# Another "what were they thinking?" commercial thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983 "2012-12-14T01:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/101 "2012-12-17T13:26:19Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > The product I’d never, ever buy _because_ of a commercial is cat treats. Have you seen this one? > > Co-worker: Nice boots! > Guy: They aren’t boots, they’re my cats. > Shot of two cats clinging to his feet. > > Like I need cat treats to make my cats more annoying than they already are. The odd thing is, this commercial is almost accurate, regarding our boy cat, Hermes. But I wouldn’t regard addiction as a selling point. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/102 "2012-12-17T21:00:55Z")
> [@Lazlo](#): > > I don’t get an incest vibe in the Folger’s ad. _shrug_ I don’t either, but because I never got the vibe they were brother and sister. I just now noticed she says “sister” when they come in. (Which is also weird–who calls their sister “sister”?) Yes, brothers and sisters sometimes really love each other. But the way they are staring at each other is odd. Do you tend to stare at your family members like that? I mean, with people you know that well, even making eye contact is unusual–you’re so comfortable that you don’t bother. I’m not skeeved out by it, but it does seem unrealistic to me. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/103 "2012-12-17T22:34:05Z")
This just proves I watch commercials way too closely. The State Farm (I think it’s State Farm’s) ad where the two cars are in the middle of the desert having had a fender bender…HOW? HOW DID THIS ACCIDENT HAPPEN!!! It is on a road in the middle of nowhere (not another car or building in sight). The trailing car has a small amount of damage on the right front. The front car has a little damage on the left rear. The damage is very minor. To do that little damage, they would have to be going what? Two miles an hour or probably less? No one goes less than two miles an hour on the open road. To do damage in that way, one of the cars had to be parallel parking (in the middle of nowhere with no other cars around?) or sliding diagonally at an incredibly slow speed. And since it is in the desert, you don’t even have the excuse of icy road to explain the slide. I know, I know, I am being this picky on a commercial that is built on the idea of, if you sing the theme song, a person will appear to handle your claim. Still, it really bothers me. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/104 "2012-12-17T22:38:57Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > This just proves I watch commercials way too closely. > > The State Farm (I think it’s State Farm’s) ad where the two cars are in the middle of the desert having had a fender bender…HOW? HOW DID THIS ACCIDENT HAPPEN!!! It is on a road in the middle of nowhere (not another car or building in sight). The trailing car has a small amount of damage on the right front. The front car has a little damage on the left rear. The damage is very minor. To do that little damage, they would have to be going what? Two miles an hour or probably less? No one goes less than two miles an hour on the open road. To do damage in that way, one of the cars had to be parallel parking (in the middle of nowhere with no other cars around?) or sliding diagonally at an incredibly slow speed. And since it is in the desert, you don’t even have the excuse of icy road to explain the slide. > > I know, I know, I am being this picky on a commercial that is built on the idea of, if you sing the theme song, a person will appear to handle your claim. Still, it really bothers me. “Six implausibles ahead of us, Jimmy!” ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/105 "2012-12-17T22:52:09Z")
There is an ad for Direct TV where there is this “Recording Conflict”, actually two, one features a woman getting out of a shower and confronted by a blue box “recording Conflict” and then there is another where there are guests over and they are being crowded out by the box. What I hate about it is the smarmy asshole in the commercial. He’s very passive aggressive about the fact that there are recording conflicts thanks to this wife and kids.Why do commercial makers think assholes are good for sales? ---
**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:** [December 17, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/106 "2012-12-17T23:02:41Z")
The “use this service to find a good dentist” commercials. Either those people being asked to recommend a dentist go to one they don’t consider “good” or don’t go to one at all. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/107 "2012-12-17T23:12:32Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > There is an ad for Direct TV where there is this “Recording Conflict”, actually two, one features a woman getting out of a shower and confronted by a blue box “recording Conflict” and then there is another where there are guests over and they are being crowded out by the box. What I hate about it is the smarmy asshole in the commercial. He’s very passive aggressive about the fact that there are recording conflicts thanks to this wife and kids.Why do commercial makers think assholes are good for sales? Those things are like tiny, family-hour-friendly, micro-Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolfs… ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/108 "2012-12-18T00:23:10Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Those things are like tiny, family-hour-friendly, micro-Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolfs… I like the one in the backyard, where the kids get the ball stuck behind the DVR screen. “Daddy says we have no idea how hard marriage can be … and he wants more chips.” Or the bathroom one referenced above, when the wife says she feels like that screen is watching her walk around naked, the husband says, “At least somebody gets to.” As an aside, the same two actors play husband and wife in a different commercial, I think for some credit card reward travel thing, where they go to Hawaii. They seem to like each other better in that one, though … “My mother was so wrong about you.” ---
**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:** [December 18, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/109 "2012-12-18T00:30:37Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Oh and this annoying piece of shit: > > [The lights, the lights, the lights that light the lights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YlnK5LGmk0) HATE IT HATE IT HATE HATE IT :mad: I’m also starting to hate those Lexus commercials with that awful electronic _haw haw haw_ in the background. I still think the Folgers commercial is incesty-creepy. I’ve only seen it twice this year though. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/110 "2012-12-18T01:06:28Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > There is an ad for Direct TV where there is this “Recording Conflict”, actually two, one features a woman getting out of a shower and confronted by a blue box “recording Conflict” and then there is another where there are guests over and they are being crowded out by the box. What I hate about it is the smarmy asshole in the commercial. He’s very passive aggressive about the fact that there are recording conflicts thanks to this wife and kids.Why do commercial makers think assholes are good for sales? The one with the guests drives me insane because the smarmy asshole actually starts screaming about how he can’t watch TV because his DVR is full. THAT’S NOT HOW DVRs WORK! ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/111 "2012-12-18T02:12:12Z")
There’s a commercial showing a mother and her daughter walking to the school bus for the first time, holding hands. The child launches into a monologue about the many ways that Mom hasn’t exactly been up to par, but she could’ve been worse, and the child loves her anyway. 1. Five-year-olds don’t talk like that. She sounds like she’s 20 and has been in therapy for years. 2. It sounds like Mom could benefit from some parenting classes. 3. At the end we learn that the ad is sponsored by the Carter Company or [carter.com](http://carter.com) or something. What the hell is the Carter Company? (I refuse to Google it or to watch the ad more closely.) ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/112 "2012-12-18T03:21:09Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The one with the guests drives me insane because the smarmy asshole actually starts screaming about how he can’t watch TV because his DVR is full. > > THAT’S NOT HOW DVRs WORK! I don’t remember it that way. He says his wife is recording her home decorating shows at the same time his son is recording his wizard shows. If his DVR works anything like mine, which only has two tuners, then you can’t watch anything else. You either watch one of the shows the DVR is recording, or you entertain guests in your living room by throwing Brie-smeared crackers at them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/113 "2012-12-18T03:24:06Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > I don’t remember it that way. He says his wife is recording her home decorating shows at the same time his son is recording his wizard shows. If his DVR works anything like mine, which only has two tuners, then you can’t watch anything else. You either watch one of the shows the DVR is recording, or you entertain guests in your living room by throwing Brie-smeared crackers at them. 😃 Every DVR I’ve ever used would let you watch a program that is stored on the disk (previously recorded) regardless of what is being recorded at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/114 "2012-12-18T03:27:53Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > There is an ad for Direct TV where there is this “Recording Conflict”, actually two, one features a woman getting out of a shower and confronted by a blue box “recording Conflict” and then there is another where there are guests over and they are being crowded out by the box. What I hate about it is the smarmy asshole in the commercial. He’s very passive aggressive about the fact that there are recording conflicts thanks to this wife and kids.Why do commercial makers think assholes are good for sales? I so fucking loathe those. There has never been one (of the three that I remember) in which the husband has communicated with or about his wife without loathing and/or contempt. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/115 "2012-12-18T03:30:26Z")
That’s how my Comcast DVR, with two tuners, works. I _can_ watch a recorded show while both tuners are busy, but it would not be possible to watch a third show while two are recording. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/116 "2012-12-19T22:32:25Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I can’t imagine what the Febreze people were thinking with their awful ad campaign, where they lead blindfolded people into filthy, squalid rooms piled high with garbage. Supposedly Febreze covers the smell, but we at home can’t smell it; we can only react to the hideous visuals. All I get from the commercial is a visceral association of Febreze with repulsion and disgust. So true. And I can’t help but feel sorry for the poor schlubs in the commercial (yeah, I know it’s staged and all) who are sitting in some horrible disgusting place. I would not be amused one little bit by the producers’ “surprise”. ---
**Author:** ![andrew\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@andrew\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrew_1)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/117 "2012-12-19T22:45:50Z")
I don’t know if these are currently in the US, but what the hell is up with the Future Shop Christmas commercials? Are they trying to make that guy in the sweater as intentionally creepy as possible? Why? ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/118 "2012-12-19T23:24:40Z")
The Folgers ad is a bit odd. I Just get a weird feeling watching it. But the one that really sleeves me out is the Kay jewelry commercial where the step-dad gives his new step-daughter the same necklace he gave her mom (his new wife). It’s one of Jane Seymores “open heart” collection necklaces. I hate the open heart necklaces with a passion, but that ad creeps me out. I know what it is trying to say, but it gives me stranger vibes than the folgers ad. As for the Febreeze ads, I hate them. Are people actually too stupid to be able to tell they have been moved? And sit down on this grungy couch, we want you to shove Febreeze up your nose. They claim that Febreeze actually bonds with the stink molecule to remove it, instead of masking odor. Is this even possible? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/119 "2012-12-20T00:10:22Z")
Open heart necklaces look like a scrotum with two hefty balls. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983/120 "2012-12-20T00:16:19Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Open heart necklaces look like a scrotum with two hefty balls. I always thought it looked like butts and boobs. Or, as they say, orchestra and balcony… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-what-were-they-thinking-commercial-thread/643983.md?page=7)