# Advertising and slogans that leave you Amused or Confused **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [March 18, 2024, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976 "2024-03-18T08:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/101 "2024-03-28T20:26:26Z")
We’re so funny. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/102 "2024-03-28T20:36:28Z")
chicken money ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/103 "2024-03-28T21:01:21Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I’m sorry, but the correct reply to that question is, and has always been, “Chicken butt.” I always thought it was “plumber butt”. Must be a regionalism. I prefer “I got a FEVER and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL.” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/104 "2024-03-29T00:38:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, in the modern day, you probably want to de-emphasize the booze and cigs, but there are plenty of other aspects of Big Rock Candy Mountain that would still appeal, even for a family. Since one of the kid’s favorite CDs on car trips was the soundtrack to **O Brother Where Art Thou**?, we heard _Big Rock Candy Mountain_ hundreds of times. Hmmm, the kid did end up a fan of “the booze and cigs”… I should ask him if he’s a Dapper Dan man. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/105 "2024-03-29T03:42:40Z")
Target’s slogan “Expect more, pay less” always reads as “Expect more, get less” to me. And U-Haul has “Adventures in moving” which is abhard no to me – moving is stressful enough; the last thing I want is an adventure! ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/106 "2024-03-29T17:59:26Z")
Like that apocryphal Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/107 "2024-03-29T18:08:41Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > Not a slogan, but I remain amused and confused that geckos and emus and weirdos like “The Mayhem Guy” and “Flo” are actually used to sell insurance. Rather than putting forth a conservative image and saying something like “we pay lots of claims.” Ad guy here; I used to work on the State Farm account. Consumers want reliability, and up until GEICO’s ads in the 1990s, the ads for _all_ of the major home/auto insurance companies were very conservative. GEICO (and, later, other companies) discovered that funny, entertaining ads got more attention, and were more memorable than the [anodyne, boring old “like a good neighbor” ads](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFvZXDVRU6o) that companies like State Farm ran. It also became clear that, while consumers do want their claims paid, they also strongly wanted a promise of low rates (so long as they also had some assurance that the company isn’t fly-by-night). State Farm was one of the last big ones to shift away from the more traditional, boring ads; that was during the era that I worked on the account, and they finally shifted because they were hemorrhaging business to GEICO, Progressive, etc. tl;dr: funny ads in insurance simply work better now. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/108 "2024-03-29T20:56:53Z")
So is the writer who came up with “Jake from State Farm” your hero? eta: …or maybe your co-worker? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/109 "2024-03-29T21:56:37Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So is the writer who came up with “Jake from State Farm” your hero? It was after my time on the account, actually. That original “Jake from State Farm” ad was really brilliant, IMO. Changing Jake from “a normal dude who works the night shift in customer service” to “studly spokesdude,” however, was not brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/110 "2024-03-29T22:47:14Z")
I do not get [this ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B0V0oZzsjo). At all. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/111 "2024-03-29T22:49:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That original “Jake from State Farm” ad was really brilliant, IMO. It was. They had to ruin it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/112 "2024-03-29T23:43:22Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That original “Jake from State Farm” ad was really brilliant, IMO. Changing Jake from “a normal dude who works the night shift in customer service” to “studly spokesdude,” however, was not brilliant. Yep. The original Jake was realistic. I get adding more people of color, that’s great, but couldnt they do Jake 2? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/113 "2024-03-29T23:44:36Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I do not get [this ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B0V0oZzsjo). At all. He was feeling that the mannequins were being creepy, with every door locked. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/114 "2024-03-29T23:47:43Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It also became clear that, while consumers do want their claims paid, they also strongly wanted a promise of low rates In fact, they seem to want a promise of low rates even more than they want the actual low rates themselves. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/115 "2024-03-30T00:18:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That original “Jake from State Farm” ad was really brilliant, IMO. Changing Jake from “a normal dude who works the night shift in customer service” to “studly spokesdude,” however, was not brilliant. I think I heard that the original ‘Jake from State Farm’ was an actual State Farm employee. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/116 "2024-03-30T00:48:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > He was feeling that the mannequins were being creepy, with every door locked. As the doors are locking, he noticed all the severed mannequin heads they show at the end. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/117 "2024-04-02T02:57:10Z")
> [@phs3](#): > > Target’s slogan “Expect more, pay less” always reads as “Expect more, get less” to me. I think “Pay more, get less” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/118 "2024-04-02T03:09:43Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > _faire la crosse_ is slang for masturbation Really? Uh oh. That’s the name of my city. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/119 "2024-04-03T01:42:44Z")
A sponsor for the local PBS radio station installs kitchen and bathroom counters. Their name is Counter Fitters. Which looks perfectly fine written down, but heard on the radio? Especially if they were in the middle of the ad when that station came on, ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976/120 "2024-04-03T01:50:51Z")
Yesterday I heard an ad for Secret brand “whole body deodorant” which was a couple women talking about where you can use the deodorant, using something like “ee-er” for “vagina.” That wasn’t the funny part, though. The way they said the product made me think it was “Secret-Ho body deodorant” which made me giggle. But then I realized no, that can’t be right. I thought about it and the next thing my brain came up with was “Secret-Hole body deodorant” which also made me giggle. I had to think real hard to come up with “Secret Whole Body Deodorant.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-and-slogans-that-leave-you-amused-or-confused/998976.md?page=7)