Commercials That Annoy, Irritate or Outright Enrage

[susannah]

I've just seen an ad for Heinz, who should know better, that is just stupid and gross. The little girl is in the back seat of the car, putting catsup on her hamburger, and then picks up the burger, which is as big as her head, no wrapper, and shoves it into her face, slopping and dripping everything in it all over, and all over her face, as she grins. Her father looks back and smiles benignly at her. Who would do that, and why has Heinz jumped on the bratty kid bandwagon?

[millennium]

3 hours ago, Gharlane said:

I was about to ask if Martha Stewart was making Medicare commercials before realiZing you were talking about "Medicare Martha".

 

Is Martha an old Karen?

 

 

Martha is a harridan, universally reviled, the personification of everything no one wants to be.   She is an insulting stereotype that refuses to die.   If the makers of that commercial had applied the same degree of exaggeration to a character on the basis of race or religion rather than age, that commercial never would have made it to broadcast.  But in the land of bias, age is still a wide open frontier. 

[kathyk24]

1 minute ago, millennium said:

Martha is a harridan, universally reviled, the personification of everything no one wants to be.   She is an insulting stereotype that refuses to die.   If the makers of that commercial had applied the same degree of exaggeration to a character on the basis of race or religion rather than age, that commercial never would have made it to broadcast.  But in the land of bias, age is still a wide open frontier. 

Age and gender I've seen more ads with annoying older women than older men. My least favorite was the pick  up   the pace I'm eighty for Audi.

[dleighg]

These Justin Guarini ads for Dr. Pepper (I had to look him up; I had no clue) are really weird. Why is he half size? What is the point? I guess I'm just old.

https://talentrecap.com/justin-guarini-makes-silly-return-to-dr-pepper-commercials-as-lil-sweet/

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, dleighg said:

These Justin Guarini ads for Dr. Pepper (I had to look him up; I had no clue) are really weird. Why is he half size? What is the point? I guess I'm just old.

https://talentrecap.com/justin-guarini-makes-silly-return-to-dr-pepper-commercials-as-lil-sweet/

I don't get it either. I find them annoying.

[susannah]

1 hour ago, millennium said:

If the makers of that commercial had applied the same degree of exaggeration to a character on the basis of race or religion rather than age, that commercial never would have made it to broadcast.  But in the land of bias, age is still a wide open frontier. 

Not only age, but sex. Do we see any of these types of ads with men? I don't think so.

[Bruinsfan]

I'm pretty sure I've seen ads with scowly old men harumphing at everyone, so I don't think advertisers are just targeting elderly women.

I like the Lil' Sweet Diet Dr. Pepper ads, but they're exactly the sort of weird that's aimed right at me. Probably doesn't hurt that I have about a 30% solution of Diet Dr. Pepper flowing in my veins.

[millennium]

4 hours ago, dleighg said:

These Justin Guarini ads for Dr. Pepper (I had to look him up; I had no clue) are really weird. Why is he half size? What is the point? I guess I'm just old.

https://talentrecap.com/justin-guarini-makes-silly-return-to-dr-pepper-commercials-as-lil-sweet/

He's Li'l Sweet.  He's half-size because he's Li'l.

I thought Justin Guarini came off as a smug a-hole during his spin on American Idol.  He thought he had it clinched.   Seeing him lose to Kelly Clarkson was great.   Seeing him today as L'il Sweet is even greater.

[Crashcourse]

I voted for Justin over Kelly.  I'm glad he's got a career post AI.  

[Colleenna]

On 1/15/2022 at 11:03 AM, Mrs. Hanson said:

but I really need, not want, to meet a male, who has a female in the house, who does laundry other than his own

My husband does. He does most of the laundry. He also cleans the kitchen after dinner.  

I married a good one. 

[mmecorday]

I love to cook. Rather than a chore that I must accomplish at the end of a busy day, I look forward to spending time in my kitchen making dinner. So I really hate the Tovala commercial with the woman who's so ecstatic because with Tovala, she gets the rest of her night back. And she's holding a plate of stuffed shells and steamed broccoli, which are both easy to make.

[Tom Holmberg]

22 hours ago, millennium said:

Martha is a harridan, universally reviled, the personification of everything no one wants to be.   She is an insulting stereotype that refuses to die.   

I can't wait until the ad with Martha and Shaq comes out.

[ctlady]

Can the people singing about their happy, filled refrigerator in the HungryRoot commercial shut it, please?  I understand meal and/or grocery delivery services are an asset to those who can't get out, but when you are an able-bodied person (I'm talking to you, woman in her workout gear as she slices open her box and sings, "HungryRoot came through" while we gaze upon all the individually wrapped in plastic and styrofoam containers) get your lazy hiney to the store and purchase your own groceries (in bulk, in re-usable bags and most likely a lot cheaper)  Her smugness makes me want to smack her.

And why do we have to put the word 'super' in front of everything?  "My fridge is SUPER empty"  Are there degrees of emptiness?  Kind of empty.  Really empty.  Super empty. I'm going to starve empty.

Again, I understand the need for shut ins, 'super' busy people who work 3 jobs, disabled, etc.  I've always felt these services are enabling people who are just too lazy to do their own grocery shopping.  They're doing themselves a disservice - especially if something ever happens and services get shut down and their fridge is 'ultra-mega-super-empty'

[chessiegal]

I started using a meal service almost 2 years ago because of the pandemic. First, it was hard to find food in the stores, and second, I was limiting my exposure to communicable diseases. Other than stores having better stocked shelves, sometimes, not always, not much has changed. I have no problem with ads for meal services.

[CrystalBlue]

I have no problem with ads for meal services per se.  Meal services and grocery shopping (and other online shopping and shopper-for-hire type shopping) is a Godsend to us people who need it, for whatever reason.  People hire other people to do chores all the time.

The individual commercials may be annoying for various reasons but I don't condemn the concept of advertising and promoting such services and I do not judge who should and could use them.

[susannah]

4 hours ago, ctlady said:

while we gaze upon all the individually wrapped in plastic and styrofoam containers) get your lazy hiney to the store and purchase your own groceries (in bulk, in re-usable bags and most likely a lot cheaper) 

I really dislike all the plastic packaging also, and I am sure it would be alot cheaper to buy the items at the store. I don't think they should promote themselves as being healthy for the environment in any way with the amount of packaging.

[chessiegal]

I don't know where y'all shop, but where I shop the food comes in packaging, most of it recyclable. I took a good look at the Hungryroot food packaging, and it all looked recyclable. I didn't see any Styrofoam, but I did see cardboard packaging.

[Colleenna]

7 hours ago, ctlady said:

Can the people singing about their happy, filled refrigerator in the HungryRoot commercial shut it, please?  I understand meal and/or grocery delivery services are an asset to those who can't get out, but when you are an able-bodied person (I'm talking to you, woman in her workout gear as she slices open her box and sings, "HungryRoot came through" while we gaze upon all the individually wrapped in plastic and styrofoam containers) get your lazy hiney to the store and purchase your own groceries (in bulk, in re-usable bags and most likely a lot cheaper)  Her smugness makes me want to smack her.

And why do we have to put the word 'super' in front of everything?  "My fridge is SUPER empty"  Are there degrees of emptiness?  Kind of empty.  Really empty.  Super empty. I'm going to starve empty.

Again, I understand the need for shut ins, 'super' busy people who work 3 jobs, disabled, etc.  I've always felt these services are enabling people who are just too lazy to do their own grocery shopping.  They're doing themselves a disservice - especially if something ever happens and services get shut down and their fridge is 'ultra-mega-super-empty'

I'm one of those  weirdos who actually enjoys grocery shopping.  

[SnarkySheep]

Speaking of grocery shopping...there's a Stop & Shop commercial I've seen while pumping gas at their station.

Mom announces it's time to go grocery shopping, and little boy squeals, "YAY!!" like she just announced a trip to Six Flags. I have yet to meet a child happy to accompany their parent grocery shopping.

[ctlady]

13 hours ago, Colleenna said:

I'm one of those  weirdos who actually enjoys grocery shopping. 

Nothing weird about it at all.  Perfectly normal.  I mean - that's what we all had to do before these services existed, right?

17 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

I have no problem with ads for meal services per se.  Meal services and grocery shopping (and other online shopping and shopper-for-hire type shopping) is a Godsend to us people who need it, for whatever reason.

I agree and was sure to state that in my original post.  But the individuals they're portraying in this and other commercials for grocery/food/meal delivery services come across as too lazy to shop for themselves.  Yes - I understand, there are days when you absolutely just can't or for medical reasons, elderly, etc.  That's why I wish they'd include these types of individuals in their commercials rather than the self absorbed millenial in the Daily Harvest ad eating nothing but frozen fruit smoothies and exclaiming, "OmG, liKe, I nEvEr hAvE tO sHoP aGaIn"!

[susannah]

I just saw an ad for Hampton Hotels in which it shows a little girl with Down's, around six years old, who twice lifts the syrup bottle as high above her head as she can reach, to put it on her pancakes. Again, the father just smiles at her. Who does that? For one thing it would be so easy to get syrup all over the place, for someone else to clean up, which is really rude, and secondly, people with disabilities already face bias, so "yeah, let's show a DS kid making a big sticky mess in a restaurant!"

[ctlady]

18 minutes ago, susannah said:

I just saw an ad for Hampton Hotels in which it shows a little girl with Down's, around six years old, who twice lifts the syrup bottle as high above her head as she can reach, to put it on her pancakes. Again, the father just smiles at her. Who does that? For one thing it would be so easy to get syrup all over the place, for someone else to clean up, which is really rude, and secondly, people with disabilities already face bias, so "yeah, let's show a DS kid making a big sticky mess in a restaurant!"

Because when it's THEIR child making a mess - be it causing a disruption with a tantrum, crying incessantly or flinging syrup around a dining room it's ......."awwww, let's snap a selfie for Instagram" cuteness that everyone around them MUST understand and accept, disabilities or not

[peacheslatour]

22 minutes ago, susannah said:

I just saw an ad for Hampton Hotels in which it shows a little girl with Down's, around six years old, who twice lifts the syrup bottle as high above her head as she can reach, to put it on her pancakes. Again, the father just smiles at her. Who does that? For one thing it would be so easy to get syrup all over the place, for someone else to clean up, which is really rude, and secondly, people with disabilities already face bias, so "yeah, let's show a DS kid making a big sticky mess in a restaurant!"

Does she actually make a mess? If not, maybe she's really good at it and she's proud of her great skill?

[Nicmar]

On 1/12/2022 at 3:54 PM, dleighg said:

apparently the book was from something like 1991 LOL. It was called "The Book of Hosea."

I wonder if its a Christian Romance? Yes they exist lol

[Gharlane]

22 hours ago, ctlady said:

And why do we have to put the word 'super' in front of everything?  "My fridge is SUPER empty"  Are there degrees of emptiness?  Kind of empty.  Really empty.  Super empty. I'm going to starve empty.

I believe there is a "so empty I found a roach inside with snow-blindness" degree of empty.

 

1 hour ago, susannah said:

I just saw an ad for Hampton Hotels in which it shows a little girl with Down's, around six years old, who twice lifts the syrup bottle as high above her head as she can reach, to put it on her pancakes. Again, the father just smiles at her. Who does that? For one thing it would be so easy to get syrup all over the place, for someone else to clean up, which is really rude, and secondly, people with disabilities already face bias, so "yeah, let's show a DS kid making a big sticky mess in a restaurant!"

Yeah, that's exactly my reaction to that scene. 

[susannah]

50 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Does she actually make a mess? If not, maybe she's really good at it and she's proud of her great skill?

Would you let a six year old do that in a restaurant? If they want to mess up their own kitchens, they can have at it but not in public!

54 minutes ago, ctlady said:

Because when it's THEIR child making a mess - be it causing a disruption with a tantrum, crying incessantly or flinging syrup around a dining room it's ......."awwww, let's snap a selfie for Instagram" cuteness that everyone around them MUST understand and accept, disabilities or not

You said it.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

Would you let a six year old do that in a restaurant? If they want to mess up their own kitchens, they can have at it but not in public!

I would if I knew he could do it without making a mess. If I knew he would dump it all over the place, fuck no.

[susannah]

55 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

I would if I knew he could do it without making a mess. If I knew he would dump it all over the place, fuck no.

Well the problem with that is that even if a kid could do it without making a mess, which is highly unlikely, accidents happen, and then you have a mess. I don't think parents should ever let their kids make messes in public, but many many parents do. Holding the syrup bottle over one's head to pour it is asking for a mess, and not at all good table manners.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Does she actually make a mess? If not, maybe she's really good at it and she's proud of her great skill?

I just looked up the commercial. She doesn't make a mess.  It all goes perfectly onto her waffles.

[susannah]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I just looked up the commercial. She doesn't make a mess.  It all goes perfectly onto her waffles.

It is still very rude to do and bad table manners.

[ctlady]

5 minutes ago, susannah said:

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

I just looked up the commercial. She doesn't make a mess.  It all goes perfectly onto her waffles.

It is still very rude to do and bad table manners

I'm more thinking along the lines of if those bottles slipped out of her hand and onto her head she could get really hurt.  Granted I have not seen the commercial, but diners and restaurants don't use plastic syrup bottles you get in the store - they use the clear glass jars with the handle that slides back to open it

[Bastet]

I hadn't seen it, either, so I just looked it up; it's a plastic squeeze bottle, and there's little chance of her losing control of it and making a mess in this situation:

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/qjAx/hampton-inn-and-suites-daddy-daughter-time

[chessiegal]

We stay at Hampton Inn when we visit family in New Orleans. The bottle in that commercial is a standard plastic squeeze bottle filled with chocolate sauce. They definitely use them at their breakfast bar. Watching the commercial, doesn't seem like there is much chance to make a mess. Seems innocent enough to me. Obviously, mileage varies.

[SoMuchTV]

57 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I hadn't seen it, either, so I just looked it up; it's a plastic squeeze bottle, and there's little chance of her losing control of it and making a mess in this situation:

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/qjAx/hampton-inn-and-suites-daddy-daughter-time

Thanks for posting that link.  After all this discussion, I wanted to see for myself.  I'm in the "cute ad, not a brat, not a clueless dad" camp.  And "as high as she can reach" is maybe a foot and a half.  About the same height her dad poured the waffle batter from in the beginning, so maybe that's a family tradition?

On the other hand, this is the annoying commercials thread, so maybe I should move over to the "loved" commercials area.

Edited February 1, 2022 by SoMuchTV

[Crashcourse]

I just saw the commercial, and while she didn't make a mess, I don't think it's a good idea on the father's part to let her keep doing that.  One day she might very well make a mess somewhere. 

[CrystalBlue]

Sooner or later, every person in the world will have made a mess ... somewhere.  Like that other commercial says, "Life's messy.  Clean it up!"  (Bissell Inc. slogan.)

I don't see anyone being rude.  Father and daughter are minding their own business squeezing syrup and chocolate sauce on pancakes and waffles at a breakfast bar and restaurant dining table.  No messes created.

Yes, we can post it in the Favorite Commericals.  Thanks for the link Bastet!

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, chessiegal said:

The bottle in that commercial is a standard plastic squeeze bottle filled with chocolate sauce.

I didn't watch to the end when I linked it, but I just did and she does it again with one of those glass syrup bottles once they're at their table.  But I don't see any unreasonable risk (well, other than the amount of sugar she has added to those waffles 🙂 )in that scene, either.

And I noticed this time that when she does it at the breakfast bar, it's after he makes a dramatic display just like that with the batter.  So she's  imitating him.  They're touting how fun it is to make your own waffles at their breakfast bar, so they have these two characters making a production out of it together. 

The pitch in general doesn't appeal to me because part of my fun of vacation is someone else making my food, but I have no problem with this particular scenario, since they're not disturbing anyone (either with a mess or antics that hold anyone else up), they're just harmlessly enjoying themselves and each other.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Bastet

[meep.meep]

y'all aren't doing this right

Her father lets her eat CHOCOLATE for BREAKFAST!!!!!  Terrible parenting!  If she wanted hard candies to scatter over the top, would he let her do that?  It's the end of civilization as we know it.

[Kemper]

I know the Medicare Supplemental commercials have been much discussed here; and that they are universally hated.  Not to pile on.  But the one with Jimmy Walker has crossed so many lines that the company seems to be making them deliberately horrible ("horrible" is an understatement).  The overdone "Moneyeeeee" said more than one time; the woman who speaks as though her dentures are slipping (!) seem to be planned - for some odd reason. 

Today I had the tv on in the background, sound tuned low, while I was sending emails.  Then Jimmy W came on, the sound was three times (at least) as the tv show, and it was so grating that I could feel it in my bones.  Begone!   

[Gramto6]

Does anyone really go through these services for Medicare Supplements? I guess I am very lucky, late DH provided me with a cadillac supplement policy that I would never replace! Every rx as long as prescribed by a dr is $2 for a 3 month supply. I only pay out of pocket a maximum of (whatever Medicare deductible is) & $1500/yr for the rest, all the rest is 100%, covered between medicare and the supplement. I've survived breast cancer/surgery, spinal surgery, parotid tumor surgery and more tests than most and my medical bills are nothing I worry about.  (Please God, I am not jinxing myself!)

Neither Joe Namath or Jimmy Walker will convince me to give that up.  And Martha needs to get new glasses, and calm down...

[Prevailing Wind]

3 hours ago, Kemper said:

the woman who speaks as though her dentures are slipping (!) seem to be planned - for some odd reason. 

"I called to add money to my shocial shecurity scheck."  I've complained about her before.

[Scout Finch]

I can't stand the voiceover guy for the Gain commercials. Something about his delivery/tone annoys the hell out of me!

ETA: Plus, scented laundry products really bother my sense of smell, so the idea of a long-lasting Gain smell has the opposite reaction for me than those in the commercials who are huffing it.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Scout Finch

[dleighg]

Balance of Nature ("fruits and vegetables in a pill") Jenna drives me crazy. She talks about how healthy she is (I believe it) but that it is "literally impossible" to eat enough fruits and vegetables. Seriously? IMPOSSIBLE? I bet some vegans would beg to differ, not to mention anyone who actually pays attention to their diet. But hey, just toss some pills down your throat and continue eating your Big Mac and fries.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/qCId/balance-of-nature-fox-news-jenna

[Scout Finch]

On 1/14/2022 at 8:34 PM, KLovestoShop said:

Just saw a commercial for a company called Manscaped.  A woman hands her male significant other a box, and when he opens it up, it says “Your Balls Will Thank You”.  It’s calls itself the Lawnmower 4.0.  

Meanwhile, she treated herself to a new tube of Lume.

[Scout Finch]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:24 PM, michelec said:

I have to mute that ad whenever it comes on because the whistle freaks out my cat.

Mine, too!

[janie jones]

On 1/31/2022 at 12:47 PM, chessiegal said:

I started using a meal service almost 2 years ago because of the pandemic. First, it was hard to find food in the stores, and second, I was limiting my exposure to communicable diseases. Other than stores having better stocked shelves, sometimes, not always, not much has changed. I have no problem with ads for meal services.

Another thing that's good about them is that they're a good way to try new recipes without having to commit to a full bottle of some condiment you may never use again.

But the ads I don't like are the ones for the smoothie service where the smoothie depicted in the commercial somehow manages to be twice the volume of the cup the ingredients came in.

18 hours ago, Bastet said:

And I noticed this time that when she does it at the breakfast bar, it's after he makes a dramatic display just like that with the batter.  So she's  imitating him.  They're touting how fun it is to make your own waffles at their breakfast bar, so they have these two characters making a production out of it together.

Yeah, I think the reason he's so amused by her is that she's imitating him, and she's actually good at it.

[Tom Holmberg]

11 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

"I called to add money to my shocial shecurity scheck."  I've complained about her before.

I just wish one of them would say, "I called to get them to stop running their ads."

[proserpina65]

On 1/27/2022 at 8:54 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

The Hormel Chili, turned into dip commercial is icky.    Everyone's arms turn into superlong, waving arms.     That wouldn't make me want to buy their Chili, and make dip out of it. 

If I didn't already use Hormel chili for my chili-cheese dip (with real cheese, not that processed cheese product crap Velveeta), the commercial would not entice me to do so either.

On 1/28/2022 at 3:08 PM, susannah said:

I can understand how certain things can bother some people, but seriously, these are disabled children! They can't help how they look or talk.

We can still object to how often various channels run the commercials.  Which is my problem with them.  A few times a week, no problem.  Anywhere between 6 and 10 times over the course of 3 episodes of The Closer on a single day?  Annoying as fuck.

On 1/28/2022 at 9:55 PM, madmax said:

I don't recall seeing this one mentioned, but since the Limu Emu ads are pretty universally hated, it's probably here somewhere....

The one in the park with the bird whistles.  The whistles hurt my ears and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Seriously, who comes up with this shit?

Aww, I love that one, especially when the penguins and flamingo show up.  But I understand that the whistles can be problematic.

On 1/28/2022 at 11:24 PM, michelec said:

I have to mute that ad whenever it comes on because the whistle freaks out my cat.

Mine don't freak out, but if they're close enough to the tv, they do look around to see where the birds are.

[chessiegal]

I started keeping track of how often the Walker/Namath ads were running. Surprisingly, on the channels I watch, it is about once every hour. I thought it would be more. But the other thing I noticed was the same Walker/Namath video would have different phone numbers in the chyron below the video. ???

[proserpina65]

On 1/31/2022 at 2:42 PM, ctlady said:

Can the people singing about their happy, filled refrigerator in the HungryRoot commercial shut it, please?  I understand meal and/or grocery delivery services are an asset to those who can't get out, but when you are an able-bodied person (I'm talking to you, woman in her workout gear as she slices open her box and sings, "HungryRoot came through" while we gaze upon all the individually wrapped in plastic and styrofoam containers) get your lazy hiney to the store and purchase your own groceries (in bulk, in re-usable bags and most likely a lot cheaper)  Her smugness makes me want to smack her.

And why do we have to put the word 'super' in front of everything?  "My fridge is SUPER empty"  Are there degrees of emptiness?  Kind of empty.  Really empty.  Super empty. I'm going to starve empty.

Again, I understand the need for shut ins, 'super' busy people who work 3 jobs, disabled, etc.  I've always felt these services are enabling people who are just too lazy to do their own grocery shopping.  They're doing themselves a disservice - especially if something ever happens and services get shut down and their fridge is 'ultra-mega-super-empty'

I look at the fridges in the Hungry Root commercial and hope those people have big households.  Because a lot of that fresh produce is going to end up going bad otherwise.

On 2/1/2022 at 12:44 PM, Nicmar said:

I wonder if its a Christian Romance? Yes they exist lol

Oh, it is.