# Are some companies targeting a-hole s in their commercials? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967 "2011-01-17T18:14:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/81 "2011-01-19T18:22:26Z")
I saw one the other day talking about a guy who has never missed a Superbowl. He brags that he’ll shrug off any other social engagement–weddings, babies being born, etc.–to go to a game. I can’t remember what the commercial is about, but I kept thinking to myself, “Substitute any other activity in there and I’ll bet lots of people would think that was asshole-ish, or at best silly.” (I don’t have much experience with weddings and none for babies being born, so maybe I’d feel differently if I were getting invitations right and left). I think we all need to realize that marketing is a science (or, at least that is the claim of the department upstairs from me who has a professor with two endowed professorships and five books to his name). There is a whole scholarly field devoted to it, with thousands of journal pages written to date. Marketers, for the most part, know how to manipulate people into buying their products. There’s too much money invested in these commercials for them to be shots in the dark. Cell phone companies, as an example, know their customers–their habits, their mindset, their desires. Sure, there are always going to be people who say, “Well, _I’m_ not like that,” but that’s true of any situation. There’s never exactly 100% uniformity on anything, but if you have even 6 or 7/10 customers pegged right, you can probably make money with your advertising. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/82 "2011-01-19T19:13:46Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > I think we all need to realize that marketing is a science (or, at least that is the claim of the department upstairs from me who has a professor with two endowed professorships and five books to his name). There is a whole scholarly field devoted to it, with thousands of journal pages written to date. Marketers, for the most part, know how to manipulate people into buying their products. There’s too much money invested in these commercials for them to be shots in the dark. Cell phone companies, as an example, know their customers–their habits, their mindset, their desires. Sure, there are always going to be people who say, “Well, _I’m_ not like that,” but that’s true of any situation. There’s never exactly 100% uniformity on anything, but if you have even 6 or 7/10 customers pegged right, you can probably make money with your advertising. I’ve been on the inside of a major cell phone company. My two cents is that they _don’t_ know who their customers are; they know who they _want_ them to be, and the ads and promos are tailored to that end. Case in point, the vast majority of their customers are scared and baffled by “data”. They don’t know what it is, and they don’t want to be charged for it. A smaller percentage still don’t understand texting. The company has nevertheless been on a huge drive to put a smartphone in every customer’s hand. Clearly it will make them money, and they’re of course banking that once you see what your phone can do, you won’t go back to your old clamshell. So the company is attempting to create desire where there is none, and completely disregarding their customers’ mindset. Not that that is anything new. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/83 "2011-01-19T21:32:30Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > I’ve been on the inside of a major cell phone company. My two cents is that they _don’t_ know who their customers are; they know who they _want_ them to be, and the ads and promos are tailored to that end. Case in point, the vast majority of their customers are scared and baffled by “data”. They don’t know what it is, and they don’t want to be charged for it. A smaller percentage still don’t understand texting. The company has nevertheless been on a huge drive to put a smartphone in every customer’s hand. Clearly it will make them money, and they’re of course banking that once you see what your phone can do, you won’t go back to your old clamshell. So the company is attempting to create desire where there is none, and completely disregarding their customers’ mindset. Not that that is anything new. Which is kind of funny, because I’m a nerd, I grok the whole smartphone concept, I even had a Blackberry for a year or so and loved it. Probably not getting a smartphone again for a while, since it makes more sense to me to get a cheap phone that just does phone stuff and texting, and an iPod Touch to do all the data stuff whenever I get to Wifi hotspots without paying for it every month. I’m a geek, it’s not like I look at myself in the morning and think “I dunno man, do you think we could have FEWER gadgets on us today?” Having two hand-held electronic gadgets instead of one super gadget doesn’t bug me. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/84 "2011-01-20T16:36:46Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Only if it’s served to you by a hot but totally bitchy woman who questions your masculinity. I see you’ve met **Mrs. Door**. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/85 "2011-01-20T17:01:18Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Probably not getting a smartphone again for a while, since it makes more sense to me to get a cheap phone that just does phone stuff and texting, and an iPod Touch to do all the data stuff whenever I get to Wifi hotspots without paying for it every month. I’m a geek, it’s not like I look at myself in the morning and think “I dunno man, do you think we could have FEWER gadgets on us today?” Having two hand-held electronic gadgets instead of one super gadget doesn’t bug me. Several years ago, I got a PDA to go with my cell phone. The phone was just a phone - I didn’t even text. The PDA was supposed to be for taking notes, calendar, schedule and planning, etc. I found that I didn’t use it much, and it was an extra gizmo to carry around and keep up with, and have to synch to the computer, recharge, etc. Stopped using it. I have migrated to the smart phone because it has more capability than the PDA and does it in one package with the phone. I’m still not a heavy app user, but texting has become more common (receiving and certain people preferring them), and I’m learning to use the navigation feature, which is pretty nice. So for me, having fewer more capable gadgets does make sense. And I’m not even the prime market - tied in to email and daily planner and extensive internet use. I’ve tried it a bit, and it’s filled time in a pinch, but I’m not particularly thrilled with phone web interfaces. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/86 "2011-01-20T20:24:31Z")
The Sasquatch ones fascinate me. The jerky eaters hit the trifecta of being (a) mean as all get-out; (b) completely intellectually uncurious about Sasquatch; and © morons for picking on a creature twice their size and strength. The one dork (with the model airplane) even shows his _kid_ how to torment Sasquatch, which reminds me of that Onion story “Area asshole proud of asshole son.” And yet, they make me laugh. (At least the first time I see them, and sometimes the second.) And I remember them, and I’m damned if I remember any other jerky commercial, ever. But I still don’t eat beef jerky, so I guess it doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/87 "2011-01-20T20:38:13Z")
I’ve posted this one before in “Stupid Commercials” threads, but it fits this one so well: > [@BrotherCafael](#): > > In our area there is was a Toyota ad a few years back where you see grainy home movies of a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck splashing throught mud bogs, etc., while the voice over screams “Look out world! Here comes Tocoma Man! And I look GREAT!”, etc., etc. A moment later, the film flickers to a stop, and this nerdy looking guy looks over at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover, which is propped up on the other chair next to the projector and says “So. Waddya think?” > > So Toyota means to say that the target market for Tacoma trucks are losers with the people skills of a wet rock, whose social life consists entirely of their right hands? > > Sheesh… Does no one at the ad agency or the client think about what they’re actually putting up on the screen? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/88 "2011-01-20T21:02:52Z")
Sounds like you guys who like the Mayhem guy from the Allstate commercials don’t recognize him. Weird for me, b/c the first time I saw him I thought he was slumming it by doing a commercial. Off the top of my head, he was a regular in **Law & Order: SVU** , **Oz** , and **Rescue Me** , also several appearances as Liz Lemon’s boyfriend in **30 Rock**. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/89 "2011-01-20T22:33:19Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Several years ago, I got a PDA to go with my cell phone. The phone was just a phone - I didn’t even text. The PDA was supposed to be for taking notes, calendar, schedule and planning, etc. I found that I didn’t use it much, and it was an extra gizmo to carry around and keep up with, and have to synch to the computer, recharge, etc. Stopped using it. > > I have migrated to the smart phone because it has more capability than the PDA and does it in one package with the phone. I’m still not a heavy app user, but texting has become more common (receiving and certain people preferring them), and I’m learning to use the navigation feature, which is pretty nice. So for me, having fewer more capable gadgets does make sense. And I’m not even the prime market - tied in to email and daily planner and extensive internet use. I’ve tried it a bit, and it’s filled time in a pinch, but I’m not particularly thrilled with phone web interfaces. Honestly, my big problem with smart phones is having to buy the data plan. I’d like to have the option to just have the unlimited texting and the few hundred minutes, and limit the actual data usage to wifi. I can wait that long to check my email, it’s only to the next Starbucks on the corner. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/90 "2011-01-21T00:48:32Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I couldn’t believe that Toyota kid when I saw the ad last time I was over in the States. Is it actually appealing to anyone? In my defense, I bought my Highlander long before they aired those commercials, though I still feel some guilt by association. ---
**Author:** ![Creole\_Tomato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@Creole\_Tomato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creole_Tomato)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/91 "2011-01-21T18:30:39Z")
> [@statsman1982](#): > > I saw one the other day talking about a guy who has never missed a Superbowl. He brags that he’ll shrug off any other social engagement–weddings, babies being born, etc.–to go to a game. Yes. THIS guy. He makes me want to kick something. I always wonder if he’s a paid actor (and if so, did they make him look douchey on purpose?) or if he’s really a guy who thinks people call him “Mr. Excitement” and who has “no intention of ever missing a superbowl. EVER.” I love football more than I think is probably healthy, but this guy is an asshat. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/92 "2011-01-21T19:21:30Z")
Preparation-H has been targetting a-holes in their commercials for years. [Ducks and runs] ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/93 "2011-01-21T19:28:51Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > I actually kinda like the doctor one, because he seems so blissfully unaware (and the “ho-horrendous” line in the Christmas one was a hoot), but the latest one is just … too much. A couple are sitting in a diner and the woman is breaking up with the man bit by bit … he gets a tweet, she updates her Facebook status to single right in front of him. Then, at the end, she picks up her phone, his starts ringing. The implication is now she’s calling him to “break” the break-up news to him. On the phone. While they’re sitting two feet apart. WHILE SHE HAS THE MOST DISTURBINGLY GOOFY WIDE-EYED INSANE EXPRESSION … and smiling! > > That is super creepy. And I can’t imagine how it’s supposed to sell any phones. Woops, I love these. The X-Mas neighbor’s _“Oooh… sweaters”_ cracks me up and the cell phone break-up couples’ expressions are hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/94 "2011-01-22T05:53:19Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > Preparation-H has been targetting a-holes in their commercials for years. > > [Ducks and runs] _golf clap_ ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/95 "2011-01-22T07:02:11Z")
Every Sunfire commercial ever made. Built for drivers indeed. What they really mean is Built for twats that can only afford a $13K crap-box with a shitty 4 cylinder engine but want to feel ‘cool’ so they drive like ignorant fucks. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2011, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/96 "2011-01-22T07:54:16Z")
> [@Creole\_Tomato](#): > > Yes. THIS guy. He makes me want to kick something. I always wonder if he’s a paid actor (and if so, did they make him look douchey on purpose?) or if he’s really a guy who thinks people call him “Mr. Excitement” and who has “no intention of ever missing a superbowl. EVER.” I love football more than I think is probably healthy, but this guy is an asshat. I think that whole campaign is a big whoosh as you can’t just buy tickets to the Super Bowl and getting in to even one is considered extremely difficult unless you’re insanely rich. But a group of middle-class guys who represent “real football fans”? They might have gotten into one, but they’d never get into two, let alone all 40+. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2011, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/97 "2011-01-22T08:39:22Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I think that whole campaign is a big whoosh as you can’t just buy tickets to the Super Bowl and getting in to even one is considered extremely difficult unless you’re insanely rich. > > But a group of middle-class guys who represent “real football fans”? They might have gotten into one, but they’d never get into two, let alone all 40+. It’s not THAT difficult. Even pre-internet, ticket brokers were buying up and reselling them from season ticket holders. As for the expense, if these douches are going to pride themselves on missing weddings and babies being born, they are exactly the sort to spend too much money on a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/99 "2011-05-28T15:54:16Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > In the Bud Light commercials I keep waiting for the bar owner to come out and tell the bartender, “Insult another one of my customers and you’re out of job bitch, your job is to sell drinks and make people feel welcome, not to act out the high school frustrations you never resolved.” > > One in the series is especially stupid. A guy asks for a light beer. The bitch asks if he cares about taste. Frustrated by such a stupid question he replies, “No.” So she gives him the off brand. I don’t get it. If she is so damned obsessed with Bud Light, why, when the man says he doesn’t care what brand she serves, does she serve him the off brand? An excuse to insult him I guess. And the insults in that commercial are so clearly homophobic that I wish the advert would just come right out and say it: “If you aren’t putting a Bud Light bottle in your mouth you might as well put a hard cock in there, because men who drink other light beers are clearly homosexual. You don’t want people to think you’re a fag do you?” Love this post! ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967/100 "2011-05-29T00:18:12Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Sounds like you guys who like the Mayhem guy from the Allstate commercials don’t recognize him. Weird for me, b/c the first time I saw him I thought he was slumming it by doing a commercial. > > Off the top of my head, he was a regular in **Law & Order: SVU** , **Oz** , and **Rescue Me** , also several appearances as Liz Lemon’s boyfriend in **30 Rock**. Oh, I recognized Dean Winters (the actor in question) before he did those Mayhem commercials, acted in TV shows. I just thought he executed the premise exceedingly well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-some-companies-targeting-a-hole-s-in-their-commercials/567967.md?page=4)