# Commercials that crack you up, or otherwise compel you to watch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226 "2015-04-21T21:15:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/61 "2015-04-23T02:09:50Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > The programming on the Discovery Channel has gone sadly downhill, but this commercial always brings a tear to my eye: > > [Boom De Ya Da!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVP4l2dSyYw) A classic. If \*that \*doesn’t bring a tear to one’s eye, one simply has no soul. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/62 "2015-04-23T02:17:57Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > A classic. If \*that \*doesn’t bring a tear to one’s eye, one simply has no soul. I’ve hesitated to post this here, because I’ve posted it to SDMB twice before, but I can’t let a challenge go by. If you want a tear-jerker, [here it is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGhPR3AcweU). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/63 "2015-04-23T02:35:16Z")
Don’t know if these are on YouTube, but I saw them on Johnny Carson back in the late '60s or early '70s: A British commercial that starts out on a train platform … a long, drawn out, very romantic farewell between a middle-aged man and his wife … orchestral music plays as he runs after the train and they wave goodbye to each other until she disappears into the distance … he trudges home alone through a working-class neighborhood … he arrives and settles down into his easy chair for the evening … he flips on the telly … and it turns out you’re watching an advert for frozen TV dinners, which is all the poor guy has to eat with his wife away! A German (or maybe Dutch or Swedish) commercial that starts with an extreme close up of what looks suspiciously like part of the female anatomy … the camera starts to slowly pull back … and the narrator says in a deep accented voice “This … is a peach!” It turns out you’re watching an advert for toilet paper, with which a hand massages the peach very sensually as they slowly fade out… The second one brought the house down! I though Carson was going to pass out from laughter! ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/64 "2015-04-23T02:49:29Z")
This [Portlandia-esque](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA0inxr0Ew0)one from Geico gets me every time. I could watch it six times in a row and still crack up. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/65 "2015-04-24T12:43:47Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > BMW commercial with mom in the back seat. “Yahoo! That’s what we say on the ranch.” “Mom, you’re from Queens.” Same backseat mom, “Pick up the.pace. I’m eighty.” She cracks me up. I’m falling in love with this one. First of all, it’s not my mom. And also her son is getting what he deserves for driving around in a snobby BMW. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/66 "2015-04-24T13:31:40Z")
How about the Orbit Gum [Son of a biscuit eating bulldog!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfh92hKLO6c) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/67 "2015-04-24T13:35:29Z")
[This one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-P0Hs0ADJY) cracks me up! And I don’t even like Doritos! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/68 "2015-04-24T14:09:34Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I enjoy the Clash of Clans (You and this Army) commercials. I have no intention of ever playing the game because I don’t feel like having to shell out for in-app purchases in order to level up, but the animations for the commercials are a lot of fun. I’d probably watch a (short) feature film based on the commercials. I’ve said this exact phrase before IRL and I’m really quite surprised that they HAVEN’T made a movie yet. I think Clash of Clans and the other one (maybe two) knock-offs of the same company are all hilarious and fun. Don’t Touch that! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/69 "2015-04-24T14:39:16Z")
I miss the old Weather Channel “The Front” commercials (I miss the old Weather Channel, too, but that’s a different rant). The Front was a “weather bar”. They had a series of these. I like these two the best: [I did weather in college.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TC6TnEhv-A) [Face paint](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqYDx5rQjdA) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/70 "2015-04-24T14:43:02Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > The programming on the Discovery Channel has gone sadly downhill, but this commercial always brings a tear to my eye: > > [Boom De Ya Da!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVP4l2dSyYw) Oh man! What happened to the future? We used to have space shuttles. We used to have good science programming. We used to vaccinate our children. How did we go backwards? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/71 "2015-04-24T14:50:58Z")
Back when [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GQBABkFI34) was airing, my (then) teenage daughter and I would act it out. Drove Ivylad nuts. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/72 "2015-04-24T14:55:04Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > The insurance commercial–“you thought you were paying for this, but you’re actually paying for _this_.” And a guy with a bouffant and a yellow sports car appears in the suburban garage and starts to twerk. That one makes me laugh every time. My wife and I will sometimes start dancing next to the mini-van and singing, “danger.” It works best if the kids are around to embarrass. The Salt n Peppa one was funny the first twenty times. Now it just gets that song in my head. I like the Lilly one where she says she’s into bedazzling, and the little sister’s delivery of “And you _admit_ that?” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/73 "2015-04-24T15:07:31Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Oh man! What happened to the future? We used to have space shuttles. **We used to have good science programming.** We used to vaccinate our children. > > How did we go backwards? [Network decay.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NetworkDecay) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/74 "2015-04-24T16:22:07Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Network decay.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NetworkDecay) Ha. They even have a listing for The Weather Channel, the one channel to rival MTV for the furthest drift from the original concept. I mean, TWC shows “weather themed” movies, fer cryin’ out loud. I want my network that made “The Front” commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Coffeecup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Coffeecup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coffeecup)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/75 "2015-04-24T18:17:44Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Network decay.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NetworkDecay) Thanks for the link to the Network Decay article. I would have commented over there, but the thread is two years old. Several networks I used to love, such as Weather Channel, History Channel and Arts & Entertainment, have gone down the toilet. Back to the topic: I always enjoy the Budweiser Super Bowl commercials with the Clydesdale horses. That’s my “warm and fuzzy” commercial. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/76 "2015-04-24T18:32:04Z")
I grew up in Minneapolis, went to college in St Paul. Someone has got to remember these “locally produced” commercials from the '70s or early '80s: Every long weekend, Channel 5 (I think) would do a marathon of old-time cinema, mostly serials from the '30s and '40s (_ **Zorro** _, _ **Flash Gordon** _). These were hosted by a thirty-ish guy named Tim, who actually owned the movies (had quite a collection, as I recall). Before station breaks, he’d do a stand-up against a wall in his business suit, reading trivia about when the films were shown in the the_ay_ter off of cue cards. Then they’d cut to him doing a commercial for a takeout joint, standing up against the same wall in his blue jeans and sweater hood and reading his lines off cue cards: “_Pizza_, the _best in town_!” “_Buckets_ of _chicken_!” “_Mountains_ of _ribs_!” Every cut of the commercial, he’d be stuffing his face with food. Must have put on ten pounds every Memorial Day! The other one was typically shown around 2:00 am and had a guy named Oscar who owned a carpet warehouse and apparently insisted on doing his own adverts. He was probably fifty-something and looked like Jabba the Hut: bald and morbidly obese. He would always be dressed up for the occasion in something like a cheap Robin Hood costume or a kid’s cowboy hat (on holidays, he might be Santa Claus, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus, a leprechaun…). After reading his lines off cue cards deadpan, he’d end the commercial by saying “Tell them Oscar sent you!” and then making a dramatic gesture … like shooting a rubber arrow two feet or firing a cap gun into the air. And _that’s_ entertainment! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/77 "2015-04-25T02:04:48Z")
It’s a regional thing, but I love watching the old commercials for Atlantic Transmissions. The boss’s wife with her fabulous Philly accent. This is the best I could find online: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpJcGheyFeI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpJcGheyFeI) But unfortunately it’s lacking her rendition of their slogan: So if yer traynzmishin gits outta kimmishin, Dayn’t git frannic, kawl Itlannic! She’s just so local it kills me every time. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/78 "2015-04-27T03:42:29Z")
[An oldie.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2QNuDUTocE) ---
**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 27, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/79 "2015-04-27T12:14:23Z")
This may be regional, but [Dairy Doo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUgjZFBjeiU) cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226/80 "2015-04-27T13:29:49Z")
It’s extraordinarily rare for me to be enamored of a commercial, but the [recent Fiat 500 ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZQbY4sVGDs) (vs the big black 4x4) absolutely cracked me up. Very ballsy concept and execution. After you watch it - [What idiot chases an Italian to the docks!?] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-crack-you-up-or-otherwise-compel-you-to-watch/718226.md?page=5)