Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Haleth]

16 hours ago, mojoween said:

Ok so I read once that Subway is the “fast food” joint raking in the most cash of all of them (I say “fast food” because to me Burger King is fast food.  Subway is a sandwich shop).

Well, that must be 100% true because in the ad I saw today, in addition to regulars Steph Curry and Simone Biles, they had Gronk and Derek Jeter (!!).  Gronk will do an ad for anything, but I cannot imagine that Jeter comes cheap.

I did giggle at Steph’s line when dumb Gronk spiked a sub - “couldn’t get Brady, huh.”

Don't forget Jimmy Garoppolo!  Lol.  Subway is gross, the sandwiches are all bread and lettuce, but the commercials are cute.

[mmecorday]

Quote

Subway is gross, the sandwiches are all bread and lettuce, but the commercials are cute.

I agree. And the food looks good on the commercials, but in the actual restaurant (and least where I live) the subs are all made by people who hate their jobs almost as much as they hate making chopped salads.

[Madding crowd]

I don’t get the Air B&B add where the family goes to Italy and the song says something’s wrong and then they start playing Mambo Italiane . What was wrong? Was it that they needed to play Italian music? Doesn’t make sense to me.

[Welshman in Ca]

On 5/13/2022 at 7:22 AM, mmecorday said:

I agree. And the food looks good on the commercials, but in the actual restaurant (and least where I live) the subs are all made by people who hate their jobs almost as much as they hate making chopped salads.

I was in a subway once as it was the only place near where we were working, one of those malls that is 60% empty and when the poor girl asked what I would like I replied " A Quizno's but that's not happening obviously", she even replied "me too but we're both stuck with this place".

[Gharlane]

On 5/11/2022 at 10:34 PM, mmecorday said:

There's a commercial for a plant-based "milk" called Ripple. I guess people who lived through the 1970s have aged out of the product naming biz. Ripple was the name of a fruity fortified wine in the age of Farrah hair and Star Wars. Fred Sanford was a big fan. He would combine it with Champale to create Champipple.

So I'm not the only person who chuckles whenever he see Ripple in the dairy case?

 

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, Gharlane said:

So I'm not the only person who chuckles whenever he see Ripple in the dairy case?

 

I guess they could have called it "Dribble".

[Colleenna]

11 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

I guess they could have called it "Dribble".

That sounds more like an incontinence product 😄

[Haleth]

You wouldn't want to mix up your Ripple with your Ripple though.  One is probably better on your cereal in the morning than the other.

[cynicat]

18 minutes ago, Haleth said:

You wouldn't want to mix up your Ripple with your Ripple though.  One is probably better on your cereal in the morning than the other.

Not necessarily...

[Tom Holmberg]

9 hours ago, Colleenna said:

That sounds more like an incontinence product 😄

That;s the UnDribble!

[proserpina65]

On 5/14/2022 at 12:28 PM, Madding crowd said:

I don’t get the Air B&B add where the family goes to Italy and the song says something’s wrong and then they start playing Mambo Italiane . What was wrong? Was it that they needed to play Italian music? Doesn’t make sense to me.

That's part of the actual song (Mambo Italiano by Dean Martin), not something made up for the commercial.  In the song, the "something's wrong" is that the locals are all dancing to the mambo rather than native Italian dances.  Here are the lyrics:

A boy went back to Napoli
Because he missed the scenery
The native dances and the charming songs
But wait a minute, something's wrong
'Cause now it's

Hey, mambo, mambo italiano
Hey, mambo, mambo italiano
Go, go, go you mixed up siciliano
All you calabresi do the mambo like a crazy with a-

Hey mambo, don't wanna tarantella
Hey mambo, no more mozzarella
Hey, mambo, mambo italiano
Try an enchilada with the fishy baccalà and then a-

Hey cumpa', I love a how you dance a rumba
But take a some advice, paesano
Learn-a how to mambo
If you gonna be a square

You ain't-a gonna go nowhere
Hey, mambo, mambo italiano
Hey, mambo, mambo italiano
Go, go, Joe, shake like a Giovanno

Hello, che si dice, you getta happy in the feets-a
When you mambo italiano

Hey jadrool, you don't-a have to go to school
Just make-a with the beat bambino
It's a like a vino
Kid, you good-a lookin' but you don't a-know what's cookin' till you

Hey, mambo, mambo italiano
Hey, mambo, mambo italiano
Oh, oh, oh, you mixed up Siciliano
Hello, che si dice, you getta happy in the pizza
When you mambo italiano

 

Now, why the song is applicable to the commercial is a different matter, and like many commercials, I think they just chose it because it mentions Italy and they liked the way it sounds rather than anything specifically in the song.

 

 

[Madding crowd]

I’m familiar with the song but the way it is framed in the commercial makes it seem like something is wrong with their accommodations which then gets changed. I think they could have done a better job of showcasing beautiful Italy than they did with the focus on the baby and the way they presented the song. 

[peacheslatour]

37 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I’m familiar with the song but the way it is framed in the commercial makes it seem like something is wrong with their accommodations which then gets changed. I think they could have done a better job of showcasing beautiful Italy than they did with the focus on the baby and the way they presented the song. 

I just remember the song that Jude Law sang in The Talented Mr. Ripley.

[Gharlane]

23 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Now, why the song is applicable to the commercial is a different matter, and like many commercials, I think they just chose it because it mentions Italy and they liked the way it sounds rather than anything specifically in the song.

I thought they used that song because it's "Italian" music, like they use that chinka-chinka-chang piano music to indicate "Chinese".

[sempervivum]

3 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I thought they used that song because it's "Italian" music, like they use that chinka-chinka-chang piano music to indicate "Chinese".

I agree. I think a lot of music chosen for ads is selected by millenial-or-younger agency drones who hear something on a TikTok that (in this case) sounds 'Italian' to them. Strangely, these folks don't seem to be capable of actually looking up/reading/comprehending the lyrics to make sure they're appropriate for the product they're selling. (There are a number of these out there, none of which I can remember at the moment!)

[peacheslatour]

38 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

I agree. I think a lot of music chosen for ads is selected by millenial-or-younger agency drones who hear something on a TikTok that (in this case) sounds 'Italian' to them. Strangely, these folks don't seem to be capable of actually looking up/reading/comprehending the lyrics to make sure they're appropriate for the product they're selling. (There are a number of these out there, none of which I can remember at the moment!)

Nah, it's not just milliennials. It's a long standing tradition in TV advertising. They have so little respect for consumers, they think we're all too stupid to get past the hook.

[RedElf]

On 3/13/2022 at 1:42 PM, madmax said:

This S&T Bank commercial:

 

She talks about the house being old, but the bank's been around for years, so it's all okay.

How are they the same thing?

Is the boyfriend/husband supposed to be 16 years old?

[RedElf]

On 4/10/2022 at 10:26 AM, DrSpaceman73 said:

As mentioned it's Pepsi with nitrogen in it.  Why?  I have no idea. 

Same thoughts on coke infused with coffee, another recent product addition.  Why?

It's delicious, and I don't drink coffee.

 

On 4/11/2022 at 6:59 AM, Gharlane said:

Isn't that Pepsi's attempt at making a version of Coca-Cola Coffee drinks?

I remember asking Mom about Lavern drinking milk and Pepsi and she said people did it when they wanted a float but had no ice cream. Personal experience? 🤷‍♂️

I just saw an Internet article about people putting coffee creamer into their Cokes.  Ew.

[RedElf]

This is a long ass game if they can build an entire building while it's going on.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/blWR/vyvgart-the-picture-is-changing

[janie jones]

On 5/18/2022 at 7:32 PM, RedElf said:

It's delicious, and I don't drink coffee.

 

I just saw an Internet article about people putting coffee creamer into their Cokes.  Ew.

Maybe to mimic vanilla Coke?

[chessiegal]

Let me get this straight. Dish thinks that having to sit through credits of On Demand shows until you get to the next episode is such a huge inconvenience that I should switch my tv provider. Really? Isn't that the time you use to make yourself another gin and tonic? Just me?

[dleighg]

So there's this car commercial that features Cat Stevens (Yousuf Islam)'s song "Wild World." It apparently is showing a young, very busy working mom, and I guess the car makes her life a little less "wild"???

Anyway, first of all, was surprised to see Cat Stevens "back among the living" and selling his stuff. Good for him, whatever. But the song has absolutely nothing to do with "babies" or busy lives. 

I guess no one really listens to the whole song when they choose these things.

[Tom Holmberg]

On 5/20/2022 at 12:31 PM, janie jones said:

Maybe to mimic vanilla Coke?

As I mentioned elsewhere, as a kid I often put milk in root beer for an ersatz black cow, creamer in a coke would be an ersatz brown cow (though why not just use milk?).

[sempervivum]

Coventry Direct- company that buys life insurance policies or something. Senior couple says 'we thought we planned carefully for our retirement, but soon realized we would need another source of income'. That's some mighty fine 'planning' there, folks. 

Also- Dollar Loan Company- with sad, saggy old Vince Neill driving a Zamboni around an ice rink. Lord, this is just depressing.

[peacheslatour]

There is a commercial that's been playing for quite a while where a young man brings his mom a bottle of Crown Royal. If my son brought me a bottle of Crown Royal, I'd think he'd lost his damn mind.

[CoderLady]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

There is a commercial that's been playing for quite a while where a young man brings his mom a bottle of Crown Royal. If my son brought me a bottle of Crown Royal, I'd think he'd lost his damn mind.

There's an ad for another whisky (don't remember which one -- I don't drink flammables) with a daughter visiting her dad in his urban high-rise apartment to share a bottle of their favorite whatever on the rocks.

It makes me wonder who these two ads are targeting, the young'uns or the parents.

[xaxat]

Fox is running and ad promoting tonight's NASCAR race that has a voiceover with an actor reciting the first line of The Pledge of Allegiance. I'm 90% sure that voice is Donald Sutherland's.

Sutherland is Canadian.

[Gramto6]

6 minutes ago, CoderLady said:

There's an ad for another whisky (don't remember which one -- I don't drink flammables) with a daughter visiting her dad in his urban high-rise apartment to share a bottle of their favorite whatever on the rocks.

It makes me wonder who these two ads are targeting, the young'uns or the parents.

I'm beginning to think it is the parents with the young'uns being the suppliers.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Gramto6 said:

I'm beginning to think it is the parents with the young'uns being the suppliers.

God knows I used to buy weed from my son when he was in college.

[dleighg]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

There is a commercial that's been playing for quite a while where a young man brings his mom a bottle of Crown Royal. If my son brought me a bottle of Crown Royal, I'd think he'd lost his damn mind.

Not that I'm sure how it matters, but I think the young man is the star of "in the Heights" Anthony Ramos (a la Lin-Manuel Miranda). I also think it's a REALLY strange thing to give your mom.

[Prevailing Wind]

7 minutes ago, dleighg said:

Not that I'm sure how it matters, but I think the young man is the star of "in the Heights" Anthony Ramos (a la Lin-Manuel Miranda). I also think it's a REALLY strange thing to give your mom.

...unless she actually ASKED for it.

[peacheslatour]

19 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

God knows I used to buy weed from my son when he was in college.

Don't worry, he wasn't dealing it. I asked him to pick me up some next time he made a run. I simply reimbursed him.

[Bastet]

16 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I also think it's a REALLY strange thing to give your mom.

Crown Royal isn't my pick, but it's not a bad whiskey; it's not like he gave her a bottle of Old Crow.  Maybe Crown is her favorite.

[chessiegal]

Taking Crown Royal to Small Talk.

[Welshman in Ca]

16 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Don't worry, he wasn't dealing it. I asked him to pick me up some next time he made a run. I simply reimbursed him.

I doubt anyone is worried, I know that's exactly what I was thinking as my wife's daughter will pick me up some gummies if she's visiting from SF & I can't get the flavour I like locally.

[Gharlane]

21 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

There is a commercial that's been playing for quite a while where a young man brings his mom a bottle of Crown Royal. If my son brought me a bottle of Crown Royal, I'd think he'd lost his damn mind.

I thought it was some kind of tradition of theirs, like Saturday night movies and dinner and drinks.

[peacheslatour]

15 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

I thought it was some kind of tradition of theirs, like Saturday night movies and dinner and drinks.

I guess. Hard liquor is such a foreign concept to me.

[mmecorday]

Maybe he thinks if she drinks enough, she won't mind him talking to her about final expense plans, her Medicare coverage and her need for a Jitterbug phone.

[SunnyBeBe]

It’s not that I don’t get it, but I am  curious about how liquor companies cast their commercial actors.  Repeadetly, I watch them and wonder where they found the quirky actors!  Lol. Here’s the latest.  She’s a famous actress , but really Seems odd in this commercial.  I guess it’s on purpose. 🤷‍♀️ Lol
 

Edited June 3, 2022 by SunnyBeBe

[SunnyBeBe]

Here’s another liquor commercial that caught my attention. This one I have liked, but it also makes me wonder where they got the concept and the actor.  
 

[Gramto6]

4 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Here’s another liquor commercial that caught my attention. This one I have liked, but it also makes me wonder where they got the concept and the actor.  
 

I'm sorry but this guy has man boods bigger than the lack  boobs I have since my double mastectomy (breast cancer), I know it is sexist and wrong to say this but part of me wishes I had those boobs...sorry, not sorry..but don't want the belly though!

[Prevailing Wind]

6 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

I'm sorry but this guy has man boods bigger than the lack  boobs I have since my double mastectomy (breast cancer), I know it is sexist and wrong to say this but part of me wishes I had those boobs...sorry, not sorry..but don't want the belly though!

[CrystalBlue]

22 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Here’s another liquor commercial that caught my attention. This one I have liked, but it also makes me wonder where they got the concept and the actor.  
 

I made it to 0:21. Forget the man boobs, the Speedo is just no.

[Crashcourse]

I love the fact that the guy isn't ashamed to show off his man boobs and belly.  

Gotta be me, indeed.

[Browncoat]

Right.  Like Nicole Kidman actually goes to the AMC theater to watch a movie.

[janie jones]

4 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

I love the fact that the guy isn't ashamed to show off his man boobs and belly.  

Gotta be me, indeed.

I feel like that's the point of the commercial. "Whatever's comfortable."

[mmecorday]

There's an ad for Goldbond lotion in which the announcer says "Age before beauty? How about both." What does that even mean?

[janie jones]

There was some discussion a while back about how this was nonsense, but I think what they're going for is this: I assume you know the expression "age before beauty," which would be like, if an old person and a young person were to try to go through a door at the same time (for example), you'd say "age before beauty," and that would be saying that the old person should go first. (I apologize if the explanation is unnecessary; I just haven't heard this with any kind of frequency.) The expression implies that you're either aged or beautiful, but cannot be both. The lotion is saying, who says you have to lose your beauty when you get old? Have both: age and beauty.

[peacheslatour]

Or as Dorothy Parker said just as she swept past some rude young lady who said that to her "Pearls before swine,"

[Prevailing Wind]

And there's also the comeback, "Beauty was a black horse."