# Ads you don't understand... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2001, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437 "2001-10-04T20:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lesa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/34f0e0/32.png) [@lesa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lesa)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437/21 "2001-10-08T18:56:16Z")
rjung - Just so you’ll know, the billboard shows an actual scene from the show Smallville. I saw a looooong preview kind of thing on WB. At some point Lex (I presume) puts Lana Lang’s kryptonite necklace around Clark’s neck, and he ends up lashed to a wooden plank whispering “help me.” Which leaves us saying - Lana Lang’s krytonite necklace? Also, I was less than excited to see that this is a “crucifixtion” type scene. It made me roll my eyes. Rereading your post, I see this interesting comment: ‘some sort of “early days of Suparman” deal.’ I think you meant to say Sub-parMan. I agree that we need a show about the early days of Sub-parMan. ---
**Author:** ![Oreo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c57346/32.png) [@Oreo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oreo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437/22 "2001-10-08T19:41:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Modian \* > \*\*I still don’t get the VW wedding one. Is he trying to stop it cause he loves her? Is he late to his own and the groom stepped in? I had other theories but I forgot em. Has cool music though. > > -Mod \*\* This is one of my favorite commercials ever. I always just assumed he was trying to stop the woman he loved (and of course, who also truly loves him) from marrying another man because her father is pressuring her to, among other reasons we’re not privy to. A la _The Graduate._ ELAAAAAIIIIINNNN!!! ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437/23 "2001-10-08T19:42:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lesa \* > \*\*rjung - Just so you’ll know, the billboard shows an actual scene from the show Smallville. I saw a looooong preview kind of thing on WB. At some point Lex (I presume) puts Lana Lang’s kryptonite necklace around Clark’s neck, and he ends up lashed to a wooden plank whispering “help me.” > > Which leaves us saying - Lana Lang’s krytonite necklace? Also, I was less than excited to see that this is a “crucifixtion” type scene. It made me roll my eyes.\*\* Can’t say I blame you – even without the religious connotations, it’s still weird. At least I appreciate the explaination. > [@](#): > > \*\*Rereading your post, I see this interesting comment: ‘some sort of “early days of Suparman” deal.’ > > I think you meant to say Sub-parMan. I agree that we need a show about the early days of Sub-parMan. \*\* I believe _The Autobiography of George W. Bush_ will be airing on the History Channel any week now… 😉 (And while I can understand the Gameboy Advance commercial, the Volkeswagen wedding one still leaves me scratching my head) ---
**Author:** ![meyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@meyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meyer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437/24 "2001-10-08T19:59:00Z")
A friend of mine is in _Smallville_, and I had the plot explained to me in minute detail one night. UnfortunatelyI was drinking at the time and can’t remeber all the details, but I remeber that it didn’t make sense to me even then. I think that what’s going on is that the young Superman is ostrasized by his peers, who for some reason tie him to this cross (some kind of hazing-type ritual, I think). The really sad thing is that because I know this guy, now I have to watch the show. The ad I don’t get is the one that you see on the bus for cellphones (Nokia TX?). There is a guy on one side, and a girl on the other, and the girl is saying “Love You” on her cell, the guy replies “Me Too XXX” on his. But they seem to be in two different rooms, on dates with two different people. WTF? Why are they doing this? ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437/25 "2001-10-08T20:52:10Z")
While I know the VW commercial isn’t entirely obvious, it’s my opinion as well that he’s going to the wedding to stop it. What’s confusing is that this is sort of a surprise ending. Throughout you only see scenes of a man in a suit racing to get somewhere, and a woman in a bridal gown. So you would think that he’s late for his own wedding. But then he arrives at the wedding, and the other man is there, and you realize that it’s not his own wedding. The woman turns to look at him and the look is a look of recognition, but also bewilderment. On its own, the look doesn’t say much. If it was meant that he was at the wrong wedding, though, you would probably see the entire church turn and look. But it is from the driver’s point of view – she is the only woman he sees. Certainly the rest of the church might notice him but for him there is just that connection, or perhaps the split-second in which she notices him before anyone else does. Finally, you have the ending words on the screen, “Fasten your seatbelts.” Not a PSA, but meant to imply – be prepared for something exciting to happen. So if you drive a Volkswagen, you’ll be endowed with superhuman courage, the courage to drive your car to a church and win back your one true love at the altar before she makes the biggest mistake of her life and marries a guy who drives a Volvo. The commercials I don’t get are the ones whose message at heart seems to be, “Indulge in an unhealthy obsession with our product! In fact, if you use our product you will be addicted!” Children’s cereals commercials seem to win the prize. I wonder if Honeycomb cereal boxes say things like : WARNING : Honeycomb cereal is highly addictive. After initial consumption, cereal must be eaten at least once per day. Lack of cereal while addicted will cause patient to undergo transformation into a small, furry, animated demon who will attack and potentially injure anyone who possesses the Honeycomb cereal. In this demonic state, patients are highly unstable and single-minded in their pursuit of the cereal. Attempts to restrain them may result in injury. POST cereals is not responsible for injuries resulting from deliberate abuse of this product. If patients cannot handle continued use of this product, may we suggest one of Philip Morris’s less addictive products. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437/26 "2001-10-17T01:30:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*While driving home the other day, I saw a billboard for WB’s new TV show **Smallville.** Being well-versed in comic-book lore, I know this is a reference to Superman’s hometown, so presumably the show is some sort of “early days of Suparman” deal. > > However, what I don’t understand is how the rest of the billboard sells that idea. **For those who haven’t seen it, the image consists of a cornfield, and at the right-hand side of the image is a bare-chested young man (Clark Kent, I’ll wager), whose arms are _lashed_ to a wooden plank. WTF?!? And to top it off, his bare chest is “decorated” by a crudely-drawn “S” in what appears to be red spray paint**. _What does **any** of this have to do with a Superman TV show?_ > > Can someone explain it to me, please? Okay, the show is on right now and apparently in the story there is a tradition at the high school called “Scarecrowing”, where the football team takes a freshman and puts him, stripped down, with an ‘S’ painted on his chest. So Clark and his friend are trying out for the football team to avoid this fate. Just a wild guess based on the commercial, but he doesn’t seem to avoid this fate. Of course the writers no doubt thought that this was poignant symbolism, the tormented teenaged Superboy, foreshadowing both his future role and the suffering he would have for being different, perhaps even intentionally invoking images of Matthew Sheppard (sp?). It’s the WB, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437/27 "2001-10-17T01:45:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*I’m still wondering why the local Wendy’s decided to do a movie tie-in with _Titus_. It was a good movie, but I couldn’t watch the meat pie scene without thinking “Happy Meal”. I also avoided the burgers for quite some time after that. \*\* You’re kidding. They DID? That’s hilarious! Sick, but hilarious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ads-you-dont-understand/85437.md?page=1)