# Advertisers: please stop using alarm clock noises in commercials **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 1, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertisers-please-stop-using-alarm-clock-noises-in-commercials/324391 "2005-10-01T23:32:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertisers-please-stop-using-alarm-clock-noises-in-commercials/324391/41 "2005-10-04T04:57:44Z")
> [@Lightnin'](#): > > For a while there, Toys 'R Us had a paging system that consisted of a single tone… which happened to be exactly the same tone that the alarm clock I grew up with used. > > I couldn’t go into the store- every minute or so someone would page someone else in the store, and my heartrate would triple. In my high school days I had a job as a dishwasher. When the dishwasher ran low on detergent, it emitted piercing beeps. McDonalds french fry machines emit the same beeps. The thought of fries covered with detergent gives me that added incentive to avoid the place. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertisers-please-stop-using-alarm-clock-noises-in-commercials/324391/42 "2005-10-04T05:11:12Z")
> [@Kat](#): > > And brake-squealing and car-crash sound effects, also. That happend to me while I was driving a fw days ago. We have a 1 year old so I drive paranoid as it is. W heard tires screching and metal rending and we about jumped out of our skin looking in every direction at a stoplight. It was an insurance commercial. My first thought was that that was illegal. Guess not. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertisers-please-stop-using-alarm-clock-noises-in-commercials/324391/43 "2005-10-04T07:39:43Z")
> [@jhinman](#): > > This would most likely result in more advertisements featuring mimes. Are you sure this is better? That’s ok, I’ve got my mime rifle at the ready. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll break out the olive loaf. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertisers-please-stop-using-alarm-clock-noises-in-commercials/324391/44 "2005-10-04T15:16:56Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > So it’s a single-use alarm clock? You’d hope, but when you’re not looking dark forces reassemble it. I _like_ Spongebob, but there’s something creepy about the merchandise that leads me to believe it’s all posessed by demons. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertisers-please-stop-using-alarm-clock-noises-in-commercials/324391/45 "2005-10-04T15:51:16Z")
I have this CD I like to listen to at work on my headphones. Track 18 has this one background noise that sounds entirely like my husband (repeatedly) saying my name. It’s his accent, and it doesn’t appear to bear any relation to the rest of the song, it appears to have been somewhat randomly inserted. It’s really eerie, because every time I hear it I KNOW it’s the CD, and yet it still makes me nuts because I’m completely unable to figure out what the sample is actually saying (why would they sample someone saying my name, and not in any apparent relation to the rhythm or metre of the song? that doesn’t make sense). So although I know for certain that it is not my husband saying my name, each time I have to convince myself that it’s only part of the song. Lousy Track 18. Too bad I really like the song or I could skip it. On alarm clocks: I’ve found the nicest way to get up, completely by accident. I set my clock radio to somewhere between stations and turn the volume down way low, and I get awakened by fuzzy white noise. It’s quite delightful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertisers-please-stop-using-alarm-clock-noises-in-commercials/324391.md?page=2)