Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[LoneHaranguer]

 

They should be able to make the waffles in their regular oven, probably even their microwave or convection/toaster oven (if they have 1 of those).

A skillet on the stove would work too if it's non-stick.

[Rick Kitchen]

This commercial absolutely makes no sense.

 

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7hKP/quilted-northern-little-miss-puffytail

[InDueTime]

This commercial absolutely makes no sense.

 

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7hKP/quilted-northern-little-miss-puffytail

I'm guessing the residents of the home have bowel movements so awful, that Little Miss Puffytail wants to commit suicide after witnessing them all.

[shapeshifter]

There's a Maaco auto body repair commercial that's been airing for several months here in Chicagoland on over-the-air TV. I'm not able to find a video of it.

It shows a teenager bundled in winter outerwear, shivering, telling his mom about how cold it is.

She says in response that his father is mowing the lawn in his underwear.

The announcer advises to call Maaco.

Things wrong:

• You can barely see the scraped fender, so if you don't know what Maaco is for (I'm still not sure) you might miss it.
• It started airing around February when we had below freezing temperatures for weeks without end. I could not figure out what the underwear mention was supposed to mean until we got a warm spell a couple of weeks ago. (They never show the dad mowing the lawn.)

I guess they thought they were being clever with the extreme temperature changes between winter and spring???

[Neurochick]

This commercial is so stupid, I can't stand it and I don't get it and it always runs when I'm watching streaming TV.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dvx060Rx3g

 

But this one is pure WTF?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmzm1JCOqtU

Edited May 5, 2015 by Neurochick

[Brattinella]

Unskippable commercials would really make me re-think my video entertainment provider.  Gah!

[bilgistic]

ALL the online programming now has commercials one cannot skip, and they often play the same commercial(s) either at every break or the same one literally four times in a row. It is enough to drive me to drink. I CANNOT WAIT for the day when some hacking genius invents an app that allows me to skip the commercials.

[90PercentGravity]

Is it just me or does the supposed daughter in this ad look about 50?

 

[Brattinella]

ALL the online programming now has commercials one cannot skip, and they often play the same commercial(s) either at every break or the same one literally four times in a row. It is enough to drive me to drink. I CANNOT WAIT for the day when some hacking genius invents an app that allows me to skip the commercials.

 

Wow, I didn't know that!  I am only using one online video/movie service and it has no commercials at all.  I am really an Anglophile, though, other folks might not like the programming as much as I do.

[bilgistic]

Netflix has no commercials, but all the other apps that I use do. Every single one for each channel has commercials. It just took me an hour and a half to watch Mad Men because the AMC app kept stopping after the first commercial break, and it played the same two commercials the whole time. I now want to kill Robert Downey Jr. with an HTC One phone.

Edited May 6, 2015 by bilgistic

[AntiBeeSpray]

ALL the online programming now has commercials one cannot skip, and they often play the same commercial(s) either at every break or the same one literally four times in a row. It is enough to drive me to drink. I CANNOT WAIT for the day when some hacking genius invents an app that allows me to skip the commercials.

 

Exactly! And heck yes! That would be great. Network people are already ticked off when people fast forward via their dvr's or when they mute the commercials. I'd love to see how they'd react to something like that :P.

[Jamoche]

Exactly! And heck yes! That would be great. Network people are already ticked off when people fast forward via their dvr's or when they mute the commercials. I'd love to see how they'd react to something like that :P.

I was watching something online that thought they'd be clever by disabling the volume widget in the viewer during ads. Hah! I just muted the whole computer.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I was watching something online that thought they'd be clever by disabling the volume widget in the viewer during ads. Hah! I just muted the whole computer.

 

I hate that too! Same with ones that force you to watch an ad before a video.

[Brattinella]

 

 

thought they'd be clever by disabling the volume widget

 

Of all the NERVE!  Man, I am SO cutting the cord one of these days, goddamn interfering POS on TV!

[bubbls]

 I am so sick of the Anytown USA commercial.  Apparently so beer company "created" a town (populated solely by douchebags who auditioned to be there).   The worst part:  "this once-in-a-lifetime event is about to happen again".   Um, I don't think you understand what once-in-a-lifetime means, dumbass.

 

 

I despise this commercial!! Douche-baggiest commercial filled with the douche-baggiest douchebags that ever douchebagged. Despise it. I hope an earthquake hits the town and swallows them all never to be heard from again. Of course, hipster douchebags are like roaches and for every one that vanishes five more will pop up.

[Aquarius]

Is it just me or does the supposed daughter in this ad look about 50?

 

 

She looks just like Amy Pohler!

[Neurochick]

I like this commercial, but what does it have to do with Android?

 

[ABay]

Don't know, don't care, just want it to be the commercial for everything, everywhere.

Edited May 6, 2015 by ABay

[frenchtoast]

I think it's a knock on Apple--Android is available on lots of different devices etc. And Apple is very proprietary.  At least that's what I took Be Together Not the Same to mean.

[Brattinella]

Yep they could play that Roger Miller ditty with all the adorable animals all the live-long day, and I'd he happy!

[CarpeDiem54]

I despise this commercial!! Douche-baggiest commercial filled with the douche-baggiest douchebags that ever douchebagged. Despise it. I hope an earthquake hits the town and swallows them all never to be heard from again. Of course, hipster douchebags are like roaches and for every one that vanishes five more will pop up.

Don't knock the town. I remember when Bud descended on them last summer and almost destroyed the place. Too bad the blue paint wasn't Hipster Douchebag Roach Killer.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26515637/crested-butte-residents-unhappy-over-blue-paint-and?source=infinite

[Brattinella]

I despise what happened to their town, too.  Who was the jerk who sold them out?

[CarpeDiem54]

I'm not sure. I looked but couldn't find it. Probably some hipster with an M.B.A. on the town council thought it would be a cool way to raise money.

[bilgistic]

I like the Android commercial--especially the part when the cat opens the door for the dog--but in the clip with the baby hippo and the sheep/lamb/whatever, the hippo looks so obviously green-screened in that it distracts me. The rest is so good!

Except for the orangutan because orangutans will rip off your face.

The Budweiser talk reminded me of this recent story. http://nypost.com/2015/04/29/bud-light-sorry-for-saying-it-removes-no-from-vocabulary/

Edited May 7, 2015 by bilgistic

[90PercentGravity]

How else are they going to get anyone to drink it?

[Brattinella]

Gah I am SO TIRED of watching Doppler Radar!

[Jamoche]

How else are they going to get anyone to drink it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjN2BFf-AXs&spfreload=10

 

About halfway through there's a spoof of one of the Bud Light ads: "Are you up for whatever happens next?" "Not if I have to drink Bud Light to get it."

[bubbls]

Don't knock the town. I remember when Bud descended on them last summer and almost destroyed the place. Too bad the blue paint wasn't Hipster Douchebag Roach Killer.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26515637/crested-butte-residents-unhappy-over-blue-paint-and?source=infinite

 

This is a real town they did this to?? I thought it was some vacant ghost town were referring to. No, not knocking the town at all. They have my sympathy. At least I can turn my TV off to avoid those assholes.

[Neurochick]

Wait until you get old, then LOTS of people will not see you as a person at all.

 

Hah, already happened.  

[SmithW6079]

My takeaway is that Papa John himself, who owns the pizza chain, is too chintzy to duke his buddies some free pizza.

Well, he is the one who tried to blame Obamacare for the fact that his lousy pizzas would have to go up a dollar or so so his employees could get health insurance.

[theatremouse]

There is a Crest (I think) commercial where some woman says "when my husband started getting better dental checkups than me, I decided to" <switch to that toothpaste>.

I was so confused. If your husband gets a better dental checkup...switch to his dentist so you get the same care?

Oh, you mean you don't mean the quality of the checkup itself? You mean the result of his evaluation during said checkup is he takes better care of his teeth than you do? Then say that, weirdly phrasing wife-lady.

I've never heard the turn of phrase the way they used it. "Better checkup" should not mean "better result" even though I would agree, any appointment that doesn't result in a dressing down from a dental hygienist is, definitely " better". (Is it just me or is lesson 1 in dental school "tell people they floss wrong as though their very self worth is entirely dependent on this, even if they've never had a cavity"? But I digress...)

Edited May 9, 2015 by theatremouse

[Brattinella]

I know what you mean about a better checkup.  I'm not sure if that's the same one, but there is one with a girl REALLY wanting to impress her dental hygienist.  Kinda creepy, actually.

[Aquarius]

I know what you mean about a better checkup.  I'm not sure if that's the same one, but there is one with a girl REALLY wanting to impress her dental hygienist.  Kinda creepy, actually.

 

There are a couple of ads along these lines - patients being SO HAPPY that their dental visits went well, like that's one of the things we're meant to aspire to.  Personally, when my hygienist gives me that crap that my gums wouldn't bleed if I'd floss more regularly, I roll my eyes and think, "Yeah, and it has NOTHING to do with the fact that you're picking at my gums with a sharp metal object!" 

 

The idea of living to please my hygienist is one that is very foreign to me.  Maybe I'm unusual that way.

[slensam]

There are a couple of ads along these lines - patients being SO HAPPY that their dental visits went well, like that's one of the things we're meant to aspire to.  Personally, when my hygienist gives me that crap that my gums wouldn't bleed if I'd floss more regularly, I roll my eyes and think, "Yeah, and it has NOTHING to do with the fact that you're picking at my gums with a sharp metal object!" 

 

The idea of living to please my hygienist is one that is very foreign to me.  Maybe I'm unusual that way.

Yeah, going to the dentist is fun! Not only do I feel great about being out hundreds of dollars a visit and happy about being in sharp pain but I also have to feel guilty about bleeding like I was attacked by a sloppy vampire. Thanks guys!

[frenchtoast]

There are a couple of ads along these lines - patients being SO HAPPY that their dental visits went well, like that's one of the things we're meant to aspire to.  Personally, when my hygienist gives me that crap that my gums wouldn't bleed if I'd floss more regularly, I roll my eyes and think, "Yeah, and it has NOTHING to do with the fact that you're picking at my gums with a sharp metal object!" 

 

The idea of living to please my hygienist is one that is very foreign to me.  Maybe I'm unusual that way.

Are you me? Because I've said that too. But, yeah, those Crest commercials do nothing for me because I could give a flying pig whether or not I pass muster with my effing hygienist. And my hygienist and dentist have been awesome to me, but still. No. 

 

And I hate those whitening commercials too. Eff you, I'm going to drink coffee and red wine and I don't care that it's staining my teeth. 

 

To bring this back to commercials that I don't understand, I never understand perfume commercials. Most of them are just headscratchers for me.

[ByTor]

 Personally, when my hygienist gives me that crap that my gums wouldn't bleed if I'd floss more regularly, I roll my eyes and think, "Yeah, and it has NOTHING to do with the fact that you're picking at my gums with a sharp metal object!" 

Thank you!!!

[BatmanBeatles]

Just who exactly is the new Hamburglar for? Look at him!

 

http://greatideas.people.com/2015/05/13/mcdonalds-hamburglar-commercial/

[friendperidot]

If you wear Duluth Buck Naked Underwear, would you need to use Cottenelle to "go commando"?

[Sandman87]

I've been seeing commercials for Wienerschnitzel (the hot dog chain) ever since I can remember, but this only just occurred to me: Why is that their name when they don't sell any Wiener Schnitzel (a type of breaded veal cutlet associated with Vienna) and never have? It makes as much sense as opening a chain called "Boston Baked Beans" that doesn't serve beans of any kind, let alone the Boston kind.

[Brattinella]

That's just perfect.

[Jamoche]

Why is that their name when they don't sell any Wiener Schnitzel (a type of breaded veal cutlet associated with Vienna) and never have? 

Because hot dogs are called wiener in some parts of the country, and they were counting on their customers not knowing that "schnitzel" doesn't go with that definition of "wiener"

[DeLurker]

This Chevy commercial bothers me although I can't quite put my finger on what is so annoying to me.

 

I get irked by the terms they use - cool, jam, dope, boss.  And when they are comparing it to luxury brand cars, I can't help but ask myself "Have you ever been in a Mercedes/Range Rover/Lexus...?"

[90PercentGravity]

Why is the Apple Watch commercial so darn depressing?

[CarpeDiem54]

Why is the Apple Watch commercial so darn depressing?

Because it's 18 minutes long and about some over priced gadget no one needs. It will be appearing on the arm of every annoying hipster within 100 miles of you and you're depressed because you'll soon be in prison for beating one of them to death.

[AntiBeeSpray]

If you wear Duluth Buck Naked Underwear, would you need to use Cottenelle to "go commando"?

 

I actually liked that commercial lol. Turn about is fair play :P. The Duluth clothing one that is.

[friendperidot]

I like the Duluth commercials, if I had any money, I might look into buying some of their long tail women's shirts.

 

Edited to add that I saw the Duluth commercial followed by the Cottenelle commercial and that's where that my question came from/

Edited May 16, 2015 by friendperidot

[P2C2E]

I love Duluth! I don't buy any other pants anymore.

[Muffyn]

Every time I hear the 1-800-LOAN-ME (alright, I'm missing a number but I'm not willing to search) I hear "blow me".  Then I am left wondering why they would tell me to blow them?  

[Proclone]

I really don't get this commercial for Chobani.  I don't know if it's on TV, but I saw it twice before movies over the weekend.  A family is walking through a field covered in mud and the son is leading a cow.  The wife looks pissed and is avoiding the husband, and then he seems to flash back to when they were clean and he and the wife were cuddling.  Then they put the cow in the pen, the wife opens the husband's hand and kisses him and they all run off to clean up...oh yeah and there's a random guy with a guitar that the family never acknowledges...and the end is "love this life...Chobani."  Why is the wife pissed off?  Why does she forgive him all of a sudden?  What the hell does any of this have to do with yogurt?!  Perhaps I'm over thinking this, but the collective reaction to this commercial both times in the theaters I was in was, "Huh? It's for Chobani?"  I'm not sure that was the reaction that Chobani was going for.

[Prevailing Wind]

I read some of the YouTube comments and adbrands.net says it's an "unfolding story" - apparently you have to watch a bunch of their sappy commercials to get the idea. No, thanks.  Don't like the yogurt, either.