# 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:** 368
**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:** [April 25, 2026, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7347 "2026-04-25T13:04:23Z")
I think one commercial is dangerous. You don’t get a “medical grade EKG” by putting two fingers on a $99 device hooked to your phone. You get one by seeing a real doctor and getting about a dozen electrodes attached to your body and running a machine that costs thousands of dollars. So it detects bradycardia and tachycardia. That’s your fucking pulse rate and you can check that yourself with a watch with a second hand. Putting your faith in this cheap imitation is like playing Russian Roulette. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7348 "2026-04-25T14:49:26Z")
I think you’re referring to the commercial for the [KardiaMobile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AliveCor#Products) device. I assume the idea is that if it suggests an abnormal rhythm that you should follow up with an appointment with your physician. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7349 "2026-04-25T14:58:52Z")
Presumably it’d also detect an irregular pulse, which might be slightly harder, at least for a person with a poor sense of rhythm, ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7350 "2026-04-25T15:27:23Z")
Temu Elisabeth Holmes 😀 ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7351 "2026-04-25T15:40:54Z")
It ( and the Apple Watch ) also detect episodes of Superventricular tachycardia. Which I had apparently been having for years, just never when I was wearing the heart monitor that I wore for a week or two , once or twice a year for at least six years. Only got diagnosed when I had an episode bad enough to call an ambulance and the paramedics were able to get an EKG while the episode was still going on. If I had had one of those devices I probably would have been diagnosed and treated years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7352 "2026-04-25T16:06:51Z")
I think Elisabeth Holmes is Temu Elisabeth Holmes. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7353 "2026-04-25T16:47:48Z")
I can see that being useful but I’m more concerned with people using the device and thinking they’re fine because they have a condition that the device doesn’t screen for. It’s the term “medical grade EKG” that I think is misleading and dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2026, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7354 "2026-04-25T16:53:21Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think one commercial is dangerous. You don’t get a “medical grade EKG” by putting two fingers on a $99 device hooked to your phone. You get one by seeing a real doctor and getting about a dozen electrodes attached to your body and running a machine that costs thousands of dollars. So it detects bradycardia and tachycardia. That’s your fucking pulse rate and you can check that yourself with a watch with a second hand. Putting your faith in this cheap imitation is like playing Russian Roulette. A few years ago I was diagnosed with tachycardia and A-fib and my cardiologist recommended that I get a KardiaMobile device so I could monitor my heart activity. For a long time my heartrate almost always was in the 90s and I would occasionally get a “possible Afib” reading. When I got the Afib warning I would lie down for a while and then check again, and usually I would then get a normal sinus rhythm notice. Then one night after I went to bed I could feel my heart pounding so I pulled out the tester. Heartrate was 153 with possible Afib, so I called 911. After a day or two in the hospital I was deemed fine to go back home. I credit the device with saving my life. For the last year my Afib and heartrate seems to have settled down. My cardiologist now feels he only needs to see me every six months. My EKGs have been normal (we won’t discuss all the other health issues that have popped up in the past six months). For a while I had thought about upgrading to their deluxe version, but unless things change heartwise I’m happy to have it as a check. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7355 "2026-04-27T02:42:02Z")
Clear captions phone thingy. Apparently for hearing impaired elderly. First off. It’s increasing in showings lately. Isn’t that Buffy from _Family Affair_ as the lead? ---
**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:** [April 27, 2026, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7356 "2026-04-27T02:46:15Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Isn’t that Buffy from _Family Affair_ as the lead? Couldn’t be. Actress Anissa Jones, who played Buffy, died in 1976. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7357 "2026-04-27T02:48:04Z")
Sure looks like her ---
**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:** [April 27, 2026, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7358 "2026-04-27T02:54:36Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Clear captions phone thingy. > Apparently for hearing impaired elderly. > > First off. It’s increasing in showings lately. > Isn’t that Buffy from _Family Affair_ as the lead? It’s Cathy Garver, who played Buffy’s older sister Cissy. As @Spoons notes, Anissa Jones died at age 18, of a drug overdose. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UbbSMsHOFno/hqdefault.jpg "Happy Birthday Kathy Garver ! (ClearCaptions commercial)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbbSMsHOFno) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7359 "2026-04-27T02:58:31Z")
Ahhh. Cissy, yes. Sorry for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Cachalot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@Cachalot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cachalot)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7360 "2026-05-16T00:03:42Z")
Skittles has a new disturbing ad for Skittles Gummies. It features a kangaroo with a human head (Male, ugly). There are a couple of human teenagers nestling in its pouch, munching on Skittles Gummies. Then they emerge from the pouch and the kangaroo starts feeding them gummies. This is disturbing on a few levels. First – Why does the kangaroo have a male head? I could be wrong but I don’t believe male kangaroos have a pouch. Second – why are there human teenagers in the pouch? Thirdly – what is the connection between kangaroos and Skittles? Perhaps the idea is that since kangaroo parents give their kids skittles, then human parents should do so also? If that’s the idea, I despise it. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2026, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7361 "2026-05-16T00:14:44Z")
It could have been worse. Are you familiar with the appearance of a freshly-born joey? Now imagine one of those with a human head, scooching through its parent’s fur on the way to a pouch full of Skittles. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7362 "2026-05-16T00:36:57Z")
I swear the million ads for Jacuzzi Bath’s with Cristina makes me stabby. And lo and behold we also have competitor bath fixin’ people making commercials. Often they show one right after the other. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7363 "2026-05-16T15:20:25Z")
Every Skittles commercial has been disturbing, and disgusting. A guy looking out the window and a fist comes through and nearly knocks his head off. A girl picking Skittles like enormous zits off a kid’s face and eating them. I think they do this to make them more memorable. And I would boycott them…but I love Skittles. Is a dilemma. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7364 "2026-05-16T15:30:41Z")
Subaru has a recent one where a little girl, then a dog, then something else (I don’t remember) is standing in the middle of the highway as vehicles fly by. The point they’re trying to make is a Subaru is much safer than playing in traffic, or some such, but I find in totally inexcusable to portray a child (and a pet) about to be roadkill. Boycott Subaru! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7365 "2026-05-16T15:32:08Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > Every Skittles commercial has been disturbing, and disgusting. I thought, ‘What about the old one, with Don Adams?’ But then I remembered that was [Skittle Pool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnweTWmG9Z4). As for annoying commercials… [California judge blocks repetitive Kars4Kids jingle from airwaves](https://ktla.com/news/california/california-judge-blocks-repetitive-kars4kids-jingle-from-airwaves/). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7366 "2026-05-16T19:52:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > As for annoying commercials… [California judge blocks repetitive Kars4Kids jingle from airwaves](https://ktla.com/news/california/california-judge-blocks-repetitive-kars4kids-jingle-from-airwaves/). That is great news!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089.md?page=367) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089.md?page=369)