# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/101 "2009-03-21T17:06:55Z")
The e-trade vomiting baby is hysterical. Shankasauruses. I don’t like the one where the lady takes off her own head. Have no idea what they’re advertising but it’s disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Prox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/da6949/32.png) [@Prox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prox)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/102 "2009-03-21T17:27:13Z")
There was a Superbowl ad with Jason Statham. It featured Statham doing action-y things in different decades, with him driving in cool luxury cars like Mercedes and BMW from each decade. At the end, he jumps to the '00s and into a completely forgettable car. I can’t even remember the brand. Maybe if I was in remotely in the market for luxury cars I’d have noted it, but it seems to me the perfect example of a failed ad. It ended up making it’s competitors look cooler! ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/103 "2009-03-21T22:18:43Z")
There’s one playing right now that isn’t a failure by itself — in fact it’s a good ad. The problem is the frequency. Two guys shoving off from a dock on a fishing trip. They coment on what a beautiful day it is. The guy on the dock says “too bad your boat will sink at 11:30”. Cut to a woman jogging in the park. She sees a dog and approaches it. The dog says “stay away from me. I have rabies”. Then the voiceover says “wouldn’t it be great of we knew when bad things were about to happen?” (or something like that). The ad is for diabetes education and how you should know your something-or-other score. Lately, I’ve been watching more TV than I usually do, so perhaps this accounts for my reaction, but they seem to show this ad CONSTANTLY on all channels. Almost to the point of irritation. That amount of ad saturation has got to be extremely expensive. It makes me wonder every time I see it: Did the Diabetes Foundation just get a huge infusion of cash? They must have. Which triggers the next thought: Will they spend my donation (should I wish to make one) on even more ads? ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/104 "2009-03-22T03:12:17Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > There was a commercial sometime, I believe, last year, for gum or mints or something. Some guy was chewing the gum or eating the mints or whatever, and sitting in a chair, and a woman walked by and _lifted up his nose and drank from his mouth like a faucet_. Oh my goodness, it was so horrifyingly disgusting I can’t even think about it without cringing. Whatever product it was for is long, long since forgotten, but that visual is stuck in my brain until the Judgment day. And perhaps beyond. She didn’t drink, she kissed him. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/105 "2009-03-22T03:34:25Z")
Saw this for the first time today and it’s freaking me out. I think it’s a Wal-Mart ad, for their garden department. There’s a mass of flowers slithering down the street followed by a couple slinking bags of fertilizer or topsoil or something. Flowers shouldn’t be creepy, but this writhing mass of daisies is downright squicky. It’s kinda like maggots. One is kinda cute. Any more than one is oogy. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/106 "2009-03-22T16:11:10Z")
[Fudgems](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fhq08gtX-0) - a coprophile had to involved in these ads at some point. The Windows ads (can’t find a clip) where people are using this mystery OS and then REVEAL it’s Windows Vista. Response - “Gee Vista is supposed to really suck and this OS wasn’t too bad. What a surprise!” Beyond pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/107 "2009-03-22T17:08:38Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I don’t like the one where the lady takes off her own head. Have no idea what they’re advertising but it’s disturbing. Some migraine medication. That commercial drives me nuts not for the head-removal, but because the second woman who beheads herself (in the supermarket) has an absolutely _hideous_ haircut. Makes her look like an especially frumpy poodle. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/108 "2009-03-22T19:03:01Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Saw this for the first time today and it’s freaking me out. I think it’s a Wal-Mart ad, for their garden department. There’s a mass of flowers slithering down the street followed by a couple slinking bags of fertilizer or topsoil or something. Flowers shouldn’t be creepy, but this writhing mass of daisies is downright squicky. > > It’s kinda like maggots. One is kinda cute. Any more than one is oogy. The other new Wal-Mart ad is for makeup. Not for any particular brand, just “buy your makeup at Wal-Mart.” And there is a woman singing “I Enjoy Being a Girl” from \*Flower Drum Song \*in the most whiny, nasal, aren’t-I-hip-and-edgy voice that makes me not only not want to make me buy my makeup from Wal-Mart, but makes me want to jam a tube of Maybelline mascara sideways down her epiglottis. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [March 22, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/109 "2009-03-22T19:24:56Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The Windows ads (can’t find a clip) where people are using this mystery OS and then REVEAL it’s Windows Vista. Response - “Gee Vista is supposed to really suck and this OS wasn’t too bad. What a surprise!” > > Beyond pathetic. I really liked this ad (called [The Mojave Experiment](http://www.mojaveexperiment.com/)) because it matched my experiences with people and Vista. People would ask me why I had a laptop with Vista on it because Vista sucked. Even though the reality is that Vista’s biggest problem (old software/hardware compatibility) didn’t apply to anyone doing the complaining. They were casual users that would have been upgrading PCs that were at least five years old. They weren’t upgrading anything or getting into the nuts and bolts of installation. They would be buying a new PC and taking it out of the box. And Vista is a good OS for that. Which is what the ads showed. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/110 "2009-03-22T19:47:43Z")
There’s a cheque cashing franchise around these parts with an incredibly weak campaign. Their ads repeatedly ask the question [What kind of a person uses Money Mart?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfR0V0FslCs&feature=PlayList&p=39E276B97423F10C&) The whole tone of the ads is, “It’s not _really_ just for desperate losers with no other options. Honest!” …but they don’t really make much of an argument, and the spokesman that they’ve picked comes off as a slimy, smug, waste of skin that looks like a character actor doing a screentest for a bit part as a con-man on an episode of _Law & Order_. “Who uses Money Mart? People who (although they are clearly living pay-to-pay) are happy to sacrifice **3%** of their pay to have their cheque cashed. Stupid people, basically. Hey, _you_ could be stupid.” [smarmy smile] What kind of a bank holds your regular paycheque, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![IdahoMauleMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71c47a/32.png) [@IdahoMauleMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IdahoMauleMan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/111 "2009-03-22T20:29:01Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > The new Hulu commercials are so cheesy and witty they almost outweigh the fact they’re trying to promote TV shows available via the internet by repeating the concept that TV rots the brain. Almost. My wife and I don’t have a TV and we both hate Alec Baldwin (except for his small but powerful role in Glengarry Glen Ross, which is a topic for another day). But we were over at a friend’s house watching the SuperBowl and saw the Hulu ad. And I have to admit that I laughed my ass off. The best line was something like, 'What…like you’re going to turn off your both your television AND your computing device?" And then he smirks and chuckles at the stupidity of such a suggestion. I thought it was great. But I don’t get out much. Maybe that’s the reason. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562/112 "2009-03-23T02:49:08Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > She didn’t drink, she kissed him. They released an edited version of the commercial later in its run; the original clearly showed her placing her lips to his and chugging, complete with “glug glug” sound effects. I’ve noticed that they’ve edited the beheading migraine commercials – now the ladies (why always ladies?) rip their heads of of a page. It doesn’t make any sense at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-fail/489562.md?page=5)