Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, RedElf said:

It just seemed random.

At bedtime?

[RedElf]

8 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

At bedtime?

But his face was clean between then and when they actually went to bed.

 

[peacheslatour]

16 hours ago, RedElf said:

But his face was clean between then and when they actually went to bed.

 

I don't think I'd want to go to bed with that gunk on my face. Maybe they're trying to show how "modern" this young couple are?

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I don't think I'd want to go to bed with that gunk on my face. Maybe they're trying to show how "modern" this young couple are?

Yeah. “Metrosexual” modern. But I think putting cold cream on your face went out in the 1960s —except for slapstick comedies. 

[peacheslatour]

26 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Yeah. “Metrosexual” modern. But I think putting cold cream on your face went out in the 1960s —except for slapstick comedies. 

I think it's more of a firming mask or maybe for pore cleansing.

[SnarkySheep]

WTF, American Express?? I just saw a commercial where you see a woman, sleeping in a luxurious hotel bed. The voiceover tells us she can't recall what she's doing or how she got there. Then they add, "oh yeah, groceries!" Because apparently she earned so many points paying for her groceries with their credit card she got a free night's stay at a hotel.

I get the distinct impression someone thought they were being clever with this little "twist", but it just comes off as really weird and borderline creepy.

 

 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Speaking of American Express, what's up with those Credit One credit card commercials featuring a Roman centurion named Cashios who's mystified by modern conveniences? A centurion has been Amex's symbol for decades. How does the relative upstart company (which also plays off the similarity of their name and logo to Capital One's) just co-opt it, even in jest?

Edited May 6, 2021 by Joimiaroxeu

[SnarkySheep]

Can someone please explain to me the logic of the commercial for the iPhone 12? You see a purple phone and get a few bars of that '70s song "Candy Man". Huh?

[cinsays]

There's an ad for some kind of septic system cleaner and the big reason you need to use it is because we all hoarded toilet tissue during the pandemic, so the septic system got clogged.  Did everybody USE toilet paper more during the pandemic? Just because we couldn't find it and then had to stockpile it if we did, that did not affect how much we used, did it?

[Bastet]

16 minutes ago, cinsays said:

Did everybody USE toilet paper more during the pandemic?

Not me, because I already worked from home, but people who were usually gone all day five days a week and then were suddenly home all the time, sure.

[Pj3422]

So Domino’s brought back the Noid. Whyyyyyyyyyy? The original commercials weren’t on long enough to engender any good feelings of nostalgia. 

[peacheslatour]

40 minutes ago, Pj3422 said:

So Domino’s brought back the Noid. Whyyyyyyyyyy? The original commercials weren’t on long enough to engender any good feelings of nostalgia. 

When my son was toddler he was terrified of that thing. If those commercials came on he would run shrieking into his room.

[WinnieWinkle]

There's a commercial for Uber Eats that has Simone Biles and a guy dressed exactly like her doing gymnastics.  Am I missing something clever here?  Who is he and why he is there?  Everytime I see this commercial it makes me go "huh?"

[Giuseppe]

8 hours ago, SnarkySheep said:

Can someone please explain to me the logic of the commercial for the iPhone 12? You see a purple phone and get a few bars of that '70s song "Candy Man". Huh?

I think it's just that the phone is now available in the purple color, and purple (grape) candy is typically considered universally delicious, hence the Candy Man song. Something like that.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, WinnieWinkle said:

There's a commercial for Uber Eats that has Simone Biles and a guy dressed exactly like her doing gymnastics.  Am I missing something clever here?  Who is he and why he is there?  Everytime I see this commercial it makes me go "huh?"

The guy is on Queer Eye.

[theatremouse]

On 5/6/2021 at 2:51 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Speaking of American Express, what's up with those Credit One credit card commercials featuring a Roman centurion named Cashios who's mystified by modern conveniences? A centurion has been Amex's symbol for decades. How does the relative upstart company (which also plays off the similarity of their name and logo to Capital One's) just co-opt it, even in jest?

I was under the impression the ad was basically calling out those two competitors.

[CrystalBlue]

10 hours ago, Pj3422 said:

So Domino’s brought back the Noid. Whyyyyyyyyyy? The original commercials weren’t on long enough to engender any good feelings of nostalgia. 

So that's why I missed them?  I don't remember the Noid at all.  I posted the Noid vs. Nuro Dominos commercial over in the Hate section, for reference.

[WinnieWinkle]

13 hours ago, chessiegal said:

The guy is on Queer Eye.

That explains it.  I've never seen that show and had no idea what the point of the commercial was supposed to be.  Thank you!

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

I was under the impression the ad was basically calling out those two competitors.

Eh, there's calling out and there's infringing on another company's trademark. I guess it's not for me to worry about if AMEX and Capital One aren't worried. Probably not much reason for them to be.

[Pj3422]

8 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

So that's why I missed them?  I don't remember the Noid at all.  I posted the Noid vs. Nuro Dominos commercial over in the Hate section, for reference.

The original commercials were pulled pretty quickly after a guy with the last name Noid took a hostage because he was sick of hearing the slogan, “Avoid the Noid.”

Yes, really. 

[Deskisamess]

On 5/7/2021 at 7:31 PM, Giuseppe said:

I think it's just that the phone is now available in the purple color, and purple (grape) candy is typically considered universally delicious, hence the Candy Man song. Something like that.

Purple phone, ok. Grape candy tastes like dimetap. (Kids cold medicine)

[Leeds]

NURX

Some random guy pops his zits and then pulls his trousers forward and looks down.

I made myself watch again and still don't understand it.  Plus I'm somewhat nauseated.

[dleighg]

the one I keep seeing is for Amazon Prime (I think). Has a song "there will be trouble ahead." 

I just don't get it. The end has a cake being dropped on a sleeping woman. What, they're going to reorder a new cake before she wakes up?

 

 

[janie jones]

I don't understand why they don't just let her nap and do the cake after she wakes up. (But I also don't understand her falling asleep in the middle of the party.)

[peacheslatour]

15 hours ago, dleighg said:

the one I keep seeing is for Amazon Prime (I think). Has a song "there will be trouble ahead." 

I just don't get it. The end has a cake being dropped on a sleeping woman. What, they're going to reorder a new cake before she wakes up?

 

 

What's he going to do? Douse her with that pitcher of milk as part of a clean up method? "Hey gran, got milk?"

[Annber03]

I have the same questions as you guys about that Amazon ad. But I do like the song they play in it :). I'd never heard it before that ad and actually went and found the full song online afterward. 

[ebk57]

2 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I have the same questions as you guys about that Amazon ad. But I do like the song they play in it :). I'd never heard it before that ad and actually went and found the full song online afterward. 

It's a great song.  I hope you found the video of Astaire and Rogers from "Follow the Fleet".  It's spectacular. 

[Annber03]

5 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

It's a great song.  I hope you found the video of Astaire and Rogers from "Follow the Fleet".  It's spectacular. 

I have not, but thanks for the info-off to find and watch that, then :)!

[CrazyInAlabama]

Walmart has the cake on the napping mother-in-law too.   

[Haleth]

16 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I have the same questions as you guys about that Amazon ad. But I do like the song they play in it :). I'd never heard it before that ad and actually went and found the full song online afterward. 

Gotta love Nat King Cole.

[RedElf]

Did Terminix hire a guy with a (fake?) New Zealand accent so they could have him say dick?

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/O791/terminix-tex-mex

 

Reminds me of this:

 

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

6 hours ago, RedElf said:

Did Terminix hire a guy with a (fake?) New Zealand accent so they could have him say dick?

Apparently Terminix employed authentic New Zealander Rhys Darby.

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/rhys-darby-and-terminix-unite-for-a-charming-campaign/amp/

[friendperidot]

I love the song, Let's Face the Music and Dance, I always see a couple doing a quick step when I hear it. And I have seen it used on DWTS and in ice dancing. I really don't pay attention to what's happening on the screen, I just like the song. 

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

What's with that service where you win money and prizes by losing weight? This is godawfully cynical, right? If you don't lose more bets than you win they'd go out of business, so aren't they pretending to be encouraging while actually banking on you failing to lose weight? 

[Prevailing Wind]

I have scrutinized that Amazon commercial. Dude pouring milk is still in the kitchen, to the left of Dude with coffee cup. Two ladies at the table and Dude who is probably Grandpa tripping & dropping cake on Grandma. I, too, wonder who falls asleep at their birthday party, but more than that, I wonder about the extreme diversity of that family - Black, Hispanic, and White (in alphabetic order) all in the same family? (I'm assuming coffee dude is Hispanic.)  Are there really families that diverse?  Mine are all white folks, so I can't go by my experience, but I AM curious.  And, yes, I'd take Nat King Cole over Astaire any day.  Never could stand Astaire and that weird-ass shaped head of his.

ETA: It was easy to scrutinize - they played it twice every commercial break when they first started showing it. I think it was last summer it was in such heavy rotation.

23 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

If you don't lose more bets than you win they'd go out of business, so aren't they pretending to be encouraging while actually banking on you failing to lose weight? 

That's sort of the opposite of life insurance. You bet you're gonna die and they bet you won't.

Edited May 18, 2021 by Prevailing Wind

[iMonrey]

There is this weird ad for Heineken that I just do not get at all. I think it's for a non-alcohol version or something. A guy is carrying a bottle of Heineken on a tray into what appears to be an office building and all the staffers are anxiously waving at him as if to try to get him to stop whatever he is doing but he continues to smile and make his way towards a conference room where he sees two people talking, then he freezes up as though he realizes he's made a mistake and sort of side-steps out of frame without the two people in the conference room ever seeing him.

What . . . that actual eff. The tagline is something like "Now you can . . . at work." Like, if they are advertising that you can have a non-alcoholic version of Heineken at work during lunch or something, why does the guy with the tray slink off like he's made a mistake? Why are all the employees trying to get him to stop? 

Here it is.

[janie jones]

14 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I have scrutinized that Amazon commercial. Dude pouring milk is still in the kitchen, to the left of Dude with coffee cup. Two ladies at the table and Dude who is probably Grandpa tripping & dropping cake on Grandma. I, too, wonder who falls asleep at their birthday party, but more than that, I wonder about the extreme diversity of that family - Black, Hispanic, and White (in alphabetic order) all in the same family? (I'm assuming coffee dude is Hispanic.)  Are there really families that diverse?  Mine are all white folks, so I can't go by my experience, but I AM curious.  And, yes, I'd take Nat King Cole over Astaire any day.  Never could stand Astaire and that weird-ass shaped head of his.

ETA: It was easy to scrutinize - they played it twice every commercial break when they first started showing it. I think it was last summer it was in such heavy rotation.

That's sort of the opposite of life insurance. You bet you're gonna die and they bet you won't.

Why do they have to be related?

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

There is this weird ad for Heineken that I just do not get at all. I think it's for a non-alcohol version or something. A guy is carrying a bottle of Heineken on a tray into what appears to be an office building and all the staffers are anxiously waving at him as if to try to get him to stop whatever he is doing but he continues to smile and make his way towards a conference room where he sees two people talking, then he freezes up as though he realizes he's made a mistake and sort of side-steps out of frame without the two people in the conference room ever seeing him.

What . . . that actual eff. The tagline is something like "Now you can . . . at work." Like, if they are advertising that you can have a non-alcoholic version of Heineken at work during lunch or something, why does the guy with the tray slink off like he's made a mistake? Why are all the employees trying to get him to stop? 

Here it is.

It's because he just walked into the background of a televised interview.

[peacheslatour]

Lol, the way that woman squeaks "Sarah!" in the Jenny Craig commercial. Makes me look every time because she says it like she just caught Sarah slaughtering sheep with her bare hands.

[iMonrey]

Quote

It's because he just walked into the background of a televised interview.

But, why is that so bad? Who is he bringing this Heinekin to anyway and why is he serving it on a tray? Is it for someone in the interview room, or someone else and he just happened to pass by? I still don't get it.

[dleighg]

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

But, why is that so bad? Who is he bringing this Heinekin to anyway and why is he serving it on a tray? Is it for someone in the interview room, or someone else and he just happened to pass by? I still don't get it.

I dunno about the tray, but I assume that he's in the habit of bringing his non-alcoholic drink to lunch meetings or whatever, but we the audience are supposed to think that everyone is warning him off because the boss is around or whatever (since we don't know it's non-alcoholic). But really they don't want the interview audience to see the non-alcoholic brew and make the same assumption that we the audience made. That's all I got. 

[proserpina65]

On 5/14/2021 at 7:42 PM, dleighg said:

the one I keep seeing is for Amazon Prime (I think). Has a song "there will be trouble ahead." 

I just don't get it. The end has a cake being dropped on a sleeping woman. What, they're going to reorder a new cake before she wakes up?

 

 

I admit to loving that commercial because I love the song - Let's Face The Music And Dance.

I guess they're trying to surprise the birthday girl and wake her up to the cake, but yeah, seems kinda poorly planned.

On 5/17/2021 at 11:31 PM, Prevailing Wind said:

And, yes, I'd take Nat King Cole over Astaire any day.  Never could stand Astaire and that weird-ass shaped head of his.

Yes, Astaire's head was oddly shaped, but I'd much rather hear him sing this particular song, and watching he and Ginger Rogers dance is a religious experience.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Yes, Astaire's head was oddly shaped, but I'd much rather hear him sing this particular song, and watching he and Ginger Rogers dance is a religious experience.

Backwards and in high heels.

[Popples]

 

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, Popples said:

 

Yes. Definitely a "commercial that made [me] scratch [my head]," or at least go: Huh? 🤔

[chessiegal]

2 hours ago, Popples said:

 

I think it's funny. But then, I'm easily amused.

[Pj3422]

Am I too old to appreciate the new Oscar Meyer commercials? One has a choir just singing the word “Yum” (quite a fall for a company that used to be known for its jingles), and the other has a cute little girl grilling a hot dog with lasers coming out of her eyes. 

[mmecorday]

Enthusiastic Lady on TV: I got birth control for my cow!

Me: You did what? Oh, you got birth control from your couch.

[proserpina65]

On 5/21/2021 at 11:20 AM, chessiegal said:

I think it's funny. But then, I'm easily amused.

I find it amusing now, but I have to admit it took me a couple of viewings to get what was going on.

[dleighg]

I have only seen the 30 second version of this ad, but the extra 30 seconds don't help me out. Does Expedia help you when you miss your plane? Does it help you when you find out you booked a crappy hotel? I've used Expedia (with care) and my understanding is that making changes is next to impossible because of the way their booking process works. You can't (for example) add a day to your hotel stay, even if there are rooms available, since the hotel "owns" those extra days, not expedia. 

 

[peacheslatour]

I've read enough Tales From The Front Desk on Reddit to know that third party bookings are not desirable. You're better off dealing with the hotel directly.