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Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads


Lola16
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This Nissan Rogue commercial has been discussed somewhere already, but I don't recall anyone talking about the premise, which I don't get.  Why do they go in two cars to pick up the parents from the airport in the first place?  Is the point of the commercial that the car isn't big enough for four adults and a few pieces of luggage?  Because that's what I take away from it.

  • Love 2

 

I have seen this one so many times and I still don't get it.  Here's the description:

 

Las Vegas means: no assumptions, no judgment, come as you are, be who you want and do what you like. When you visit Las Vegas, we encourage you to embrace who you are at your very core. A Las Vegas vacation will push your comfort zone and create unforgettable moments.

 

 

Okay, fair enough.  But what about her?  Where does she fit into the situation?  

 

  • Love 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eyKmpffiZ0

I have seen this one so many times and I still don't get it. Here's the description:

Okay, fair enough. But what about her? Where does she fit into the situation?

Why is this confusing? The 2nd clerk thinks the husband and the guy who stepped upto the desk are boyfriends.

I saw a new ad for some Lego knock-off that seems to think the little pushcart that comes with it that picks up the blocks from the floor is a big selling point. Yeah, kids LOVE to pick up their blo blocks from the floor!

Edited by Ubiquitous
  • Love 2

Why is this confusing? The 2nd clerk thinks the husband and the guy who stepped upto the desk assumed they're boyfriends.

 

 

I'm not confused by the clerk.  I'm confused by the look the two guys exchange.  Is the first guy married?  Is she his girlfriend?  Are they just friends?  Is he gay, straight, bi, what?  Is he going to dump her to spend the weekend with the other guy?  Or is it all just a little harmless flirting?

 

One potential implication disturbs me.  Namely, that's he's a closeted gay man who cheats on his wife with men when they're on vacation in Vegas.  But it's okay because, you know, what happens in Vegas, blah blah blah.  The description ("embrace who you are at your very core") seems to reinforce that interpretation of the commercial.

 

But mileage varies, of course.

  • Love 1

I'm not confused by the clerk. I'm confused by the look the two guys exchange. Is the first guy married? Is she his girlfriend? Are they just friends? Is he gay, straight, bi, what? Is he going to dump her to spend the weekend with the other guy? Or is it all just a little harmless flirting?

One potential implication disturbs me. Namely, that's he's a closeted gay man who cheats on his wife with men when they're on vacation in Vegas. But it's okay because, you know, what happens in Vegas, blah blah blah. The description ("embrace who you are at your very core") seems to reinforce that interpretation of the commercial.

But mileage varies, of course.

They looked bemused to me. :-D Edited by Ubiquitous
  • Love 1

 

This Nissan Rogue commercial has been discussed somewhere already, but I don't recall anyone talking about the premise, which I don't get.  Why do they go in two cars to pick up the parents from the airport in the first place?  Is the point of the commercial that the car isn't big enough for four adults and a few pieces of luggage?  Because that's what I take away from it.

It really doesn't; the rear seating folds down so you have a choice of it being a two-seater with cargo space or a four-seater with practically none. The company web page seems to highlight the former.

  • Love 2

Not sure if this one has been mentioned before...

If you are taken to a closed room, you see there is a huge wood chipper sitting there, the host has you put on safety goggles, and then asks for your smart phone...are you REALLY going to be completely surprised when he puts your phone in the chipper?  Really?  If so, I'm afraid you're too dumb to own a smart phone anyway.

  • Love 3

Because while she's carrying the pertussis virus (?) and it seems is actively ill, but since she's an adult and was already vaccinated her body can handle it. But the infant she's holding can't be vaccinated for it yet and pertussis for infants is often deadly. So the illness is the wolf hiding (like the wolf did) waiting to devour the baby/Little Red Riding Hood. Adults need to get boosters sometimes, and I know pertussis is one of those that require boosters.

  • Love 7

Because while she's carrying the pertussis virus (?) and it seems is actively ill, but since she's an adult and was already vaccinated her body can handle it. But the infant she's holding can't be vaccinated for it yet and pertussis for infants is often deadly. So the illness is the wolf hiding (like the wolf did) waiting to devour the baby/Little Red Riding Hood. Adults need to get boosters sometimes, and I know pertussis is one of those that require boosters.

Ohhh, so it had nothing to do with three three pigs (and a heavy-breathing wolf)! That makes a little more sense...
  • Love 2

I can't find it right now, but I saw a commercial for Pillsbury that was promoting the biscuit products as superior to toast because they were soft and you did not experience that grating noise that happens when you butter your toast. 

 

Does that sound really bother enough people?  I've never really thought about it or noticed it...

  • Love 2

I can't find it right now, but I saw a commercial for Pillsbury that was promoting the biscuit products as superior to toast because they were soft and you did not experience that grating noise that happens when you butter your toast.

 

Does that sound really bother enough people?  I've never really thought about it or noticed it...

 

Yeah, I've seen this.  Wow, that's a stretch.  I very much prefer toast to biscuits and if the sound of the butter scraping onto the toast was the best reason they could come up with for switching, they failed big time.

  • Love 8

Cross-posting this to "Favorite Commercials" because although I wonder about whether its intended audience will get it, I do understand (and love!) it:

 

I'm currently obsessed with the "I Love New York" scratch-off ticket game ad. Can't find video for it, but they run it in my NY hometown and where I currently live, Mystic, CT. It uses the "I Love New York" song that was created in the mid-seventies and used through the eighties in ads to try to lure frightened tourists back to NYC -- and to get city-dwellers interested in exploring other parts of the state.

 

Anyway, there's a Joe Schmo-looking guy who imagines himself in a number of scenic upstate destinations while badly singing about his experiences to the tune of the "I Love NY" song as he scratches a scratch-off card and wins a trip! "I won a trip . . ." he sings, to which the underwhelmed convenience store-owner deadpan-sings back "That is so exciting".

 

The ad is utterly ridiculous, yet appeals to me because a) I'm ancient, and can remember the originals from when I was a kid, and b) because the actor who plays the convenience-store guy is perfect. Still, I wonder how successful it will be if it's aiming for any market beyond olds like me.

 

And now, having thoroughly embarrassed myself by painstakingly describing a "you had to be there" situation, I will let myself out.

 

Edited because: links.

Edited by spaceghostess
  • Love 2

Yeah, I've seen this.  Wow, that's a stretch.  I very much prefer toast to biscuits and if the sound of the butter scraping onto the toast was the best reason they could come up with for switching, they failed big time.

More than failed, antagonized me. The sound of butter scraping onto toasted bread is a big plus -- a harbinger of crunchy goodness in the immediate future. I don't want to get rid of that!

  • Love 10

That Big Bad Wolf commercial scares the shit out of me.  I know it's about the pertussis vaccine, but all I see is Granny about to devour that baby. 

 

I'll take the Symbicort's version of the BBW, thanks.  At least he's animated.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drCWcLnWGP8

Yes, I worry about the baby in that ad. The BBW in the other may be animated, but he's the kid's grandfather. So, did the cartoon go back to the pigs' house to finish thd job?
  • Love 1

Are the two women in the IKEA ad who appear to be clones of the anal-retdntive OCD chick in the Tide commercial who arranged her hot and sweet peppers together sppsd to be lesbian lovers? The ad is WAY too coy about it for my liking, not to mention the way they sorted those condiment packs in a drawer.

Are the two women in the IKEA ad who appear to be clones of the anal-retdntive OCD chick in the Tide commercial who arranged her hot and sweet peppers together sppsd to be lesbian lovers? The ad is WAY too coy about it for my liking, not to mention the way they sorted those condiment packs in a drawer.

I assume they're lesbians since they're celebrating their anniversary, and IIRC, the commercial mentions something about love. I don't mind that, in fact I like it. It's the ridiculous sauce packets and the fact they have this fancy schmancy kitchen and they only apparently ever eat take-out that bugs the hell out of me.

  • Love 5

Yes, I worry about the baby in that ad. The BBW in the other may be animated, but he's the kid's grandfather. So, did the cartoon go back to the pigs' house to finish thd job?

 

Good point.  Now I'm imagining the BBW as some form of avatar for the Grandfather.  

 

After seeing the commercial again, I feel really bad for the pigs.  Technically, the COPD was keeping the wolf from blowing their house down, lol.

 

Re: the IKEA commercial, I also thought the women were lesbians, since they mentioned an anniversary.  It felt like a "saying it without saying it" type of thing. Even though anniversaries can be for other things besides romance, I definitely took them to be a couple.

  • Love 4

Why is this commercial narrated like they're describing car manufacturing or something? It's so rapid fire and lacks any kind of "feels". Food commercials usually try to convey a warm fuzzy feeling (unless you're Panerra, who are targeting hogs at a trough), not some cold, calculated process. Not that I'd buy Ragu anyway, but still.

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/ALFc/ragu-simmered-in-tradition

  • Love 3

Why is this commercial narrated like they're describing car manufacturing or something? It's so rapid fire and lacks any kind of "feels". Food commercials usually try to convey a warm fuzzy feeling (unless you're Panerra, who are targeting hogs at a trough), not some cold, calculated process. Not that I'd buy Ragu anyway, but still.

 

Yeah - for something that has a tagline of "simmered in tradition", they sure convey the exact opposite of "simmered".

  • Love 3

There's an ad for some diabetes medication. The lady is at her mother or grandmother's house for Sunday dinner. It's Italian and served family style. So all these bowls go by with stuff she can't eat. Like pasta. But this bowl with meatballs comes by and she can't eat those either. Huh? What's wrong with meatballs. I figured those would be OK.

  • Love 2

 

unless you're Panerra, who are targeting hogs at a trough

 

See, that's why I rarely eat there. I feel like the people working there are judging me because I am not eating like a caveman.

 

I feel so sorry for the diabetic woman who can't eat anything at Sunday supper. It's too bad this is a reality for so many real Americans (not actors.) It's even worse that the drugs available to treat high blood sugar also have such horrible side effects (kidney failure, liver failure, heart failure, inability to distinguish one Darrin from the other on "Bewitched" etc.)

  • Love 9

Also apparently some people put sugar in tomato sauce.

 

And like most preserved foods, jarred versions of pasta sauce and ketchup are made with a ton of sugar.  I knew of a restaurant that only served sugar-free ketchup and it was disgusting.  I had no idea that sugar plays such a big role in condiments like that.

  • Love 2

Yep. I always put a tiny bit of sugar in my tomato sauce, too.

 

Sometimes I'll put in a splash of balsamic vinegar instead, as it has a bit of sweetness, but has a more complex flavor than mere sweetness. And yes, my Mom always said salty stuff needs a pinch of sweetness and sweet stuff needs a pinch of salt (like our homemade brownies).

Edited by riley702
  • Love 2

But if she's careful, she CAN eat sugar & meatballs with breadcrumbs.  The diabetes class I went to gave me a limit of 45 grams of carb  in my lunch and in my dinner.  You can easily cut back on other stuff to allow for the smidgen of carbs in meatballs, fer pete's sake. Unless she's vegan, too. 

  • Love 6

But if she's careful, she CAN eat sugar & meatballs with breadcrumbs.  The diabetes class I went to gave me a limit of 45 grams of carb  in my lunch and in my dinner.  You can easily cut back on other stuff to allow for the smidgen of carbs in meatballs, fer pete's sake. Unless she's vegan, too.

Or whoever makes the meatballs puts a bunch of other crap in them, too.

I would think she could have one or two without totally screwing up her blood sugar. Or, if her family was thoughtful, they could make her a few without cooking them in the tomato sauce.

  • Love 5

Or whoever makes the meatballs puts a bunch of other crap in them, too.

I would think she could have one or two without totally screwing up her blood sugar. Or, if her family was thoughtful, they could make her a few without cooking them in the tomato sauce.

She can, because if you look at her plate, she has one meatball and a little pasta while the rest of the plate is surrounded by green vegetables.

 

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/Ak02/jardiance-around-the-clock

  • Love 4

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