Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Gharlane]

There's a commercial for frozen pizza that annoys me because the two women (lesbian lovers, I guess) are ripping off that boombox scene from that movie, but I cannot help but wonder why that pizza doesn't slide off the tilted wooden disk she's holding and how it's still hot and steaming when they eat it! 🤔

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, Gharlane said:

There's a commercial for frozen pizza that annoys me because the two women (lesbian lovers, I guess) are ripping off that boombox scene from that movie, but I cannot help but wonder why that pizza doesn't slide off the tilted wooden disk she's holding and how it's still hot and steaming when they eat it! 🤔

That made a great mental image!

[dleighg]

I see this (presumably local) ad constantly, for a real-estate agent for the mid-Hudson Valley. Apparently she does not have a voice, because Barbara Corcoran does ALL the talking in this ad. Weird. Shouldn't she speak up for herself, even if it is a "testimonial" type ad?

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=389376496279978

[Gharlane]

On 11/15/2022 at 5:51 PM, dleighg said:

The one which riffs on the ridiculously overused Christmas-time "big red bow on the brand new car" thing. In this case the big red bow blows off the parents' house onto the son's brand-new car as he pulls into the driveway. And the father thinks his son bought him a car. And the son, very reluctantly, goes along with it. Yeah, right.

Every time I see that commercial, I wonder why the father thinks he's received a new car for Christmas. Has he forgotten what his son's car looks like and didn't he get suspicious when he saw the interior looked like it had been used for awhile? 🤔

Edited November 21, 2022 by Gharlane

[Gharlane]

I keep seeing this eczema commercial where an idiot female DJ is playing the keyboard backwards instead of angled towards her so she can actually see it and flat so the records on the turn tables which don't have any records on them will actually play.

[dleighg]

6 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

I keep seeing this eczema commercial where an idiot female DJ is playing the keyboard backwards instead of angled towards her so she can actually see it and flat so the records on the turn tables which don't have any records on them will actually play

Ha Ha; that ad always bugged me because I (knowing nothing) figured that real DJs don't look like that when they do their work. Thanks for confirming it!

[Welshman in Ca]

6 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I keep seeing this eczema commercial where an idiot female DJ is playing the keyboard backwards instead of angled towards her so she can actually see it and flat so the records on the turn tables which don't have any records on them will actually play.

I'm guessing like me you don't know much about turntables but I do know that modern turntables that DJs use don't actually need vinyl records but are actually electronic & can imitate everything that an actual turntable with records could do. This includes all of the mixing & scratching etc. and no DJ worth their name actually carries around much more than a thumb drive with every tune they use in their sets and any they need can be downloaded in seconds.

So while the actual ad might be annoying the DJ not using records is 100% correct.

[mmecorday]

Quote

I keep seeing this eczema commercial where an idiot female DJ is playing the keyboard backwards instead of angled towards her so she can actually see it and flat so the records on the turn tables which don't have any records on them will actually play.

Being so disrupted by itch and rash, she's lucky to be able to do her job at all.

[Gharlane]

51 minutes ago, mmecorday said:

Being so disrupted by itch and rash, she's lucky to be able to do her job at all.

At least she's not bolting for the bathroom at a moment's notice.

[lh25]

8 hours ago, Gharlane said:

Every time I see that commercial, I wonder why the father thinks he's received a new car for Christmas. Has he forgotten what his son's car looks like and didn't he get suspicious when he saw the interior looked like it had been used for awhile? 

Exactly!  And the son can't speak up and say no, that car isn't for his dad?  Topped off by "I can't wait to see what you got your mom"

Do people really give cars as a surprise present often?

[Haleth]

16 hours ago, lh25 said:

Do people really give cars as a surprise present often?

Luxury car manufacturers would have you believe so.

[dleighg]

there's this ad that I keep seeing that I guess I'm just too stupid to figure out. It's from the American Cancer Society. It shows a couple, and the man is clearly going through cancer treatment; first his hair starts falling out, then while the couple is painting the walls of the living room, he's bald and clearly weak. The voice-over says that people are offered a free home away from home while undergoing treatment. Ok, I get that, but if you're in a presumably somewhat temporary home (even if it's a year or so) would you really be painting it? Why, Why, Why? And then at the end they hang a photo of themselves on the wall. So they are staying? I'm so confused!

[chessiegal]

Saw an ad for IHOP that showed a plate with a salmon filet and the voiceover said they served real salmon, as opposed to what? Fake salmon? And nothing screams seafood like IHOP.

[jennifer6973]

6 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Saw an ad for IHOP that showed a plate with a salmon filet and the voiceover said they served real salmon, as opposed to what? Fake salmon? And nothing screams seafood like IHOP.

Salmon is not the reason I go to Ihop.

[Gharlane]

On 11/27/2022 at 1:15 PM, jennifer6973 said:

Salmon is not the reason I go to Ihop.

Salmon pancakes, perhaps?😉

Edited November 28, 2022 by Gharlane

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Saw an ad for IHOP that showed a plate with a salmon filet and the voiceover said they served real salmon, as opposed to what? Fake salmon?

It says "all-natural salmon", so the only sense I can make of it is they mean wild rather than farmed, but there's no way they're paying for that and, indeed, I just did a quick search and they're serving Atlantic salmon, which is virtually always farm-raised.  So I have no idea what they mean; it's not like crab, where there's an imitation version commonly used.

Regardless, I have a dozen better restaurant options than IHOP to go get pancakes near me, never mind the better options for salmon.

[cynicat]

International House of Pancakes and Fish.  That sounds so wrong.

[Colleenna]

15 hours ago, Bastet said:

It says "all-natural salmon", so the only sense I can make of it is they mean wild rather than farmed, but there's no way they're paying for that and, indeed, I just did a quick search and they're serving Atlantic salmon, which is virtually always farm-raised.  So I have no idea what they mean; it's not like crab, where there's an imitation version commonly used.

Regardless, I have a dozen better restaurant options than IHOP to go get pancakes near me, never mind the better options for salmon.

Actually,  there *is* a plant-based alternative to salmon, though it's in the form of salmon cakes and not filets. If anyone wants to discuss this,  we can take it to small talk. 

[Gharlane]

Amazon's commercial with Romeo and Juliette's families during the holidays not getting along at Christmas dinner is confusing because:

1. Romeo and Juliette killed themselves.
2. People from that period would not be singing and dancing to that vulgar music.

20 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Saw an ad for IHOP that showed a plate with a salmon filet and the voiceover said they served real salmon, as opposed to what? Fake salmon? And nothing screams seafood like IHOP.

It has to be better than Red Blobster! Remember a few years ago when IHOP tried to become IHOB?

[janie jones]

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

It says "all-natural salmon", so the only sense I can make of it is they mean wild rather than farmed, but there's no way they're paying for that and, indeed, I just did a quick search and they're serving Atlantic salmon, which is virtually always farm-raised.  So I have no idea what they mean; it's not like crab, where there's an imitation version commonly used.

I think "all-natural" means no chemicals added.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, janie jones said:

I think "all-natural" means no chemicals added.

Why would chemicals be added to salmon? And what would those chemicals be? A little poking around says salmon can be flash frozen when caught, but I didn't find anything about chemicals being added. I think someone at IHOP or their ad agency just decided "real" as in the tv ad, or "all-natural" as seen on the IHOP website menu sounded like a good idea. Still makes no sense to me.

[mmecorday]

Quote

there's this ad that I keep seeing that I guess I'm just too stupid to figure out. It's from the American Cancer Society. It shows a couple, and the man is clearly going through cancer treatment; first his hair starts falling out, then while the couple is painting the walls of the living room, he's bald and clearly weak. The voice-over says that people are offered a free home away from home while undergoing treatment. Ok, I get that, but if you're in a presumably somewhat temporary home (even if it's a year or so) would you really be painting it? Why, Why, Why? And then at the end they hang a photo of themselves on the wall. So they are staying? I'm so confused!

I think the house in the ad is the couple's home. When they're painting their living room and the activity is too much for the husband, I think that's when they realize they need to go someplace that doesn't require maintenance that's closer to his treatment. In the end when they hang up the framed picture, I assume the husband's cancer is in remission and they're back home. That's my take anyway.

[Gharlane]

1 hour ago, janie jones said:

I think "all-natural" means no chemicals added.

Phrases like "all natural" and "real" do well with focus groups, whether they mean anything or not.

[peacheslatour]

13 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

Phrases like "all natural" and "real" do well with focus groups, whether they mean anything or not.

It's like saying "no chemicals" when everything on earth that we eat is literally comprised of nothing but chemicals.

[cinsays]

On 11/27/2022 at 1:09 PM, chessiegal said:

Saw an ad for IHOP that showed a plate with a salmon filet and the voiceover said they served real salmon, as opposed to what? Fake salmon? And nothing screams seafood like IHOP.

my guess is that this is in response to the rumors/truth about subway not really having tuna in their tuna subs

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, cinsays said:

my guess is that this is in response to the rumors/truth about subway not really having tuna in their tuna subs

In Ireland, Subway is legally estopped from calling their "bread" bread because of the sugar content.

[Welshman in Ca]

12 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

In Ireland, Subway is legally estopped from calling their "bread" bread because of the sugar content.

Doesn't it qualify as cake because of the sugar content?

[peacheslatour]

19 minutes ago, Welshman in Ca said:

Doesn't it qualify as cake because of the sugar content?

Confectionery was, I believe the term thay decided applied to it.

[jennifer6973]

On 11/27/2022 at 5:32 PM, Gharlane said:

Salmon pancakes, perhaps?😉

Not necessarily pancakes, but I do like Salmon cakes.  Not the making of them, but the eating of them.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, jennifer6973 said:

Not necessarily pancakes, but I do like Salmon cakes.  Not the making of them, but the eating of them.

But IHOP?

[Haleth]

20 hours ago, Gharlane said:

Amazon's commercial with Romeo and Juliette's families during the holidays not getting along at Christmas dinner is confusing because:

1. Romeo and Juliette killed themselves.
2. People from that period would not be singing and dancing to that vulgar music.

Aww, that's what makes it fun!  The Prime commercials are always full of absurdities and anachronisms.  I mean, Medusa hanging out with her girlfriends at a bar?

[janie jones]

Also half the commercials show people ordering stuff on Prime before the advent of electricity or the internet. The fact that Romeo and Juliet died doesn't strike me as the most wrong thing about that commercial. (I like this series of commercials.)

Edited November 30, 2022 by janie jones

[dleighg]

On 11/28/2022 at 1:01 PM, mmecorday said:

I think the house in the ad is the couple's home. When they're painting their living room and the activity is too much for the husband, I think that's when they realize they need to go someplace that doesn't require maintenance that's closer to his treatment. In the end when they hang up the framed picture, I assume the husband's cancer is in remission and they're back home. That's my take anyway.

You are (of course) absolutely right. Seeing it again, I see that the voice-over about the loaned house takes place with the half-painted wall and a darkened house, so they are clearly "there." Then the finished wall is when they are back home. Thank you for enlightening me!

[sempervivum]

The Oscar Meyer ad where a woman lies down on a giant piece of bread, a slice of ham covers her like a blanket, and then a whole bunch of ham slices fall down and bury her. Huh?

[chessiegal]

21 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

The Oscar Meyer ad where a woman lies down on a giant piece of bread, a slice of ham covers her like a blanket, and then a whole bunch of ham slices fall down and bury her. Huh?

I get what they're going for - a sandwich with Oscar Meyer is comfort food like a warm cozy bed, but it is creepy. Gives a whole new meaning to "Bite me!". 😁

[Crashcourse]

34 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

The Oscar Meyer ad where a woman lies down on a giant piece of bread, a slice of ham covers her like a blanket, and then a whole bunch of ham slices fall down and bury her. Huh?

I hate that stupid ad.

[Maverick]

 Oscar Meyer has hired an ad agency that is seriously fucked up on some seriously fucked up drugs.  There's the woman being buried alive by giant ham slices, the weirdos in some kind of pseduo-military uniforms singing "bum bum bum" and that demon child frying hot dogs with lightning bolts shooting out of her eyes.  Whoever put these things together has serious issues and we shouldn't be forced to be involved in them. 

[Gharlane]

On 12/1/2022 at 1:42 PM, sempervivum said:

The Oscar Meyer ad where a woman lies down on a giant piece of bread, a slice of ham covers her like a blanket, and then a whole bunch of ham slices fall down and bury her. Huh?

That's one of the least bizarre one.

[Blergh]

The new Capital One ad has Catherine O'Hara frantically shouting 'KEVIN!KEVIN!; in a department store- only to be met by Kevin Hart after which they shrug off the whole thing by saying that it's the season for looking for Kevins!

It's been 32 years since Home Alone (1990) was released. Thus seeing Miss O'Hara (in character as Kate McCallister) frantically seeking out her errant son means that Mrs. McCallister's family would be better advised to find her a memory care facility ASAP than letting her do the Christmas shopping solo with any credit cards!

[chessiegal]

3 minutes ago, Blergh said:

The new Capital One ad has Catherine O'Hara frantically shouting 'KEVIN!KEVIN!; in a department store- only to be met by Kevin Hart after which they shrug off the whole thing by saying that it's the season for looking for Kevins!

It's been 32 years since Home Alone (1990) was released. Thus seeing Miss O'Hara (in character as Kate McCallister) frantically seeking out her errant son means that Mrs. McCallister's family would be better advised to find her a memory care facility ASAP than letting her do the Christmas shopping solo with any credit cards!

Thank you for the explanation. I've only seen Home Alone in bits and pieces. That commercial made no sense to me!

[cynicat]

5 hours ago, Blergh said:

It's been 32 years since Home Alone (1990) was released. Thus seeing Miss O'Hara (in character as Kate McCallister) frantically seeking out her errant son means that Mrs. McCallister's family would be better advised to find her a memory care facility ASAP than letting her do the Christmas shopping solo with any credit cards!

Ha!  FWIW, she looks fabulous.

[Haleth]

9 hours ago, Blergh said:

The new Capital One ad has Catherine O'Hara frantically shouting 'KEVIN!KEVIN!; in a department store- only to be met by Kevin Hart after which they shrug off the whole thing by saying that it's the season for looking for Kevins!

It's been 32 years since Home Alone (1990) was released. Thus seeing Miss O'Hara (in character as Kate McCallister) frantically seeking out her errant son means that Mrs. McCallister's family would be better advised to find her a memory care facility ASAP than letting her do the Christmas shopping solo with any credit cards!

Aww, I think it's a funny commercial, especially when she gets distracted by a sweater on the rack.  She's not seeking out her errant son, she's looking for Kevin Hart.

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Aww, I think it's a funny commercial, especially when she gets distracted by a sweater on the rack.  She's not seeking out her errant son, she's looking for Kevin Hart.

So they claim. . .but why was she crouching down in the children's clothing section to do so? Mr. Hart isn't that short . ..or young.

[Gharlane]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

Aww, I think it's a funny commercial, especially when she gets distracted by a sweater on the rack.  She's not seeking out her errant son, she's looking for Kevin Hart.

Is that any better?

[Bastet]

That's not new (unless they've made a new version); it premiered last year, and I'm glad to hear they brought it back this holiday season -- I don't even like Home Alone, but I like Catherine O'Hara.

[Crashcourse]

I don't know if it's the style these days, but I hate that oversized coat she's wearing.

[xaxat]

I think someone slipped me an edible.

[peacheslatour]

23 minutes ago, xaxat said:

I think someone slipped me an edible.

Hey, these edibles are pretty good. Do you know where we can get some more?

[Welshman in Ca]

1 minute ago, peacheslatour said:

Hey, these edibles are pretty good. Do you know where we can get some more?

I have 3 packs in the cupboard if you're interested, strawberry, raspberry & pineapple and all with different strains of cannabis. Strawberry are my faves at the moment.

[Gharlane]

34 minutes ago, xaxat said:

I think someone slipped me an edible.

Wow, you'd think they'd have better CGI... 

So the moral of the commercial is to not buy cheap electronics from China? How does that fir his purpose?  🤔