Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

[Brattinella]

Oprah's "BREAD!" commercial is an obscenity.   Here's one of the wealthiest women in the world -- a person who has almost everything, or if not almost everything then at least the means to acquire almost everything -- and she has the audacity to go on national television and cry Hallelulajah! she can finally eat bread! 

 

I hate to play the starving people card, but it's hard not to think about it every time I see that commercial.   Where does the richest woman in the world get off trying to sell herself as someone who has been DEPRIVED?   As someone who has labored under hardship and has known unhappiness because, aww, her diet prevents her from stuffing something doughy into her mouth? 

 

There are people all over the world who don't eat bread, not because they're fat and pampered and endorsing a weight loss program they have a large financial stake in, but because they are poorer than anything fucking Oprah Winfrey will ever be able to imagine.

 

Next up, Marie Antoinette makes a commercial proclaiming she can finally eat cake!

 

BRAVO!

[OSM Mom]

The stupid motorcycle driving caveman can drive off the nearest cliff.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

What she should have researched is how to drive a damn car so she wouldn't have crashed it into a stationary object in a single-car accident.

 

Yeah, all of the Liberty Mutual idiots seem to either hit things that are just sitting there - a tree, a food truck, a parked car - or hydroplane into a ditch, which only happens if you're not driving carefully during a downpour, so maybe they should have to go back to driver's ed before they're allowed to get behind the wheel again.

[Eliot]

Why not? It would have been the classy thing to do, even if there was some technicality about who puts the crown on the winner's head.

 

Exactly. She would have owned the moment.

[TattleTeeny]

The Toyota lady who says "Got cabin fever? We've got the kyurrrr [cure]" has a really annoying voice.

 

Also, I know it's terrible of me, but picturing a car crashing into a food truck is making me laugh.

Edited February 26, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[bitchin camaro]

But do you love breeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeead???????????

 

 

 

I prefer the "I drank beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer every day!" plan. Unfortunately, it doesn't work all that well. :)

[Sandman87]

I prefer the "I drank beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer every day!" plan. Unfortunately, it doesn't work all that well. :)

I tried that plan and lost 140 pounds. My girlfriend left me.

 

Thank you, I'll be here all week.

[CarpeDiem54]

Ugh.  Those Consumer Cellular ads with the idiot calling himself "Consumer Cellular's biggest fan" can just go far, far away.  Especially the woman who says "I was able to keep my number,"  Unlike every other phone plan?

  

I hate those "old hipster" ads. It's like they're trying to look cool but they come off looking like totally out of touch old farts.

BRAVO!

BRAVO times 1,000!

[riley702]

Of all the LM commercials, the one I hate most I think is the lady who says, "I guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. Smart." The irony is that "smart" lady makes herself sound stupid; she says it so matter-of-factly, as if she literally thinks that's what three-quarters means, and that that is exactly what other insurance companies expect a person to do! Had the actress displayed some humor or sarcasm, maybe it would have worked better, but as it is, it's just so stupid. 

 

I loathe this commercial. She's so damned serious when she asks incredulously, "What are you supposed to do? Drive 3/4 of a car?" and I always want to yell, "NO! You're supposed to eat the cost of the difference because you wrecked your car!" Just imagine how much worse people would drive if they got a new car free* every time they smashed up the old one! *smh*

 

*Free other than the cost of law-mandated insurance. Which brings me to the other LM bitch I hate: Li'l Miss "Why buy insurance if you have to pay again to use it?" Well, first of all, deductibles and what-nots do not mean you're paying "again". It's part of the package you purchased. Less in premiums in exchange for higher deductibles. You roll the dice and take your chances. Also? You buy insurance because it's the law!

Edited February 26, 2016 by riley702

[90PercentGravity]

I prefer the "I drank beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer every day!" plan. Unfortunately, it doesn't work all that well. :)

I don't see why not. Most beer is between 180 and 200 calories for 12 ounces. Should be able to accommodate that with most diets. Besides, beer is basically liquid bread.

[random chance]

Oprah's "BREAD!" commercial is an obscenity.   Here's one of the wealthiest women in the world -- a person who has almost everything, or if not almost everything then at least the means to acquire almost everything -- and she has the audacity to go on national television and cry Hallelulajah! she can finally eat bread! 

 

I hate to play the starving people card, but it's hard not to think about it every time I see that commercial.   Where does the richest woman in the world get off trying to sell herself as someone who has been DEPRIVED?   As someone who has labored under hardship and has known unhappiness because, aww, her diet prevents her from stuffing something doughy into her mouth? 

 

There are people all over the world who don't eat bread, not because they're fat and pampered and endorsing a weight loss program they have a large financial stake in, but because they are poorer than anything fucking Oprah Winfrey will ever be able to imagine.

 

Next up, Marie Antoinette makes a commercial proclaiming she can finally eat cake!

 

But everything in life is relative, everything.  If we only got to complain when there was absolutely nobody worse off than us, we couldn't bitch about TV commercials while there are homeless people in the world who would LOVE to sit in front of a TV and watch bad drivers be shocked that their insurance company isn't Santa Claus.

[CarpeDiem54]

My theory is that all of the Liberty Mutual women are yogurt bitches. And the men are bitter because they're married to one.

Speaking of which, that peach pulling bitch has been on my screen constantly lately. I went out to the grocery store today and wished I'd had a rocket launcher with me to take out the Yoplait section.

[Rick Kitchen]

Why is Elizabeth Banks debasing herself?

 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Sheesh, Elizabeth, the money from The Hunger Games couldn't have already run out, could it?

[janie jones]

I don't think she's debasing herself, but then I don't think very highly of her in the first place.

[TattleTeeny]

I loathe this commercial. She's so damned serious when she asks incredulously, "What are you supposed to do? Drive 3/4 of a car?" and I always want to yell, "NO! You're supposed to eat the cost of the difference because you wrecked your car!" Just imagine how much worse people would drive if they got a new car free* every time they smashed up the old one! *smh*

 

*Free other than the cost of law-mandated insurance. Which brings me to the other LM bitch I hate: Li'l Miss "Why buy insurance if you have to pay again to use it?" Well, first of all, deductibles and what-nots do not mean you're paying "again". It's part of the package you purchased. Less in premiums in exchange for higher deductibles. You roll the dice and take your chances. Also? You buy insurance because it's the law!

Also, ONE TIRE does not cost one quarter of the price of a whole car! If that were the case, no one would be able to ever have a flat replaced!

Edited February 26, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[millennium]

But everything in life is relative, everything.  If we only got to complain when there was absolutely nobody worse off than us, we couldn't bitch about TV commercials while there are homeless people in the world who would LOVE to sit in front of a TV and watch bad drivers be shocked that their insurance company isn't Santa Claus.

 

It's not the same.   Not at all.   To see a filthy rich, self-absorbed personality like Oprah griping about being unable to eat bread -- voluntarily, mind you -- is grotesque.

[GaT]

I hate this commercial, Geico Bro ad

[theatremouse]

It's not the same.   Not at all.   To see a filthy rich, self-absorbed personality like Oprah griping about being unable to eat bread -- voluntarily, mind you -- is grotesque.

But the point is explicitly that she does get to eat bread, which in this context is less about excess and more about semi-recent health/diet fads in which carbs were deemed the devil. It has nothing to do with anyone starving or malnourished; it's directly targeted at a specific sort of dieter: ie those who've been told they can't eat bread and also lose weight/maintain their desired weight. That line is only there to imply "hey you who've been on that kind of diet and hated it but thought it was the only way to succeed! Here, I have an alternative!" I don't find it more or less offensive based on who says it in the ad. It's a dig at Atkins.

[Watcher0363]

*Free other than the cost of law-mandated insurance. Which brings me to the other LM bitch I hate: Li'l Miss "Why buy insurance if you have to pay again to use it?" Well, first of all, deductibles and what-nots do not mean you're paying "again". It's part of the package you purchased. Less in premiums in exchange for higher deductibles. You roll the dice and take your chances. Also? You buy insurance because it's the law!

This is why the Liberty Mutual commercials exists. Most people can't remember how auto insurance worked before it was mandated. Your premiums were actually based on your driving record, credit score and job situations and companies competed to get the best drivers, because insurance use to be something you bought to protect your property and family if you wanted to and could and afford it. Now that they have a built in mandatory base, they have become greedy and some what predatory. Where every thing beyond the mandated coverage, reading like an almost endless appetizer menu, which really adds up differently,  depending on your driving record and credit score and job. There is actually a law firm commercial in our area telling people if you really want to lower your premiums just change insurance companies every year. 

 

Why is Elizabeth Banks debasing herself?

 

She is not debasing herself, she is making money by being funny. She seems like one of those women who realize that not only can she appear beautiful, that she is also funny and can also be sexy as hell. She knows that she appeals to a lot of different types of people. She is what Amy Schumer wants to be. For a comedic actress she has a very impressive body of work and an impressive body too, which always helps to put money in the bank. Her one home mortgage commercial where she turns to guy and ask can they live together in the new house, with that tone of voice,  makes me just say WoW! Every time I see it.

[DeLurker]

I don't worship Oprah at all.

Her Task Force should be visiting you very soon.

 

But do you love breeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeead???????????

 

The first time I saw the Android commercial with the Asian guy playing the piano I thought it was really cute. Now that I've seen it eleventy billion times I want it to go away. Honestly, are they advertising on every single show on TV right now?

I still like the Android commercial for the sole reason there are no words.

[smittykins]

I don't see why not. Most beer is between 180 and 200 calories for 12 ounces. Should be able to accommodate that with most diets. Besides, beer is basically liquid bread.

Maybe they should hire a spokesperson to proclaim "I can drink beeeeeeeeeeerrrrr!"

[Actionmage]

she is making money by being funny.

 

In some other ads, yes, Ms. Banks is funny. In the Old Navy one- like Julia Louis-Dreyfuss  and Amy Poehler before her- she is made to be dumb or unlikeable, depending on how much you dislike the ad set up. Old Navy thinks beautiful, funny women being weird at folks is funny; I disagree with them. I don't begrudge a working actress a check ( or potentially free clothes), but someone screaming "Give me your pants!" isn't funny, to me at least.

 

Plus, Ms. Banks is established as an actress; let some newish name gal do it. (I understand that O.N. is probably going with high-profile funny ladies for the recognition factor, but while we talk here about it, I am not sure it really impacts their bottom line. $10 whatevers probably impact more than the funny women.)

Edited February 26, 2016 by Actionmage

[mmecorday]

I really like Elizabeth Banks, especially as Effie Trinket. But the Old Navy commercials are as obnoxious as their clothes are cheap.

[iMonrey]

 

She is what Amy Schumer wants to be.

 

I have a hard time believing Amy Schumer wants to be Elizabeth Banks. I'm reasonably sure Amy Schumer is happy being herself. She's not doing too badly for herself either. In fact I'd wager more people know who Amy Schumer is than Elizabeth Banks.

[Brattinella]

I dislike Elizabeth Banks, and LOATHE Amy Schumer.  Mute button.

[SmithW6079]

Yeah, all of the Liberty Mutual idiots seem to either hit things that are just sitting there - a tree, a food truck, a parked car - or hydroplane into a ditch, which only happens if you're not driving carefully during a downpour, so maybe they should have to go back to driver's ed before they're allowed to get behind the wheel again.

I would imagine the one where the driver said, "I got drunk and crashed my car into a schoolbus of children, totalling it and killing seven and Liberty Mutual wouldn't replace my car" didn't test well with audiences.

[legaleagle53]

Watcher0363, on 26 Feb 2016 - 07:25 AM, said:

This is why the Liberty Mutual commercials exists. Most people can't remember how auto insurance worked before it was mandated. Your premiums were actually based on your driving record, credit score and job situations and companies competed to get the best drivers, because insurance use to be something you bought to protect your property and family if you wanted to and could and afford it. Now that they have a built in mandatory base, they have become greedy and some what predatory. Where every thing beyond the mandated coverage, reading like an almost endless appetizer menu, which really adds up differently,  depending on your driving record and credit score and job. There is actually a law firm commercial in our area telling people if you really want to lower your premiums just change insurance companies every year. 

 

The same thing applies to health insurance.  There was a time when there were no such things as deductibles or co-pays.  You simply paid your monthly premium, and your insurance took care of the bills because that's what it's for.  You didn't have to shell out several thousand dollars out-of-pocket before the insurance would even kick in.  Such an idea would have been dismissed as outrageous because after all, what's the point of having insurance if you end up having to pay most of your costs out-of-pocket anyway?  Doesn't that defeat the purpose of even having insurance, be it health or auto insurance?

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of even having insurance, be it health or auto insurance?

The point of the mandatory auto insurance is to protect who you hit, not yourself. All of the people in the LM ads are too self-centered to even think of the victims of their lousy driving, and want to pretend like nothing happened.

[RCharter]

Why is Elizabeth Banks debasing herself?

 

The problem, for me, is that this commercial isn't even funny.  Its unfortunate when a female comedienne would rest on "I'm pretty but I make funny noises" as humor. They could have put in any random extra type actress and it would have been the same.  Its the same thing the lady from the Wendy's ads does.  I guess good for her, for getting paid to do something that doesn't particularly seem to be funny.  

 

While I hated the idea of her selling out, Tina Fey had a few pretty funny American Express commercials, and I think it was a good template for how to do a commercial as a comedian.

[millennium]

Oprah's new commercial:

 

"I just lost a lot of BREAD!"

 

Oprah Sheds $42 Million Overnight As Weight Watchers Slides
 

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/02/26/oprah-sheds-42-million-overnight-as-weight-watchers-slides/

[DrSpaceman73]

I just am not a big Elizabeth Banks fan in general. I think she overacts and just don't find her that funny. That Old Navy commercial is no different. ANd I have never thought Amy Schumer wants to be Elizabeth Banks.

I like the Julia Louis-Dreyfuss Old Navy commercial though

[Haleth]

She is not debasing herself, she is making money by being funny. She seems like one of those women who realize that not only can she appear beautiful, that she is also funny and can also be sexy as hell. She knows that she appeals to a lot of different types of people. She is what Amy Schumer wants to be. For a comedic actress she has a very impressive body of work and an impressive body too, which always helps to put money in the bank. Her one home mortgage commercial where she turns to guy and ask can they live together in the new house, with that tone of voice,  makes me just say WoW! Every time I see it.

(Bold mine)  I had no idea who she is.  A few days ago I almost asked if she was anyone famous because it seemed I should recognize her.  The commercial is really annoying but I wouldn't buy cheap Old Navy stuff anyway.

[cynicat]

(Bold mine)  I had no idea who she is.  A few days ago I almost asked if she was anyone famous because it seemed I should recognize her.  The commercial is really annoying but I wouldn't buy cheap Old Navy stuff anyway.

 

I was just about to post a similar sentiment: am I supposed to know who the fuck she is?  

[theatremouse]

If you imdb her you'll see she's been in a ton of stuff. As others mentioned upthread, she's in the Hunger Games movies. So even if you don't know her from something else, I think it's fair that Old Navy assumed people in general would find her recognizable given that she's in a giant film franchise that's hugely popular at the moment. I'm not saying the ad's any good, but assuming she has a recognition factor is the least of the failure there.

[BooksRule]

I'm finding the newest commercial for University of Phoenix annoying.  For one thing, forage and mortgage do not rhyme.   And there are too many words being forced to try (and they fail) to fit into the tune.  Finally, the commercial has turned that song into an earworm for me.  (But at least I'm singing the real words in my head and not the ones from the commercial.)

 

 

 

ETA:  I just watched it again.  'Faster' and 'multitasker' also do not rhyme.

Edited February 27, 2016 by BooksRule

[Brattinella]

I'm finding the newest commercial for University of Phoenix annoying.  For one thing, forage and mortgage do not rhyme.   And there are too many words being forced to try (and they fail) to fit into the tune.  Finally, the commercial has turned that song into an earworm for me.  (But at least I'm singing the real words in my head and not the ones from the commercial.)

 

 

 

ETA:  I just watched it again.  'Faster' and 'multitasker' also do not rhyme.

 

One of the WORST commercials on TV.  I dive for the mute button.

If you imdb her you'll see she's been in a ton of stuff. As others mentioned upthread, she's in the Hunger Games movies. So even if you don't know her from something else, I think it's fair that Old Navy assumed people in general would find her recognizable given that she's in a giant film franchise that's hugely popular at the moment. I'm not saying the ad's any good, but assuming she has a recognition factor is the least of the failure there.

 

THIS is why I don't recognize her; I wouldn't go see the Hunger Games for love nor money.

[RCharter]

(Bold mine)  I had no idea who she is.  A few days ago I almost asked if she was anyone famous because it seemed I should recognize her.  The commercial is really annoying but I wouldn't buy cheap Old Navy stuff anyway.

She was in 30 Rock, which I love.  I adored that show so I have a tendency to love anyone who was on it.

[Bruinsfan]

I like the Julia Louis-Dreyfuss Old Navy commercial though

I agree, I liked her stint as their spokeswoman, particularly for the commercial with her as the demanding faux-French fashion maven.

[Watcher0363]

She was in 30 Rock, which I love.  I adored that show so I have a tendency to love anyone who was on it.

Her Avery on 30 Rock was outstanding. That woman can deliver a line. [on Soledad O'Brien] I wipe the floor with that bitch! Avery: [on Soledad O'Brien], As much as I love Soledad O'Brien, I loved that line even better, considering it surrounded having kids and a career.

 

I could never figure out who Old Navy's target audience was. Now I think it targets the 18-45 demographics. So  Elizabeth Banks would fill that need well. I am not a fan of most of the stuff she has been in, Like the Hunger Games, Scrubs, and Pitch Perfect. But I have enjoyed her performances. I did not really get Pitch Perfect, but her commentating on the competition was great.

[Watcher0363]

One of the WORST commercials on TV.  I dive for the mute button.

 

THIS is why I don't recognize her; I wouldn't go see the Hunger Games for love nor money.

There are lots of movies, tv shows, and plays I would not see for love nor money. But regular sex, now there's a motivating and or mitigating factor.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Watcher0363

[janie jones]

(Bold mine)  I had no idea who she is.  A few days ago I almost asked if she was anyone famous because it seemed I should recognize her.  The commercial is really annoying but I wouldn't buy cheap Old Navy stuff anyway.

I was going to say you aren't missing anything, but it wouldn't be true.  She's in a few things I like.  She's just not what makes any of those things good, in my opinion.

 

I agree that it's not out of left field for Old Navy to think she'd be recognizable, since she's been around a while. 

 

On the other hand, there's some other commercial that after seeing it a few times I finally asked my husband if I was supposed to know who the woman in it is.  Apparently the woman in that commercial (don't ask me what it was for) was in The 40 Year Old Virgin?  I think that sometimes people come off as more douchey if you don't know who they are, because the commercial is playing up some schtick of theirs that you don't understand.

[GaT]

If you imdb her you'll see she's been in a ton of stuff. As others mentioned upthread, she's in the Hunger Games movies. So even if you don't know her from something else, I think it's fair that Old Navy assumed people in general would find her recognizable given that she's in a giant film franchise that's hugely popular at the moment. I'm not saying the ad's any good, but assuming she has a recognition factor is the least of the failure there.

 

 

(Bold mine)  I had no idea who she is.  A few days ago I almost asked if she was anyone famous because it seemed I should recognize her.  The commercial is really annoying but I wouldn't buy cheap Old Navy stuff anyway.

 

 

I was just about to post a similar sentiment: am I supposed to know who the fuck she is?  

Nobody recognizes her from Pitch Perfect? She plays Gail, one of the announcers. 

[Jamoche]

If you imdb her you'll see she's been in a ton of stuff. As others mentioned upthread, she's in the Hunger Games movies. So even if you don't know her from something else, I think it's fair that Old Navy assumed people in general would find her recognizable given that she's in a giant film franchise that's hugely popular at the moment. I'm not saying the ad's any good, but assuming she has a recognition factor is the least of the failure there.

Except she plays one of the overly made up Capitol residents and her face isn't distinctive enough for me to recognize her outside that makeup. I just googled images and I still wouldn't have made the connection. (I haven't actually watched more than the clips that become memes, so if her voice is distinctive when it's not screeching, I wouldn't know it.) Is she the one that comments on all the Tributes' costumes? That *might* explain the ad.

 

But those are the most boring JCPenney-mom-style outfits I've ever seen, so why is she flipping out? If it's the HG recognition they're banking on, that concept fails: while some people *can* go to the most generic store on the planet and come out with an outfit that attracts attention, that's not what happened here.

[Brattinella]

The only show I recognize is Scrubs.  I watched that more or less regularly, but I do not remember her at all!

[RCharter]

The only show I recognize is Scrubs.  I watched that more or less regularly, but I do not remember her at all!

I say this as someone who only knows you from a message board, but I feel like you would like 30 Rock.  I think it might appeal to your sense of humor as I've seen evidenced on here.  Its on NF watch instant if you have it.

[Brattinella]

If 30 Rock is, as I suspect, related to 30 Rockefeller Plaza and SNL, I probably would like it.  I kind of have a twisted sense of humor.

[Jaded]

Count me in with the rest of you who are being driven crazy by that University of Phoenix ad. It's on every damn channel I decide to watch it seems.

[RCharter]

If 30 Rock is, as I suspect, related to 30 Rockefeller Plaza and SNL, I probably would like it.  I kind of have a twisted sense of humor.

It kinda is, but kinda isn't.  I swear to you, I refused to watch 30 Rock for years, because I figured it was just going to be another show about a pretty woman whining about how hard it is to find love and blah blah blah.  And I think Tina Fey is very pretty, but able to poke fun at herself in such a way that her prettiness didn't make me feel bad.  

[DrSpaceman73]

Her Avery on 30 Rock was outstanding. That woman can deliver a line. [on Soledad O'Brien] I wipe the floor with that bitch! Avery: [on Soledad O'Brien], As much as I love Soledad O'Brien, I loved that line even better, considering it surrounded having kids and a career.

 

I could never figure out who Old Navy's target audience was. Now I think it targets the 18-45 demographics. So  Elizabeth Banks would fill that need well. I am not a fan of most of the stuff she has been in, Like the Hunger Games, Scrubs, and Pitch Perfect. But I have enjoyed her performances. I did not really get Pitch Perfect, but her commentating on the competition was great.

She was OK on 30 Rock. I tolerated her there, one of my favorite shows.