Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

[fastiller]

Here's my problem with the entire campaign: marionettes are stringed, not wired; they're strings. I get where they were trying to go because with marionettes it's difficult not to see the strings, and it's about not seeing the wires for your cable. But strings are not wires. So if I put myself in the position of, were I an animate marionette, how would I respond to these comments about wires...I would not take that personally as a ding against me and my wires, since I would not have any. And the biggest thing is, there is a way they could have made this silly premise work with better word choices: Say "cord" instead of "wire". "Cord" could apply to both scenarios. I've heard both string and wires/cables referred to as cord or cords. I have never heard someone use the terms wire and string interchangeably.

I think I just may love you theatremouse.

[margol29]

I just saw a commercial, I can't even remember what it was promoting, where the dog and husband wags their tail and mullet braid. It just squicked me out sooooo much. I just can't get past that.

[xls]

The Febreeze commercial with two little boys on the couch being shown a 100-times life sized cube of an allergen.    Why do they say eww? Are we to believe that people who regularly consume things they've found on the floor are disgusted by a giant wooden block?   So the kid who thinks the proper way to dispatch allergens is by sicking some Ninjas on them......{{hangs head}} I know he's supposed to be super adorable in an oh how cute, outta the mouths of babes kind of way, but between his grown man face and the self satisfied look thereon after he says it, I wanna punch this baby square in his mouth.    For the record I love kids but the forced cutesy wutsey thing?  Kill yourself Febreeze Marketing Dept.

Why do these kids always answer Ninjas?

[lottiedottie]

I'm sure this has been mentioned, I've read some of this thread but not all of it, but those god damn smoothie kabobbles (or whatever the hell they are) commercials. Those two kids in the elevator with the platypus are DUMB (and my 12 year old son gets so annoyed--he insists that kids that age would know what a platypus looks like). Anyway, my irrational hatred reaches a fever pitch when the girl says something like "ooooh, look at his cute waddle." in that stupid voice. UGH! Shut up! The predecessor to this commercial wasn't much better--that dumb reporter is annoying as hell.

 

Editing to add, I also can't deal with the Fiat commercials of late. They are trying really hard to be weird in an effort to be viral and they just look stupid.

Edited July 1, 2014 by lottiedottie

[Scout Finch]

Every single time I saw that Yoplait commercial, after she asks, "Babe, what are you doing?" I would answer back with, "Looking through OUR refrigerator, bitch!"

 

As a female, I don't tend towards wishing grievous bodily harm to other women. However, a good smacking is also in order for another one that aired several years ago. It was for AM/PM, and a guy is sitting outside the store sucking down a cold drink. A car pulls up and his significant other steps out of it. She sees him and snottily says, "I thought you went for a jog," as if he just made that up as an excuse to go to the store. He meekly says, "I got hot," but she's still all pissy. First off, how do you know he wasn't just taking a break from jogging? Regardless, and more importantly, at least he didn't drive himself there like your lazy ass did.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Scout Finch

[RealityGal]

Every single time I saw that Yoplait commercial, after she asks, "Babe, what are you doing?" I would answer back with, "Looking through OUR refrigerator, bitch!"

 

As a female, I don't tend towards wishing grievous bodily harm to other women. However, a good smacking is also in order for another one that aired several years ago. It was for AM/PM, and a guy is sitting outside the store sucking down a cold drink. A car pulls up and his significant other steps out of it. She sees him and snottily says, "I thought you went for a jog," as if he just made that up as an excuse to go to the store. He meekly says, "I got hot," but she's still all pissy. First off, how do you know he wasn't just taking a break from jogging? Regardless, and more importantly, at least he didn't drive himself there like your lazy ass did.

 

Seriously.  I get a little offended as a woman that women on the whole are being portrayed as these whiny, bitchy nags.  First off, I would think, as your significant other, I'm happy you went for a jog, you didn't go for a jog, thats fine too.  Now if you told me you were going for a jog, and you went to see a hooker, I would likely get pissy, but just because you went to get a soda?  Second, why the hell am I mad at a guy for looking for something to eat, as a woman of the house am I keeper of the refrigerator and all food therein?  Ridiculous.

[janie jones]

Not just all the food therein, but all the food in the world, since apparently he's not allowed to go to AM/PM for a drink without his wife's permission.

[Haleth]

I'm not disagreeing at all about the shrew who is so territorial about her yogurt, but if my husband ate something that I had bought for myself and was saving, I'd be pissed too.

[RealityGal]

I'm not disagreeing at all about the shrew who is so territorial about her yogurt, but if my husband ate something that I had bought for myself and was saving, I'd be pissed too.

 

But she just got mad at him for looking in the refrigerator.  If she had something she really didn't want him to eat in there, she should have put a note on it.  He clearly didn't want her nasty yogurt because he kept looking for the apple turnovers she was bragging about on the phone. But I do approve of calling her a shrew, thats actually a good word.

[Bastet]

I haven't seen it in a long time, but I didn't think she got mad at him, period, and not for looking in the refrigerator; I thought she was trying to find out what on earth he was looking for that he enthusiastically flung open the doors of the refrigerator and then just stood there staring for so long.

 

Mostly I remember that commercial as being yet another one in which women are so obsessed with calories they'll lie to themselves and each other about the taste of yogurt.

[ZaldamoWilder]

Why do these kids always answer Ninjas?

 

Well logically, how else can you kill big ole swimming pool waves or wooden chunks of fictionalized allergen a trillion times their normal size? 

 

 

I haven't seen it in a long time, but I didn't think she got mad at him, period, and not for looking in the refrigerator; I thought she was trying to find out what on earth he was looking for that he enthusiastically flung open the doors of the refrigerator and then just stood there staring for so long.

 

Mostly I remember that commercial as being yet another one in which women are so obsessed with calories they'll lie to themselves and each other about the taste of yogurt.

 

LMAO!!!!  Same group of people that believe in the phrase "meal substitute".    Yeah, enjoy that.

[RealityGal]

I haven't seen it in a long time, but I didn't think she got mad at him, period, and not for looking in the refrigerator; I thought she was trying to find out what on earth he was looking for that he enthusiastically flung open the doors of the refrigerator and then just stood there staring for so long.

 

Mostly I remember that commercial as being yet another one in which women are so obsessed with calories they'll lie to themselves and each other about the taste of yogurt.

Her voice was all annoyance and nag and passive aggressive anger, IMO.  And so what, is he not allowed to open refrigerator doors and look in?  He isn't allowed to touch the refrigerator in a way that would upset that naggy shrew?  Its a refrigerator, maybe she should eat an actual piece of Boston Cream Pie so she can calm down.  Those things are meant to be opened and rifled through.  And shouldn't you assume if someone, anyone has opened your refrigerator and is looking through it, they are looking for food, and even if he isn't, even if he is looking for his porno stash he hides from her in the vegetable drawer...who....cares!?!??  Leave the man alone to look in the refrigerator, how in the world is it hurting you?  Who cares if he just likes staring at the refrigerator light and pondering the meaning of life?

 

ETA: of course YMMV, and I just detest that naggy broad with the intensity of a thousand suns

Edited July 1, 2014 by RealityGal

[RedZoneTuba]

OK, I've been getting interested in soccer watching the World Cup games but I must say that if I hear that woman warble bippity bobbity b- SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!!! 

 

Jeez, lady.  Give it a rest, take some time off, and please take Elvis and the Bossa Nova song with you.

 

(Sorry.  I feel better now.)

[riley702]

Why do these kids always answer Ninjas?

 

Because kids that age are obsessed with ninjas these days. Or zombies.

Every single time I saw that Yoplait commercial, after she asks, "Babe, what are you doing?" I would answer back with, "Looking through OUR refrigerator, bitch!"

Seriously, I want to smack her for being such a shrew. He's your husband, not your child. He's your equal, not your inferior. He contributed to the purchase of that fridge and he can look through it any damned time he wants to. Bitch.

[OSM Mom]

But it's the old trope of husbands are large children who need to be monitored like a toddler. They're stupid beings according to TV commercials.

[Stella MD]

I'm genuinely curious from a sociological perspective how prevalent this behavior is in the real world, and whether it's entirely generational. My mother, MIL, and aunts (all in their 70s) are exactly like these women in the commercials - to the point that my poor father hoard cookies in his car and otherwise has learned to ask permission before daring to eat something "unauthorized". I guess this is some throwback to the 50s? I find it so much harder to fathom that younger people could behave like this as well, but on the other hand, it's not like 70-year-olds rule the airwaves, and the harpy-wife is so frequent in commercials and television in general (eg, Modern Family, Everybody Loves Raymond) that somebody in the younger target demographic has to be under the impression that this is actually how the world works, right? The mind boggles. 

[ABay]

This is completely off the top of my head.  I could see it growing out of a time when food and money were tight and making it through to the next paycheck without you or your kids going hungry meant making food last and keeping an iron rein on the household budget. My grandmother and mother lived through the Depression and it left lifelong marks. 

[merylinkid]

To me, it goes back to when women were not allowed to work outside the home.   They only way they could show how competent they were was to be a good amanger of the home -- putting balanced meals on the table, keeping a spotless home, having perfect children.   When women moved out of the home and into the workforce, they had other ways to show their competence.   But tv still tries for the absolute control of the home thing because men are useless around the house.   Good grief left to his own devices he might spoil his dinner.   ANd don't even ask him to do the laundry, he will either overload the washer with clothes or soap -- or both, or mix colors with whites and the whole laundry will be pink.    Because no guy ever had to do his own laundry before getting married.

[lottiedottie]

Another thought, somewhat along the lines of tight budgets and being "good homemakers" is that if the woman does the meal planning and shopping, there may be items that are for a specific meal preparation. If someone eats it, that messes up the meal plan and causes the need for another trip to the store. That's usually the case in my house--but I try to let my people know if there is a particular item that is off-limits for snacking because I need it for something. But I also try not to be a bitch about it.  

[Bastet]

Madison Ave. loves to portray women - especially wives - as nags, but I just don't remember the "Babe, what are you doing?" woman coming across that way.  It seemed like a question delivered in a way that should shield her from being labeled a bitch or shrew, but obviously not.  It was perhaps part of the overall trend in presenting men as inept at domestic tasks (because, of course, their superior skills and intellect are wasted on such things for which the female brain is inherently suited), but it stuck in my memory as just another annoying yogurt commercial in which women wax rhapsodic about faux flavors because heaven forbid they consume the occasional extra calorie by eating the real thing.

[RealityGal]

YMMV, but this bitch makes me absolutely stabby.....

 

First off, what he is doing is fairly obvious you dumb broad, he is looking in the refrigerator.  Perhaps he will take something out of the refrigerator and eat it.  Second, there is nothing wrong with him eating something from the refrigerator, not even that nasty ass yogurt that he has no interest in.  Third, why must he sit there looking so dog whipped, grow some balls man, you don't have to explain to this dopey bitch why you're looking in a refrigerator in your own damn house.  You're allowed to look in a refrigerator, you're allowed to eat food from there.  Can you imagine how pathetic the rest of this poor saps life must be with this naggy cow following him around all the time?  Ick.  If this is what marriage turns women into, I want no part of it!

Edited July 2, 2014 by RealityGal

[Scout Finch]

Amen, sister!

Edited July 2, 2014 by Scout Finch

[riley702]

Not to mention that nasal voice is SO annoying. I just noticed that when she says she's already lost weight, his head whips around in disbelief. Hee! 

[janie jones]

Madison Ave. loves to portray women - especially wives - as nags, but I just don't remember the "Babe, what are you doing?" woman coming across that way.  It seemed like a question delivered in a way that should shield her from being labeled a bitch or shrew, but obviously not.

For, me, it's the fact that she's asking the question in the first place.  What the fuck else would he be doing?  And often when someone asks someone "What are you doing" when it's obvious what they are doing, it will be in some type of training situation where the behavior in question needs to change.  Had she asked "What are you looking for," it probably wouldn't bother me at all.  Or, if she had a tone of incredulity to indicate that she actually didn't know what he was doing because he was behaving erratically (which he kind of was), it probably wouldn't bother me.

 

On top of that, his wounded look at the end makes it worse.  The fact that he looks like he's been scolded seems to indicate that that is what she is intended to have been doing.

Edited July 2, 2014 by janie jones

[St. Claire]

While I hate the whole construct of the commercial (honestly, even those of us who eat yogurt while trying to lose weight refer to the yogurt flavors as such- i.e., not "apple turnover" but "the apple yogurt" or something similar), I wasn't irritated by the phrasing of "what are you doing?" My husband and I, and many other friends and family members, use that as a sort of short hand for "why are you letting 30 seconds worth of cold air escape from the fridge when you are always fussing about the electric bill?"/"if you tell me what you are looking for, maybe I can tell you what shelf I saw it on"

 

Also, I hate Yoplait. The only yogurt I eat anymore is Chobani, and it can't be the artificially sweetened stuff. 

[legaleagle53]

Maybe it's because I grew up in the 1970s, but I remember a time when it was women who were treated with disrespect in commercials from that era.  Does anyone remember the "ring around the collar" commercials for Wisk?  A husband and wife would be out someplace and someone would point out to the husband that he had "ring around the collar," whereupon he would give his wife a dirty look (of the "if looks could kill" variety).  What was her reaction?  Instead of telling her husband that he could shove his death glare and do the laundry himself if he had a problem with the way she did it, she simply groaned about the fact that her powdered detergent didn't work!

 

And then there were the Folger's commercials where the husband was always either criticizing his wife's coffee or else comparing it unfavorably to someone else's.  Feminists used to holler bloody murder about these commercials, so perhaps the spate of commercials that today show women as emasculating bitches and their husbands as castrated, incompetent nimrods is simply considered payback for the years of commercials that showed women as cowering simps.

Edited July 2, 2014 by legaleagle53

[Bastet]

perhaps the spate of commercials that today show women as emasculating bitches and their husbands as castrated, incompetent nimrods is simply considered payback for the years of commercials that showed women as cowering simps.

 

Oh, I don't think men are the targets of the sexism in those ads since the things they screw up are almost universally household chores and parenting.  Women being inadequate at domestic tasks was a bad thing; they had failed at their duties.  Men being inept at the same thing?  Just the natural order of things; women are innately suited to such things, while men have superior intellect and skills that are just wasted on "women's work."  Same message advertising has been shoving down our throats since the '50s, just delivered in a different way. 

Edited July 2, 2014 by Bastet

[Oosala]

And there's another commercial playing now with a naggy, bitchy wife and an "incompetent" husband, only this time, he's NOT incompetent.  The wife is sitting with her cat who is on the kitchen table (gross) and the husband's in the background putting away groceries.  The wife snots that she sent her husband out to buy cat food and the dumb fuck couldn't even handle that simple task because he didn't get the brand they've been using forever.  The husband explains that someone said it was a better brand but the wife doesn't believe him -- until she reads the list of ingredients on both cans.  Turns out their usual brand has razor blades in it or some shit like that so the wife is suitably chagrined, only instead of apologizing to the husband, she apologizes TO THE CAT.  I hate that woman.

[Maverick]

 I think both men and woman are the subject of stereotypes and sexism in commercials.  For women, it's the nagging, bitchy, shrewish harpies that know it all (ref: Yoplait shrew, refrigerator bitch ragging on her son and husband) and for men it's that they're clueless, drooling, emasculated morons incapable of so much as breathing without their wife's help (ref:  Yoplait's shrew husband, refrigerator bitch' son and husband).  I find both portrayals offensive and a turnoff to whatever they're selling, if I'm not already turned off to it already (ref:  Yoplait).

[riley702]

There was an old commercial back in the day - can't even remember what it was for, but at the end, the husband looks fondly at his wife and announces, "My wife; I think I'll keep her." while she just smiles. I remember it causing a shitstorm of controversy over the sexism. Anyone else remember that?

 

Just googled it - it was a Geritol commercial from 1972.

Edited July 2, 2014 by riley702

[legaleagle53]

Yes, I remember that one.  There was an even more cringeworthy one where the wife asks her husband whether he thinks he'll keep her.

 

The early 1970s really were not that kind to women.

[RealityGal]

And there's another commercial playing now with a naggy, bitchy wife and an "incompetent" husband, only this time, he's NOT incompetent.  The wife is sitting with her cat who is on the kitchen table (gross) and the husband's in the background putting away groceries.  The wife snots that she sent her husband out to buy cat food and the dumb fuck couldn't even handle that simple task because he didn't get the brand they've been using forever.  The husband explains that someone said it was a better brand but the wife doesn't believe him -- until she reads the list of ingredients on both cans.  Turns out their usual brand has razor blades in it or some shit like that so the wife is suitably chagrined, only instead of apologizing to the husband, she apologizes TO THE CAT.  I hate that woman.

 

Cat food commercials are awful, but up until I read your post, I thought there was nothing worse than that ridiculous Fancy Feast commercial with the white cat who belongs to some supermodel who marries a super hot guy who bought her the cat as a kitten.  I sit corrected.

Oh, I don't think men are the targets of the sexism in those ads since the things they screw up are almost universally household chores and parenting.  Women being inadequate at domestic tasks was a bad thing; they had failed at their duties.  Men being inept at the same thing?  Just the natural order of things; women are innately suited to such things, while men have superior intellect and skills that are just wasted on "women's work."  Same message advertising has been shoving down our throats since the '50s, just delivered in a different way. 

Yeah, apparently my tiny girl brain is only good for guarding the nasty ass Yoplait from any and all who may dare eat it without permission.

[riley702]

I thought there was nothing worse than that ridiculous Fancy Feast commercial with the white cat who belongs to some supermodel who marries a super hot guy who bought her the cat as a kitten.

I liked those commercials. Mostly for the adorable kitten, granted.

[Rick Kitchen]

There's an Arco ad where the husband is sitting in traffic trying to get to a gas station and the wife says they should have gone to the Arco, and the husband says, "I thought this way would be better."  And the shrewish bitch of a wife says, "That's strange, because all of your ideas are always so right."

 

Not to mention that, um, Arco, are you saying that nobody likes to go to your stations?

[ShadowSixx]

This commercial has probably been mentioned but I absolutely hate that one where the little boy accidentally spills his legos on the floor and the little bratty girl goes all, "QUIET! MOM HAS A HEADACHE!" Little girl, if mommy has a headache, you're not doing her any favors by yelling at the top of your lungs.

 

Y'all don't know how much I hate Yoplait commercials. Especially that one where the mom sends her kid off to play hide and seek while she relaxes on the couch to eat yogurt. At the end of the commercial the son is hiding in the laundry basket and mom just says, "Still counting," so she can continue eating. How neglectful is she? What if the son hurt himself and was unconscious on the floor?

[6 MeowMeowBeenz]

But she just got mad at him for looking in the refrigerator.

 

well, to be fair, we have an energy-efficient fridge that beeps annoyingly if you leave the door open for more than about 10 seconds. After the third beepbeepbeep, I'm a bit homicidal.

 

Count me in on the hatred for those damn marionette people with the overly sensitive attitude towards wires. Jeebus. Creepy 

 

I'd also add Toyota commercials, where the bright shiny family shows up at the receptionist desk at the dealer so geeked about buying their new Corolla or whatever appliance-on-wheels they're getting. It's a Toyota. You're not buying it because it's stylish, you're buying it because you really want a reliable albeit boring car.

[OSM Mom]

I want to take away the license of the assholes who drive through their garage door because they're too stupid to realize they're in drive instead of reverse. Not driving so much as plowing through. Because when you back up, you don't just roll back slowly, you stick it in gear and slam the gas. Morons.

[Jamoche]

Because when you back up, you don't just roll back slowly, you stick it in gear and slam the gas. Morons.

Or if they do have it in reverse, it's only their car's sensor devices that stop them going full-tilt into the baby carriage behind them.

[iMonrey]

I think the proliferation of commercials where husbands are portrayed as childlike idiots is due to the fact that, to this day, Madison Avenue believes women do most of the shopping. I worked in advertising for years, and the clients and agents always referred to their audience as "she." "Will she buy this? Will this appeal to her? Will she like this?" Women are seen as being the purchasers of their households.

 

On a different topic, I think it's time to retire Duke the talking dog on the Bush's Baked Beans commercials. These commercials have been running for over 20 years, and the sad fact is that Duke would be dead by now. In fact his voice has changed several times, yet it's always the same guy who owns him, meaning he must get a new dog whenever Duke dies and name that one Duke too. Any product that makes me think about dead doggies isn't going to get my business.

[RealityGal]

I think the proliferation of commercials where husbands are portrayed as childlike idiots is due to the fact that, to this day, Madison Avenue believes women do most of the shopping. I worked in advertising for years, and the clients and agents always referred to their audience as "she." "Will she buy this? Will this appeal to her? Will she like this?" Women are seen as being the purchasers of their households.

 

On a different topic, I think it's time to retire Duke the talking dog on the Bush's Baked Beans commercials. These commercials have been running for over 20 years, and the sad fact is that Duke would be dead by now. In fact his voice has changed several times, yet it's always the same guy who owns him, meaning he must get a new dog whenever Duke dies and name that one Duke too. Any product that makes me think about dead doggies isn't going to get my business.

 

I agree, that somehow advertising execs think women do all the shopping, but my thing is, I'm a woman, and I find those commercials with naggy shrew wife, and emasculated husband annoying as hell.  I know very few women who are like that in real life, or aspire to be like that in real life.  Most women I know aren't chastising a man for simply looking in a refrigerator, and frankly, I hope I always have more in life to worry about than what my significant other is taking out of the refrigerator, or the fact that he is just looking in there.  

 

I love Duke though!  Never considered that his voice had changed over the years, or that he was probably dead.  I guess I imagined that a dog that could talk might also live an unnaturally long life :)

well, to be fair, we have an energy-efficient fridge that beeps annoyingly if you leave the door open for more than about 10 seconds. After the third beepbeepbeep, I'm a bit homicidal.

 

 

 

Oh geez, I don't think I could handle a refrigerator like that.  I don't leave the refrigerator door open just for kicks, normally, if its open for an extended period of time, I'm either trying to find something, or I'm carrying something heavy and I don't have a way to flip the door shut.  Either way, I'm already in a situation where I'm annoyed so the last thing I need would be beeping.  Do you get some sort of tax credit for that?

[Watcher0363]

I want to take away the license of the assholes who drive through their garage door because they're too stupid to realize they're in drive instead of reverse. Not driving so much as plowing through. Because when you back up, you don't just roll back slowly, you stick it in gear and slam the gas. Morons.

 

In our defense

1- According to the insurance industry it happens all the time.

2- The conscious mind thinks I'm backing up. The subconscious mind and muscle memory thinks go forward old/young man.

3- Reverse gearing is a different ratio than forward gearing.

4- The concern for your mental health can be touching.

[ShadowSixx]

The idiot husband in commercials I don't find to be very cute at all.

 

Especially that AT&T commercial where the wife is in the greenhouse and the husband tells her that he signed the family up for a new plan. The wife goes on a tirade, "Where's that money coming from? My mother was right, I should have married so and so." I felt so bad for the husband.

 

That other commercial following the Yoplait one with the husband looking in the fridge. The other one has the husband on the phone talking to his friends about the different flavored yogurts and the wife calls his name and gives him a condescending look, like he's not suppose to be talking about it.

Edited July 3, 2014 by ShadowSixx

[Neurochick]

 

Her voice was all annoyance and nag and passive aggressive anger, IMO.  And so what, is he not allowed to open refrigerator doors and look in?  He isn't allowed to touch the refrigerator in a way that would upset that naggy shrew?  Its a refrigerator, maybe she should eat an actual piece of Boston Cream Pie so she can calm down.  Those things are meant to be opened and rifled through.  And shouldn't you assume if someone, anyone has opened your refrigerator and is looking through it, they are looking for food, and even if he isn't, even if he is looking for his porno stash he hides from her in the vegetable drawer...who....cares!?!??  Leave the man alone to look in the refrigerator, how in the world is it hurting you?  Who cares if he just likes staring at the refrigerator light and pondering the meaning of life?

When I was a kid and I did something like that, open the refrigerator door and stare; I was told that I was wasting money; I guess if your refrigerator door is open too long and the refrigerator is going on and on, it makes the electric bill go up.

[RealityGal]

The idiot husband in commercials I don't find to be very cute at all.

 

Especially that AT&T commercial where the wife is in the greenhouse and the husband tells her that he signed the family up for a new plan. The wife goes on a tirade, "Where's that money coming from? My mother was right, I should have married so and so." I felt so bad for the husband.

 

That other commercial following the Yoplait one with the husband looking in the fridge. The other one has the husband on the phone talking to his friends about the different flavored yogurts and the wife calls his name and gives him a condescending look, like he's not suppose to be talking about it.

So now he isn't even allowed to discuss disgusting Yoplait yogurt?  Does she own secret stock in Yoplait, why does she even care?  Doesn't she have a hobby that doesn't involve being a shrew?  Good god women, take up knitting!  Or full contact football, join a fight club, do something!  

When I was a kid and I did something like that, open the refrigerator door and stare; I was told that I was wasting money; I guess if your refrigerator door is open too long and the refrigerator is going on and on, it makes the electric bill go up.

True, but she is wasting money by a) buying disgusting, tasteless yogurt and b) by using the phone to yap about her gross yogurt eating habits with her friend.

 

I feel like they are even.

[merylinkid]

Oh god the AT & T shrew.    I always wanted the man to respond with "And yes the first person I am calling on our new plan is a divorce lawyer.  Have fun living with your mom after the court gets done with you."

[Stella MD]

Once the divorces go through, the AT&T shrew can be roommates with the insecure shrieking harpy who freaks out about Jake from State Farm. Hell, the yogurt bitch can move in too, and they can all lead peaceful, yogurt-filled lives without their annoying men-children sneaking into the refrigerator or making calls at night.

[RealityGal]

Once the divorces go through, the AT&T shrew can be roommates with the insecure shrieking harpy who freaks out about Jake from State Farm. Hell, the yogurt bitch can move in too, and they can all lead peaceful, yogurt-filled lives without their annoying men-children sneaking into the refrigerator or making calls at night.

 

LMAO!

[Bastet]

The State Farm woman cracks me up in spite of herself when she says, "She sounds hideous."  All three characters have such great lines in that commercial; the husband with "Well, she's a guy, so ..." and Jake with "Uh, khakis."  In the context of women being so often portrayed as jealous, nagging wives in commercials, it is certainly problematic, but taken on its own I can stand it. 

[RealityGal]

Regarding the commercials with the emasculated men, do the ad execs really think this is what the majority of women relate to?  Do they think we're all a bunch of screeching harpies and howler monkeys who are interested in men who will submit to our placing their testicles in a vice grip the moment they walk in the door?  If I ever become one of these women I'll pray to the baby Jesus up above that someone takes me out back and shoots me. 

 

Wife:  "Don't even think of opening the refrigerator door and looking at my yogurt or I'll be forced to twist the vice grip X number of degrees."

Husband:  "No, no no!  Please don't twist the vice grip!  I'll close the refrigerator door and promise to never again look at your yogurt."

 

Maybe a workable solution is for these men to simply check their testicles at the door, obviating the need for the vice grip. 

 

Yes!  Exactly.  As a woman, I look at these commercials and think "my goodness, if this is what marriage turns women into, these shrewish beings who have nothing better to do than police the refrigerator and all contents therein, than I want no part of marriage!"  Because right now, I enjoy being a fairly laid back girl who doesn't get all that upset if someone wants to look in the fridge.  And I hope, married or unmarried, I have better shit to do with my time than be the refrigerator Nazi.  I'm just wondering if there is a contingent of women that Yoplait is marketing to who watches this commercial and is thinking "yea!  you go girl!  you give him hell for looking in the refrigerator for the apple turnover!"  Because I've only met a few women in my life that are such naggy shrews.

[heebiejeebie]

When I was a kid and I did something like that, open the refrigerator door and stare; I was told that I was wasting money; I guess if your refrigerator door is open too long and the refrigerator is going on and on, it makes the electric bill go up.

 

But unlike the extra glass door commercial, the husband is presumably hungry and looking for at least one of the items the woman is listing off as actual flavors.  I agree that as a kid I would sometimes open the fridge and try to find inspiration.  And my mother would tell me to ask her 1. what I was allowed to have and 2. if we had it.    Not so much for the electric bill but because during warm weather you lowered the shelf  life of things like milk any time you allowed the temp. to rise.