Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

[Brookside]

The one for Xfinity where the toddler is wandering barefoot alone through city streets.  At one point she falls down in front of a bus.

[kathyk2]

Does Tom Selleck own stock in AIG? That's the only reason for his attitude in those ads. He seems offended that anyone would question their ethics although older people have been hurt by reverse morgages

[Prevailing Wind]

I'm curious - how does one get hurt via reverse mortgage?

 

[kathyk2]

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I'm curious - how does one get hurt via reverse mortgage?

 

There have been cases where people have lost their homes because they couldn't pay back the reverse mortgage.

[BusyOctober]

National Floors Direct and those damn unfunny sock puppets need to be whisked off my TV immediately.  As if the puppets weren’t bad enough, one of them actually delivers the line “National Floors Direct?! I seen their commercials!” That egregious grammar assures the puppet, the puppeteer, the copy writer and the director their places in Hell right next to the people responsible for Kars 4 Kidz. 
 

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, BusyOctober said:

their places in Hell right next to the people responsible for Kars 4 Kidz.

My husband shuts the radio off every time the Kars 4 Kidz ad comes on. He is particularly offended by the pronunciation of "Today" as "Tuday." Don't ask me why that is the worst part of the ad, but for him, it is.

[sempervivum]

Knix underwear (why have there been so many undies companies started lately? It's like razors a year or so ago):

My eyes! I have ZERO willingness to look at some oversize lady's FUPA and camel toe in a pair of fugly floral granny panties. At least give me a warning.

[peacheslatour]

11 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

There have been cases where people have lost their homes because they couldn't pay back the reverse mortgage.

Yes, there also may not be enough to cover taxes, maintenance  and insurance. Not to mention screwing your kids out of their inheritance. Most people's biggest asset is their house. I would never do that to my son.

[Neurochick]

On 12/6/2019 at 10:09 AM, icemiser69 said:

I didn't have a problem with the commercial at all.  I just took it for what it was.  But in the era in which we live where so many people are so thin skinned, it seems as though things need to be blown out of proportion just so entities can stay relevant.

😁

[Katy M]

52 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Yes, there also may not be enough to cover taxes, maintenance  and insurance. Not to mention screwing your kids out of their inheritance. Most people's biggest asset is their house. I would never do that to my son.

What's the alternative, though, if you dont' have enough money to cover your monthly expenses and unplanned med expenses you may have and your kids refuse to help out?   IMO, this is where the reverse mortgages come in.  But, only if they're right for you and probably as a last resort.  They're certainly better than payday loans.

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, Katy M said:

What's the alternative, though, if you dont' have enough money to cover your monthly expenses and unplanned med expenses you may have and your kids refuse to help out?   IMO, this is where the reverse mortgages come in.  But, only if they're right for you and probably as a last resort.  They're certainly better than payday loans.

Oh, absolutely. Payday loans are a total scam. And I guess if your kids are shitheads, yeah. I think the main thing is to hold out as long as possible and not get one when you could live another 30 years. 

[AuntiePam]

54 minutes ago, Katy M said:

What's the alternative, though, if you dont' have enough money to cover your monthly expenses and unplanned med expenses you may have and your kids refuse to help out?   IMO, this is where the reverse mortgages come in.  But, only if they're right for you and probably as a last resort.  They're certainly better than payday loans.

Except that if you're in that position -- can't pay your bills -- you probably wouldn't qualify for a reverse mortgage anyway.  They'll only lend a percentage of your home's value, and if you have an equity loan or a second mortgage, the loan would be even less.  How long before you're short of money again?

I think they're taking advantage of people who -- like me, I'll admit -- aren't good with money.  If you own your home, there should be other options.  Equity loan, second mortgage, rent it or sell it and move someplace cheaper, file for bankruptcy, put the deed in your kids' names, get financial counseling, make a budget and stick to it, etc.  A reverse mortgage just seems too good to be true. 

Actually, I popped in to complain about the Hyundai Super Bowl ad, the one with Rachel Dratch, Chris Evans, and John Krasinski (sp?).  The car parks itself, and they show the car being parked into such a small space that the driver has to get out of the car before it's parked -- and the drivers of the cars on either side won't be able to open their doors.  That's gonna piss a lot of people off.

 

[proserpina65]

On ‎01‎/‎29‎/‎2020 at 12:54 AM, andromeda331 said:

That's probably why they don't show any women happy to find out their not pregnant. Once again the idea that unmarried women could be having sex because they want to and not wanting to get pregnant? Oh no that can't happen. No "good" woman could possibility want that. Only "bad" women would. Sluts. 

Janie's scenario included married women, though.

14 hours ago, kathyk2 said:

There have been cases where people have lost their homes because they couldn't pay back the reverse mortgage.

I was under the impression that you didn't have to pay back the mortgage but if you didn't, your heirs would not inherit the house when you died.  Of course, I don't know much about reverse mortgages, and my mother's house has been paid off for decades and I'd never let her mortgage it in any way now.  Learn something new every day.

 

[proserpina65]

57 minutes ago, AuntiePam said:

Actually, I popped in to complain about the Hyundai Super Bowl ad, the one with Rachel Dratch, Chris Evans, and John Krasinski (sp?).  The car parks itself, and they show the car being parked into such a small space that the driver has to get out of the car before it's parked -- and the drivers of the cars on either side won't be able to open their doors.  That's gonna piss a lot of people off.

I haven't seen that one.  I have seen the one where a woman gets to her car in the parking lot to find that some asshole in a monster truck has parked so close to it that she can't get in the car.  She uses the parking assist thing to get her car out of the parking space.  Now THAT could be very useful.

[Prevailing Wind]

You don't have to pay back the reverse mortgage until you move out or die. The theory is you'll sell your house once you move out and that goes to the RM. If your house gets less than the RM's value, they eat that difference. All you have to do is keep paying the taxes and keep the place maintained.  And if you have no heirs, like me, it really does make sense. My nephew is gonna get everything and he's not interested in a cheesy condo two states away from where he lives. He'd get the contents and the RM company gets the condo and it's their problem to try & sell it.

When I started to apply for one a few years ago, I still owed $22K on my home equity and the condos weren't selling - they had to go far afield to get their "comparable sales" to assess a value - which they said was $115K.  Since then, I've paid down the HELOC (the reason my IRA has shrunk so badly - but I was paying MORE in interest than the IRA was making. It made sense to pay down the HELOC) and condos in my complex have been selling for $195K, so I think I'd do much better now. But I'm going to wait until the IRA is depleted and I no longer work (right now, I'm earning that extra $300 via my part time job) until I try again for a reverse mortgage.

I wouldn't be in this mild bind if I hadn't listened to some guy my mom claimed was a financial wizard. I bought into a mutual fund as his recommendation and the next day, lost HALF my IRA. Broker says, "You're in this for the long haul..." I told him I'm 58, there IS no long haul anymore.  Now I'm almost 71 and I'm still working...(albeit, only 12 hours a week.)

[peacheslatour]

Quote

If your house gets less than the RM's value, they eat that difference. 

They (meaning the bank) DO NOT eat the difference. You have to pay it.

[Ohwell]

4 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I haven't seen that one.  I have seen the one where a woman gets to her car in the parking lot to find that some asshole in a monster truck has parked so close to it that she can't get in the car.  She uses the parking assist thing to get her car out of the parking space.  Now THAT could be very useful.

I agree that feature is useful, but the commercial would have been even more effective if the parking space in front of her car was filled as well.  Since that space was vacant, she could have just driven forward. 

[chessiegal]

22 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I agree that feature is useful, but the commercial would have been even more effective if the parking space in front of her car was filled as well.  Since that space was vacant, she could have just driven forward. 

How can she drive the car forward if she can't get into the car? Does the assist work with both backwards and forward? Either way, if you can't get into the car to drive it, the assist sounds good to me.

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

How can she drive the car forward if she can't get into the car? Does the assist work with both backwards and forward? Either way, if you can't get into the car to drive it, the assist sounds good to me.

I agree the assist sounds good, but in the commercial she could get into the passenger side and climb into the driver's side.  

[Bastet]

18 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I agree the assist sounds good, but in the commercial she could get into the passenger side and climb into the driver's side. 

That's difficult for some people to do, and I haven't seen the commercial, but if she can't get in because of how some asshole parked next to her, I can see why she'd rather push a button than mess with it, no matter how limber she is.  But the idea of standing there while my car parks itself/backs itself out is a bit creepy to me (I'm not opposed to automation, but I am leery that we as a society get so excited by it we don't properly consider the effects, so every new instance of it gives me pause).

[Haleth]

10 hours ago, chessiegal said:

How can she drive the car forward if she can't get into the car? Does the assist work with both backwards and forward? Either way, if you can't get into the car to drive it, the assist sounds good to me.

According to the new SuperBowl ad, yes, it does.

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I agree the assist sounds good, but in the commercial she could get into the passenger side and climb into the driver's side.  

That works in theory, and maybe the woman in the commercial could've done that, but I couldn't have.  Not that I'm going to buy a car just for that feature, but it does seem useful.

Edited January 31, 2020 by proserpina65

[mmecorday]

Quote

well, except for that one episode of Unsolved Mysteries where he plays the victim of a sexual predator. "Larry, he shot Larry!" I really am sorry the woman lost her son in the very violent, vicious manner, but the acting of the woman in the segment always makes me laugh and mock her.

The acting was always bad on that show, but I remember that woman's line delivery like I saw the episode yesterday.

[smittykins]

There’s a new Blue Buffalo cat food commercial where two neighbors bump into each other, one carrying a grocery bag with BB and the other with Meow Mix.  Cue obligatory reading of the ingredients(with onscreen “Both provide complete and balanced nutrition” disclaimer), then when Meow Mix lady says “But I can’t afford Blue Buffalo,” BB lady says that on average, BB only costs 19 cents more per day.  Well, for some people, that adds up.

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, smittykins said:

There’s a new Blue Buffalo cat food commercial where two neighbors bump into each other, one carrying a grocery bag with BB and the other with Meow Mix.  Cue obligatory reading of the ingredients(with onscreen “Both provide complete and balanced nutrition” disclaimer), then when Meow Mix lady says “But I can’t afford Blue Buffalo,” BB lady says that on average, BB only costs 19 cents more per day.  Well, for some people, that adds up.

It bugs me more with the dog food commercial.  Cats don't vary that much in size.  So, if it varies 19 cents a day for the average cat, it's probably going to be that much for most cats.  But, what kind of dog were they using to figure out the dog differential (which I don't remember how much it was, but more than 19 cents)?  A Saint Bernard is going to eat significantly more than a chihuahua, and there's a whole huge range in between.

[dleighg]

37 minutes ago, Katy M said:

It bugs me more with the dog food commercial.  Cats don't vary that much in size. 

there's also the issue of having more  than one pet (I have three cats). And don't even start me on with cat rescue folks who might be feeding 20 or 30! I get why they use friskies!

[Katy M]

1 minute ago, dleighg said:

there's also the issue of having more  than one pet (I have three cats). And don't even start me on with cat rescue folks who might be feeding 20 or 30! I get why they use friskies!

Oh, yeah, sure, but I was just saying, factually-wise, it doesn't even make sense to put that in there for dogs.  Just say it's $5 more a bag or whatever.

[proserpina65]

2 hours ago, smittykins said:

There’s a new Blue Buffalo cat food commercial where two neighbors bump into each other, one carrying a grocery bag with BB and the other with Meow Mix.  Cue obligatory reading of the ingredients(with onscreen “Both provide complete and balanced nutrition” disclaimer), then when Meow Mix lady says “But I can’t afford Blue Buffalo,” BB lady says that on average, BB only costs 19 cents more per day.  Well, for some people, that adds up.

Yep, it's $67.64 a year, for something that is not actually any better for your pet.  I definitely ain't wasting my money like that.  I feed my adult cat IAMS Urinary Health formula, which is actually less than the equivalent Purina formula at Walmart (his brother had issues, so they both got that), and the new kitten gets Purina Kitten Chow because the person who rescued her gave me a big bag.  Eventually the kitten will get the IAMS stuff too if my vet says it's okay for her.

The mere fact that the commercials have to contain that disclaimer tells me Blue Buffalo isn't worth it.

[Katy M]

12 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Yep, it's $67.64 a year, for something that is not actually any better for your pet.  I definitely ain't wasting my money like that.  I feed my adult cat IAMS Urinary Health formula, which is actually less than the equivalent Purina formula at Walmart (his brother had issues, so they both got that), and the new kitten gets Purina Kitten Chow because the person who rescued her gave me a big bag.  Eventually the kitten will get the IAMS stuff too if my vet says it's okay for her.

The mere fact that the commercials have to contain that disclaimer tells me Blue Buffalo isn't worth it.

Taking to pets.

[Ilovecomputers]

On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2020 at 10:11 PM, janie jones said:

Oh and I'm married, by the way.  If they don't want the Million Moms to boycott their depiction of unmarried "sluts," they could show a couple high-fiving (using their left hands with the wedding rings, of course) because of the negative test

Funny you would mention the wedding rings.  In the past whenever there was a commercial for a mattress featuring a man and woman in bed, the ads always showed--and not so subtly either--the actors' left hands with gold wedding bands intact.  Seems as if they did it on laundry commercials, too.  The "housewife" would be stacking laundry and she always had a gold wedding band on, because in TV Land single people just buy another pack of underwear rather than do a load of laundry.

[Ilovecomputers]

On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2020 at 6:26 PM, chenoa333 said:

I missed seeing that commercial. Sounds awesome. A pregnancy testing kit is for revealing both joyous results and sad results depending on what you're hoping for. 

They used to have those commercials, and they would show a man and woman looking at the test result thing-a-ma-bob.  In one of the ads, the woman was weeping because it was negative, and the man rubbed her shoulders, sighed wearily and said, "We'll just keep trying," all the while thinking that it was probably her fault and he should have married the sturdier stock his mother tried to fix him up with.  Just kidding about that part.

[peacheslatour]

34 minutes ago, Ilovecomputers said:

Funny you would mention the wedding rings.  In the past whenever there was a commercial for a mattress featuring a man and woman in bed, the ads always showed--and not so subtly either--the actors' left hands with gold wedding bands intact.  Seems as if they did it on laundry commercials, too.  The "housewife" would be stacking laundry and she always had a gold wedding band on, because in TV Land single people just buy another pack of underwear rather than do a load of laundry.

It wasn't too long before that that married people couldn't be shown sleeping in the same bed. Were Rob and Laura Petrie the first ones to be shown sleeping in the same bed?

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

It wasn't too long before that that married people couldn't be shown sleeping in the same bed. Were Rob and Laura Petrie the first ones to be shown sleeping in the same bed?

Nope - they had twin beds.

[Moose135]

47 minutes ago, Ilovecomputers said:

n the past whenever there was a commercial for a mattress featuring a man and woman in bed, the ads always showed--and not so subtly either--the actors' left hands with gold wedding bands intact. 

In my prior life in a newspaper advertising department, I was in the group that handled the inserts that go into the paper. We received a complaint once from a reader because an insert from a pool place included a photo (maybe 3" square) of a hot tub, with a man and woman in the tub. He complained that they weren't wearing wedding rings, and we were promoting promiscuous behavior. Even with a magnifying glass, it was hard to see their hands clearly enough to tell, but he wrote to us complaining about it. Those were some of the things I had to deal with back then.

[peacheslatour]

15 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Nope - they had twin beds.

Now it's going to bug me. Was it Mike and Carol Brady? Sam and Derwood?

[GHScorpiosRule]

5 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Now it's going to bug me. Was it Mike and Carol Brady? Sam and Derwood?

I think, for actors who weren't married in real life, it was Mike and Carol Brady. I don't ever recall seeing Sam and Darren in bed together. But Ozzie and Harriet did share the same bed. But it was brought to my attention that it was probably because they were married in real life. Lucy and Ricky kept changing. Sometimes they had the same bed, sometimes it was twin beds. Same with Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

[Bastet]

2 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Now it's going to bug me. Was it Mike and Carol Brady? Sam and Derwood?

It was actually the titular couple (married in real life) on an old, mostly-forgotten show, Mary Kay and Johnny in the late forties.  But I'm too lazy to look up how long it was until that happened again - maybe the Munsters?  Samantha and Darin on Bewitched?

[andromeda331]

4 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Now it's going to bug me. Was it Mike and Carol Brady? Sam and Derwood?

Both couples slept in the same bed.  

[dleighg]

16 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

In my prior life in a newspaper advertising department, I was in the group that handled the inserts that go into the paper.

oh my- this reminded of back in the day (I was 14) I found my mother and my best friend's mother giggling over the Sears catalog of all things. Apparently it went "viral" that a man in an underwear ad was showing more than he should have. Alas, apparently it wasn't true. But I still remember our mothers giggling 🙂 http://hoaxes.org/weblog/comments/the_man_on_page_602

[Katy M]

18 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Now it's going to bug me. Was it Mike and Carol Brady? Sam and Derwood?

I thought the first were Ozzie and Harriet.

[peacheslatour]

5 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I thought the first were Ozzie and Harriet.

I never watched that. As suggested above, maybe because they were married IRL?

[andromeda331]

10 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I never watched that. As suggested above, maybe because they were married IRL?

They were the first married couple to be shown in bed together because their actors were married to each other. The Munsters and Bewitched were the first couples shown in bed together by actors who weren't married to each other. Oddly enough some sitcom called Mary Kay and Johnny from 1947-1950 where shown sharing a bed their actors were married too.

[peacheslatour]

Jumpin' Jehoshaphat! The manspreading in the Totinos "spoiler alert" pizza rolls commercial!

[seasons]

The guy in this commercial is a freaking moron... his reactions are so weird... that odd smile. Creepy. 

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ZNpX/2020-nissan-rogue-sport-moving-in-song-by-prty-anml-t2

 

[Haleth]

13 hours ago, Moose135 said:

In my prior life in a newspaper advertising department, I was in the group that handled the inserts that go into the paper. We received a complaint once from a reader because an insert from a pool place included a photo (maybe 3" square) of a hot tub, with a man and woman in the tub. He complained that they weren't wearing wedding rings, and we were promoting promiscuous behavior. Even with a magnifying glass, it was hard to see their hands clearly enough to tell, but he wrote to us complaining about it. Those were some of the things I had to deal with back then.

Sitting in a hot tub is promiscuous behavior?

[Browncoat]

40 minutes ago, Haleth said:

Sitting in a hot tub is promiscuous behavior?

It is if you do it right.

[Zahdii]

4 hours ago, Haleth said:

Sitting in a hot tub is promiscuous behavior?

 

3 hours ago, Browncoat said:

It is if you do it right.

Got a story about that, but it's kind of...nasty.  Story under spoilers for those who don't want to be squicked out.

Spoiler

 

Had a friend back in the day who was invited to a hot tub party.  It wasn't supposed to be anything weird, guests were simply advised to wear bathing suits under their clothing if they wanted to dip into the backyard hot tub at some point.  The fun was that it was snowing outside, so people had to run through the snow to get into the tub.

Of course, there's always someone who screws it up.  My friend was in the hot tub along with several other people and one of the guys kept staring at the girls and making comments.  He apparently thought that the purpose of the hot tub was for couples to have sex in it, and he kept hinting that he expected someone to climb on him and make his dreams come true.  My friend left because he was making her uncomfortable.  Soon the other people came in and said that the guy was jacking off in the hot tub.  The host kicked him out, but no one wanted to go into the tub after that.  They were all sure that there were more bubbles on the surface of the water than before, and no one wanted to bathe in someone's cum, however diluted it might be.

 

 

[jww]

I believe the first married couple to share a bed was the Douglases on Green Acres-they had that hip (for 1964) red velvet bed from NYC.

[peacheslatour]

17 minutes ago, jww said:

I believe the first married couple to share a bed was the Douglases on Green Acres-they had that hip (for 1964) red velvet bed from NYC.

I always sort of liked that ridiculous house.

[Ashforth]

On 1/31/2020 at 4:42 PM, Moose135 said:

In my prior life in a newspaper advertising department, I was in the group that handled the inserts that go into the paper. We received a complaint once from a reader because an insert from a pool place included a photo (maybe 3" square) of a hot tub, with a man and woman in the tub. He complained that they weren't wearing wedding rings, and we were promoting promiscuous behavior. Even with a magnifying glass, it was hard to see their hands clearly enough to tell, but he wrote to us complaining about it. Those were some of the things I had to deal with back then.

I first read this as "insects" instead of "inserts." So puzzled.

To quote the late, great, Marvin Zindler from Houston, it's hell to get old!