# Commercials I Don't Understand **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253 "2008-11-24T15:23:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/21 "2008-11-26T17:32:42Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > Yeah, me too. It’s actually for British Airways, and mentions a specific terminal (??). No mention of Seaworld. Ergo: WTF? Really, I am sure I saw commercials like this connected to some special deal for Seaworld. Maybe BA liked the idea of sea life swimming around airports so much that they copied it? ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/22 "2008-11-26T17:42:55Z")
I believe the British Airways ad is trying to imply that their new terminal in London is so big that whales could swim in it. A bigger terminal could mean more flights and less waiting in line. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/23 "2008-11-26T18:21:05Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Really, I am sure I saw commercials like this connected to some special deal for Seaworld. Maybe BA liked the idea of sea life swimming around airports so much that they copied it? So there are two incomprehensible aquatic commercials - sadly that seems feasible. [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37uX9BbO4fI)is the one I’m talking about. It’s very pretty, I just don’t understand what it means. (Though it could be the space in the terminal, per **puddleglum**.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/24 "2008-11-26T18:23:59Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > There are three links that you can click on _Healthy Heart, Vindication_ and \*Satisfaction \*that each give different endings to the story. > > The third one, Satisfaction, shows why she wants a pawn shop. Becuase she feels that having her boyfreind break up with her makes it OK to steal his stuff and sell it?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/25 "2008-11-26T18:33:01Z")
I think it’s extremely creepy that Brooke Shields is doing these weird VW commercials about how women are having babies because they…want a VW mini van? There’s [this long form “mockumentary”](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xDZSxFLcMVg) and then the [commercials](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PZeA_1Ku6Z0). It’s just friggin’ weird, and even weirder for her to be making light of having kids after her well-publicized bout of postpartum depression. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/26 "2008-11-26T18:52:15Z")
I don’t get the Geico caveman commercials lately; I get the whole deal about how the poor cavemen are discriminated against and that Geico heartlessly exploits the cultural bias against them, but the commercials where the cavemen are about to score with hot chicks but then see the Geico ad and then turn around and leave…well, the chicks seemed into the cavemen when they got off their motorcycles, and they also seemed baffled that the cavemen suddenly turned tail and left…why the hell don’t the cavemen just score some nice modern homo sapien tail there? Wouldn’t that be the best “fuck you” to Geico? And in any case (I know this is stretching it) the ads portray the Geico company as guilty of discrimination, which theoretically might score some sympathy points for the cavemen, but creates a negative impression of the company. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/27 "2008-11-26T19:10:47Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I just saw this commercial for the first time. I have 2 problems with it: 1) since people can actually understand me, I have no use for the device that they’re advertising and 2) How the heck does Ozzy know the taxi driver’s and coffee shop guy’s text numbers? And 3) his brain is too addled to be able to speak, yet we’re to believe he’s actually able to type? And that his typing is a better method of communication than his mumbling? I’d suspect his typing looks like this: SASDKL; KL;EJIO O’JINIRF ASDJ;oei[PADJIOPFN90JVL;DF;DJKfjvmv’opail;??? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/28 "2008-11-26T20:05:57Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > It’s a take-off on the old teen-angst “I wish I’d never been born.” Because, you know, he’s not a teen, he’s a burger. Or am I not getting what you’re not getting? > > ETA: The burgers depicted are the Whopper and the Whopper Jr., hence the father-son theme. I get what they’re doing with the father-son and never been born – I just don’t get why Burger King would use a family argument to push their product. I think I take that one too literally – mom and sister should have been menu items too. All I could think was why did that woman marry a Whopper and why is the sister “normal”. The Whopper gene only transfers to boys? See? I’m overthinking it. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/29 "2008-11-26T21:23:19Z")
Arby’s “Roast (Beef) Burger” ad. An Arby’s manager is lecturing employees on the Roast Burger (sliced RB w/burger bun & fixings - meh) vs the typical fastfood greaseburger when he notices the greaseburger patty is gone. Cut to an employee with a Sha Na Na pompadour, using the patty as hair dressing. SFX: sort of a cold, gelatinous _shlorppp, shlorppp, shlorppp_ sound. Now I can’t think of Arby’s or the words “Roast Burger” without my stomach flopping over a little. What is supposed to be so damn appetizing about this ad? Is Arby’s target market just a whole lot stupider than most people? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/30 "2008-11-26T21:23:34Z")
The Dell commercial with two twins sitting on a park bench with their respective laptops. They connect to a video image of two female twins who wave at them. then they switch computers (but not seats). Now, I’m _guessing_ that the colors of the laptops (one green, one black with a stripe) correspond to the dresses the ladies are wearing but I can never qwuite tell since the image is small and off the TV quickly. More to the point, I’m not sure what switching the laptops is supposed to accomplish. I mean, the image on the screens will be the same so if Boy A was on the wrong side of Girl A, switching the laptops won’t change anything. In any event, it confuses and therefore angers me. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/31 "2008-11-26T21:32:52Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I think it’s extremely creepy that Brooke Shields is doing these weird VW commercials about how women are having babies because they…want a VW mini van? > > There’s [this long form “mockumentary”](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xDZSxFLcMVg) and then the [commercials](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PZeA_1Ku6Z0). > > It’s just friggin’ weird, and even weirder for her to be making light of having kids after her well-publicized bout of postpartum depression. > > Ick. I get the idea of the ads (the minivan is so great, people want to have babies just so they have an excuse for buying one), but the thing that disturbs me is the ad where she says something like “25,000 babies are born every day specifically for German engineering.” Taken the wrong way, that sentence gives off a creepy, Nazi-eugenics vibe. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/32 "2008-11-26T21:42:35Z")
That talk talk-to-your-kids-about-drugs commercial with the mom who corners her teenage son in the bathroom while he’s taking a shower. She pulls the shower curtain back and asks him “Do you know what marijuana?” and he shouts “Get out! I’m naked!”. She turns to the camera and says “Can’t run away here”. All I can think about is that if you flip the genders (eg a father cornering his teenage daughter naked in the shower) it’d be considered sexual abuse, but with a mother & son it’s supposed to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/33 "2008-11-26T22:16:50Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > why the hell don’t the cavemen just score some nice modern homo sapien tail there? Wouldn’t that be the best “fuck you” to Geico? And in any case (I know this is stretching it) the ads portray the Geico company as guilty of discrimination, which theoretically might score some sympathy points for the cavemen, but creates a negative impression of the company. I’d pay to see the Gecko screw one of the cavemen with a strap on dildo…“No reimbursement for you!” ---
**Author:** ![Atomicflea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Atomicflea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomicflea)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/34 "2008-11-26T22:22:16Z")
I know it’s been mentioned here before, but the folks that write the Esurance commercials are in dire need of an intervention. Those commercials bring me to the brink of violence. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/35 "2008-11-26T22:45:30Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I get what they’re doing with the father-son and never been born – I just don’t get why Burger King would use a family argument to push their product. I think I take that one too literally – mom and sister should have been menu items too. All I could think was why did that woman marry a Whopper and why is the sister “normal”. The Whopper gene only transfers to boys? See? I’m overthinking it. Whopper Junior is doubly angry that he’s been forced into this blended family since his dad threw over his burgery mom. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/36 "2008-11-27T00:43:32Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Whopper Junior is doubly angry that he’s been forced into this blended family since his dad threw over his burgery mom. That’s gotta be it. Plus, built like that, he ain’t gettin’ laid. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/37 "2008-11-27T00:58:02Z")
If I remember the British Airways commercial correctly, it featured rays gliding through the airport and the implication was that you would glide similarly through the terminal with minimal hassles. I guess they must have fixed the baggage system in Terminal 5. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/38 "2008-11-27T02:36:30Z")
Jockey Underwear “Out of Line” commercials. (My ‘Insert lin Link’ icon doesn’t work for some reason’) Here’s the link: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qyUOeYO79Oo/hqdefault.jpg "Jockey Underwear "Out of Line"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyUOeYO79Oo) Honestly what’s this commercial trying to say? That two attractive people are breaking away from being molded into something that some wierd ad person considers to be an “ideal” look? ---
**Author:** ![WilhelmGefallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9f8e36/32.png) [@WilhelmGefallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilhelmGefallen)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/39 "2008-11-27T04:09:56Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > The Dell commercial with two twins sitting on a park bench with their respective laptops. They connect to a video image of two female twins who wave at them. then they switch computers (but not seats). > > Now, I’m _guessing_ that the colors of the laptops (one green, one black with a stripe) correspond to the dresses the ladies are wearing but I can never qwuite tell since the image is small and off the TV quickly. More to the point, I’m not sure what switching the laptops is supposed to accomplish. I mean, the image on the screens will be the same so if Boy A was on the wrong side of Girl A, switching the laptops won’t change anything. > > In any event, it confuses and therefore angers me. From your description of the ad, it sounds like Girl A and Boy A are dating as are B and B. It sounds like Boy A has Boy B’s computer thus is seeing Girl B (ie his brothers girlfriend) and vice versa, by switching computers they get their own girlfriends back. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253/40 "2008-11-27T04:38:06Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I think it’s extremely creepy that Brooke Shields is doing these weird VW commercials about how women are having babies because they…want a VW mini van? > > There’s [this long form “mockumentary”](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xDZSxFLcMVg) and then the [commercials](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PZeA_1Ku6Z0). > > It’s just friggin’ weird, and even weirder for her to be making light of having kids after her well-publicized bout of postpartum depression. > > Ick. I wasn’t aware that children were a prerequisite to buying a minivan. I am so out of the loop. That commercial squicks me out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-i-dont-understand/474253.md?page=3)