmin bears.

12 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Then there's Vernor's, who's abandoned "Ale" - it's now Vernor's Ginger Soda.  Are there really people who thought it had alcohol in it?

Since ginger ale and ginger beer are different, I wonder if there are explicit rules governing the labeling of each. Maybe the ginger soda didn't qualify as ginger "ale" for some reason.

[Calamity Jane]

On 4/24/2021 at 1:06 PM, peacheslatour said:

Get one of these. We love ours.

My daughter got one for her very small house, but it wouldn’t fit the TP she buys at Costco. It’s such a great idea, though!

[shapeshifter]

So. 
About that "Bob Ross" Mountain Dew commercial: 

Am I the only one who had to track it down because the voice sounded so much like John Billingsley?
It's apparently not Billingsley,* but, interestingly, the Mountain Dew folks created an entire 40+ minute pseudo-Bob Ross painting episode for the 15 second commercial spot.

*The bulk of the voice acting in the 40+ minutes does not sound like Billingsley, and has a bit more of a southern (or other) drawl than Ross or Billingsley would have ever used.

 

[peacheslatour]

12 hours ago, Calamity Jane said:

My daughter got one for her very small house, but it wouldn’t fit the TP she buys at Costco. It’s such a great idea, though!

Really? Huh, we get our TP at Costco too and it fits fine.

[mmecorday]

I don't understand why one of the Peleton instructors suddenly lapses into dialogue from a movie about a chain gang. "They can't stop you. They can't break you." Who the hell is he talking about?

[peacheslatour]

23 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I hate that commercial with a passion.  I really do.  That dude gets more airtime now that he is dead than he ever did when he was alive.   I don't mind some of the other things that are linked to Ross, but the idea that he would ever paint a soda bottle is a bit too far for me.   A happy little soda bottle with a cheery little cap.  Nope, not a fan.

What Jimmy Dean is to sausages, Ross is to just about everything else.

Are you saying you don't like seeing Bob Ross being disrespected by dragging his corpse onto a cynical money grab or you just don't like Bob Ross?

[shapeshifter]

51 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Are you saying you don't like seeing Bob Ross being disrespected by dragging his corpse onto a cynical money grab or you just don't like Bob Ross?

Although this was addressed to @icemiser69,  speaking for myself only, and having watched quite a few Bob Ross shows un-ironically, I am pretty sure he'd be okay with this usage if it made people happy. But since it's bound to cause controversy, I think he might be rolling over at least once in his grave, but then get comfortable again.

[peacheslatour]

33 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I would be happy if this guy got a little credit.

I remember him! God, I'm old.

[sempervivum]

21 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

21 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I would be happy if this guy got a little credit.

I remember him! God, I'm old.

Me, too. When the 'Bob Ross' meme showed up, I thought 'Huh? That's Bill Alexander's schtick. Who's this Ross dude?'. My then-boyfriend and I used to mock the 'happy little trees', etc. stuff; hard to believe it's been over 40 years!

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

21 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I remember him! God, I'm old.

Me, too. When the 'Bob Ross' meme showed up, I thought 'Huh? That's Bill Alexander's schtick. Who's this Ross dude?'. My then-boyfriend and I used to mock the 'happy little trees', etc. stuff; hard to believe it's been over 40 years!

I'm old too, but chose to not watch TV from age 14-44, so I only knew Bob Ross. 

[peacheslatour]

17 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Me, too. When the 'Bob Ross' meme showed up, I thought 'Huh? That's Bill Alexander's schtick. Who's this Ross dude?'. My then-boyfriend and I used to mock the 'happy little trees', etc. stuff; hard to believe it's been over 40 years!

I loved Bob Ross dearly but I used to cringe every time he ruined a lovely forest scene or landscape by adding an utterly superfluous "happy little cabin".

[RedElf]

Why is this guy's face blue?

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ne1j/oreo-thins-bedtime

 

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, RedElf said:

Why is this guy's face blue?

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ne1j/oreo-thins-bedtime

 

He's wearing a facial mask. I used to make my own out of honey, egg white, plain yogurt and lemon juice.

Edited April 28, 2021 by peacheslatour

[RedElf]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

He's wearing a facial mask. I used to make my own out of honey, egg white, plain yogurt and lemon juice.

It just seemed random.