# 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:** 183
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3646 "2022-08-25T15:17:24Z")
It’s a year old but I just saw it on TV for the first time yesterday. A supposedly [anti-whooping cough ad](https://www.ispot.tv/ad/OxL6/glaxosmithkline-whooping-cough-pool-floaties). If you only listen to the first part the message is “whooping cough is fun!” It’s only a bit at the end that gives the Bad News (but leaves off “death” for some reason). ---
**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:** [August 29, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3647 "2022-08-29T14:35:52Z")
Not especially annoying as these commercials go, but there’s an Allstate commercial featuring a woman who’s supposedly their most careful driver or something. She’s backing into a parallel parking spot extremely slowly and cautiously, and the narrator is helping her out: **Narrator:** “lot of room still” (she backs up a couple inches) **Narrator:** “still a foot to go” (backs up another inch or two) **Narrator:** “You know cars have backup cameras now, right?” **Driver** (scornfully): “Those are for amateurs”. Uhh, you are about as amateur a parallel parker as I’ve ever seen, lady. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3648 "2022-08-29T14:58:17Z")
I think that is the point, though. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3649 "2022-08-29T17:28:25Z")
Should I recognize who Linda (or her friend) is? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3650 "2022-08-29T17:33:22Z")
I didn’t know them. Are they known actresses? ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3651 "2022-08-29T18:04:28Z")
Molly Shannon from SNL is Linda. It’s already reached hate-it level here. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3652 "2022-08-29T18:09:16Z")
Well the hate-ahs have their own agend-ah. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3653 "2022-08-29T19:02:32Z")
Thanks. I thought she looked vaguely familiah, but I couldn’t place her. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3654 "2022-08-29T23:49:47Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > …she looked vaguely familiah, but I couldn’t place her. This commercial makes me want to place her in the grave. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2022, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3655 "2022-08-29T23:56:30Z")
Just don’t put her in the old Indian burial ground. Sometimes dead is _bettah_. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2022, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3656 "2022-08-30T00:14:11Z")
We stream YouTubeTV, so I don’t know if that affects what commercials are shown, but on MSNBC, they endlessly run one for _Real Housewives of Dubai_ featuring 5 tall, gold-gowned women sneering at the camera (despite their facial expressions, I know they’re sneering…) It seems to be bad ad placement - I can’t imagine people who watch _All In with Chris Hayes_ are the types to watch cheesy reality shows. I suppose I could be wrong. Nah. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3657 "2022-08-30T00:29:33Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > It’s a year old but I just saw it on TV for the first time yesterday. A supposedly [anti-whooping cough ad](https://www.ispot.tv/ad/OxL6/glaxosmithkline-whooping-cough-pool-floaties). > > If you only listen to the first part the message is “whooping cough is fun!” It’s only a bit at the end that gives the Bad News (but leaves off “death” for some reason). It wouldn’t been my pick for a pertussis vaccine ad, but it does get your attention. Death is a rare outcome for adults (who the ad is aimed at). There have been an average of about 15 deaths from pertussis annually in the U.S. in children in recent years, most of them in infants. Regardless, it’s a miserable, often prolonged disease. One thing they might have mentioned in the ad is that vaccinating adults against pertussis protects vulnerable babies who may be close contacts. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3658 "2022-08-30T13:24:17Z")
Not a commercial I find annoying, a commercial I don’t understand. It’s for Michelob Ultra and it’s a girl in a tennis outfit dancing across a court holding beers toward a guy, also dressed for tennis, who sneers at her and takes a beer. That’s it. I see that commercial (a lot) and go ‘huh?’. Is there supposed to be some deeper meaning here? Maybe the lyrics to the song mean something? What am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3659 "2022-08-30T14:22:34Z")
The guy who only trusts his key to Meineke. And he does the uncomfortable looming while the Meineke techs work on his car. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3660 "2022-08-30T15:37:47Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Not a commercial I find annoying, a commercial I don’t understand. It’s for Michelob Ultra and it’s a girl in a tennis outfit dancing across a court holding beers toward a guy, also dressed for tennis, who sneers at her and takes a beer. That’s it. I see that commercial (a lot) and go ‘huh?’. Is there supposed to be some deeper meaning here? Maybe the lyrics to the song mean something? What am I missing? She’s doing a victory-dance strut for the same reason he’s got that look on his face: she just beat him at tennis — and she’s now handing a peace-offering beer to him, to match the one that she’s about to enjoy, so they can have a drink together and all’s well. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3661 "2022-08-30T15:42:59Z")
Picture an old fashioned incandescent light bulb turning on over my head. Of course! And also, duh! ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3662 "2022-08-30T15:45:23Z")
It’s been around in my market a few months, so it might have been mentioned already: the Burger King commercial with Evander Holyfield. I don’t really understand why I hate it so much, but when that first guy appears I groan and think about changing the channel for 30 seconds. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3663 "2022-08-30T17:02:51Z")
I still hate the True Classic t-shirt guys. Just skeevy and repulsive. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3664 "2022-08-30T18:08:47Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Not especially annoying as these commercials go, but there’s an Allstate commercial featuring a woman who’s supposedly their most careful driver or something. She’s backing into a parallel parking spot extremely slowly and cautiously, and the narrator is helping her out: **Narrator:** “lot of room still” (she backs up a couple inches) **Narrator:** “still a foot to go” (backs up another inch or two) **Narrator:** “You know cars have backup cameras now, right?” **Driver** (scornfully): “Those are for amateurs”. > > Uhh, you are about as amateur a parallel parker as I’ve ever seen, lady. Sorry for the total hijack but I have just _got_ to tell this story. I had a friend in college who drove his dad’s late 70s Mercury Grand Marquis. This car was _huge!_ (It was a dark gray color and he used to joke he should paint big white numbers on the hood, like an aircraft carrier.) Anyway, one weekend were headed for a concert and a bunch of us piled into “the boat”. Street parking was limited when we got there but he found an open parking spot that was _barely_ bigger than the car. As he pulled up alongside the car in front, preparing to parallel park, everyone else in the car was telling him there was no way he was going to squeeze in there. He backed in slowly, until he felt the slight thump of contact with the car behind him. He cranked the wheel over and slowly pulled forward until he felt the slight thump of contact with the car in front. Backed up a bit to straighten it out and threw it in Park. As we all got out of the car and stared in amazement at his parking job, he just grinned and said “That’s what five mph bumpers are for!” ---
**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:** [August 30, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/3665 "2022-08-30T18:14:16Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > “That’s what five mph bumpers are for!” My dad referred to that as “parking by Braille”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089.md?page=182) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089.md?page=184)