Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

[riley702]

FWIW I had already forgotten Steve Harvey was the culprit. Guess I missed his cashing in.

 

I had, too, but within the hour of reading your post, up it popped!

 

[Shriekingeel]

I really, really hate being whispered to by my television. Got that, Buick commercial?

[SoSueMe]

I really, really hate being whispered to by my television. Got that, Buick commercial?

Yeah that really is annoying, but I gotta admit they still manage to enunciate really well.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Does she really believe it works or is she just pushing it to make more money?

What makes you think any celebrity needs to believe in a product to endorse it? They're getting a paycheck, and if they do a good job, they'll be invited back for more ads and more paychecks.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

But if Oprah owns stock in the company or whatever, then she's already getting paid every time someone signs up for Weight Watchers. Someone else, like Julia Roberts when she's shilling for X Perfume Company, gets a check when she does the ad, and likely residuals for when the commercial re-airs. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your main point, but as it relates to Oprah, I think she ought to believe in the product if she's bought into it.

[mansonlamps]

I would honestly put less stock in any weight loss product/method endorsed by Oprah since she has such a poor track record in that area. Does Weight Watchers get a black eye down the road when she inevitably fails?

[SmithW6079]

I just realized that Alec Baldwin is wearing leopard-print boxers in the Alexa commercial, which just ups his douchebag quotient for me.

I would honestly put less stock in any weight loss product/method endorsed by Oprah since she has such a poor track record in that area. Does Weight Watchers get a black eye down the road when she inevitably fails?

Almost everyone who loses weight gains it back, so I don't think her yo-yoing could really hurt their brand. I have more of an issue that we're supposed to believe Weight Watchers with its cookie-cutter plans is better than the individualized attention she got from her private cook, private personal trainer, and whatever else her money could buy. Edited February 21, 2016 by SmithW6079

[Rick Kitchen]

The cashmere socks didn't do it for you?

[SmithW6079]

The cashmere socks didn't do it for you?

They were the first things. :-)

[90PercentGravity]

I have to break from the pack on the Beth commercial. I hate both of the adults in that one. First there is the guy who ignores like 7 calls from his wife. For all he knows the house could be burning down. Is he not worried at all? Then there is the woman who calls her husband 7 times to have him get milk. Why didn't she just text him? I'm starting to see why he ignored her.

Edited February 21, 2016 by 90PercentGravity

[Ubiquitous]

I dunno if it's a thing beyond this but my mom used to say it years ago (as in 25+ years ago). It was just a phrase to describe a person who was acting like a jerk and turkey snuck its way in there somehow. She used it sort of the way people sometimes use douchebag to describe some people in more recent years.

Nothing will beat the ultimate 1970's insult, "space TURKEY!".

 

I saw the ad with Alex Baldwin for the first time. I hated it.

[janie jones]

It's not like Alec Baldwin himself picked out the underwear he's wearing in that ad.

[theatremouse]

But if Oprah owns stock in the company or whatever, then she's already getting paid every time someone signs up for Weight Watchers. Someone else, like Julia Roberts when she's shilling for X Perfume Company, gets a check when she does the ad, and likely residuals for when the commercial re-airs. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your main point, but as it relates to Oprah, I think she ought to believe in the product if she's bought into it.

I understand the emotion behind your reasoning, but in this particular case, one also has to factor in that Oprah is SAG and/or AFTRA, so from a purely union perspective, she's getting paid at least scale for appearing in any commercial, whether she owns part of the company or not. Likewise, I'm sure part of the deal for her buying into the company was "and you must appear in X ads". It was likely a condition. So it's not some sneaky Oprah shilling getting paid twice kind of thing; it's fairly transparent and was part of the reason both sides would have entered the partnership in the first place. Part of her job is intended to attract more people to the program (so that she and other shareholders make money). Her appearing in their ads is a major way she accomplishes that goal for them, not just sitting by while the company does or doesn't continue to grow. Edited February 22, 2016 by theatremouse

[RCharter]

Turkeys, apparently, can actually be jerks: 

LOL, when I used to visit Pittsburgh for work, I often saw their footprints and was warned that wild Turkeys, while they look hilarious, are actually mean spirited and will often attack.

 

But they are just so funny looking!  And Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird.....so torn.

 

I turkeys are just waiting for the day that man forgets his turkey stick.

 

 

It's not like Alec Baldwin himself picked out the underwear he's wearing in that ad.

I don't particularly blame Alec  Baldwin, its just the character they are trying to create of him is kinda sucky.

 

Its a riff on Jack Donaghy (spelling, I know), but JD would never wear leopard print underpants.  He went to Princeton, they don't do that sort of thing there :)

[Moose135]

Turkeys, apparently, can actually be jerks: 

 

It was almost as if they were... organized!

[topanga]

I keep thinking Tukol should be a mascot of some sort, but all it is is the word "PHLEGM" written in scary green font.  Given the name of the product they are really missing an opportunity to have a mascot.

 

Although, I thought of you all the other day when I was in Target and saw some Tukol on the shelf.

I see your point, but her ownership stake in WW was such big news that I think anyone who has a concern about her sincerity in the product because of it is on notice to stay away.  Many corporate officers own stock in their company, and speak on behalf of the company, just not in advertisements.  But a CEO at a company ostensibly will own stock and will be the one talking to CNBC or Bloomberg publicly about company performance.  Which can also be a conflict of interest, an even greater one since they are normally reporting on projected company performance (it'll be great!) because they want people to buy their stock (I believe the head of Sunbeam got in trouble for that, he projected huge earnings publicly and it was a bunch of accounting magic).

But what about Hair Club for Men? "I'm not only the president. I'm also a client." Couldn't Oprah make some kind of disclosure when talking about how great WW is and how well it works?

[Prevailing Wind]

 

JD would never wear leopard print underpants.  He went to Princeton, they don't do that sort of thing there :)

They'd be tiger-print undies.

[RCharter]

But what about Hair Club for Men? "I'm not only the president. I'm also a client." Couldn't Oprah make some kind of disclosure when talking about how great WW is and how well it works?

She could, but I think they really wanted her to talk about bread.  

 

Joking aside, she could make that disclosure in the commercial, but I think his disclosure was more about showing his faith in the product so it was part of the commercial message.  I'm not sure there would be as much "ker-pow!" with Oprah saying that she is a board member and uses the product.  And I think its been so highly publicized that people should know.  But maybe they don't.  I guess the question is about her sincerity in doing ads for a product that she has an ownership interest in.  But I find almost all celebrity endorsements to be insincere.  I don't believe that Blake Lively uses boxed hair color....I don't believe that Halle Berry or Olivia Wilde are using Revlon.  I don't think Queen Latifah, Sofia Vergara, or Ellen Degeneres are using Cover Girl...with or without Olay.  

 

Or perhaps the concern would be that Oprah is lying about the results she has achieved because she has a financial stake in the outcome.  I feel like there are rules about false and misleading advertising whether you are a board member or not.

They'd be tiger-print undies.

They would be made of the silver panther...the most handsome animal :)

[BW Manilowe]

I understand the emotion behind your reasoning, but in this particular case, one also has to factor in that Oprah is SAG and/or AFTRA, so from a purely union perspective, she's getting paid at least scale for appearing in any commercial, whether she owns part of the company or not. Likewise, I'm sure part of the deal for her buying into the company was "and you must appear in X ads". It was likely a condition. So it's not some sneaky Oprah shilling getting paid twice kind of thing; it's fairly transparent and was part of the reason both sides would have entered the partnership in the first place. Part of her job is intended to attract more people to the program (so that she and other shareholders make money). Her appearing in their ads is a major way she accomplishes that goal for them, not just sitting by while the company does or doesn't continue to grow.

SAG & AFTRA merged into a single union in 2012 (but their awards are still called the SAG Awards, for the union which started them), so she's probably not either or the other since that happened. And considering she's both an (Oscar-nominated) actress & a TV personality, & has been both for a long time, she probably was a member of both individual unions long before they merged into 1.

[BW Manilowe]

But what about Hair Club for Men? "I'm not only the president. I'm also a client." Couldn't Oprah make some kind of disclosure when talking about how great WW is and how well it works?

Considering it made a HUGE splash in the news--both "mainstream" & entertainment industry-related--when she bought the stock/entered into the deal with WW (in my opinion, you'd have to have NO access at all to any form of print/electronic media, or just not give enough of a crap about the news to be bothered to keep up with it, NOT to know about her deal since it was done--I mean, even the astronauts on the ISS probably know about it, as isolated from Earth as they pretty much are right now), I'm not sure there's a need for Oprah to ID within the ads (electronic or print media) as part of WW, as a stockholder & a client. Plus, the majority of the US/world knows who Oprah is on sight; I don't think the President of Hair Club for Men has the same recognition factor. Therefore (in my opinion), it would be appropriate for him to ID as the company's President & a client within his print & electronic media ads.

Edited February 22, 2016 by BW Manilowe

[Brattinella]

I don't worship Oprah at all.

[Ashforth]

 

Has anyone had the pleasure of seeing the commercial for the doo-dad that is motion activated and lights up the toidy at night? It also has different colored lights (according to the honest commercial it give the bowl a colored UFO type glow)

 

Ha!  I read this as "doo doo Dad" which is at least compatible with the product.

 

I have to bring back the hate for the "pepperona" commercial.  It isn't funny, it isn't clever, it doesn't make the product appealing.  On the other hand, it could be used as an "enhanced interrogation" device without ever laying a hand on the suspect.  Maybe Hormel has hit on the key to winning the War on Terror.

[smittykins]

I see the Summers Eve(?) commercial with the man inadvertently using his wife's "V" soap, so he has to do all that manly stuff to compensate, is back. Grrr.

Edited February 22, 2016 by smittykins

[NewDigs]

Bolding mine

But what about Hair Club for Men? "I'm not only the president. I'm also a client." Couldn't Oprah make some kind of disclosure when talking about how great WW is and how well it works?

Imho, if she is going to do the commercials she needs to do more than talk about how great WW is, she needs to show that the program works.

So far all we've seen is her giant talking head telling us she has lost 26 pounds. Show us!!!

[Hildegard802]

I just want Oprah to shove her damn bread up her ass and go far, far away.  Instant channel changer.

[St. Claire]

Is a "turkey jerk" even a thing?

 

I had a jerk turkey flatbread sandwich at Green Turtle the other night. I dipped it in raspberry sauce; it was tasty. 

[ari333]

My PEHHHHHHH-per-ron-nah gives me an annoying earworm.

 

The kids shoveling strudel in their faces with half of it around their  mouths make me stabby.

 

Speaking of stabby... all Halos commercials! and I'm still not even sure what the product actually is.

 

Puzzling and annoying, the people with the flu who become giants.

 

While I'm ranting, there's a commercial with Kevin Nealon and two other famous guys shilling for an anti  blood clot drug. IN the very next commercial, there is an attorney asking for people, "victims"  or families of people, for a class action suit against the very same drug for deaths and damages.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

Or perhaps the concern would be that Oprah is lying about the results she has achieved because she has a financial stake in the outcome.  I feel like there are rules about false and misleading advertising whether you are a board member or not.

There are, but they only cover matters of fact, not opinion. So, she can't say she's used WW if she hasn't, but is free to rave about it however much she wants. I see Oprah's role in WW as akin to Warren Buffet, who's well known for buying into companies with the understanding that he'll help them become more profitable. Warren does it offering business advice. Oprah is a celebrity who's seen as having above-average influence.

[Bruinsfan]

I see the Summers Eve(?) commercial with the man inadvertently using his wife's "V" soap, so he has to do all that manly stuff to compensate, is back. Grrr.

Anyone THAT paranoid about his own masculinity is eventually going to be using his wife's makeup and wardrobe as well as her feminine hygeine wash.

[RCharter]

There are, but they only cover matters of fact, not opinion. So, she can't say she's used WW if she hasn't, but is free to rave about it however much she wants. I see Oprah's role in WW as akin to Warren Buffet, who's well known for buying into companies with the understanding that he'll help them become more profitable. Warren does it offering business advice. Oprah is a celebrity who's seen as having above-average influence.

But she can't lie about having lost 26 pounds.  And she can't lie about being on WW.  I would think it would be rather misleading to say she is on WW, and lost 26 pounds if that wasn't part of her weight loss.  It sounds like in this context Oprah's role is similar to that of other celebrities that shill makeup and haircolor (and if I ever meet Julia Roberts, she better stink of that perfume).  She just actually bought into the company....which, honestly, any of them would have the right to do if they had the money or if they took their payment in company stock instead of money, or in addition to payment.  Buffet offers business advice, but at this point, he may raise companies in the same way Oprah does.  As soon as he buys into a company at this point people think it must be special, so they also scramble to buy in, right?

[Cobalt Stargazer]

[Oprah] just actually bought into the company....which, honestly, any of them would have the right to do if they had the money or if they took their payment in company stock instead of money, or in addition to payment.  Buffet offers business advice, but at this point, he may raise companies in the same way Oprah does.  As soon as he buys into a company at this point people think it must be special, so they also scramble to buy in, right?

 

On a related note to this, although I don't think I've ever seen an ad for the product:

 

An actor named Steve Burton, who was on General Hospital before he quit and joined another soap, either started or bought into a company called Monavie, which sold a juice product that was made with acai berries and was supposed to have all these health benefits, etc. Only what it really was was a Ponzi scheme he was using to make money outside of the show, and he got in a fair amount of trouble when the show started hawking it on-screen, showing other characters singing its praises and taking about how good it was for them. Like, he would try to sell the stuff while he was doing appearances and everything, and another actor wrote an open letter to one of the few remaining soap magazines saying "Cut it out, this isn't cool." Not saying that Weight Watchers is a Ponzi scheme necessarily, although if you think about it Winfrey's lack of permanent success with the program does raise questions, but there you go.

[chessiegal]

I'm going to have to defend WW. As a lifetime member, it's been a very good program for me. People don't join because they find it easy to keep off excess weight, quite the opposite. Did I gain weight back because I didn't stick with program? Yes. Did I lose it again by returning to healthy eating and exercise? Yes. Every doctor I've ever had told me it's a sensible and healthy plan. Plus, once you make Lifetime (6 weeks at goal weight based on accepted BMI), and weigh in once a calendar month not more than 2 pounds over goal weight, membership is free. They really want success, and I'm very grateful to have found it.

[Maverick]

 I didn't realize Pull That Peach Bitch was shilling for yogurt.   Now I understand why that peach is so important to her.  Given how much real fruit they put in their toxic swill, they can use that one peach for at least 100 containers.   

[proserpina65]

But did Miss Colombia get screwed, really? She didn't have the title before she walked into the contest and didn't have it after either. So, while it definitely sucks that she thought she won, her life wasn't any worse than it was before.

She's probably gotten far more attention than the actual winner, so it might actually have benefitted her in the long run.

[peacheslatour]

They'd be tiger-print undies.

What you did there.  I see it >^..^<

[riley702]

*groan* Just got it.

[Eliot]

But did Miss Colombia get screwed, really? She didn't have the title before she walked into the contest and didn't have it after either. So, while it definitely sucks that she thought she won, her life wasn't any worse than it was before.

 

If she'd had a little more presence of mind in the moment, she should have graciously removed the crown and placed it on the real winner's head herself (instead of standing there like a wounded animal waiting to be de-crowned and then slinking off into oblivion). The internet would have gone crazy and she would have been the one who everyone remembered at the end.

 

Of course it is very easy for me to sit at my keyboard and make such pronouncements.

[LoneHaranguer]

 

If she'd had a little more presence of mind in the moment, she should have graciously removed the crown and placed it on the real winner's head herself (instead of standing there like a wounded animal waiting to be de-crowned and then slinking off into oblivion).

I don't think it would have been proper for her to have done that.

[NewDigs]

I'm going to have to defend WW. As a lifetime member, it's been a very good program for me. People don't join because they find it easy to keep off excess weight, quite the opposite. Did I gain weight back because I didn't stick with program? Yes. Did I lose it again by returning to healthy eating and exercise? Yes. Every doctor I've ever had told me it's a sensible and healthy plan. Plus, once you make Lifetime (6 weeks at goal weight based on accepted BMI), and weigh in once a calendar month not more than 2 pounds over goal weight, membership is free. They really want success, and I'm very grateful to have found it.

I don't oject to the Weight Watchers program. I think it works. And it's a relatively easy program to follow. Numbers can be a good thing.

I object to an owner/spokesperson who has not only not been unable to maintain a target weight but refuses to show what a 26 lb. weight loss looks like.

[Bruinsfan]

Yeah, my GP (whom I trust implicitly) told me Weight Watchers was the best sensible and effective diet plan. People failing to keep weight off when they fall off the wagon do not reflect badly on the program itself.

[riley702]

I don't think it would have been proper for her to have done that.

 

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

[bitchin camaro]

I don't oject to the Weight Watchers program. I think it works. And it's a relatively easy program to follow. Numbers can be a good thing.

I object to an owner/spokesperson who has not only not been unable to maintain a target weight but refuses to show what a 26 lb. weight loss looks like.

As someone who is about Oprah's size and who has lost 24 pounds on WW, it doesn't look like much. My clothes are looser and I've gone down a size or so in some brands, but it's not that dramatic for someone with a fair amount still left to lose. Whether she's ultimately successful or not will impact the effectiveness of the marketing campaign (see I'm on topic!), but as someone who has struggled with weight my entire life, I relate to Oprah's experience more than someone like Jessica Simpson who was fat for a few months with post-pregnancy weight. YMMV.

[merylinkid]

Saw the commercial with the women who researched everything about her new car then wrapped it around a tree again.    Finally realized what I should have been saying all along (I'm slow sometimes okay).  Of course she should have done more research on her insurance company -- like learning how insurance works.   Then she wouldn't have been surprised when her rates were raised for an accident SHE caused.

[bitchin camaro]

I was fast forwarding through the ads with the DVR and there was one of those Liberty Mutual ads - all I could see was the Statue of Liberty and "ACCIDENT FORGIVENESS". And then an adult diaper popped onto the screen. Accident forgiveness, indeed.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I was fast forwarding through the ads with the DVR and there was one of those Liberty Mutual ads - all I could see was the Statue of Liberty and "ACCIDENT FORGIVENESS". And then an adult diaper popped onto the screen. Accident forgiveness, indeed.

 

Terrific, now I have this image of the Statue of Liberty wearing a diaper.

[TattleTeeny]

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

Edited February 25, 2016 by TattleTeeny

[Bruinsfan]

Saw the commercial with the women who researched everything about her new car then wrapped it around a tree again.    Finally realized what I should have been saying all along (I'm slow sometimes okay).  Of course she should have done more research on her insurance company -- like learning how insurance works.   Then she wouldn't have been surprised when her rates were raised for an accident SHE caused.

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

[iMonrey]

 

As someone who is about Oprah's size and who has lost 24 pounds on WW, it doesn't look like much.

 

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

 

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

[Rick Kitchen]

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

[millennium]

Yes, Oprah, Im very glad you lost weight on WW even though you ate bread.  Yes, even ate bread EVERY DAY!  I believe you. Now, stop shouting about it, please.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Edited February 25, 2016 by millennium