Car ads. They show a perfectly normal silver car. Nothing which makes it stand out at all from a sea of a zillion other silver cars. But they have dudes are staring at this car like it’s got Pamela Anderson nude in it’s sunroof, and women are lusting after it like it is shitting chocolate covered diamonds from it’s tailpipe.:dubious:
Ad dudes- people stare at a car because it looks radically different, and cool helps a lot. Not because it looks like a clone of every fucking other silver sedan/coupe on the road. Maserati’s, Roll’s Silver Shadow, a Model T roadster, even a Plymouth Prowler, sure. Not just another Audi/BMW/Mercedes/Jaguar/Acura/Lexus/whatever. :rolleyes:
Some dudes who buy advertising get ads that only make people remember the ads, not the product (as Beware of Doug pointed out). Or- like the Quiznos ads- remember the ads because they despise them. I don’t think either sells your product.
One commercial I’ve been seeing lately that is almost frightening in its idiocy features a woman attempting to put a spoonful of cough syrup into the mouth of her sick child. Her arm slips and every drop of syrup spills from the spoon onto the front of the boy’s shirt.
The mother is clearly baffled by this complicated and unexpected development.
“Now what?,” she asks the camera, “Do I give more now or wait till later?”
When I first saw this commercial, the truly heroic stupidity of that question was just so monumental that it did not initially register. It really took a moment for it to sink in, much like cough syrup into the shirt of that poor, poor boy.
What gets me about this commercial is that if he really wanted to give it away free, there’s this really nifty thing called the Internet tailor-made for that. Lots and lots of people already use it for just that purpose, in fact.
Or maybe they aren’t actually that stupid and are having some problems selling those overpriced slots, so they must resort to hyping their own crap with the time.
Screw that. How about the one where the guy buys the entire frikkin’ dollar menu because he didn’t ask his girlfriend what she wanted? That is stupid.
I, too, enjoyed that spot. I wish more admen would reference Monty Python in their work.
(Speaking of references, I can still see that Far Side cartoon in my head every time I read your username. :D)
There’s one for Bell South DSL that drives me batshit.
Premise: two girls come home from school, and each tells her dad that their big history project is due tomorrow. Dads, of course, take it upon themselves to get it done, but one is not worried–he has DSL! The project comes together without a hitch, and they’re all smiles the next morning. The other dad laments his dialup connection, which is, of course, entirely inadequate for the job. The next day, the well-rested girl watches her dad fall asleep at the wheel of the minivan.
Crimes:
–Two counts of Dad Taking Responsibility For The Forgotten History Assignment.
–Two counts of Girl Expecting Dad To Take Responsibility for Forgotten History Assignment.
–Two counts of Dad Doing Most Of The Work.
–One count of Dad Obviously Stayed Up All Night And Did The Project While The Moppet Slept.
–Two counts of Grade School History Project That Not Only Requires Internet Research At Home (Despite The Fact That Only 50% or So of Households Are Connected), But Obviously Requires Enough Downloaded Data That Broadband Makes a Difference.
–One count of Using Children To Sell A Product That Will Not Actually Improve Their Schoolwork, But Which Will Most Likely Be Used to Download Porn Faster.
I want to claw my eyes out every time I see this commercial.
Perhaps they are hoping the spot will attract enough new repeat viewers of 24 to allow them to raise ad rates on that show and eventually recoup whatever they lost by not selling the Super Bowl time.
LOL you bastard I made it through most of the thread hoping I’d get to post about this one. If I hadn’t seen it myself I never would have believed it from your description. Does this woman just move on and wait for dinner if she drops her lunch on the floor? It’s really the most idiotic 30 seconds I’ve ever seen on TV.
The geico? Insurance ads especially the one that starts out like a reality show based on a couple of newlyweds living in a tiny house. That one bugs the hell out of me because i always forget that its an ad and i automatically get pissed about another dumbass reality show.
The Cat Chow (?) add where the guy opens up a bag of cat food and suddenly his house is surrounded by lions and tigers and cougars and cheetahs. Every time I see it I think, “Why would I want a product in my home that would attract hungry animals that are above me on the food chain?”
BMW has a bunch of radio ads claiming that BMW drivers are more intelligent, more successful, and just generally superior human beings, with the heavy implication that if you buy one you will be all those things too. Pisses me right the fuck off. If any BMW advertising people are reading this, please note that I will never buy your overpriced shit, and your smarmy ass commercial dude causes me instant revulsion.
The Royal New Zealand Airforce run an ad showing various clean-cut young types leaping out of planes, fixing engines, rescuing stranded trampers, winching up disaster victims and the like {no Top Gun antics: we sold off all our fighters…}, which concludes with the line “Do you have what it takes?” To which I invariably mutter “Your own aeroplane?”: the RNZAF, through no fault of their own, are stuck with a forty year old fleet of C130’s which inevitably break down publically and embarrassingly whenever they’re sent anywhere to do anything.
I’m not a big fan of our new armed forces ads either. They show children engaging in dangerous activity for no reason other than being too stupid to:
a) follow a ski trail
b) get in out of the tornado
You know, I think our military needs people who avoid stupid dangers, and only risk lives when it’s absolutely necessary.
Danger Mrs Housewife!! Your baby’s highchair is caked with bacteria!!! But wait! Don’t wash it with plain ordinary soap! Use new anti-bacterial Biokill!!! Kills all known life on contact! Douse your child with it at the same time! Ensure their entire world is awash with chemicals! It’s safer than having them ever exposed to the merest trace of Life On Earth. They can still have a happy life living in an isolation bubble!
And once you’ve done that you can hose your house interior down with this anti-bacterial FabricSleeze! Prevents any danger of your fabrics smelling of anything other than that mountain-fresh smell you only normally get from car freshners! Your children will grow up with asthma and rampant allergies, but your house will remind your visitors of a toilet block!
I love Bowflex infomercials. My favorite part is when they make a big deal about the resistance pattern–because of the nature of how power rods work, the movement will always start out easy and get really hard at the very end…no way to get around it, so it’s a “feature”.
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Actually, I really love watching fitness infomercials in general. My favorite part is the disclaimer that always pops up. “AbproFlexmaster FatBurn 5000 got me in the best shape of my life!” disclaimer in TINY print: When used in conjunction with a sensible diet and exercise program. It’s like that old quip, “Sure, that’s great. That and 50 cents will buy me a cup of coffee.”
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The Capital One PrimeLock Credit Card! It’s set at Prime, so you never have to worry!
We’re like: Huh? All credit card interest rates are set at prime (prime + x)! Do they really think people are dumb enough to believe the Prime Rate never increases?
