# Commercials that fail **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562 "2009-03-15T23:00:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/1 "2009-03-15T23:00:39Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvOKl1DvJIs) This commercial simply doesn’t send the message it was intended to me. The commercial is all about how unique the Audi Q5 is. When I see it, though, I see an SUV that’s almost identical to all the others, except that it’s black. Seriously, I can’t really tell the difference between them. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/2 "2009-03-15T23:42:30Z")
Audis are the most generic looking cars ever made. I can’t believe they would even bother to market them as having any kind of individuality. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/3 "2009-03-15T23:51:23Z")
Uh, I don’t understand. How could you not tell the difference? Here’s an [Audi](http://charlescarservice.com/audi-logo.jpg) logo, and here’s a [Mercedes](http://www.topnews.in/files/Mercedes-logo.png) logo. Totally different. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/4 "2009-03-16T05:29:39Z")
The new filet o fish ad for McDonalds fails. How could a talking fish make you want to eat a fish sandwich? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/5 "2009-03-16T14:24:44Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > The new filet o fish ad for McDonalds fails. How could a talking fish make you want to eat a fish sandwich? It doesn’t fail, because you remember both the commercial and the product that it’s trying to sell. To expand, it works because it burns an earworm of a song into your brain that forces you to go out and buy the sandwich. 😃 Plus, the commercial tells you that they’re on sale (2 for $3.33), which is about 50% off the normal price. I hadn’t eaten a Filet-O-Fish in years, but I’ve ordered them twice since that commercial started up. My wife also had one, offered my son a bite for the first time, and he’s just decided he likes them. Complete WIN for McD’s, at least in my household. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/6 "2009-03-16T14:28:17Z")
H&R Block’s Cyclops commercial that mercifully seems to have been put out of our misery. It took me four times before I could watch it to the end and figure out what it was for. ---
**Author:** ![Xan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ac8455/32.png) [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/7 "2009-03-16T14:31:32Z")
There is this one commercial for some cell phone company that is advertising its rollover minutes. The set up is its a garage sale and the mother sees the son selling the rollover minutes and goes on about how in “these economic times you can’t be too careful blah blah blah” My problem is that by selling the rollover minutes they’re generating income. Which is exactly what you want to do. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/8 "2009-03-16T14:32:00Z")
Audi has another one where as the camera pans around a residence all the decor is replaced with more contemporary stuff. When they get to the driveway, the nice looking Mercedes is replaced by some go-cart with eyeliner. Its message is be sure and park your Benz on top of the interior decorator. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/9 "2009-03-16T14:34:53Z")
There’s a commercial for cat litter that claims the litter is so free of odor that the cat has a difficult time finding his litter box. Odor free is good, but one thing that I do not want is my cat wandering around unable to find his litter box. Not that I think that would really happen, but I don’t even want to think about it happening. The only thing that commercial makes me think of is a poor cat eventually peeing on the floor. I don’t remember the brand of litter, and it certainly didn’t convince me to stop using the brand I presently use, so it doesn’t even succeed on the “at least you know the name of the product” level. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/10 "2009-03-16T14:41:39Z")
I stopped eating at Burger King for several months following the “Whopper Freakout” commercials where customers were filmed on closed circuit television throwing hissy fits when told that BK no longer served the Whopper. Their message seemed to be “This is the place to eat if you represent the lowest rungs of society”. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/11 "2009-03-16T14:51:49Z")
> [@robby](#): > > It doesn’t fail, because you remember both the commercial and the product that it’s trying to sell. I see this thought all the time, and it just isn’t true. Advertising is only partially successful if the commercial is remembered, but it must also deliver customers in some way. There is some value in brand awareness, BASF and its ads, but I guarantee you McD’s will consider the ad campaign a failure if sales do not go up. As an example, I can remember Alltel’s commercials right now and even the jingle. But, the commercials do nothing to convince me their product is worthy of my time. Their actively mocking tone actually turns me away. Advertising fail. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/12 "2009-03-16T15:03:04Z")
I can’t change the channel fast enough when the McDonald’s commercial shows up. Networks are hurting themselves by running that crap. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/13 "2009-03-16T15:11:22Z")
Has anyone seen the (new?) State Farm commercials? Though I remember what they’re for, I still don’t they’re successful–they make me vaguely uncomfortable. Similar to the Whopper Freakout mentioned above. One of them has some people buying hot dogs from a vendor, and they don’t come with a bun, and the ketchup and mustard is watery. The people argue with the vendor that a “hot dog comes with a bun” and the guy answers back “the sign says hot dog, I give you hot dog!” Back and forth until he goes “Thanks! Tell your friends!” and the lady says “No way am I telling anybody to come here.” Oh, here it is: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ8Xp6apyX8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ8Xp6apyX8) Oh, and this one’s really gross, too (“I don’t know where your hands have been”) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hRsGR1icRQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hRsGR1icRQ) ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/14 "2009-03-16T15:26:32Z")
two commercials spring to mind as failures… one was a radio ad from a few years ago, I never found out what it was for, because it started with some stupid brat whining "Mommmmm, Joey’s _hitting_ me!..\*, I _HATE_ whining brats, so as soon as I heard the first few syllables, I simply turned the radio off for the 1 minute spot it ended up sounding like this; “Mommmm, J\-------------” brilliant way to advertise your crap, people, irritate listeners so the first thing they do is shut off the radio before it even gets to the product/service being promoted any “male enhancement” advert gets me to automatically shut off the TV or switch channels, I got enough spam for that crap in my e-mail, what makes you think I want to listen to you shill that crap on TV? ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/15 "2009-03-16T15:36:13Z")
The fact that I can’t remember any current commercials well enough to summarize them is a clear sign of failure … and my excessive use of the fast forward button. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/16 "2009-03-16T15:42:15Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > The new filet o fish ad for McDonalds fails. How could a talking fish make you want to eat a fish sandwich? I love this commercial and I have to say that it does make me crave a Filet O’Fish. It’s so nutty and weird. I can see why it would be a love it or hate it kind of ad though. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/17 "2009-03-16T15:44:46Z")
As **Robby** has correctly pointed out, if you remember the ad, it’s not a failure. That’s the entire point. No one really remembers the details of an ad several months later. But they can remember the name of the product. If you can cite the product, then the ad works. Now, if you want failure, there was back about 20 years ago a laxative commercial (Dulcolax Stool Softener,l I believe). The laxative came in a brown capsule. Brown. Long and cylindrical. Then, someone took one of these brown capsules and cut into it. A dark brown liquid _oozed_ out of it. Form follows function, I guess, but here was a commercial guaranteed to make any viewer think, “I’m not putting _that_ into my mouth.” And that feeling of disgust will linger for anyone who hears the name of the product. I note that Dulcolax doesn’t have any pictures of their pills on their website and it looks like they are no longer brown. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/18 "2009-03-16T15:47:02Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > The new filet o fish ad for McDonalds fails. How could a talking fish make you want to eat a fish sandwich? It worked pretty well for StarKist Tuna. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/19 "2009-03-16T16:31:38Z")
> [@Xan](#): > > There is this one commercial for some cell phone company that is advertising its rollover minutes. The set up is its a garage sale and the mother sees the son selling the rollover minutes and goes on about how in “these economic times you can’t be too careful blah blah blah” > > My problem is that by selling the rollover minutes they’re generating income. Which is exactly what you want to do. Worse than that - anyone that knows about ‘rollover’ minutes knows that they do, in fact, expire, and you lose them every month if you dont use them. I’ve got 6K rollover minutes, I lose 400 minutes per month in expired rollover minutes… so, yeah, I’d love to sell those sumbitches off. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/20 "2009-03-16T17:08:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > As **Robby** has correctly pointed out, if you remember the ad, it’s not a failure. That’s the entire point. I don’t entirely agree. Burger King lost several months of potential purchases from me (and I eat fast food on an all-too-regular basis). Today, I’m not any more likely to go there than I was prior to the “Whopper Freakout” campaign. So, in regards to me, the campaign was a failure. Granted I’m just one soul and they care about the big picture. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562.md?page=2)