The current ads for Tylenol,
Stop. Think. Tylenol.
Why do I need to stop and think before I take your product?
How about misuse of ‘literally’?
For example, in this article about Phillips’ amBX system:
No, it won’t literally blow gamers away, unless perhaps it includes a jet engine.
(It actually contains a little fan to simulate breezes, so it will blow at gamers, literally. Blowing them away would probably interrupt the gameplay.)
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon]
An old favorite is, “Part of this complete breakfast,” where they show a complete breakfast, plus the sugar cereal being shilled. By that logic, the napkins, the kids’ sneakers, and the pet dog in the photo are also “part of this complete breakfast.”
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Not just that, but the rest of the “complete breakfast” is waffles, a muffin and a tall glass of orange juice. Hel-LO, simple carbs! :eek:
[QUOTE=neorxnawange]
The current ads for Tylenol,
Stop. Think. Tylenol.
Why do I need to stop and think before I take your product?
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MAybe they want to remind you of the tampering scare in the 80s? Okay, maybe not.
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon]
My next contribution isn’t copy (that’s its problem), but I really think it is dumb advertising. For weeks I’ve been wondering why Netflix is showing me two skeevy, scabby old guys smiling at me. That, with their logo, is their entire web ad. Finally I saw a Netflix TV commercial where they’re sending the movies, represented by actors, out to customers, and I think these are supposed to be zombies. But I’d never know that (since when do zombies smile?) from the web ad. The web ad just says, “Netflix, please associate us with sore-ridden old men.”
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I’ve been wondering the same thing.
[QUOTE=Agonist]
I disagree. Have you ever checked the ingredients on “lemonade” mixes like Countrytime? It’s basically sugar, preservatives, and artificial flavoring. Lemon-flavored Kool Aid.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, well Countrytime ain’t lemonade, sparky. Perhaps instant lemonade type drink, but not lemonade.
Advertisers, please, please, please get it right:
Fewer or Less?
Use fewer with objects that can be counted one-by-one.
Use less with qualities or quantities that cannot be individually counted.
Incorrect: After we improved our product, there were less occurrences of anal leakage in our test subjects.
Correct: After we improved our product, there were fewer occurrences of anal leakage in our test subjects.
(Occurrences can be counted.)
Correct: I had less anal leakage than she did.
Riffed from here
I hate the ads that “guarantee” (for example) “no more leaves in your gutter…
…or we’ll clean them out for free.”
or Match.com
Find your perfect match in 6 months or we’ll give you 6 more months of the same bull.
[QUOTE=Philster]
“I’m not a doctor, but I play one on T.V…” has always been a classic.
I didn’t fully appreciate what the hell was going on until I learned that real doctors are not allowed to do adverstisement for medications and other treatments.
So, what does the Ad agency do? They hire an actor and then reinforce the fact that this guy is not qualifed to make the recommendation he is about to make!
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You just made my mom turn over in her grave. 
It would drive her nuts when somebody got confused about that commercial. See, the actor played a doctor on her favorite soap, and she had a little crush on him, so she paid very close attention to the ad, (apparently she was the only one.)
After “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on T.V.”, he goes on to say something about how you shouldn’t rely on what you hear on T.V., regarding what medications to use. And the medication he’s hawking, (I think it was cough syrup), is recommended by REAL doctors. But nobody remembers that part.
At the time that commercial came out, comedians had a field day with it.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could know the moment you got pregnant?” Science isn’t there yet, but Such-and-such can give you results two days sooner.
No product can determine pregnancy at the moment of conception.
[QUOTE=Snooooopy]
I remember an ad for a car which included a procession of impressive statements about its quality. One was:
Senses pleased: 5
Sight is a no-brainer. It’s a nice-looking car.
Touch, I definitely understand. It’s probably very comfortable.
Hearing … well, maybe it has a great sound system. Or it’s one of those cars designed to do a great job muffling noise from the outside.
Smell … I guess you could count the new-car smell.
Which brings us to taste. Are we going to EAT the car? Lick the steering wheel? Is there a built-in microwave?
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Sorry if this has been mentioned already, I haven’t gone through the whole thread yet. Maybe for taste, they were thinking figuratively (“good taste”)? I know good taste isn’t a sense, but there is a sense called “taste”. I’m not sure if I’m explaining it right, but do you see what I’m getting at?
“Adding flavor to taste” is so ridiculous. I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean.
There’s a store in MN that sells new and used exercise stuff, and this has been their slogan for years:
“Why buy new when slightly used will do? Except when the deals are this good.”
There really is that much emphasis on “except.” I think this is the worst slogan I’ve ever heard.
Here in Mexico there’s currently an ad campaign for light beer.
Now: I remember way back when they tried to introduce light beer and it tanked. So they thought they’d de-emphasize the “lightness” and introduce a different wow-factor.
And since then we’ve been subjected to an ad campaign where people flip out over its blue bottle (“Wow! I’ve never believed there was a beer in a blue bottle!”)
:rolleyes:
[QUOTE=saoirse]
I’m not sure what “think young” means, either, but it sounds like the music is “Jet Boy, Jet Girl” covered by a French band. Does that help?
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I believe Jet Boy Jet Girl was acually a cover of the French song, called Ca Plane Pour Moi.
Which means…well no one’s really sure. I’ve heard “come glide on me” And then heard no not really. Same music different lyrics. But Plastic Bertrand did it first.
“Nothing is more effective than Brand XX.”
…Yes, could be taken literally, that you just might be better off not treating the supposed problem at all.
Instead, though, in my own mind, I always append the following: no product is MORE effective than Brand XX, but its likely that pretty much all of its competitors, including several that may be less expensive, are AS effective.
Some diet “drug” would give you your first purchase free (plus s/h, natch) if you called now. The commercial featured a woman shrieking
“They’re giving it away free!? Then it must be good!”
That’s an interesting leap of logic.
There’s also a car dealer where where the man says
“If I can’t beat a new-car Kia deal in Texas, I’m just gonna give it to you!”
Talk about a promise you’ll never have to keep.
Scene opens on a sunrise
then fades to a lake with a fisherman
then fades to an empty baseball stadium
then fades to a lit cityscape at night
CetaPeetaPaxadil - ask your doctor.
fade to black.
WTF?
There’s a reason for cryptic drug ads like that. Legally, when advertising medicines, if you say what the med is supposed to do (treat erectile dysfunction, or alllieviate allergy symptoms, or whatever), then you also have to provide all of the fine-print information like side effects and contraindications. Some drug ads, of course, do just that. But others prefer not to, so they can’t say what it’s for, either. Of course, they often try to imply what it’s for without actually saying so (elderly couple before medication, in a romantic situation, guy looks depressed and leaves the room. Same elderly couple after medication, guy smiles and holds wife’s hand), but some commercials do a better job of it than others.
[QUOTE=gigi]
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could know the moment you got pregnant?” Science isn’t there yet, but Such-and-such can give you results two days sooner.
No product can determine pregnancy at the moment of conception.
[/QUOTE]
And that’s probably a good thing.
CEO: Now, Ms. Sinclair will give us the Quarterly Revenue Projections. Over you you, Melanie. Oh, and welcome back from Hawaii. I hope the honeymoon was as nice as a great couple like you and Geoff deserve.
Melanie: Yes, thank you Mr. Milford, it was. Good morning, everyone. I’m happy to report that we can all anticipate a terrific second quarter. If everyone will turn to page three of their presentation folders, I’ll ask you to note that OH, MY GOD!!!
[QUOTE=Chronos]
There’s a reason for cryptic drug ads like that. Legally, when advertising medicines, if you say what the med is supposed to do (treat erectile dysfunction, or alllieviate allergy symptoms, or whatever), then you also have to provide all of the fine-print information like side effects and contraindications. Some drug ads, of course, do just that. But others prefer not to, so they can’t say what it’s for, either. Of course, they often try to imply what it’s for without actually saying so (elderly couple before medication, in a romantic situation, guy looks depressed and leaves the room. Same elderly couple after medication, guy smiles and holds wife’s hand), but some commercials do a better job of it than others.
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I think there was one for Levitra that did that with a middle-aged guy trying to throw a football through a tire swing. Very subtile
[QUOTE=Chum]
“Adding flavor to taste” is so ridiculous. I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean.
[/QUOTE]
I agree that it’s retarded, but I know what they’re going for…
The scene is set in a kitchen, where, presumably, the companies’ culinary experts are experimenting with new recipes for release. The phrase “adding flavor to taste” is intended to reflect a recipe instruction like “add salt to taste,” that is, add salt until it tastes like you like it.
Joe