Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

[zentropa]

I know we have been ragging on the Liberty Mutual ads a lot but I HAVE to get this off my chest. It's the depreciation guy, with his greasy beard and stupid voice.

 

HATE HATE HATE the way he has to look at his hand before he punches his fist into it...as if worried he he might miss!

"Depreciation they claim" AS IF THEY ARE LYING ABOUT IT.

And that last stupid line, which he totally blows: "Ask yourself why you HAVE that INSURANCE company" Just the most feeble acting ever.

 

And worst of all, this guy looks like every single guy I used to get matched with on OK Cupid. Gross, unkempt, middle aged, bushy bearded, pudgy, redneck, zero personality LOSER. There must be a factory around here churning them out.

 

Ahhhhhh. I needed that.

 

But I still don't feel better. In the time I was typing this, TWO Liberty Mutual commercials aired!

Edited August 28, 2015 by zentropa

[erikdepressant]

"You name your car Brad and pay your insurance bill on time.  Then you tap a deer.  Your insurance company thinks Brad is worth less because he has antlers lodged in him.  How can your car be a total loss if you've added something to it?  Hellloooo...  Hasn't your insurance company ever heard of upgrades and appreciation?  So you call Liberty Mutual and break into your happy dance."

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I know we have been ragging on the Liberty Mutual ads a lot but I HAVE to get this off my chest.

Time to give Flo's ads with the idiot co-worker a turn? Actually, the "sprinkles" ad isn't too bad. The one where he keeps putting money in the jar is pretty annoying. The "lactose" ad makes him look so dumb, I don't know why any customer would want someone like that helping with their insurance; you want somebody who you can trust knows what they're doing.

[amykay9377]

I think it's supposed to be the same car.  At least that's what I thought when I saw the commercial.  

 

 

 

Exactly. I actually like this commercial. it is referencing how people, when they see horrible accidents on the road, think to themselves, "Gee, I hope everyone's ok!" 

 

The cop tells the tow truck driver that everyone lived. The tow truck driver tells the junkyard guy that everyone lived. It's like passing info along the chain.

[peacheslatour]

Time to give Flo's ads with the idiot co-worker a turn? Actually, the "sprinkles" ad isn't too bad. The one where he keeps putting money in the jar is pretty annoying. The "lactose" ad makes him look so dumb, I don't know why any customer would want someone like that helping with their insurance; you want somebody who you can trust knows what they're doing.

Not only that, but his co-workers look like complete jerks as well.  Who wants to do business with complete jerks?

[RedZoneTuba]

Here's one... "What's that? You said women are worse drivers? Then why do I get get this check? " or whatever... So IRRITATING?!!! Just also saw her on a digestive yogurt comm too

Agree 100%.  I particularly hate the way he tries to respond to her passive-aggressive sarcasm and she cuts him off with that "AHHH!!!", sounding like a parrot being strangled with piano wire. 

 

My advice to him: Insurance is the least of your problems.  Run!  Run far away!  Avoid years of psychological torture and ultimate divorce.

[Neurochick]

Agree 100%.  I particularly hate the way he tries to respond to her passive-aggressive sarcasm and she cuts him off with that "AHHH!!!", sounding like a parrot being strangled with piano wire. 

 

My advice to him: Insurance is the least of your problems.  Run!  Run far away!  Avoid years of psychological torture and ultimate divorce.

 

I don't get this.  I didn't find her passive/aggressive at all.  To me it seems that he's told her men are better drivers than women and she's telling him if that's true, then why did she get some check for her good driving?  She's being snarky to a guy that's probably a sexist, (I'd walk away from a man who told me men are better drivers than women).

[Rinaldo]

I am a happy Liberty Mutual customer, and I hate their commercials with the fire of a thousand nuns.

Same here. Those commercials are really as unendurable as everyone here is saying, but I've been with Liberty Mutual a long time (they're the group policy available where I work) and have no complaints about their service or the employees I've been in touch with. They're terrific. Someone at "headquarters" took bad advice about how best to market their company, and it's doing them a disservice.

[CarpeDiem54]

I can't stand the dingbat in this ad. She deserves to starve and never get her pizza since she's too lazy to say the entire word "emoji". Instead, she says, "moe-ji".

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/79Zv/dominos-sarah-loves-emoji-featuring-sarah-hyland

Which brings up another non-commercial complaint. Who's the hipster douchebag that invented the word "emoji" anyway? I hate it and want to hunt him down, run over him with his mud covered Jeep Renegade two or three times and leave him for dead. And hope the Subaru dog family drives by, stops, all get out and pee on him and then drive off. What was wrong with the perfectly serviceable word emoticon?

Whenever I hear the word, I think of this: http://smile.amazon.com/Emjoi-AP-18-Emagine-Opposed-Epilator/dp/B001GS6OB4/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1440801006&sr=1-1&keywords=emjoi+epilator

Or this (NSFW): http://smile.amazon.com/Njoy-Metal-Wand-Polished-Steel/dp/B001BMRBRG/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1440800923&sr=1-1&keywords=njoy

[Rick Kitchen]

Emoji is a Japanese word. E (picture) + moji (character).

Edited August 28, 2015 by Rick Kitchen

[riley702]

What would possess an animal to leap out in front of headlights on a dark night still has me boggled.

OK, one last thing. It's off topic, but... I remember reading a short sci-fi/fantasy story. It's about a bunch of teenagers discussing this upcoming coming-of-age rite of passage they will soon be participating in. You get the idea it's a less advanced group, maybe in the distant past. Part of the rite involves getting up their courage to come face-to-face with the gods. Some will survive, while the gods will strike others down for reasons that are vague to them. At the end of the story, it is revealed that they are rabbits running across the road in front of a car at night. I really wish I could remember where I read that story and find it again. It kinda reminded me of Watership Down. 

[LoneHaranguer]

 

I can't stand the dingbat in this ad. She deserves to starve and never get her pizza since she's too lazy to say the entire word "emoji". Instead, she says, "moe-ji".

Is it really true that her friend and brother don't get her, or do they get her so well that they figure they'd be stuck with the cost of the pizza if they humor her? Or maybe they're just too busy to drop everything for this entitled bitch. I doubt the store personnel appreciated seeing a pizza show up. The main character of Pretty Woman did the same thing, but she was written to be classless; what's Sarah's excuse? (I hope she at least got up from the white chair and ate it somewhere else)

[CarpeDiem54]

Emoji is a Japanese word. E (picture) + moji (character).

But it was imported into our culture by a hipster douchebag.

[xaxat]

A whole class of ads that annoys me are the ones run by sports leagues and their corporate partners where kids in their respective youth programs talk about how sports has taught them hard work, honesty, fair play etc.

 

Good for them! But you know what? There are a lot of people that never participated in sports, and they turned out pretty well!

 

Too bad debate coaches, band conductors, math teachers etc. don't have as good a PR machine.

[Brattinella]

I can't stand the dingbat in this ad. She deserves to starve and never get her pizza since she's too lazy to say the entire word "emoji". Instead, she says, "moe-ji".

 GOD!  She can't really be this vapid and stupid, right?

[3pwood]

I'm thrilled to have stumbled across this category & to find that so many share my deep, abiding hatred of the current Liberty Mutual commercials.  Every person featured in every one of the ads makes me want to throw things at the TV -- entitled, arrogant, ignorant -- so grateful I don't have to associate with anyone like them in real life.  The worst for me is Brad's young woman, who is just generally annoying until she utters the phrase "happy dance", which always incites me to rage no matter who says it.

 

... I've been with Liberty Mutual a long time (they're the group policy available where I work) and have no complaints about their service or the employees I've been in touch with. They're terrific. Someone at "headquarters" took bad advice about how best to market their company, and it's doing them a disservice.

 

Aside from the fact that these vignettes are so off-putting, I have to wonder how effective this series is as a marketing tool.  If a viewer believes these ads & is moved to ask Liberty Mutual for the kind of desirable coverage shown on TV, won't he feel deceived & misled when he learns that he'll have to pay extra for all those nice features (which are available from other insurance companies too)? 

 

 

  

[mattie0808]

I know we have been ragging on the Liberty Mutual ads a lot but I HAVE to get this off my chest. It's the depreciation guy...HATE HATE HATE the way he has to look at his hand before he punches his fist into it...as if worried he he might miss!

"Depreciation they claim" AS IF THEY ARE LYING ABOUT IT.

And that last stupid line, which he totally blows: "Ask yourself why you HAVE that INSURANCE company" Just the most feeble acting ever.

 

OMG. I HATE THAT GUY AND THAT AD.

 

I mean, I hate all the stupid Liberty Mutal ads. But that guy's acting/talking is SO BAD that I literally can't listen to it. It makes me dive for the remote and mute or change the channel Every. Single. Time. He's worse than the Brad chick, and she's unbelievably grating.

 

I rejoice these days, however, because the last 5-6 times that guy's ad has come on, it's on for maybe half a second when the cable company cuts to some local ad. Just enough for me to have a visceral reaction to seeing the ad start, and then internally cheer when it goes to some low-rate, local commercial (somehow, with BETTER ACTORS). Lolololol.

 

But the other ones, I can't even believe..."You hydroplane into a ditch"? "You total your brand new car"? Damn, people. How can you be stupid enough not to know how insurance works and that bad a driver? Yikes!

Edited August 29, 2015 by mattie0808

[Rick Kitchen]

But it was imported into our culture by a hipster douchebag.

Were there hipsters in 1998, when the first emojis were used in the US?

[Brattinella]

I think there were hipsters all the way back to the 50's.

[erikdepressant]

Congratulations, Aquafina.  You've aired this commercial so often that I now irrationally hate 71% of the Earth's surface.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su1jPWEaE_k

[bilgistic]

I hate fake mouthwash swishing in commercials. I can tell it's fake. Listerine and your brethren, please stop making perfectly decent actors look moronic by instructing them to be "quirky" while they twist their mouths around unnaturally.

Edited August 29, 2015 by bilgistic

[Bort]

In theory, I like this commercial because of the rarely-used artform in it but on the other hand, it JUST KEEPS GOING. I can only take so much of the exact same thing repeated over and over before I crack.

[CarpeDiem54]

Were there hipsters in 1998, when the first emojis were used in the US?

There have always been hipster douchebags, in one form or another. They just weren't as noticeable.

I've used emoticons (a perfectly acceptable name for them) for years. It seems they've only been called the cutesy name emoji for the last couple of years. At least in my experience.

[cynicat]

I keep meaning to post about this commercial for Stretch Fit by Skechers.  "Yoga pants are comfortable AND fashionable".  No, no they are not fashionable even if you are in shape.  Yoga pants are the costume of every mom shopping at Whole Foods.  Are they coming straight from class without showering?  Or perhaps they believe it when this snot in the commercials says that yoga pants are fashionable.  If this is a new trend like leggings, all I can say is check, please.

 

By the way, am I supposed to know who this woman is, or even give a shit?

 

 

[Neurochick]

What's wrong with yoga pants? Not everybody wants to wear dresses and full makeup when grocery shopping.

I think that woman is Brooke Burke?

[CarpeDiem54]

What's wrong with yoga pants? Not everybody wants to wear dresses and full makeup when grocery shopping.

I think that woman is Brooke Burke?

Because yoga pants don't look good on hardly anyone unless you're in perfect shape with a marvelous ass. No one I've seen wearing them has one.

Who the hell is Brooke Burke?

ETA - I looked her up.

"Brooke Burke-Charvet is a host, actress, television personality, fashion designer and entrepreneur. " In other words, a "Celebrity" with no discernable talent.

Edited August 29, 2015 by CarpeDiem54

[JocelynCavanaugh]

I've used emoticons (a perfectly acceptable name for them) for years. It seems they've only been called the cutesy name emoji for the last couple of years. At least in my experience.

Emoticons and emoji are not the same thing.

Emoticons are made with punctuation marks, like :)

Emoji are actual pictures, created in Japan originally, hence the Japanese name. It's not cutesy; it's a hybrid from another language.

[DeLurker]

There have always been hipster douchebags, in one form or another. They just weren't as noticeable.

I've used emoticons (a perfectly acceptable name for them) for years. It seems they've only been called the cutesy name emoji for the last couple of years. At least in my experience.

Were they metrosexuals in 98?

[peacheslatour]

 

The worst for me is Brad's young woman, who is just generally annoying until she utters the phrase "happy dance", which always incites me to rage no matter who says it.

OMG, Yes!  It makes me stabby every time I hear it.

[Ohwell]

Because yoga pants don't look good on hardly anyone unless you're in perfect shape with a marvelous ass. No one I've seen wearing them has one.

I'm not gonna lie.  I usually wear jeans or a casual skirt and t-shirt when I go shopping, but I decided to "go with the flow" and look like the rest of the women I see in yoga pants (and tights).  So one day I put on my yoga pants that I use for exercise, and went grocery shopping.  Even though I didn't stand out because I looked like just about every other woman shopping in yoga pants (no matter what the age or shape, btw)--I felt like an idiot.   I'm petite and I don't even have a big ass but it just didn't feel right, so after that day I went back to wearing my former outfits.  I'm so sick of yoga pants and tights and I hope the trend ends real soon.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Ohwell

[slensam]

Emoticons and emoji are not the same thing.

Emoticons are made with punctuation marks, like :)

Emoji are actual pictures, created in Japan originally, hence the Japanese name. It's not cutesy; it's a hybrid from another language.

Shit, I guess I've been using it all wrong these past ten years or so. Always used emoticons for the smiley face things. Just recently heard of emoji. Lost in space again, whatever...

[Rick Kitchen]

I've used emoticons (a perfectly acceptable name for them) for years. It seems they've only been called the cutesy name emoji for the last couple of years. At least in my experience.

 

Emoticons and emojis are not the same thing.  Emoticons are text - like :-)  Emojis are pictures, such as

 

Brooke Burke-Charvet is a former winner of Dancing With the Stars.

[Brattinella]

Because yoga pants don't look good on hardly anyone unless you're in perfect shape with a marvelous ass. No one I've seen wearing them has one.

Who the hell is Brooke Burke?

ETA - I looked her up.

"Brooke Burke-Charvet is a host, actress, television personality, fashion designer and entrepreneur. " In other words, a "Celebrity" with no discernable talent.

GMTA!!  I was just about to post this very THING!   Who the hell is Brooke Burke?  Just a made-up celebrity.  Like the Kardashians.

I agree that 'emoji' IS a cutesy-poo word, and I'm glad I don't have to deal with them.  I have a dinosaur phone, and am PROUD of it!

[TattleTeeny]

There is a commercial for "L'il Critters" children's vitamins that annoys the crap out of me. The announcer lady is simultaneously over-enunciating and struggling like hell to say "L'il" (and don't get me started on that bad apostrophe!) and it's in there about 100 damn times. She sounds like she's trying to talk around an Everlasting Gobstopper. Ugh.

[BW Manilowe]

Emoticons and emojis are not the same thing. Emoticons are text - like :-) Emojis are pictures, such as

Brooke Burke-Charvet is a former winner of Dancing With the Stars.

She's also the former Co-Host of DWTS, until the last, like, 2 (maybe 3) seasons when Erin Andrews replaced her. And she's just been announced as the Co-Host of this year's Miss America pageant, airing September 13th on ABC.

[CarpeDiem54]

GMTA!! I was just about to post this very THING! Who the hell is Brooke Burke? Just a made-up celebrity. Like the Kardashians.I agree that 'emoji' IS a cutesy-poo word, and I'm glad I don't have to deal with them. I have a dinosaur phone, and am PROUD of it!

Here's a Kartrashian emoticon . (It's a devil face. I couldn't find one with plastic boobs and a big butt.)

Oops! Those goofy things on my tablet won't even post here. Bawahahaha!

Edited August 30, 2015 by CarpeDiem54

[TattleTeeny]

Oh, n/m.

Edited August 30, 2015 by TattleTeeny

[elle]

The Amazon Prime commercial with the dog in a cast and the song from "Paint Your Wagon" has quickly gone from favorite to annoying because of too many viewings.  It is seems to be everywhere!  And since it is everywhere, my initial response of "yay! Lee Marvin!" to what is wrong why the dog, why is in a cast, shouldn't it be walking, what would a vet say about this?

[Demented Daisy]

She's also the former Co-Host of DWTS, until the last, like, 2 (maybe 3) seasons when Erin Andrews replaced her. And she's just been announced as the Co-Host of this year's Miss America pageant, airing September 13th on ABC.

 

As well as the host of the short-lived Rockstar on CBS, among a few other credits.

[Prevailing Wind]

The Amazon Prime commercial with the dog in a cast and the song from "Paint Your Wagon" has quickly gone from favorite to annoying because of too many viewings.  It is seems to be everywhere!  And since it is everywhere, my initial response of "yay! Lee Marvin!" to what is wrong why the dog, why is in a cast, shouldn't it be walking, what would a vet say about this?

I live in a cheap apartment, built in 68, that was "converted" to condos in 84.  I hear my upstairs neighbor's radio, TV, alarm clock, and his big ol' thunderfeet.  He doesn't have a home computer, so it must've been the TV he was watching.  I was reading a book.  I swear, I didn't even finish one chapter before I heard the Wand'rin' Star humming for the THIRD time coming through my ceiling.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

As well as the host of the short-lived Rockstar on CBS, among a few other credits.

 

Rockstar is probably my all-time fave reality show.

[backformore]

I'm not gonna lie.  I usually wear jeans or a casual skirt and t-shirt when I go shopping, but I decided to "go with the flow" and look like the rest of the women I see in yoga pants (and tights).  So one day I put on my yoga pants that I use for exercise, and went grocery shopping.  Even though I didn't stand out because I looked like just about every other woman shopping in yoga pants (no matter what the age or shape, btw)--I felt like an idiot.   I'm petite and I don't even have a big ass but it just didn't feel right, so after that day I went back to wearing my former outfits.  I'm so sick of yoga pants and tights and I hope the trend ends real soon.

And just a few years ago there were workout pants, knit pants, jogging suits, and before that, sweatpants. Each version is comfortable, and ok for some settings, but not others. What makes me crazy is that even for exercise clothes, women are supposed to keep up with trends.

I don't own yoga pants because, even though I go to the gym, my ass looks better in pants that are not quite as form-fitting.

[Ohwell]

And just a few years ago there were workout pants, knit pants, jogging suits, and before that, sweatpants. Each version is comfortable, and ok for some settings, but not others. What makes me crazy is that even for exercise clothes, women are supposed to keep up with trends.

I don't own yoga pants because, even though I go to the gym, my ass looks better in pants that are not quite as form-fitting.

Aaaack!  Oh yes, the jogging suits!  Oh well, at least they were loose-fitting.  I'm dreading winter with the leggings and jeggings.   Which might be OK, a long as the asses are covered.  I'm just tired of looking at asses.

 

 

Bwak Bwak!

 

I remember bwak bwak!  I wish they'd bring back Rockstar.  Not her though.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Ohwell

[DeLurker]

As well as the host of the short-lived Rockstar on CBS, among a few other credits.

Bwak Bwak!

Which is what it sounded like when she did the intro (TWoP days)

[ennui]

RE The Liberty Mutual commercials, I've always been so intent on reading the small print, and finding that NONE of their fancy enhancements are available in my state  (no new car replacement here!), that it was only last week that I noticed the Statue of Liberty in the background of their commercials. All this time, I just thought they found a nice park in which to film all these silly stories. You can laugh at me, it's okay.

 

Anyone know who the plaid shirt, dark eyes, dark haired guy in the Volkswagen commercials is? I suppose I could Google, but damn, you gotta admit those old ladies have good taste.

[friendperidot]

I'm crabby again. Jan from Toyota is not JUST a receptionist, she a receptionist, now maybe promoted to car salesperson. I'm not crazy about Jan, I just don't like the phrase that anyone is "JUST" something or other.

 

It's really a rude to say that Snap card holders buy whatever looks good, don't you? Why shouldn't people with Snap Cards buy what they want to eat? Maybe they do have microwaves and toasters, you don't know. And maybe they purchased those things before they lost their job and their car broke down, etc. They should sell off everything just because now they're on Snap?

 

I despise the Eggo ads, and that dates back to when they first came out.  It  kind of goes with the mom's who can't get their families to eat home cooked meals, but as soon as they switch to frozen chicken pieces or take out, everything's fine. I was brought up with choices - eat it or don't, but don't come in the kitchen looking for something later. 

 

And why is obnoxious behavior awarded and promoted - not any particular commercial, there's too many of them.

[janie jones]

I'm not gonna lie.  I usually wear jeans or a casual skirt and t-shirt when I go shopping, but I decided to "go with the flow" and look like the rest of the women I see in yoga pants (and tights).  So one day I put on my yoga pants that I use for exercise, and went grocery shopping.  Even though I didn't stand out because I looked like just about every other woman shopping in yoga pants (no matter what the age or shape, btw)--I felt like an idiot.   I'm petite and I don't even have a big ass but it just didn't feel right, so after that day I went back to wearing my former outfits.  I'm so sick of yoga pants and tights and I hope the trend ends real soon.

The thing that bothers me about people going out in yoga pants (or running spandex, which is what you see around here) is that people openly admit that they're wearing them so it looks like they came from working out, not that they were too lazy to put on "real" pants.  It's one thing to be too lazy to put on jeans, it's another thing to make a choice to wear athletic attire rather than pajama bottoms so that you can pretend you just came from running. 

[TattleTeeny]

Oh my goodness, I would never wear leggings or yoga pants to pretend I came from the gym! I do it because I look perfectly fine in them, and I'm comfortable! And that's from someone who loves (to a fault) "real" clothes.

[erikdepressant]

Here are two completely unrelated commercials that annoy me for similar reasons (unrealistic workplace depictions).  The first is a LifeLock commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfx8KFsfVVA
I roll my eyes whenever a call center is featured in a commercial.  Many companies do this: they show a sleek communications hub where ultraprofessionals interact with bleeding-edge technology.  Bonus points for animated diagrams on the monitors.  They also love giant maps on screens in the front of the room.  If you've ever worked in a call center, you know it's actually a maze of old, dirty workstations, populated by desperate people who had no choice but to apply there.  It's a miserable environment; employee turnover is so bad, a call center will hire anyone (and I mean anyone) who can speak, read, and type.  Now, on to cream cheese:

Do we really believe that Philly's strawberries are plucked from an idyllic landscape by ethereal WASPs in sundresses?  You wouldn't want the cream cheese, if the commercial showed the appalling conditions the migrant workers faced while doing the backbreaking labor.  I suspect you wouldn't want LifeLock if you got a look at their real call center, either.

[Neurochick]

What bugs me about most commercials is they seem to be made by people who just don't think about them.  I think what happens is advertisers know that people hate commercials and will FF past them if they have a DVR, so they want to make something that will catch the eye because they know that MOST people don't really think about them.

 

For instance, the Toyota commercial, Jan started off as a receptionist, now she's selling cars.  If I mention that to most people, they look at me like, "Girl, you are over thinking that shit," because they'll half heartedly watch the commercial.  I may watch a little too closely because I'm asking myself, "what ideas are they trying to sell me?"  I think about this whenever I see a commercial where the husband is completely incompetent when it comes to household chores, or makes stupid purchases in a store.  It's like those commercials say that men are just like little boys and women have to always be the mother, which is a terrible way of looking at marriage IMO.