# Advertising that has the reverse effect and actively discourages you. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360 "2006-04-12T13:48:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/161 "2006-04-15T21:19:40Z")
> [@cbawlmer](#): > > For those who fear the Snuggle Bear and Poppin’ Fresh, do you remember the ads from a few years back where the anthropomorphic cartoon sun from the side of a Sunny Delight-esque product comes to life and starts cheerfully addressing a mom and her kids? They freak out, start screaming, and try to flee the house. I think at one point the mom tries to leap over the sofa, doesn’t quite make it, and yells to the children, “Run! Save yourselves!” Hilarious commercial, playing on all the really stupid ones where everyone reacts normally to cartoon mascots, but to this day I have no idea what product the commercial was actually selling. I think it was Sprite’s “Trust your gut, not some commercial” campaign. I loved those commercials. ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/162 "2006-04-15T21:29:23Z")
Every single commercial that interrupts a story/show I am watching has the opposite effect on me. Its like some irritating guy turning around in a movie theatre during the movie and trying to get you to buy something. If they must advertise, what is the most effective is public donations and service. Companies that actively support education, decrease poverty, fight disease, and act with integrity are the ones that get my support. TV or no TV ads. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_O_Malley_s_Cow)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/163 "2006-04-16T00:37:38Z")
I saw one tonight. A guy is hanging up his laundry in only his socks with a big black box over the more interesting parts of his body. Two women poke their heads over the fence and one remarks “Wow! Look at those…socks. They are so clean. MMMMM.” I would like to thank Purex Laundry Detergent for making a commercial that I can’t watch with my mother. That just solidified that I will never buy their products. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/164 "2006-04-16T06:02:09Z")
That reminds me of the laundry commercial ad with the woman who gets caught in other people’s yards with her nose buried in their underwear, and then she hightails it outta there. I’m torn between amused and horrified. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/165 "2006-04-16T07:00:12Z")
No one has mentioned yet the deodorant commercial where the woman is so afraid she’ll get white marks on her dress that she has her friends dangle the dress out the window, then she leaps head first into it and down to the ground below. It is so dumb that it actually makes me feel embarrassed for the actors involved. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/166 "2006-04-16T07:05:54Z")
There was a short-lived Gatorade ad campaign that featured various athletes _shattering into pieces_. It was genuinely creepy as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/167 "2006-04-16T16:28:49Z")
Oh yeah, there was a (chewing gum? mints?) commercial with the guy eating a whole pack of the things, and his head froze and snapped off into his girlfriend’s lap in the car. She screamed, the taxi driver screamed, and the disembodied, frozen head was looking around, wondering what was happening. Do people actually want to give their target audiences nightmares? Is that something to aim for with advertising? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/168 "2006-04-16T22:11:06Z")
There’ve been a number of radio adverts that have made me switch channels after the first few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/169 "2006-04-16T22:22:44Z")
That bean commercial where the dog wants to sell the secret recipe. It makes me wish I ate beans just so I could purposefully not buy theirs. But alas, I only not buy theirs 'cause I hate beans. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/170 "2006-04-16T23:38:22Z")
There was a Super Bowl (I think) commercial by Honda (I think) where the Hispanic father and son were speaking both English and Spanish, just like their car used both electric and gas–both of which were for the child’s future. (1) How is the kid supposed to understand that? (2) The Spanish-language part was obviously dubbed in sloppily by somebody else, who actually, ya know, speaks Spanish. It jars awkwardly with the flow of the commercial. I’ve seen the ad in all-Spanish on a Spanish language channel and it didn’t work because it wasn’t a “bilingual” commercial…but at least the dad’s voice was only done by one guy! FWIW, I’ve never heard or seen a California-specific Geico ad. > [@winterhawk11](#): > > Spongmonkey Spongemonkey, and how can you find that entertaining? 😉 > [@Rick](#): > > My vote for most annoying commercial is for a regional mattress chain called Shit and Sleep, no wait that’s Sit and Sleep. Anyway all of these commercials on radio go the same way, they have Larry the CEO and Irwin the CFO or CPA. Larry talks about how they are cutting prices and Irwin whines that they are going broke, and how he is going crazy from Larry’s price-cutting. The spot always ends with Irwin screaming, > “Cause your killing me LAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYY!!!” > I am guessing that these are the actual CEO and CFO, as nobody would hire two actors that have voices that are that horrible and annoying. Ugh! I’m glad I don’t live in LA and I only have to hear that crap on KNX. Man, LA is legendary for terrible local commercials. Or should I say–LA _is_ the king! 😃 > [@merrily](#): > > One was the guy who froze to death in his convertable I thought that commercial was hilarious. YMMV (YMDV!) > [@mrrealtime](#): > > If they must advertise, what is the most effective is public donations and service. Companies that actively support education, decrease poverty, fight disease, and act with integrity are the ones that get my support. Lots of people say this, but the truth is that very few people notice those things. You might, because you know how to find out which companies are doing it and which aren’t–but J. Random American doesn’t have any idea. Good on you for being informed, but I highly doubt that Domino’s (or whomever) would get more business _from the general population_ by withdrawing all TV ads and using all their ad money to build libraries in public schools. How would anyone know? Unless they plastered Domino’s logos all over the libraries, which is IMO much more reprehensible than TV advertising. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/171 "2006-04-16T23:54:33Z")
There was this van commercial going on awhile back, showing various shaggin’ wagons from days past. '60s music was playing, and it was generally trippy. “Oh, that one has a fountain. Gooooolly, that ones got animal furs!” Just stuff like that. After several seconds generally getting a buzz going, wondering what this damn thing is selling, text comes up. “Respect the van,” it says. All right. First, I’ll look at some more vans, if you don’t mind. “Gee witickers! That one has a crushed velvet bed and Booty Punch Massage Oil! Wait…” Then the text comes back: “Some families were started in one,” WHAT?! No, I don’t want to know that! Take it back! Hippies having sex is a bad enough imagine, with hemp condoms and several layers of dirt, but I don’t want to even think of where I started, especially not in some bizarre clown sex shop on wheels. The worst part? I think the van was called The Odyssey. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/172 "2006-04-17T04:17:54Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > There was a Super Bowl (I think) commercial by Honda (I think) where the Hispanic father and son were speaking both English and Spanish, just like their car used both electric and gas–both of which were for the child’s future. Yeah, I saw that on the Super Bowl as well, but thankfully not at all since then. That was a horrible, horrible commercial. I think I actually ranted about it in one of the Super Bowl Ad threads going on at the time. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/173 "2006-04-17T14:27:25Z")
> [@Lama Pacos](#): > > There was a short-lived Gatorade ad campaign that featured various athletes _shattering into pieces_. It was genuinely creepy as hell. Now they have these Gatorade Rain commercials where the rain causes a volleyball to erupt into an athlete. OK, but the rain coming down looks like the product, which also happens to look like piss. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/174 "2006-04-17T15:35:57Z")
> [@ZebraShaSha](#): > > There was this van commercial going on awhile back, showing various shaggin’ wagons from days past. '60s music was playing, and it was generally trippy. “Oh, that one has a fountain. Gooooolly, that ones got animal furs!” Just stuff like that. > > After several seconds generally getting a buzz going, wondering what this damn thing is selling, text comes up. “Respect the van,” it says. All right. First, I’ll look at some more vans, if you don’t mind. “Gee witickers! That one has a crushed velvet bed and Booty Punch Massage Oil! Wait…” > > Then the text comes back: “Some families were started in one,” > > WHAT?! No, I don’t want to know that! Take it back! Hippies having sex is a bad enough imagine, with hemp condoms and several layers of dirt, but I don’t want to even think of where I started, especially not in some bizarre clown sex shop on wheels. > > The worst part? I think the van was called The Odyssey. That commercial turned me off too, but what bothered me was they showed all these unique, creative (ok totally tacky) customized vans, and they’re comparing a white-bread plain-vanilla Honda Odyssey to those rolling love machines. They’re both vans but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/175 "2006-04-17T15:53:23Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > Spongemonkey, and how can you find that entertaining? 😉 :ahem: [SPONG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spongmonkey)monkey, and I dunno…I just do. Some people find Pamela Anderson entertaining…I like Spongmonkeys. No accounting for taste, I guess. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wnabtokio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Wnabtokio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wnabtokio)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360/176 "2006-04-17T16:15:46Z")
> [@tiny ham](#): > > I want to push that Zoom Zoom kid in front of a bus. I don’t really know why. I just hate him. What about the kids from the Welch’s grape juice commercials? Are there going to be enough buses for them too? _shudder_ I hate those kids. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-that-has-the-reverse-effect-and-actively-discourages-you/352360.md?page=8)