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Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads


Lola16
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There's a Samsung washing machine ad that's running now where frantic parents are trying to calm a crying child who has spilled juice on "lambie" 2.0.

They run to the washing machine which is equipped with a sort of rinsing mechanism outside of a wash cycle. This always raises a couple of questions: couldn't they have just as easily gone to the bathroom or kitchen sink? And do they think that a soggy "lambie" is going to calm their child?

I am not ready at the moment to comment on whether I think this is actually a useful feature or not, but having just seen this, I believe the premise of the ad is "you no longer need a separate laundry room sink because the machine has a built in/retractable sink on top".

Personally, I wouldn't want to try to wash a plush toy in a bathroom or kitchen sink. For me, no bathroom because of ick-factor, and no kitchen because (is my household full of slobs?) there's almost always at least one dish in the sink and proximity to dirty dishes would make successfully washing a plush toy (or article of clothing) very awkward. So, I think this thing isn't trying to replace other sinks, but is saying "if your laundry room doesn't have one, you're good"? But again, I can't tell if that would actually be helpful for many people, or even if it's a small subset, maybe the people who want it really really want it? This reads like something born out of a focus group.

But yeah, they're on their second kid, so the joke is sort of silly since the premise of their Samsung ads are them playing themselves. If this were an ad with just random actors playing a couple the joke might've landed, or at least landed less awkwardly.

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(edited)

Actually, I'd like that sink feature on a washing machine. I used to have a laundry room sink and used it quite a lot for soaking, handwashing, etc.

Are those stupid, panicking people supposed to be a real couple? I have no idea who they are. Regardless, they are shitty parents. How does giving a soaking wet stuffed toy to a kid better than just letting the screaming kid play with the bunny with juice on it? Lord knows (but not these dumbass parents, apparently) that the bunny will more than likely have pee, puke and other grotesque horrors on it in its lifetime. A little juice is the least of their worries. Morons.

Edited by CarpeDiem54
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(edited)

They're married in real life. They have a toddler and an infant. They're both semi-famous actors, who didn't write the commercial.

It's a dumb joke that they're supposed to be afraid of the child's freak out, but also, it didn't look like they soaked the toy in that sinkish thing. I think it was no more wet from the water than it was from the juice. Looked like they just soaped and rinsed the one spot (much faster than would've worked in real life, squeezed the water out, without towel drying it, but it's a 30 second commercial so I was handwaving that).

I can't tell the exact situation we're supposed to be presented with: is the kid crying because they took the toy away because it got juice on it? I sort of wonder if part of the concern was not that the thing had juice on it, but that possibly the kid was freaking out because it had juice on it? (I may be projecting. If my favorite comfort-toy as a toddler were white, then if I thought it had been irrevocably stained, that'd make me cry at age 2.) I know I am super over-thinking this, but it occurred to me they might be washing it because the kid wants them to, not because they felt it necessary? Of course in the end, they're washing it because Samsung thought it necessary and gave them buckets of cash to do so.

Edited by theatremouse
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it occurred to me they might be washing it because the kid wants them to

Back in the 70s, Dion was performing in coffee houses, doing his folkie thing (yet still singing Runaround Sue). Snappy patter between songs included a story about his small daughter who totally freaked because, "I got jelly on my arm! I got jelly on my arm!"  As Mom was washing daughter's arm, she'd complain about having soap on her arm, ending with "My arm's wet. I got water on my arm!"  ... there's no satisfying some kids when they perceive something's not as it should be.

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Obviously this commercial is a fail for me. Since these assholes are so rich, they should buy a backup of 400 bunnies and gift the "ruined" one to Goodwill after properly washing and drying it. Or throw it away in front of the screaming brat and tell them not to spill their freaking juice in the future.

If you can't tell, I'm in a mood. ;-)

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I saw a Chevy ad where kids get to use their WiFi gadgets in a--wait for it--Chevy. The same kids were less than thrilled when there was no WiFi in the other vehicle. Yeah, we should base our big ticket purchases on what our kids want. Hell, I was thrilled at the intricacies of the Etch-A-Sketch much less what kids take for granted now. Car AC was but a dream.

The other annoying thing about that ad is the creep factor of an apparent stranger luring children back into the other car using wifi. After they try the non-wifi car and realize their movies won't play, he says something like, "You want to get back into the other car, don't you?"

On another note, Flo from Progressive has gotten entirely too big for her britches. She was likable in her sorta nerdy, lowkey spots, but these ridiculous ads where she's playing every character ala Eddie Murphy, and singing power ballads, are just irritating. They tried to make A Thing out of what was already a good thing. Fail.

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Obviously this commercial is a fail for me. Since these assholes are so rich, they should buy a backup of 400 bunnies and gift the "ruined" one to Goodwill after properly washing and drying it. Or throw it away in front of the screaming brat and tell them not to spill their freaking juice in the future.

If you can't tell, I'm in a mood. ;-)

 

I ran into 'gifted' Goodwill stuff before! I can relate in regards to being in a mood ;). Found a nice collection of Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher books there... but sadly they were covered in cat pee! 

 

So I ended up not being able to get them and being VERY angry. They never should have been donated, let alone been put on the shelves.

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Holy cow! I had a large series of Time Life books about dinosaurs. I decided to donate them and put them in a box. My cat, who'd not paid any attention to them for the several years they were on the bottom shelf of the bookcase, jumped in and peed on the lot of them. I was pissed! I stuck them in my basement and my nephew read them when he visited. I guess a 7 year old boy isn't bothered by cat pee.

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I don't eat either mustard or ketchup, but I never even knew Heinz made mustard -- when people put out basic mustard and ketchup, all I've ever noticed it being is Heinz ketchup and French's mustard.

 

You're right, I was confusing Heinz with French's. 

 

I'm from Pittsburgh, the corporate home of Heinz, and growing up I assumed all condiments were made by Heinz.

 

. . . And I may or may not have had a coupe of beers when I posted the original.

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The thing about backup lambie is that I still don't get the whole point of the ad if Kristen is running a sopping wet toy back to the kid. And where is primary lambie? Why is the kiddo drinking a grape juice box around a stark white stuffed animal? And if said kiddo is old enough to be drinking out of a juice box, the crying doesn't match a kid who would be that age. And while I kind of found the Christmas ad when she was pregnant and directing him to do the decorations to be cute, in this ad I feel like they are starting to hate each other. They come across as very smug. Also I have no room in my house for anything other than a stackable so washer/dryer ads just make me sad and envious.

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The moral of the story here is: Cats hate reading. Why else do they sit on your newspaper when you're trying to read it?

 

"Cats can't read, and they don't want you to, either."  I don't remember whence that originated, but it has been making me laugh for decades.

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What I recall reading (during the short time I was cat-less) that cats are anti-intellectual; they have to be between you and the printed page.  On the other hand, Rita Mae Brown knows a page she's written is OK if that cat doesn't sit on it.  If she sits, the page needs editing.  (RMB uses a typewriter still!)

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Cats don't want us to read and gain too much knowledge. We just need to be smart enough to support them. They are The Overlords of the Universe after all.

Damn, I miss having a kitty. What's that in my eye?...

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Damn, I miss having a kitty. What's that in my eye?...

A cat hair?  The second day of my vacation, at "Free Continental Breakfast," I noticed a cat hair in my fruit salad.  It wasn't there when I first dished it out and I did recognize it - Bosco goes with me where ever I go, even if he's physically at home, part of him sticks to me.  (And falls off at inopportune times.) LOL.

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A local property management company is running an ad where they say "We think that our property owners deserve to be treated with more respect", which I interpret to mean that they show insufficient respect to their clients. Not exactly something they should advertise.

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"Advanced technology doesn't have to be intimidating."  The drones are the bad use of technology and the car is the good one.  (I think it's a terrible commercial, but that's the connection between the drones and the car.)

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Don't blame the drone. Who was the idiot who grabbed it? Oh yeah, that would be Enrique the Clueless (or Fingerless).

I read on my Twitter awhile ago that he's undergoing reconstructive hand surgery in Miami (where he lives). No real surprise there. It was a dumb thing to do--though I guess a regular part of his current shows which had worked well prior to this past weekend--but I kinda feel bad for him, in regards to the injury. Hoping the surgery goes well.

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They're using the Nationwide giant baby ads again.  I can't appreciate the ads because I'm fretting about how much a giant baby would eat, what sporting goods shop would be best for buying the gigantic diapers, and what extraordinary circumstances would lead to the conception and subsequent birth of a giant baby.  How could any parent discipline a baby who could sit on them and make a greasy spot on the pavement?  See what I mean?

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(edited)

If cats can't read, how does my cat know exactly which can is not only a Fancy Feast can, but the particular flavor he likes?

 

BTW, what is it with all these chubby, monotone, bearded weirdos in commercials all the sudden?

Edited by 90PercentGravity
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If cats can't read, how does my cat know exactly which can is not only a Fancy Feast can, but the particular flavor he likes?

 

BTW, what is it with all these chubby, monotone, bearded weirdos in commercials all the sudden?

My guess that is the New John Q. Public.

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(edited)

It's possible I took a pic with my phone of my cats' favorite flavor and brand so I'd stock up correctly. It's also possible my husband was involved in the process as the hand model holding the can for its portrait.

Edited by bubbls
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Did you then buy a case of it, only to have your cats decide they wouldn't eat it anymore?

 

Not that such a thing has ever happened to me.

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Or, they will cry and cry and cry and look balefully at you every time you walk in the kitchen and pass by the full bowl of food that is slowly turning from soft food into pebble briquettes until the guilt takes over and they get new food.

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Bosco attempts to cover it up - especially MY food.  My SIL says he's saving it for later, but, no, he hates my coffee and tries to cover the entire mug.  I once left an empty salad bowl on the table and when I got back from putting the wash into the dryer, Bosco had put the cloth napkin into the bowl to cover it, with the placemat gently wrapped around the whole thing.  He doesn't like ranch dressing, either.

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When Blue first came out, I got various flavors (sample-size) for the kitties to try. The only one they'd touch was the rabbit, of all flavors. So they eat rabbit dry food and Fancy Feast wet (salmon or tuna shredded, primavera, or tuscany)

Edited by riley702
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George will only eat Fancy Feast Ocean Whitefish and Tuna Classic. I once tried to switch him to Trader Joe's. It's the only time I've ever had to take him to the vet. He refused to eat and after four days stopped pooping and peeing. 

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My mother has a cat named Maggie, and the little beast eats more cat treats than actual food. She'll only eat the Temptations brand and turns her nose up at the rest, to the point that Mom had to start buying the economy size at Sam's Club so that she seldom runs out. The joke is that Maggie needs to get a part-time job o as to pay for all those treats.

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Nope no cases. I stocked with several cans though. I learned the "case" lesson years ago. I informed my woefully delusional husband it was only a matter of time before they moved on and more pictures would be taken.

Edited by bubbls
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(edited)

 

The thing about backup lambie is that I still don't get the whole point of the ad if Kristen is running a sopping wet toy back to the kid. And where is primary lambie? Why is the kiddo drinking a grape juice box around a stark white stuffed animal? And if said kiddo is old enough to be drinking out of a juice box, the crying doesn't match a kid who would be that age. And while I kind of found the Christmas ad when she was pregnant and directing him to do the decorations to be cute, in this ad I feel like they are starting to hate each other. They come across as very smug. Also I have no room in my house for anything other than a stackable so washer/dryer ads just make me sad and envious.

I'd never analyzed that commercial much. For me, it was always, "Hey, there's Kristen Bell and Dax Shepherd again. How cute." But thanks to my fellow... posters on this thread  (what are we, by the way? I used to be a TWOPer. Am I now a previously-er?), thanks to my fellow posters, I now see how many plot holes there are in the commercial. For one thing, the child is crying like a baby, but she'd been drinking from a juice box. I'm just not sure. What I did take away from the commercial is that Dax and Kristen are really afraid of their kid for some reason. Afraid of her crying, afraid of her having a stuffed animal with juice on it's face--or maybe the kid demanded a clean lamb. And Dax warns Kristen not to let the baby (toddler?) see the fear in her eyes. Why not? Are they raising Rosemary's Baby?

 

In any event, the commercial made me chuckle, even if it didn't make a whole lot of sense. I'm someone who doesn't have a sink in my laundry room, so if I could afford this overpriced washing machine, I would certainly run out and get one.

Edited by topanga
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The Enrique Iglesias drone injury story just goes to show.....nothing good happens in Tijuana.

 

As for cats, all this makes me think (as a former cat owner myself) that pet food companies will just give up on marketing to humans. You know, since the cat ultimately decides what s/he will and won't eat. And maybe they'll try ads like this instead.

 

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Me too!

 

I think they might be able to smell through the cans. That's my best guess on it.

Mine can apparently smell through a tuna fish pouch--all I have to do is pick it up and she's right.there.

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