Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

[kathyk2]

23 hours ago, InDueTime said:

The "Passive Progressive" ads are just awful. Nobody's stopping you doofuses from switching insurance companies.

 

 

 

I disagree I think they are better than the annoying Dr. Rick ads.

[Ancaster]

I loathe all of those highly manipulative, sickly sweet ads for charities like St Jude and Shriners, not least because they're all way too long and appear constantly.

The one that's particularly irritating me at the moment is for an animal charity (no idea which one) that harps on about starving dogs "wondering" when they last ate.  I'm pretty sure no dog has ever "wondered" whether it ate breakfast or not, or whether its last meal was 2 days or a week ago.

[lh25]

On 3/1/2025 at 6:54 PM, kathyk2 said:

I disagree I think they are better than the annoying Dr. Rick ads

It's funny how we all like or don't different ads.  I like the Dr. Rick ads, even though they reinforce that I'm getting older and becoming my parents.  Hubby and I talk back to Dr. Rick saying this or that is just fine.

But then I am one of apparently a VERY small minority who likes those badly sung Burger King ads... 🤭

[Crashcourse]

15 minutes ago, lh25 said:

But then I am one of apparently a VERY small minority who likes those badly sung Burger King ads... 🤭

Same here.  😄

[proserpina65]

On 2/28/2025 at 3:42 PM, Ohiopirate02 said:

The last few times I have stayed in a hotel, I have paid at check in and not at checkout or at least ran the credit card but charged me upon checkout. And now hotels have your email address and send the bill electronically. I rarely ever checkout at the desk with a person. I just leave and drop the key cards in the box on my way out. I have also never had a clerk blurt out the total cost at a volume where another guest could hear. In my experience, they are trained to not do exactly that since the rate does differ based on where and when you booked plus your status with the chain or with whatever credit card you may be using. The last thing any hotel manager wants is for another guest to overhear someone getting a room for "free" or $30 because of points.

The last hotel I stayed at (a couple of years ago), I paid at check-in.  I checked in with a person, and anyone behind me could've heard the amount he said, but since it wasn't a commercial, no one cared.  It was a small family-run hotel so no just leaving the keys on the way out either.  But I don't think that's what they're doing in the Trivago commercial.  It definitely reads more as check-out, with the clerk asking about the guy's stay.

On 2/28/2025 at 10:40 PM, InDueTime said:

The "Passive Progressive" ads are just awful. Nobody's stopping you doofuses from switching insurance companies.

I found the soccer mom one mildly amusing at first but it got old very quickly and the other one is just stupid.

On 3/1/2025 at 9:54 PM, kathyk2 said:

I disagree I think they are better than the annoying Dr. Rick ads.

Let's just say I hate them equally.

36 minutes ago, lh25 said:

But then I am one of apparently a VERY small minority who likes those badly sung Burger King ads... 🤭

I don't like them, exactly, but I don't really mind them either.

37 minutes ago, lh25 said:

I like the Dr. Rick ads, even though they reinforce that I'm getting older and becoming my parents.

They were funny at first, but now they're just getting ridiculous, especially the one where the woman stops cars in the street to talk about what's happening in the neighborhood.  That's not a parent thing - that's a stupid person thing that I have never seen anyone do ever.

[fairffaxx]

You haven't spent much time on my dad's street.

[Red Bridey]

I live in a small condo complex and I have on occasion caught up with my neighbors as they drive in or out. We lead such isolated and crate-ed lives now since covid that sometimes it's the only time to chat face to face. And it's not like it's gonna be a long convo, the engine is running and spewing petrocarbons into the atmosphere so we all know we have places to go.

[fairffaxx]

I'm sure it's common in small towns, where everyone knows everyone else & it's safe to stop in the middle of the street to chat.  The pace of life tends to be slower in those places.

My dad lives in a big city but his neighborhood is small & tightknit, squished in between a university campus & the rest of the city -- most of its residents are somehow connected with the university, so they all have that in common.  The neighborhood was established in the 1800s, with wide streets & big pre-Victorian homes on large lots with extensive landscaping.  Numerous dog-walkers (to my dad's chagrin) & those who drive through tend to go slowly (for the most part), in deference to the many elderly pedestrians.  It's generally safe to stop your car in the middle of the street while chatting with a neighbor, since there's plenty of room for other traffic to move around you -- I've done it while visiting, when approached by a neighbor on foot who just had to tell me something funny. 

[Ancaster]

7 hours ago, lh25 said:

But then I am one of apparently a VERY small minority who likes those badly sung Burger King ads... 🤭

 

I assumed someone must, since they keep airing them, but at the same time, have you considered seeing someone about that?  😆

Edited Tuesday at 01:58 AM by Ancaster

[KWalkerInc]

I'm getting sick of being bombarded by ads for the Eroxon gel.  The worst part is when they "cleverly" have the box rise to demonstrate what the product does.  On the bright side, the ads (perhaps appropriately) only last for 15 seconds.

[Haleth]

18 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

the one where the woman stops cars in the street to talk about what's happening in the neighborhood.  That's not a parent thing - that's a stupid person thing that I have never seen anyone do ever.

That’s exactly what my neighborhood is like. (It’s a 55+ neighborhood so I guess it proves Dr Rick’s point. 😄)

[Ancaster]

All of the Mattress Firm "How do you sleep at night?" ads are loathsome, with loathsome people doing loathsome things.  Yuck.

And why would their ad agency think people want to associate their mattress with disgusting habits?

[lh25]

13 hours ago, Ancaster said:

I assumed someone must, since they keep airing them, but at the same time, have you considered seeing someone about that?  😆

LOL-not sure who to see?  Neurologist?  Hearing specialist? Psychiatrist?

[Gharlane]

21 hours ago, lh25 said:

But then I am one of apparently a VERY small minority who likes those badly sung Burger King ads... 🤭

I'm indifferent about them, but there's a strong sense of nostalgia with the slogan and song.

[Baltimore Betty]

The latest Dunkin Donuts commercial with Ben Affleck is annoying to no end, he does some sort of dance and says something, the other guy says don't do that again and then Ben says something that is unintelligible, does anyone know what he is saying?

I feel like Dunkin Donuts creates these commercials with people who mumble something on purpose. 

42 minutes ago, Ancaster said:

All of the Mattress Firm "How do you sleep at night?" ads are loathsome, with loathsome people doing loathsome things.  Yuck.

And why would their ad agency think people want to associate their mattress with disgusting habits?

I would sleep on a pile of hay before I shop at Mattress Firm for a mattress, their commercials are horrible...I hate the rhythm of the way the actors speak.

[proserpina65]

On 3/3/2025 at 8:19 PM, fairffaxx said:

I'm sure it's common in small towns, where everyone knows everyone else & it's safe to stop in the middle of the street to chat.  The pace of life tends to be slower in those places.

I grew up in a small town and live just outside of a different one now.  My parents and their neighbors didn't do that when I was a kid and my neighbors do not do that now.  No one stops someone else's car in the middle of the street unless it's an actual emergency.  But clearly there aren't enough old people where I live, I guess.

On 3/4/2025 at 10:54 AM, Baltimore Betty said:

The latest Dunkin Donuts commercial with Ben Affleck is annoying to no end, he does some sort of dance and says something, the other guy says don't do that again and then Ben says something that is unintelligible, does anyone know what he is saying?

I think he's making up a jingle for their breakfast deal based on a New Kids on the Block song, since it's Donnie Wahlberg telling him to stop.  But I've only ever been able to figure out the "six bucks" part of the lyrics.

Now THIS is bad singing.  The BK guy is just mediocre to me, and I really don't care one way or the other about his singing.  Except in the BK Melts commercial where he drags the word "melt" out to an extreme.

Edited to note that the original Dun-kings commercial with Jennifer Lopez and Matt Damon was somewhat amusing, but every one since has met with diminishing returns as far as I'm concerned.

Edited Wednesday at 05:02 PM by proserpina65

[Ohiopirate02]

7 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I grew up in a small town and live just outside of a different one now.  My parents and their neighbors didn't do that when I was a kid and my neighbors do not do that now.  No one stops someone else's car in the middle of the street unless it's an actual emergency.  But clearly there aren't enough old people where I live, I guess.

My mother will do it to talk to our next door neighbor and his sister who lives on the next street over. But, the ad team behind these commercials is thinking about my mother when they come up with these commercials, they just have not met her.

[millennium]

On 2/21/2025 at 6:48 PM, dleighg said:

and here I always thought it was Salisbury Hill!

Me too, like Solsbury Steak.

("I thought this was a steak-ation!")

[millennium]

I've been overthinking the Elizabeth Banks face cream commercial.   Is there a reason she switches into a different voice to say "Flawless!"   It's so ostentatious yet ineffectual, there must have been some creative decision to have her do that.  Is it a callback to some role?   Is she being Effie Trinket without being Effie Trinket to avoid stepping on licensing?   I have to know!

[HyeChaps]

As a parent of young people who own their first homes, I don't care for the premise of those commercials.

[KWalkerInc]

There is an ad for Dove with women dancing around spraying themselves with deodorant while another woman sings about all the places they can spray.  Every time it airs, I end up with the song stuck in my head for a very long time.  "My neck, my back..." etc.  At least it's still better than the Lume ads, I suppose.

[mbluecpa]

On 2/28/2025 at 1:11 AM, Prevailing Wind said:

Trivago:

Two guys are checking in to a hotel and one of gets a rate WAY lower than the other guy because he uses Trivago. He grins at the sucker and says something about Trivago...I dunno what he's saying, because I'm blinded by his mouthful of super-white teeth. Honestly, they're as big as horse teeth and a completely unnatural shade of white.  Do people with blinding white teeth know how stupid that looks?

I just saw a new (to me) one showing Mr White Teeth solo and a little more head-on and…wow. It’s even more blinding and makes his teeth look even bigger than the original. It’s so noticeable and unnatural that I wonder if it’s intentional.  

[Tom Holmberg]

Since no one else has seemed to mentioned it, the Hempvanna commercials where they give Will Markham's body count - "4500 confirmed kills" - is totally weird and disturbing.