# 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:** 378
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7549 "2026-07-26T21:23:19Z")
Oddly enough I like the Mayhem commercials. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7550 "2026-07-26T21:29:07Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That’s why every insurance company can say, “drivers who switched to us saved an average of $X;” for all of the major carriers, there are _some_ drivers for whom that company does have the lowest rates. And of course, the customers who wouldn’t save didn’t switch. > [@Baker](#): > > Oddly enough I like the Mayhem commercials. They used to be good, but lately I think they’re running out of ideas. My garage roof collapsing under a heavy snow, or getting T-boned by a distracted teenager, are things I can imagine actually happening to me, but my life suddenly turning into a Michael Bay movie is not. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7551 "2026-07-26T21:33:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And of course, the customers who wouldn’t save didn’t switch. Absolutely. The numbers that are used in those ads are generated by a third-party market research company, and done annually among consumers who have switched auto insurance. And, yes, someone who was shopping primarily on price wouldn’t switch if they weren’t saving money in the process; but, what we found is that the “who switched” in that legally-approved verbiage tends to not be really internalized by consumers; what they hear is that “people saved with Company [XYZ].” ---
**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:** [July 26, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7552 "2026-07-26T21:35:02Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Also, “which insurance company has lower rates” is extremely variable, based on where you live, what cars you drive, how much you drive, your gender and age, etc. That’s why every insurance company can say, “drivers who switched to us saved an average of $X;” for all of the major carriers, there are _some_ drivers for whom that company does have the lowest rates. Well, yes, _of course_ “drivers who switched” saved X amount, because they wouldn’t bother unless the new insurer had lower premiums. They don’t tell you whether it’s only a tiny minority who switch or most people who check out the company that’s placing the ads. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7553 "2026-07-27T04:04:02Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > I like the emu when the emu behaves just like …an emu. Doug, not so much. I liked the one where Doug’s son was saying insurance was stupid, and couldn’t even spell insurance. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7554 "2026-07-27T04:13:03Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It may well be that Liberty realizes that they don’t really _have_ any strong points of differentiation against State Farm, Geico, Progressive, etc., and so, they’re just doing funny ads. Well, they have customer service, unlike Geico. > [@Chronos](#): > > About the only point of differentiation an insurance company can have is price. Customer service isnt as important as price, but it is still important. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Yes and no. While the industry has encouraged people to shop on price, customer service is also a big differentiator, and experiencing poor customer service from your current insurer is a big reason why people switch. Having local agents is part of that for some people, as well as 24/7 availability (which is what the original “Jake from State Farm” ad was about). It’s only fairly recently that Geico started having local agents, at all, and historically, they were often criticized by customers for poor customer service. Terrible Customer Service. > [@Baker](#): > > Oddly enough I like the Mayhem commercials. Better than many. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7555 "2026-07-27T06:34:04Z")
Didn’t he have a mustache? I think he had the glasses. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7556 "2026-07-27T06:48:04Z")
Correct [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YSOyXoruYKc/hqdefault.jpg "Parent Teacher Conference | LiMu Emu & Doug | Liberty Mutual Insurance Commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSOyXoruYKc) ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7557 "2026-07-27T12:56:30Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > what we found is that the “who switched” in that legally-approved verbiage tends to not be really internalized by consumers Some number of years back one of my sons asked me why everyone didn’t switch to insurance company Y if it saved you $X. I repeated the ‘those who switched’ bit, and a light went on. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7558 "2026-07-27T13:46:53Z")
My biggest annoyance with the commercials now is how limited they are. Remember when things like shampoo and dish soap were advertised? Or toys? And food? Now, it’s insurance. And drugs. That’s pretty much it. (On, there’s also the defective kids, and the abused animals) ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7559 "2026-07-27T14:00:08Z")
That might just be a demographic thing, based on what shows you watch. Like, toy commercials will mostly be on children’s programming, so if you don’t watch many kids’ shows, you won’t see them. And dish soap and food are mostly advertised in shows that they think will have a lot of homemakers (mostly women) watching them. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7560 "2026-07-27T16:12:41Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Now, it’s insurance. And drugs. Don’t forget personal injury lawyers. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7561 "2026-07-27T16:18:36Z")
Defective? Hmm 🫣 ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7562 "2026-07-27T16:42:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That might just be a demographic thing, based on what shows you watch. It’s absolutely a demographic thing, based on show, network, and time of day. Things like shampoo and dish soap are still advertised, but the era when American TV primarily consisted of three nationwide broadcast networks, all of which were reaching, fundamentally, _everyone_, is long gone. If you are watching a cable channel, or a “digital subchannel” like MeTV, the range of ads you’ll see is going to be pretty narrow, and based on the demographics of who typically watches it. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7563 "2026-07-27T16:46:40Z")
And of course if you watch streaming, your ads can be custom-tailored to you specifically, not just to your demographic. Oh, and demographic filtering has been going on forever. The reason “soap operas” are called that is because the biggest sponsors were cleaning supplies, because they were on during the day when the only people watching would be homemakers (i.e., the people who buy and use soap). ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7564 "2026-07-27T20:00:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And of course if you watch streaming, your ads can be custom-tailored to you specifically, not just to your demographic. Heheh, they still do this pretty poorly for myself. I get ads for bras and baby products, two things I have no need for. I also get ads in languages I don’t understand. However, I do reliably get ads for music retailers when I am watching music focused videos. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7565 "2026-07-27T20:54:09Z")
For me as well, I think mostly because I’m not on any social media other than the SDMB. One of the few patterns I’ve noticed is that the algorithms seem to think I might be a teenage girl, doubtless from my phone spending a lot of time in a place that’s mostly frequented by teenage girls. I also get the foreign-language ads… I think that maybe they think that the reason they can’t understand me is because of a language barrier? I once saw the same banner ad on a webpage three times in a row, in what I’m pretty sure were Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, and I’ve also gotten ads in Spanish and Arabic. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7566 "2026-07-28T00:18:49Z")
Remember the summer of '26, when Chronos discovered he was a teenaged Asian/Spanish/Arabic girl? . Can’t fight the algorithms, man… ---
**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:** [July 28, 2026, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7567 "2026-07-28T00:24:42Z")
Can we circle back to Doug and Limu for a moment? There’s a newish one where they’re playing tennis, and Doug keeps saying “Limu, ball me!” then reaching somewhere on the emu for a ball. _Where are the balls coming from???_ ---
**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:** [July 28, 2026, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089/7568 "2026-07-28T01:21:45Z")
Tucked under LiMu’s skirt, of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089.md?page=377) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-annoying-commercials/790089.md?page=379)