Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

[Blergh]

On 1/21/2025 at 8:00 AM, Red Bridey said:

 

And one for something...not sure for what...where a guy gets holes blasted into him and he screams when he looks down at his chest (apparently whatever he doesn't take leaves his immune system full of holes?). The scream is awful and it always startles me and I hate it!

It's for the Airborne supplement that has had disputed claims of how effective the product has been.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

perhaps they saw Progressive having done the same with Flo over the years and thought it might be an effective strategy. .. as a possible a tax write off/loss which they'd be compensated for.

The Flo commercials caused profits to skyrocket for Progressive; I forget the numbers, but the CEO talked about how the success of that initial ad campaign completely transformed the company.  There's never been a loss to write off, as the company is still doing huge business - and still paying Stephanie Courtney (the actor who plays Flo) big bucks because of what the commercials continue to do for business all these years later.  The Flo campaign is heavily cited in advertising classes re. brand recognition.  Toyota Jan.  Jake from State Farm.  Successful brand mascots are big business, and companies/ad agencies are always hoping to find one that hits - and lasts.

[Red Bridey]

11 minutes ago, Bastet said:

The Flo commercials caused profits to skyrocket for Progressive; I forget the numbers, but the CEO talked about how the success of that initial ad campaign completely transformed the company.  There's never been a loss to write off, as the company is still doing huge business - and still paying Stephanie Courtney (the actor who plays Flo) big bucks because of what the commercials continue to do for business all these years later.  The Flo campaign is heavily cited in advertising classes re. brand recognition.  Toyota Jan.  Jake from State Farm.  Successful brand mascots are big business, and companies/ad agencies are always hoping to find one that hits - and lasts.

This is very true. However, in the case of the Burger King's horrific jingle/ads, which, yes, we discuss here *a lot*, I tell you I will never ever ever ever ever ever EVER step foot into a Burger King, even if it were the last burger joint in the world. That's how much I LOATHE their ads. So companies need to be careful.

[Blergh]

18 minutes ago, Bastet said:

The Flo commercials caused profits to skyrocket for Progressive; I forget the numbers, but the CEO talked about how the success of that initial ad campaign completely transformed the company.  There's never been a loss to write off, as the company is still doing huge business - and still paying Stephanie Courtney (the actor who plays Flo) big bucks because of what the commercials continue to do for business all these years later.  The Flo campaign is heavily cited in advertising classes re. brand recognition.  Toyota Jan.  Jake from State Farm.  Successful brand mascots are big business, and companies/ad agencies are always hoping to find one that hits - and lasts.

I'll put it this way: IF Flo(or another advertising character that had a large segment of potential customers who loathed her/him/it) was a bomb who they only kept around  due to being a reliable tax loss. .. .could one imagine a CEO admitting it?

.

P.S. Regardless of claimed popularity by others, until they dump Flo, I wouldn't deign to consider getting Progressive Insurance even if they offered it to me along with the moon on a silver platter.

To each one's own.

[Bastet]

1 minute ago, Blergh said:

I'll put it this way: IF Flo(or another advertising character that had a large segment of potential customers who loathed her/him/it) was a bomb who they only kept around  due to being a reliable tax loss. .. .could one imagine a CEO admitting it?

Progressive is a publicly traded company; its finances are on record. That you hate the commercials, to the extent you'd never be a customer because of them, fine and dandy.  I'm sure plenty of others feel the same.  I don't feel strongly about them in any direction; some amuse me a good deal, a few annoy me, most I find just okay, and I certainly didn't switch insurance companies because of them.  Those are our opinions.  But that profits soared because of the ad campaign is a well-documented fact.

[Blergh]

^

noted.

[andromeda331]

The commercial wear the boyfriend shows up at his girlfriend's and her family's house wearing a Duke t-shirt while the whole family is wearing North Carolina. They treat him crappy but worse is the girlfriend who clearly didn't warn him that they were crazy Tarheel fans. I hate the girlfriend/boyfriend lets them walk into that situation instead of warning them or helping them. Nope just says nothing. Although I do love gymnastics team. 

[Gharlane]

9 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

The commercial wear the boyfriend shows up at his girlfriend's and her family's house wearing a Duke t-shirt while the whole family is wearing North Carolina. They treat him crappy but worse is the girlfriend who clearly didn't warn him that they were crazy Tarheel fans. I hate the girlfriend/boyfriend lets them walk into that situation instead of warning them or helping them. Nope just says nothing. Although I do love gymnastics team. 

How did he not realize she was an avid Tarheels fan and why did she treat him that way? Was this her plan for breaking up with him? 

[mmecorday]

There's an Xfinity commercial with this young girl who achieves success online for her singing and guitar playing. As her popularity grows, she physically gets bigger until at the end she's the size of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. What annoys me most about this ad is the song she's singing. It sounds like something Sondra Huxtable listened to on repeat after breaking up with Elvin on "The Cosby Show." 

[proserpina65]

On 2/2/2025 at 4:30 PM, Blergh said:

[with preemptive apologies to any Forum regulars who actually like the following]: perhaps they saw Progressive having done the same with Flo over the years and thought it might be an effective strategy. .. as a possible a tax write off/loss which they'd be compensated for.

The Flo commercials are definitely not tax write-offs for Progressive.  There've been articles about how their website traffic increased exponentially after those commercials started running.

[HyeChaps]

Looks like Jardiance is going in a different direction.

The new commercial has an animated turtle family and is aimed towards treating kidney problems, rather than diabetes.

No singing.

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

Looks like Jardiance is going in a different direction.

The new commercial has an animated turtle family and is aimed towards treating kidney problems, rather than diabetes.

No singing.

The turtles are cute.

[Tom Holmberg]

The Seal as a seal ad is horrifying.  I wonder how many kids aren't going to be able to fall asleep after seeing that.

 

 

Edited February 6 by Tom Holmberg

[fairffaxx]

N. Calif's Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a new series of self-serving TV ads seeking to convince rate-payers that it's a responsible utility provider rather than a profit-crazed monopoly.  They feature earnest corporate officers insisting to fearful customers that safety is PG&E's first priority, despite sporadic wildfires caused by faulty power equipment.

My favorite starts with a nervous woman whining that "I don't ever see anyone coming out to maintenance anything", followed by a motherly executive reassuring her about drone inspections.  I guess that the desired point might be blunted if the nice PG&E lady had instead pounced on the illiterate customer & attacked her deplorable grammar.

[andromeda331]

The new Dr. Rick commercial of people turning into their parents'. I like the neighborhood watch lady. Except for talking to the person in the car and talking to the lady about insurance she's not really doing anything wrong or bad. She walks by the boys and comments on their game. She wants to tell another lady that her flowers look great. I'd be happy if someone told me the flowers I planted looked great. 

[Gharlane]

3 hours ago, fairffaxx said:

My favorite starts with a nervous woman whining that "I don't ever see anyone coming out to maintenance anything", followed by a motherly executive reassuring her about drone inspections. 

I'd be more assuaged if they were inspecting the equipment.

[kathyk2]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

The new Dr. Rick commercial of people turning into their parents'. I like the neighborhood watch lady. Except for talking to the person in the car and talking to the lady about insurance she's not really doing anything wrong or bad. She walks by the boys and comments on their game. She wants to tell another lady that her flowers look great. I'd be happy if someone told me the flowers I planted looked great. 

The Dr. Rick ads started out good now they are rude. I like the passive Progressive ad that's funny.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

5 hours ago, fairffaxx said:

N. Calif's Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has a new series of self-serving TV ads...

With the label that says customers did not pay for the ad? How could that possibly be true? Customers ultimately pay for everything. I don't understand what that claim is supposed to mean. 

[fairffaxx]

It's probably due to the outcry a year or 2 ago when the press reported that rate increases were partly applied to cover the cost of pro-PG&E TV ads (which I don't think was denied by PG&E at the time).  This time around, I guess PG&E wants to be clear that its advertising budget is funded at the expense of shareholder dividends, not by income derived from ratepayers. 

[dleighg]

13 minutes ago, fairffaxx said:

This time around, I guess PG&E wants to be clear that its advertising budget is funded at the expense of shareholder dividends, not by income derived from ratepayers

I imagine so, but how do we really know that? Have they been giving a 50cent dividend per share for the last decade, and this quarter it is 25 cents? Otherwise, it's hard to prove.

[fairffaxx]

PG&E is subject to review by the Calif Public Utilities Commission & its books are not sealed, so I doubt that anything is hard to prove.  But the PUC has never seemed to care much.

[dleighg]

I guess my point was that it is hard to prove the money came from future stockholder payouts. What were they *planning* to pay, and that it actually did decrease.

[nokat]

That Mando commercial. Watching a guy spray his privates is so not sexy.

[Gharlane]

7 hours ago, nokat said:

That Mando commercial. Watching a guy spray his privates is so not sexy.

Where can one see this commercial? I am asking for a friend.

[nokat]

4 minutes ago, Gharlane said:

Where can one see this commercial? I am asking for a friend.

First, you made me snort tea out of my nose. I tried to find it, and I'm not looking through all of the Mando things on youtube. I think it might be better than using Axe spray.

[KLovestoShop]

Mara creeps the crap out of me.  If her voice isn’t creepy enough, her constant presence is just too nasty, especially the end where she says “I’d do anything for you” while the girl was in the tub.  Major YUCK. 

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, KLovestoShop said:

Mara creeps the crap out of me.  If her voice isn’t creepy enough, her constant presence is just too nasty, especially the end where she says “I’d do anything for you” while the girl was in the tub.  Major YUCK. 

I loathe any of the Mara moments on these Progressive commercials.  She is awful, never amusing, and her voice grates.  This stalker one is beyond creepy -- who in the world thought "good idea, that's good advertising"?  yes, I know that I'm aware of the brand because I'm commenting on it, but it has less than zero desirability for the brand IMO.  

[chessiegal]

2 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Mara creeps the crap out of me.  If her voice isn’t creepy enough, her constant presence is just too nasty, especially the end where she says “I’d do anything for you” while the girl was in the tub.  Major YUCK. 

I don't know what it says about me, but I think the commercial is funny!

[Browncoat]

I think it's a very appropriate and clever use of the Mara character. 

[nokat]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I don't know what it says about me, but I think the commercial is funny!

It says nothing more than that you find something funny. I look for those every day. Have a chuckle where you can!

[Crashcourse]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I don't know what it says about me, but I think the commercial is funny!

Well, it would be even funnier if the girl got out of the tub and dunked creepy Mara's head in it.

[Shrek]

On 2/6/2025 at 1:29 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

With the label that says customers did not pay for the ad? How could that possibly be true? Customers ultimately pay for everything. I don't understand what that claim is supposed to mean. 

It's the same sort of thing as them saying that they're upgrading things when their contract with California apparently states that they MUST spend 10% of their yearly profits on upgrading the system.

It's the same bait & switch as car manufacturers commercials telling you that these wonderful innovations come "as standard" when all new cars sold have to something by law. Surprised they don't tell us that the new sooper dooper model has seat belts " as standard"

It's all smoke & mirrors & you can almost guarantee if any company is telling you their new wonder safety feature is "as standard" it is there by law as no company is known for adding shit that benefits you through choice. 

[KWalkerInc]

Safelite has two new ads that are centered around annoying noises.  In one, a woman who discovers that her windshield has a crack first laughs in disbelief, but then lets out this distressed "HAAAAAAAA"  noise before banging her head against the horn.  Maybe it could be funny if the noise weren't so grating.

There's also one where a father and son are playing baseball and the dad hits the windshield with the ball and cracks it.  When he looks distressed, the son goes, "OHHHHHH!" in a sort of taunting tone because the dad is going to be in trouble.  Shut up, kid.

I also can't stand the singing in the ads for Rover pet services.  It's nice that they can have someone watch the dog and also check in to know that it's okay, but the person (child?) singing as the dog is trying way too hard to be cute and sounds so horrible that it approaches Burger King levels of awful.  (In this case, shrill instead of badly off-key.)

[Browncoat]

Noooo!  They're doing a piece on commercials on CBS Sunday morning, and they're talking to the original Jardiance woman.  AND THEY PLAYED THAT HORRIBLE AD!

At least they had a Dean Winters/Mayhem palate cleanser after.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

Noooo!  They're doing a piece on commercials on CBS Sunday morning, and they're talking to the original Jardiance woman.  AND THEY PLAYED THAT HORRIBLE AD!

At least they had a Dean Winters/Mayhem palate cleanser after.

What did the Jardiance woman have to say?

[Browncoat]

Just now, chessiegal said:

What did the Jardiance woman have to say?

Mostly that she learned to tune out all the negativity from the internet, some of which, was, sadly, quite personal.  And that she's laughing all the way to the bank.  She's been in quite a few other commercials, too.

It was actually a fairly interesting piece, with the woman who plays Flo, the OG Jardiance woman, and Dean Winters as their focus.  

[Bastet]

10 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Mostly that she learned to tune out all the negativity from the internet, some of which, was, sadly, quite personal.  

Some publication ran a detailed profile of/interview with her last year or the year before and, wow, was she a mixed bag.  She had great commentary about the internet vitriol when all she did was act in a commercial, but then she said stuff that was "Okay, but now people have an actual reason to hate you" level of WTF?  I don't remember specifics, just that it was a really bad way of "defending" yourself.

Edited February 10 by Bastet

[Crashcourse]

I read the article about her and, while I don't remember the specific things she said, I lost all sympathy for her.

[nokat]

The cruise ship commercial where she sings "Love boat." It caught my old brains attention. Oh, a cruise ship sounds fun. I'm sure all of the characters I liked won't be there.

[Ohiopirate02]

On 2/4/2025 at 11:31 AM, Gharlane said:

How did he not realize she was an avid Tarheels fan and why did she treat him that way? Was this her plan for breaking up with him? 

As someone who lives in NC,she was 100% testing him here. And he failed spectacularly. You are correct that the avid Tarhole fans do not hide it. Him not knowing means he's extremely unobservant.

[Browncoat]

32 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

avid Tarhole fans

NC State alum here (grad school), and I love this.

[Gharlane]

On 2/7/2025 at 11:58 AM, MerBearHou said:

I loathe any of the Mara moments on these Progressive commercials.  She is awful, never amusing, and her voice grates.  This stalker one is beyond creepy -- who in the world thought "good idea, that's good advertising"?  yes, I know that I'm aware of the brand because I'm commenting on it, but it has less than zero desirability for the brand IMO.  

I'm not sure if I saw it or heard the radio version, but I found it mildly amusing because she's such a deadpan character. I think my fav featuring her is when her parents show up to pick her up and they're all like "Mara is just like us!". 😀

 

I noticed that in another Progressive commercial, they made a callback to Jamie's secret life when the guy obsessed with his motorcycle showed up with it as his "plus one".

On 2/8/2025 at 5:18 AM, KWalkerInc said:

There's also one where a father and son are playing baseball and the dad hits the windshield with the ball and cracks it.  When he looks distressed, the son goes, "OHHHHHH!" in a sort of taunting tone because the dad is going to be in trouble.  Shut up, kid.

I hate that commercial with the brat mocking his father for trying not to cry. The kid says something bratty near the end, but it appears they removed or replaced it.

18 hours ago, Bastet said:

Some publication ran a detailed profile of/interview with her last year or the year before and, wow, was she a mixed bag.  

There's a link to the article earlier in this thread.

[Ohiopirate02]

55 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

NC State alum here (grad school), and I love this.

ECU alum here. My favorite thing to tell a Tarhole is that I was smart enough to get into Carolina but chose not to twice. Whatever prestige a Carolina degree would confer was not worth the extra money (undergrad and grad) or time (grad).

[mojito]

On 2/6/2025 at 9:37 AM, Tom Holmberg said:

The Seal as a seal ad is horrifying.

Honestly, I can't think of anything I've ever seen in a commercial that was more creepy. I'm sure on the screen I've seen other hideous things, but for the life of me, I can't think of anything more hideos than this commercial. 

[MerBearHou]

20 minutes ago, mojito said:

Honestly, I can't think of anything I've ever seen in a commercial that was more creepy. I'm sure on the screen I've seen other hideous things, but for the life of me, I can't think of anything more hideos than this commercial. 

It was creepy (and I love Seal) but I thought the Tubi fleshy cowboy hat guy and the huge tongue (sung by Shania Twain) were equally awful if not worse!

[proserpina65]

On 2/6/2025 at 1:32 PM, andromeda331 said:

The new Dr. Rick commercial of people turning into their parents'. I like the neighborhood watch lady. Except for talking to the person in the car and talking to the lady about insurance she's not really doing anything wrong or bad. She walks by the boys and comments on their game. She wants to tell another lady that her flowers look great. I'd be happy if someone told me the flowers I planted looked great. 

And nobody, I mean nobody, stops people in the street to talk about car insurance.  It used to be the Dr. Rick commercials contained a grain of truth, but this one is so out there that it annoys the hell out of me.

On 2/6/2025 at 10:37 AM, Tom Holmberg said:

The Seal as a seal ad is horrifying.  I wonder how many kids aren't going to be able to fall asleep after seeing that.

 

 

I find it amusing, in a totally weird, and yes, sort of horrifying way.

On 2/7/2025 at 10:08 AM, KLovestoShop said:

Mara creeps the crap out of me.  If her voice isn’t creepy enough, her constant presence is just too nasty, especially the end where she says “I’d do anything for you” while the girl was in the tub.  Major YUCK. 

That's kind of the point of that commercial.

18 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

I read the article about her and, while I don't remember the specific things she said, I lost all sympathy for her.

She seemed uber-Jesus-y to me, if I remember correctly, and I find that extremely off-putting.

7 hours ago, nokat said:

The cruise ship commercial where she sings "Love boat." It caught my old brains attention. Oh, a cruise ship sounds fun. I'm sure all of the characters I liked won't be there.

I keep thinking "Why did they let her sing?  She's not good." whenever I see that Princess Cruises commercial.

 

I don't know who the women singing in the new Pandora commercial are, but they need to stop immediately.  They are also not good.

Also, the Macy's Valentine ad chick: No, I do not love Valentine's Day.  I hate Valentine's Day.  I do, however, like the day after Valentine's because that's when the candy goes on sale.

On 2/6/2025 at 10:37 AM, Tom Holmberg said:

The Seal as a seal ad is horrifying.  I wonder how many kids aren't going to be able to fall asleep after seeing that.

 

 

One horrifying word: puppymonkeybaby. 😱

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, MerBearHou said:

It was creepy (and I love Seal) but I thought the Tubi fleshy cowboy hat guy and the huge tongue (sung by Shania Twain) were equally awful if not worse!

Oh yeah, the flesh-hat people and the tongue thing were this year's puppymonkeybaby.

[Deskisamess]

5 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

It was creepy (and I love Seal) but I thought the Tubi fleshy cowboy hat guy and the huge tongue (sung by Shania Twain) were equally awful if not worse!

Yes! The tongue! Grossed me right out. I liked the idea behind the fleshy cowboy hat, and wasn't as bothered by that one.

Any commercial with an open mouth, tongue, under tongue, weird dentist thing holding the mouth open, people eating with slow motion spoon/fork being placed in the mouth...just stop it. Remember the lady referee eating yogurt? Gah!

[millennium]

On 1/31/2025 at 7:54 AM, paramitch said:

So I kind of feel like she's just unapologetically getting all the paychecks she can (now she's also hosting game shows! Sigh).

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"

[Ancaster]

I can't stand Will Farrell at the best of times, but he is particularly loathsome in the PayPal lemonade stand commercial where he's a complete dick to the kid.