# Again with the annoying commercials! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [June 28, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089 "2017-06-28T22:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 167
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3326 "2022-03-09T17:16:10Z")
I don’t know if this one has been mentioned, but it absolutely should be. The ad where there’s an obscene close-up of a girl ripping some black, tar-like product off her nose to pull up all the blackheads. Good god, I can’t avert my eyes fast enough. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3327 "2022-03-09T18:28:57Z")
Yeah but how big where her tits? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3328 "2022-03-10T05:07:03Z")
This ad doesn’t tell us who this person is, we’re just supposed to know by osmosis. The [ispot.tv](http://ispot.tv) caption tells us who she is, but you wouldn’t know it from the ad. [XFINITY Mobile TV Spot, 'Comparisons' Featuring Becky G - iSpot.tv](https://www.ispot.tv/ad/bwx7/xfinity-mobile-comparisons-featuring-becky-g) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2022, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3329 "2022-03-10T08:03:02Z")
The Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian Men’s Curling Championship, is currently being played. And on national TV, and local to us in Lethbridge, so we’re subjected to nonstop ads to buy tickets to the event. Problem is that the ads are so (a) stupid, (b) loud, and (c) so frequently aired, that they have turned a lot of us off even watching the championship on TV, never mind attending. Apparently, for curling fans, everything (including themselves) stopped two years ago. The most obnoxious commercial concerns the arena janitor who enters the washroom to clean, stopping to pick up and move a frozen-in-place curling fan a few feet to the right. The fan suddenly wakes up, shouts “It’s game time, baby!” and resumes painting his face with a maple leaf. Then he says, “When did I get a beard?” implying that he hasn’t moved in the last two years. “Curling’s back,” an overlay tells us. The character shouts loudly. The commercial isn’t obvious as to what it’s all about (i.e. you don’t “get it,” that it’s about curling being stopped for two years and fans remaining in place until it starts again) until you’ve seen it at least 300 times, and only then can you draw a tentative conclusion. And it’s easy to see it 300 times or more–it’s run five times during our daily local TV half-hour newscast, and has been for the past month. It’s also on sports and news channels owned by the network broadcasting the commercial. I don’t typically watch curling anyway, but I am looking forward to Sunday, when the championship will be over, and these [many expletives deleted] commercials end. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3330 "2022-03-12T00:04:08Z")
I don’t know if these count, but I have to vent and this feels like the best fit. MSNBC with their self promoting sound bites are making me want to hit something. Seriously, who thinks hearing Joe Scarborough utter “Oh, it can always get worse” is a good idea? It feels like it’s aired almost every break. And now the clip they’re showing is Ali Velshi in Hungary or Poland and he’s wandering around with a microphone, but he can’t speak to anyone because he doesn’t understand the language. “This is who we are” the ad ends. I don’t understand thinking that is something to highlight in a commercial. I can’t hardly even watch them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3331 "2022-03-12T01:00:15Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > … “This is who we are” the ad ends. … I agree that a surprisingly-high proportion of those MSNBC promotional ads are cringeworthy. It makes me wonder if those in charge of choosing them are people with no life experience, or no judgment, or no basic common sense, or what. Swing and a miss, so very often. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3332 "2022-03-15T11:58:06Z")
Yeah, I don’t know who she is, or what the other girl is doing tapping her tablet, or why the dramatic game-show music in the background. What’s going on here? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3333 "2022-03-15T15:52:23Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > This ad doesn’t tell us who this person is, we’re just supposed to know by osmosis. The [ispot.tv](http://ispot.tv) caption tells us who she is, but you wouldn’t know it from the ad. I think that if you don’t know who she is, you’re probably not the target for the ad. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3334 "2022-03-15T21:02:52Z")
A woman sits in her luxury SUV, which is parked on a stage, surrounded by an orchestra playing _Also Sprach Zarathustra_. Okay, fine; it’s a commercial, after all. The twist is that the orchestra is made up of kids, and they’re playing badly. _Very_ badly. The woman grimaces and rolls up the windows of her luxury SUV to drown out the awful cacophony. Sadly, though, we hapless viewers only get to share her blissful silence for a brief second, after which the POV shifts back outside of the vehicle’s quiet interior, where we continue to be subjected to the kiddies’ horribly out-of-tune bleating until the commercial mercifully ends. _What made these people think that making me want to stab out my ear drums with an ice pick would also make me want to buy their damn car???_ ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3335 "2022-03-15T21:07:17Z")
Hmm, the couple of times I’ve seen that one, I didn’t realize that they had changed the POV - I recall the sound diminishing but not going away entirely. Which, since being able to hear things outside your car (sirens, pedestrians screaming in agony after you hit them, etc) is important when driving. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3336 "2022-03-15T21:16:34Z")
I just feel sad for the daughter (who we see in the car at the end) with her mom ignoring her playing. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3337 "2022-03-16T00:33:34Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > A woman sits in her luxury SUV, which is parked on a stage, surrounded by an orchestra playing _Also Sprach Zarathustra_ . Okay, fine; it’s a commercial, after all. > > The twist is that the orchestra is made up of kids, and they’re playing badly. _Very_ badly. The woman grimaces and rolls up the windows of her luxury SUV to drown out the awful cacophony. This one is getting heavy play in my area. In addition to the point you made, I’d add: _ **why are they trying to sell cars to people who enjoy seeing kids humiliated?** _ So the kids have a music director who’s insane or some variation on insane. The situation is ridiculous. At the least you have to wonder why parents haven’t stepped to say ‘_this is awful, if you can’t teach them this piece then choose something less challenging_’? The whole thing is bizarre and ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3338 "2022-03-16T02:56:46Z")
> [@What do you believe firmly with zero evidence?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/197): > > Big Pharma apparently has started using a patient’s mother to argue against the Prescription Drug Pricing Plan that is part of Build Back Better. She’s been on TV claiming that governmental interference will stifle innovation thus harm her young son – who just happens to have some incredibly rare disease. Just saw that crap again and found it on YouTube. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QYIcZHJ0F7c/hqdefault.jpg "Cooper’s Hope: A caregiver reflects on the hopes, fears and future that her son will face") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYIcZHJ0F7c) Hey, lady, let’s say some company does invent a cure for the kid – whatcha gonna do when ya can’t afford it? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3339 "2022-03-16T12:43:06Z")
There’s one - not sure what it’s for (and not sure if I mentioned it already) - a woman with a camera saying “Age is just a number, and mine is unlisted…” I just can’t wrap my head around the notion that hiding one’s age is a big deal. OK, if you’re using a fake ID trying to get into a bar, but seriously, is it really that big a deal? And don’t get me started on “Are you 29 yet?” - I know it’s not a commercial, but it still makes me stabby. 😡 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3340 "2022-03-16T14:25:06Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I just can’t wrap my head around the notion that hiding one’s age is a big deal. A lot of women feel agism. There’s a whole cosmetic industry about hiding age and stopping aging. I mean, what is hair dye but a means to hide age? Wrinkle creams, facelifts, fillers, botox - don’t show your age. There’s a joke, “How old are you?” “29” “Wait, weren’t you 29 last year?” “It’s the tenth anniversary of my 29th birthday.” It’s considered rude to many people to ask a woman her age. > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Hey, lady, let’s say some company does invent a cure for the kid – whatcha gonna do when ya can’t afford it? Exactly. Don’t limit drug prices, then get assholes like the guy who raised the price on his company’s drug 7000%. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3341 "2022-03-17T12:56:46Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I just can’t wrap my head around the notion that hiding one’s age is a big deal. I turn 40 later this year, but I’m seriously considering telling people at work that I’ll be turning 41 (if anyone asks) because I really don’t want anyone to plaster my office with all that “over the hill” crap. Hell, I’ve seen that happen to employees who turn 30 or 50. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3342 "2022-03-18T04:49:38Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I don’t know if this one has been mentioned, but it absolutely should be. > > The ad where there’s an obscene close-up of a girl ripping some black, tar-like product off her nose to pull up all the blackheads. Good god, I can’t avert my eyes fast enough. Oh, god, this is the one I was coming in to mention. It’s on heavy rotation on YouTube. It is so revolting and the reveal is just before the skip can be made. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3343 "2022-03-18T05:19:41Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > A woman sits in her luxury SUV, which is parked on a stage, surrounded by an orchestra playing _Also Sprach Zarathustra_ . Okay, fine; it’s a commercial, after all. > > The twist is that the orchestra is made up of kids, and they’re playing badly. _Very_ badly. The woman grimaces and rolls up the windows of her luxury SUV to drown out the awful cacophony. In fairness, the kids all look to be about 11 years old, making them in sixth grade or so; and as I recall my sixth grade orchestra, we sounded about the same. We were a long way from even approximating a high school orchestra, never mind a professional one made up of adults who had studied their instruments for years. What puzzles me about that commercial is that there is no conductor, yet the kids keep perfect time, as a conductor would indicate to them. Plus, they know when their section needs to play loudly or softly; again, as a conductor would indicate to them. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3344 "2022-03-18T06:35:28Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > What puzzles me about that commercial is that there is no conductor, yet the kids keep perfect time, as a conductor would indicate to them. Plus, they know when their section needs to play loudly or softly; again, as a conductor would indicate to them. I think the kids are only pretending to play their instruments, and what we’re actually hearing are professional musicians intentionally playing badly. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3345 "2022-03-18T14:12:01Z")
aside from the missing conductor. why is the mom parked in the middle of a rehearsal??! if this is a standard thing where are the other parent’s car? why is there only one? is this an electric car? what about exhaust? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089.md?page=166) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089.md?page=168)