Say What?: Commercials That Made Us Scratch Our Heads

[cakes1975]

On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 7:43 AM, Haleth said:

(I think the S'mores ones are awesome.)

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard (sp?)  They're supposed to be endearingly wacky.

Some time ago a What's Hot! spokesman was showing this fridge on the Today Show.  The hosts could  barely keep a straight face because of how ridiculous and unnecessary it is to have a fridge talk to your phone.

That's why most airlines don't serve peanuts on planes anymore.  And why schools are so strict about snacks.  That allergy commercial freaks me out.  Why the misunderstanding?  One word-- kids.  

A friend's daughter is so allergic to tree nuts that her boyfriend once ate cookies with nuts in them, forgot to brush his teeth, and six hours later the daughter went into shock from making out with said boyfriend. Her parents have to double bag any nuts in the house when she visits.

[riley702]

14 hours ago, DeLurker said:

There's a McDonald's McPick commercial in rotation where they talk about their fish sandwich and specify it is made from "sustainable sourced" fish.  Which makes me wonder about what type of fish.

I have a long standing affection for their fish sandwiches and now they've made me go and think about it.  Bad move McDonalds.

Farmed, maybe? That would be better than overfishing areas.

[fishcakes]

I would have thought farmed as well, but their website says they use wild pollock. I do remember a few years back there was some controversy because they were using hoki, which I guess was not as plentiful, so they switched. And when I was a kid back in dinosaur times, they used halibut. But the sandwich has always tasted the same (except for those dark, misbegotten years when they replaced the Filet-O-Fish with the Fish Filet Deluxe), so I think the main thing is that they not swap out the slice of processed cheese and glug of tartar sauce.

[bilgistic]

To my understanding, "farm" (factory-run) fisheries are akin to factory chicken farms. The fish are extremely overcrowded and overfed in disgusting ponds.

[NewDigs]

The pollock are found in deep trenches off the Alaska coast. They seem to be calling it sustainable simply because they aren't (supposed to be) dragging their nets across the ocean floor any more but are to stay in the top half of the trench. But app. 40+% of the nets do drag the bottom doing irreparable damage to corals, sponges, etc. etc., damaging the sealife's "nursery" which endangers all sealife and critters there.

I couldn't find a single good source to easily explain this as it seems to be a polarizing subject with not a lot of oversight and too much self-policing by the industry. 

It's almost like, if you call it sustainably managed, then it is.

[NewDigs]

31 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

To my understanding, "farm" (factory-run) fisheries are akin to factory chicken farms. The fish are extremely overcrowded and overfed in disgusting ponds.

And some of those ponds don't have any exchange of water because those water releases are very damaging to the environment. Disgusting is being kind. Meanwhile we ship most of our fresh catches overseas and import frozen.

[Talky Tina]

On 6/10/2016 at 7:39 AM, DeLurker said:

There's a McDonald's McPick commercial in rotation where they talk about their fish sandwich and specify it is made from "sustainable sourced" fish.  Which makes me wonder about what type of fish.

I have a long standing affection for their fish sandwiches and now they've made me go and think about it.  Bad move McDonalds.

Oh my gosh, I love their fish sandwiches!  I'm not a big hamburger eater and even as a kid I always ordered the fish sandwich.  My friends all thought I was so gross for eating them.  

Now I'm wondering about the fish too.  I agree,  bad move. 

[Rick Kitchen]

Their website at http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/product_nutrition.chickenfish.5926.filetofish.html says:

 

FISH FILET PATTY

Ingredients: Pollock, Wheat Flour, Water, Modified Food Starch, Contains 2% or Less: Yellow Corn Flour, Bleached Wheat Flour, Salt, Whey, Dextrose, Dried Yeast, Sugar, Cellulose Gum, Colored with Paprika and Turmeric Extract, Spice Extractives.

[butterbody]

"so we're heading out the door, and my sister says, Jaz, you're wearing makeup, and I'm like no I'm not wearing any makeup and she's all yes you are! You are wearing makeup and I'm like no, girl, I'm not wearing makeup and she's like don't lie to me bitch and I'm like no I'm not wearing makeup and she's like are you sure you're not wearing makeup and I'm like no girl, not wearing any makeup and she's all, are you shitting me, that's makeup and I'm like for real tho Im not wearing makeup and she's all girl, you are Sooooooo wearing makeup and I'm all no way sister Christian this ain't makeup and she's like dude, that fully looks like makeup and I'm all if I'm lyin' I'm dyin' homeskillet cause there's no makeup on this face and she's all no way, girl and I'm like way."

[riley702]

What?

[stillhere1900]

1 hour ago, butterbody said:

"so we're heading out the door, and my sister says, Jaz, you're wearing makeup, and I'm like no I'm not wearing any makeup and she's all yes you are! You are wearing makeup and I'm like no, girl, I'm not wearing makeup and she's like don't lie to me bitch and I'm like no I'm not wearing makeup and she's like are you sure you're not wearing makeup and I'm like no girl, not wearing any makeup and she's all, are you shitting me, that's makeup and I'm like for real tho Im not wearing makeup and she's all girl, you are Sooooooo wearing makeup and I'm all no way sister Christian this ain't makeup and she's like dude, that fully looks like makeup and I'm all if I'm lyin' I'm dyin' homeskillet cause there's no makeup on this face and she's all no way, girl and I'm like way."

What ?

[Rick Kitchen]

Oh, good, I'm not the only one who was confused.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I keep coming back to the post to try and make it parse, and it makes no more sense now than it did the first time around.

[Brattinella]

That's what the iggy function is for.

[crazycatlady58]

Yes but having read it three times  trying  to make  sense  of it I want  to know why. Why   was it posted here, where were they going, who was it ment for , and did the girl take   off the makeup. I have insomnia  and the answer   to these questions  may help me sleep. God know Forensic  Files  is not doing its usually  good job at sending me  of to the Sandman.

[Prevailing Wind]

It's got quotes around it, as though butterbody's quoting some commercial or something... <shrug>

[butterbody]

WOW, sorry to upset some of you. It must be a regional thing. It's a proactive commercial that plays incessantly and that is basically the script. I guess I thought some of you had seen the commercial and would understand my post but instead I've apparently caused insomnia, stabbiness, and the need to use the 'ignore' feature? Jeez, what a thing to wake up to. 

I was gonna try to post a link but I'd rather not deal with any more backlash. Dang, you guys. Just file it under posts that made you scratch your head. 

[crazycatlady58]

Sorry  butter body I did not know you were quoting   a commercial .  It seemed like so person was quoting  a conversation  she had with someone .   If I had understood it was a quote  from a commercial  it would have made perfect  sense .  By the way the post did not give me insomnia I had it to start with. Sorry if I offended  with myou comment . 

[stillhere1900]

The meaning of the post from "Butter Body" was not clear.  

[Prevailing Wind]

Perhaps if more of us had seen the commercial butterbody was quoting, it wouldn't have been so baffling.  So, BB, what's it advertising? Make up?

[butterbody]

@Crazycatlady

First off, apologies for tagging the above. Was trying to address the other cat lady and now for the life of me, can't make the tag go away.

Second, sorry for not linking the commercial in my op. It seems like they play it all the dang time but this is probably due to my watching too much MTV. If you had seen the commercial, you would have thought I was brilliant and hilarious. I must admit it stung when someone suggested I fall victim to the 'ignore' feature, since I consider that to be reserved for truly inappropriate or offensive people. 

Having said that, and thanks for listening, I think it might be a Neutrogena commercial. There's a voiceover, and as it plays, pictures keep switching into what I assume is supposed to be her skin becoming progressively clearer, although it never seems to look much better. In the voiceover, her sister is insisting that she's wearing makeup, although they never really explain why that's a big deal either. Truly it is a head scratcher , but I think my post was just a little too obscure. I smoke a lot of pot and usually think I'm much funnier than I actually am.

[crazycatlady58]

Butterbody, it is all good , now that you have explained the commercial it makes sense. Sister or whoever thought the make up was covering the acne. By the way, I never have smoked pot and most of the time I think I am funnier than I am. Sounds like that is part of being human. Hope you have a good day. I just realized I may not be the correct crazycatlady, if you are talking to the other one sorry for taking an apology that was not directed at me.

Edited June 12, 2016 by crazycatlady58

[CarpeDiem54]

22 hours ago, butterbody said:

"so we're heading out the door, and my sister says, Jaz, you're wearing makeup, and I'm like no I'm not wearing any makeup and she's all yes you are! You are wearing makeup and I'm like no, girl, I'm not wearing makeup and she's like don't lie to me bitch and I'm like no I'm not wearing makeup and she's like are you sure you're not wearing makeup and I'm like no girl, not wearing any makeup and she's all, are you shitting me, that's makeup and I'm like for real tho Im not wearing makeup and she's all girl, you are Sooooooo wearing makeup and I'm all no way sister Christian this ain't makeup and she's like dude, that fully looks like makeup and I'm all if I'm lyin' I'm dyin' homeskillet cause there's no makeup on this face and she's all no way, girl and I'm like way."

Okay, I found it!  Which makes your post hysterically funny and much better than the original.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/A5US/neutrogena-rapid-clear-stubborn-acne-jazmins-story

[Bastet]

A ha!  Assuming the post was describing a commercial, but having never seen it to know which one, I did some late-night googling, but couldn't find it.  Now we know.

(I laughed anyway because of "Sister Christian" and "home skillet," but now that I know what commercial conversation is being mocked, the faux version is even better.)

Edited June 13, 2016 by Bastet

[bilgistic]

Gah, that young woman is beautiful. I don't see a lot of difference in her skin from day 1 to 23 or whatever, but that might be my not-at all-new phone. I don't think her skin looked bad to begin with.

[shapeshifter]

On June 6, 2016 at 8:06 AM, Ubiquitous said:

While in Orlando this weekend, I noticed they have versions of Toyota's "Enjoy the Go!" ad campaign in Spanglish, in which half the time it's spoken in Spanish and the other half is English, usually with the parent or elder speaking the former. Besides the obvious "we speak English in America" thing, we are they speaking two languages to each other? Did the English speaking person forget the other person doesn't speak English or is the other person being an asshole?

On June 6, 2016 at 10:32 AM, DeLurker said:

Grew up in South Florida with a lot of friends who spoke Spanish as their first language.  With their parents or grandparents, it was not uncommon for them to understand English but have an easier time speaking in Spanish.  It wasn't that they couldn't speak English - they did on the job or in transactions with non-Spanish speakers, but informally speaking Spanish was a lot more fluid.

And with my friends who were bilingual, they would switch back and forth.  Some phrases or ideas flowed better in one language over the other.

In the 60s, my high school boyfriend could understand his parents' Spanish but not speak it. His mother was bilingual, his father, who worked as a cook, never spoke any English that I heard.

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎6‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 0:08 AM, cakes1975 said:

A friend's daughter is so allergic to tree nuts that her boyfriend once ate cookies with nuts in them, forgot to brush his teeth, and six hours later the daughter went into shock from making out with said boyfriend. Her parents have to double bag any nuts in the house when she visits.

Including the boyfriend's?

On ‎6‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 7:34 PM, butterbody said:

"so we're heading out the door, and my sister says, Jaz, you're wearing makeup, and I'm like no I'm not wearing any makeup and she's all yes you are! You are wearing makeup and I'm like no, girl, I'm not wearing makeup and she's like don't lie to me bitch and I'm like no I'm not wearing makeup and she's like are you sure you're not wearing makeup and I'm like no girl, not wearing any makeup and she's all, are you shitting me, that's makeup and I'm like for real tho Im not wearing makeup and she's all girl, you are Sooooooo wearing makeup and I'm all no way sister Christian this ain't makeup and she's like dude, that fully looks like makeup and I'm all if I'm lyin' I'm dyin' homeskillet cause there's no makeup on this face and she's all no way, girl and I'm like way."

I saw that damn ad for skin cleanser SO many times this weekend during Decades "Weekend Binge" of Vega$ it's not funny!

[meep.meep]

On 6/11/2016 at 4:34 PM, butterbody said:

"so we're heading out the door, and my sister says, Jaz, you're wearing makeup, and I'm like no I'm not wearing any makeup and she's all yes you are! You are wearing makeup and I'm like no, girl, I'm not wearing makeup and she's like don't lie to me bitch and I'm like no I'm not wearing makeup and she's like are you sure you're not wearing makeup and I'm like no girl, not wearing any makeup and she's all, are you shitting me, that's makeup and I'm like for real tho Im not wearing makeup and she's all girl, you are Sooooooo wearing makeup and I'm all no way sister Christian this ain't makeup and she's like dude, that fully looks like makeup and I'm all if I'm lyin' I'm dyin' homeskillet cause there's no makeup on this face and she's all no way, girl and I'm like way."

It's probably better in Michigan.  Just saying.....

[ZaldamoWilder]

bb I missed the quotes and thought it was an actual conversation between you and your sister and it made me giggle like crazy.

I'm probably thinking too hard about it but anybody have a read on the Volvo commercial with 4 people in the car.  Driver is a lady (the wife), guy in the seat behind her is her husband and as he's twirling his wedding ring, she puts a song on that makes him smile, she reaches back to touch his hand and he smiles winsomely.   Ya'll I'm not deep enough to understand.  Help?

[Bastet]

It's apparently going to be part of a series with a story line.  In the next one, he's preparing his speech for his daughter's wedding.

[ZaldamoWilder]

^LMAO!!!!

[peacheslatour]

On 6/12/2016 at 3:51 PM, Bastet said:

A ha!  Assuming the post was describing a commercial, but having never seen it to know which one, I did some late-night googling, but couldn't find it.  Now we know.

(I laughed anyway because of "Sister Christian" and "home skillet," but now that I know what commercial conversation is being mocked, the faux version is even better.)

I also assumed they were quoting, but I thought it was from like the Braxton's or something from The Bachelor.

I laughed immoderately either way. Freakin hilarious.

[ennui]

4 hours ago, Bastet said:

It's apparently going to be part of a series with a story line.  In the next one, he's preparing his speech for his daughter's wedding.

Except Volvo is calling it "After the Wedding." They're looking at pictures and reminiscing?

[Bastet]

Don't ask me to make sense of Volvo's marketing, I'm just reporting it's a series of commercials and so far we have the one asked about above and the wedding speech one.  For the wedding speech one, he's alone in the car, notebook in hand, and we hear him in VO.  Maybe he's having a flashback.  Maybe we'll find out in the last installment the daughter never should have married this guy, and Volvo is great when you need to hightail it to your lawyer's office. 

[editorgrrl]

According to https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ASxb/2016-volvo-xc90-wedding-song-by-sharon-van-etten, "On a quiet ride home from a wedding, the bride's family reminisces together in a shared sentimental silence over photos, memories and a song that brings a smile to the father's face." The song is "Every Time the Sun Comes Up" by Sharon Van Etten. The father is played by Ron Jack Foley. The featured product is the 2016 Volvo XC90, and the tagline is “Our Idea of Luxury.”

Here's the previous spot, where the father of the bride writes his speech in the car: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AGyi/2016-volvo-xc90-speech

Edited June 14, 2016 by editorgrrl
When I don't understand a commercial, I go to iSpot.tv. Then I come here!

[janie jones]

Oh, I've only seen the twirling the wedding ring one.  I thought he was about to go marry the lady.

[Sharpie66]

Who told TCF Bank that using "99 Red Balloons" in a cheery ad was a good idea? It's a song about nuclear war, FFS!!

Edited June 14, 2016 by Sharpie66

[Aquarius]

9 hours ago, Ubiquitous said:

Including the boyfriend's?

As others have pointed out, the defining attribute to this allergy is "tree nuts."  So probably not.

[Aquarius]

Re: the McFish discussion.

I worked in a deli and we had an offering called "Seafood Salad."  One day a guy comes in and asks if the seafood salad was "real"  or "fake."

"Real," I assure him. 

"What are the ingredients?" he asks.

Confidently, I retrieve the tub from the back and read the ingredients.

"Pollack.  Haddock.  Whitefish.  Mayonnaise.  Celery.  Salt.  Pepper.  Crabmeat. Lobster. . . "

His answer?

"You've just read me the ingredients of fake seafood salad."

Ummm.  Other than the "dressing" ingredients - how is that NOT seafood salad??

You order something called "seafood" or "fish", or heaven forbid "McFish" - you get something that spent its life swimmng - I think the deal was not broken.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Aquarius

[riley702]

Oopsie.

Edited June 14, 2016 by riley702
I'm dumb

[Moose135]

All this talk about what is or isn't fish reminds me of this old commercial:

 

[fishcakes]

I wonder if it's possible to eat a seafood salad from Taco Bell without bursting into tears of despair.

[bilgistic]

"Whitefish" is mostly tilefish (which reside near coral reefs, so fishing for them is problematic), but can also refer to leftover fish from processing, so...garbage fish. It's pretty high in mercury and is used in cat food.

[ZaldamoWilder]

Aquarius if the deli was on the east coast, crabmeat is prohibitively expensive enough not to be used in a mixed salad and still make a profit.   At $19-$24 per pound, he might've been justifiably confident that whatever was in the seafood salad wasn't crab.  Additionally it's crumbly enough not to hold up well.  Imitation crab on the other hand cubes beautifully.

15 hours ago, Bastet said:

Don't ask me to make sense of Volvo's marketing, I'm just reporting it's a series of commercials and so far we have the one asked about above and the wedding speech one.  For the wedding speech one, he's alone in the car, notebook in hand, and we hear him in VO.  Maybe he's having a flashback.  Maybe we'll find out in the last installment the daughter never should have married this guy, and Volvo is great when you need to hightail it to your lawyer's office. 

Oh hell, you were serious.  Lol.  Well dammit, they need to tell this story in order because I don't get what all those faraway dreamy looks are supposed to mean or have to do with driving a Volvo.

[janie jones]

Well if the guy was looking specifically for actual crab, he should have been more specific than asking if the salad had "seafood."

Well dammit, they need to tell this story in order because I don't get what all those faraway dreamy looks are supposed to mean or have to do with driving a Volvo.

If people want to tell a story in their commercials, they should make sure people see each "episode" before the next one.  I've only seen, one, which is apparently not the first one in the series. My TV viewing habits haven't changed, so in theory, if they were doing it right, I should be seeing the series in order.  But how are they airing them?

Or at least have each one be self-contained so you know what the fuck is going on without needing to see the whole series. Like the Country Crock or Taster's Choice commercials from back in the day.

[Aquarius]

49 minutes ago, ZaldamoWilder said:

Aquarius if the deli was on the east coast, crabmeat is prohibitively expensive enough not to be used in a mixed salad and still make a profit.   At $19-$24 per pound, he might've been justifiably confident that whatever was in the seafood salad wasn't crab.  Additionally it's crumbly enough not to hold up well.  Imitation crab on the other hand cubes beautifully.

He didn't ask if it was imitation crab salad.  He asked if it was imitation seafood salad.

It was actually quite tasty, and as you say, held together nicely in cubes.

I'm sad about what I just learned about what whitefish actually is . . . but even so, it was tasty.

[ZaldamoWilder]

Lol.  Ok, not to quibble, buuuut, if it was imitation crab, that makes it imitation seafood salad. 

[callmebetty]

17 hours ago, janie jones said:

Oh, I've only seen the twirling the wedding ring one.  I thought he was about to go marry the lady.

See I totally thought maybe they were getting a divorce but came together as a family for the daughters wedding. Obviously I'm not who they are marketing to.

[DeLurker]

16 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I wonder if it's possible to eat a seafood salad from Taco Bell without bursting into tears of despair.

At that point you've given up and it's dead man/woman ordering.  

[CarpeDiem54]

59 minutes ago, callmebetty said:

See I totally thought maybe they were getting a divorce but came together as a family for the daughters wedding. Obviously I'm not who they are marketing to.

I thought they were coming back from the guy's wife's funeral and the woman driving was the wife's sister.  Obviously, I don't know WTF is going on.