Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[Haleth]

I would paint it light blue and drive it around while listening to "Shambala" by Three Dog Night.

Hurley?

[Stella Rose]

Well IMO insurance companies don't need to know everything about you including an anal probing to give you a quote. All you should need to provide is year make model of car, your gender and age. And what zip code you park the vehicle overnight in. And if you've had any tickets or accidents in the past year. That's enough to give them. But anymore, they want way too much info just for a quote.

Full disclosure:  I never, ever performed an anal probe in order to give a quite.  I did however ask folks - "Any accident or tickets"  answer "No".   So I press the "run reports button (which the agent has to pay for btw - and POW...  3 speeding tickets, 2 accidents, a DUI, and a suspended license. )   "Oh, yeah, I forgot."  Sadly NO ONE tells the truth when asking for a quote.  They are hoping you, as the agent will say, yeah, that's $100 a month for full coverage on your Ginormous Brand New Honkin Vehicle, since you have a perfect driving record - and when it comes back at $750 per month because they basically LIED, they think they can threaten you with lawyers, bait & switch tactics, etc.  Ptooey.  If you want someone to blow smoke up your ass, call the General etc., give them no info and see what they tell you v. what you get.  Want a real quote, call a reputable company and give them your info.  They aren't just asking for your info to piss you off or steal your ID.  I can't count how many people would scream at me "You need my Drivers License Number??"  Like I had cold called them and was trying to steal their shitty credit.   Not today, Satan.

 

On topic:  Giant floating heads for Little Caesar's deep dish pizza - what exactly is 3.5  feet of cheese?  Square feet?  Linear feet?  Pulled to the thickness of thread feet?  Huzza wha?

Edited April 16, 2016 by Stella Rose

[Jamoche]

On topic:  Giant floating heads for Little Caesar's deep dish pizza - what exactly is 3.5  feet of cheese?  Square feet?  Linear feet?  Pulled to the thickness of thread feet?  Huzza wha?

Yes! I was sure I'd misheard that the first few times - who measures cheese in feet? And if it's cheap-ass pseudo-mozzarella, blech!

[NYGirl]

WTF is this commercial about?

 

[Brattinella]

WTF is this commercial about?

 

 

This is my favorite commercial running now.  It plays a lot here, and I always laugh!  It is about a phone.

[stillhere1900]

I'd have to learn how to drive stick first(or spend $$$ having it converted to automatic).

 

My parents insisted that we learn how to drive a stick before we were taught to drive an automatic. Dad said 'if you can drive a stick, you can drive any car but if you only know how to drive an auto, what happens if you get stuck somewhere and the only car available is a stick shift ?"

 

Yep.

Edited April 16, 2016 by stillhere1900

[Broken Ox]

My parents insisted that we learn how to drive a stick before we were taught to drive an automatic. Dad said 'if you can drive a stick, you can drive any car but if you only know how to drive an auto, what happens if you get stuck somewhere and the car is a sick shift ?"

Sis?

[stillhere1900]

Sis?

 Ha! you too ?

[Bastet]

My parents insisted that we learn how to drive a stick before we were taught to drive an automatic. Dad said 'if you can drive a stick, you can drive any car but if you only know how to drive an auto, what happens if you get stuck somewhere and the only car available is a stick shift ?"

 

Oh my god, my dad has another family out there somewhere?  I'm telling my mom!

[Brattinella]

My parents insisted that we learn how to drive a stick before we were taught to drive an automatic. Dad said 'if you can drive a stick, you can drive any car but if you only know how to drive an auto, what happens if you get stuck somewhere and the only car available is a stick shift ?"

 

Yep.

 

A situation happened when I was maybe 16, brand-new license.  The end result was I was the only one who could legally drive, and the only car available was a Bug.  That's how I learned to drive a stick.  I still do drive a stick.

[stillhere1900]

My very first car was a stick. One time I had to drive an auto, I had to keep telling myself..... 'take your hand off the gear shift  lol

[peacheslatour]

My parents insisted that we learn how to drive a stick before we were taught to drive an automatic. Dad said 'if you can drive a stick, you can drive any car but if you only know how to drive an auto, what happens if you get stuck somewhere and the only car available is a stick shift ?"

 

Yep.

My first car had a stick and I had to learn to drive it in like two hours. Had to be at work in downtown Seattle that evening. If you don't know Seattle, it's nothing but hills. Burnt that clutch right out.

[Rick Kitchen]

WTF is this commercial about?

 

 

Jason Statham plays all of the characters.

[NewDigs]

Flo has left a bad taste for that. For me.

[SmithW6079]

That new Kohler ad with the humanoid robots and other robots at the human party who are enraptured about the robot toilet is just creepy, and a harbinger of things to come.

[Stella Rose]

Another long lost stick sister here.  Dad took me out in the snow in his 78 Chevy 5 speed on the column - no power anything - for my first drive.

 

To this day, my foot still looks for the clutch when I am doing a fast-speed turn or when sitting on an incline!    That was (cough) almost 30 years ago.  If I could have my T-Bird changed over to standard I would do it in a second.

 

Commercials...  are...  bad.  sorry, got nothing.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

That new Kohler ad with the humanoid robots and other robots at the human party who are enraptured about the robot toilet is just creepy, and a harbinger of things to come.

 

I saw that ad during the L & O marathon on Sundance, and I was like, WTF is this? A release date party for Cyberdyne Industries?

[cynicat]

Yes! I was sure I'd misheard that the first few times - who measures cheese in feet? And if it's cheap-ass pseudo-mozzarella, blech!

 

I believe they may measure it that way over in the My 600-lb Life forum.

[stillhere1900]

Oh my god, my dad has another family out there somewhere?  I'm telling my mom!

 

hahaha. We need to form a club.

[erikdepressant]

That new Kohler ad with the humanoid robots and other robots at the human party who are enraptured about the robot toilet is just creepy, and a harbinger of things to come.

Yeah... get off my lawn and all, but I am NOT ready for intelligent toilets.  I want my toilet stupid.  Really stupid.  And all those gadgets mean more malfunctions, higher repair bills, and probably more difficult cleaning.

 

ETA: "Your underwear is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it... I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect my bidet, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen."

Edited April 18, 2016 by erikdepressant

[Cobalt Stargazer]

HAL, is that you? Or is that Joshua?

[Watcher0363]

We should face the fact that between Siri, and the internet of things, life will soon become pretty strange for us older people.

 

Person: Siri pull up my shopping list.

Person: Siri who added all of these fruit and vegetables to my shopping list?

 

Siri: According to your last stool sample you were not receiving enough fiber in your diet.

[Brattinella]

We should face the fact that between Siri, and the internet of things, life will soon become pretty strange for us older people.

 

Person: Siri pull up my shopping list.

Person: Siri who added all of these fruit and vegetables to my shopping list?

 

Siri: According to your last stool sample you were not receiving enough fiber in your diet.

 

GAH!!

[proserpina65]

My parents insisted that we learn how to drive a stick before we were taught to drive an automatic. Dad said 'if you can drive a stick, you can drive any car but if you only know how to drive an auto, what happens if you get stuck somewhere and the only car available is a stick shift ?"

 

Yep.

Since my mother could never drive stick, they couldn't use that on me.  I did learn from a friend, but rolling backwards on hills terrified me, so I've never done it since.  I could do it in an emergency if I had to, though.

We should face the fact that between Siri, and the internet of things, life will soon become pretty strange for us older people.

 

Person: Siri pull up my shopping list.

Person: Siri who added all of these fruit and vegetables to my shopping list?

 

Siri: According to your last stool sample you were not receiving enough fiber in your diet.

Perfect reason for me never to have an IPhone.

[bad things are bad]

I am NOT ready for intelligent toilets.  I want my toilet stupid

 

although the talking toilet on Bob's Burgers was awesome, I don't want one in my house either

 

Re: the ability to drive stick--to those of you who are able to row those gears, may I ask how old you are? I theorize that almost everyone over 40 can drive a stick, but very few under 40 can

[Ubiquitous]

Jason Statham plays all of the characters.

Is THAT who that is? It still doesn't make any sense.

[OSM Mom]

Re: the ability to drive stick--to those of you who are able to row those gears, may I ask how old you are? I theorize that almost everyone over 40 can drive a stick, but very few under 40 can

I'm 50 and I learned from my husband when we got married 30 years ago. Both my 20 something OSM sons and 30 something OSM stepdaughters can as well.

Oh and count me in on the "I want a stupid toilet" post. Yeah. Same thing with my cars. I want stupid cars like the ones I have. Nimrods with tires.

Edited April 18, 2016 by OSM Mom

[Brattinella]

although the talking toilet on Bob's Burgers was awesome, I don't want one in my house either

 

Re: the ability to drive stick--to those of you who are able to row those gears, may I ask how old you are? I theorize that almost everyone over 40 can drive a stick, but very few under 40 can

I'm well over 40, and my younger siblings all drive a stick, too.  I taught them!

 

I REALLY wouldn't mind Gene's Talking Toilet!  (Or Stan's talking/flying hot tub!)

[stillhere1900]

although the talking toilet on Bob's Burgers was awesome, I don't want one in my house either

 

Re: the ability to drive stick--to those of you who are able to row those gears, may I ask how old you are? I theorize that almost everyone over 40 can drive a stick, but very few under 40 can

42

[Moose135]

Re: the ability to drive stick--to those of you who are able to row those gears, may I ask how old you are? I theorize that almost everyone over 40 can drive a stick, but very few under 40 can

 

I'm 55 - I learned to drive on my father's Plymouth sedan, Slant 6 engine and three on the tree.

[Jamoche]

although the talking toilet on Bob's Burgers was awesome, I don't want one in my house either

 

Re: the ability to drive stick--to those of you who are able to row those gears, may I ask how old you are? I theorize that almost everyone over 40 can drive a stick, but very few under 40 can

50, but I learned to drive stick 20 years ago from the Miata saleslady the day I bought it. I learned to drive automatics from an ambulance driver, and he'd been taught to drive with the left foot on the brake, because that way you have enough control to start and stop without the passenger even noticing. And my mom drove the same way thanks to undiagnosed greenstick fractures she got as a toddler in 1944, when the doctors were all overseas - they'd thought she'd had polio for a few weeks until she started walking again. Had to unlearn all that because the DMV doesn't approve.

[CarpeDiem54]

62 here and learned how to drive on my Mom's 1953 Plymouth. All my cars were sticks until 1995 when I bought my first automatic.

Back to commercials I don't really understand - this one tells me absolutely nothing about the product except that it's consumed by a dumb woman who forgets the movie she's watching has a sex and/or violent scene her kid shouldn't see and that she's married to a doofus (aren't they all?) who can't work the remote control.

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/A2cV/good-thins-pg-13

[erikdepressant]

We should face the fact that between Siri, and the internet of things, life will soon become pretty strange for us older people.

 

Person: Siri pull up my shopping list.

Person: Siri who added all of these fruit and vegetables to my shopping list?

 

Siri: According to your last stool sample you were not receiving enough fiber in your diet.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

 

Speaking of detecting things in stool:

This is a really cheap shot, but... Since UPS drops off & picks up the test, you get to ask... what can Brown do for you?

[Prevailing Wind]

Bwaaa ahahahaha

[mojoween]

I'm 42 and cannot drive a stick. My husband tried to teach me for five minutes. I ground the gears, lurched forward, stalled and said "forget it I'll never learn this you drive."

[riley702]

I'm 55 and I taught myself in my early 20s. I was buying a new car and the one I liked was a stick. I thought, "Millions of people drive these things every day. How hard can it be?" So of course they had to tell me to hold in the clutch while starting it. LOL Stopping on inclines was the hardest and it always seemed some asshole was right on my bumper, so I couldn't just roll backward momentarily. But I figured it out. It's hard to find a stick shift on the lot these days.

[chessiegal]

I'm 65 and learned to drive a stick at 15 from a boyfriend who had a Studebaker with 3 on the column. He then bought a 4 speed Astin Martin that I also drove. Gave me the sports car bug. When I was 35 I bought a Porsche 944 - I call it an early midlife crisis.

 

My husband taught his 2 daughters, now in their 30s, to drive a stick on his '76 Chevy pick-up. I drove it once, and it was the hardest clutch I ever used. Poor girls!

[NikSac]

I'm not sure if this belongs here or in the "Annoy/Irritate/Enrage" thread, but it's kind of both and thought it made more sense.

 

I don't mind either one of the commercials individually, but I think it is so bizarre that the anti-tobacco industry is using that "Back in Baby's Arms" song for their commercials, showing people happily falling back into tobacco addiction, while Mazda just came out with what I assume is supposed to be an inspirational commercial with people driving their Mazdas in beautiful locations set to the same song.  I've seen the e-cigarette one a ton of times and thought that's what it was when the latest commercial came on, then realized it was a Mazda one. I just thought the whole thing was strange, or at very least bad timing having them both airing around the same time.

[bad things are bad]

Speaking of detecting things in stool:

 

Hah! Just had my annual physical today and was asked if I'd had a colonoscopy yet. I said no, because I'm procrastinating like a fiend (yuck) and the doc gave me the envelope! 

 

thanks to all who answered about driving a manual transmission. I think our sample size is small and skewed older. Don't young folks use the Internet anymore :)

[proserpina65]

Is THAT who that is? It still doesn't make any sense.

Okay, I'll grant that maybe the ad doesn't make much sense in and of itself, but for those of us who are fans of the Statham, it's hilarious.  I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be saying about LG phones, but I practically roll off the couch laughing by the time it gets to JS riding the bull.  And I do know it's a commercial for LG phones, so I guess that's a win for them?

Hah! Just had my annual physical today and was asked if I'd had a colonoscopy yet. I said no, because I'm procrastinating like a fiend (yuck) and the doc gave me the envelope! 

 

thanks to all who answered about driving a manual transmission. I think our sample size is small and skewed older. Don't young folks use the Internet anymore :)

Apparently they don't use sites where they have to type in complete sentences.  And they hang out on my lawn.

[DeLurker]

My very first car was a stick. One time I had to drive an auto, I had to keep telling myself..... 'take your hand off the gear shift  lol

I had a hell of a time remembering that I can't take my foot off the brake at a red light when transitioning from stick to automatic.

 

My daughter loves the LG phone commercial with Jason Stratham because the music is from some Japanese anime she loves.  I want to say Vocaloid.

[Watcher0363]

There is a say what commercial out there for me. It isn't a head scratchier, but a, I really can't believe they are marketing "this" to that group of people. It is a commercial for Cover Girl makeup, marketing a line of Star Wars makeup, to young women in their twenties. There was a movie a while back where a character announced that men won the gender war, the moment women started taking up pole dancing for exercising. I now believe the geeky tech nerds have won the alpha male wars. When you can walk into the bathroom of your young beautiful date and she proudly has her line of Star Wars branded makeup on display. To be twenty something and talk sci fi with a young woman and not have her eyes glaze over with boredom. You go, you young geeky tech nerdy boys and girls.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Watcher0363

[Actionmage]

But Cover Girl comes out with "collections" with shades named after movies periodically, not just Star Wars. There have been James Bond collections, Memoirs of a Geisha and there is one now that is based on Empire ( the TV show).

 

I do agree that it's cool that make-up isn't shying away from "geek", but I figure that the emphasis on recreating character looks is partly what Cover Girl is going after. Conventions and cosplay cost $$$ and good make-up isn't cheap.

[JackiFL]

although the talking toilet on Bob's Burgers was awesome, I don't want one in my house either

Re: the ability to drive stick--to those of you who are able to row those gears, may I ask how old you are? I theorize that almost everyone over 40 can drive a stick, but very few under 40 can

I'm 54, SO is 57. Daughters are 30 and 32. We all drive stick!

[meep.meep]

 

thanks to all who answered about driving a manual transmission. I think our sample size is small and skewed older. Don't young folks use the Internet anymore :)

 

I'm 60 and my two kids are under 30.  I can drive stick, and my son does.  My daughter doesn't though we have tried to teach her many many times.

 

I think there's an age factor, but it's not the only one.

[Haleth]

But Cover Girl comes out with "collections" with shades named after movies periodically, not just Star Wars. There have been James Bond collections, Memoirs of a Geisha and there is one now that is based on Empire ( the TV show).

 

I do agree that it's cool that make-up isn't shying away from "geek", but I figure that the emphasis on recreating character looks is partly what Cover Girl is going after. Conventions and cosplay cost $$$ and good make-up isn't cheap.

There is also an NFL line to counteract the geek.

[Actionmage]

I got curious and played around the interwebs and found  there are plenty of cosmetic companies that find ways to tie in to movies and have for a time.

 

Revlon, who have/had Halle Berry, had a natural in on Die Another Day. There were collections with Twilight , The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and The Hunger Games. There are going to be collections tied in to Star Trek's 50th anniversary and Alice Through The Looking Glass.

 

Tying back to the subject, it's just how much a company wants to spend on airtime, as opposed to print, I'm guessing.  Companies like Revlon and Cover Girl already have money set for TV, so their pushes stick with us due to exposure. As opposed to in-store or print ads.

 

Also more on topic: I get branding, but on the Buick ad that shows there is a light that lights the ground beside the driver's door (?), why is it the buick  logo instead of a helpful sized, clear light? Not all Buick owners are going to be international spies who need to sneak away to safety in the dark.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Actionmage

[Moose135]

Also more on topic: I get branding, but on the Buick ad that shows there is a light that lights the ground beside the driver's door (?), why is it the buick  logo instead of a helpful sized, clear light? Not all Buick owners are going to be international spies who need to sneak away to safety in the dark.

I guess that's a thing now - I haven't seen the Buick one, but recently, a couple of coworkers were in town from another office, and they drove when we went to dinner, in a rental Ford Mustang.  When you opened the door, the light shined a Mustang-logo shaped spot on the ground, although it seemed plenty large enough to see by.

[peacheslatour]

 

Don't young folks use the Internet anymore?

Yes, but they don't watch T.V.

[erikdepressant]

I don't wear clothes with logos on them, so I would have to tape over a logo-projector on my car.  Unless Buick or Ford wanted to pay me to advertise for them, of course.

 

I'll submit a suggestion to Lexus that they install projectors to shine an anus on the ground for their drivers.