# Commercials that make you want to change the channel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841 "2008-11-08T20:58:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/141 "2009-05-10T20:01:34Z")
"five, five dollar, five dollar foooot loooongs!’ ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/142 "2009-05-12T03:33:10Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > "five, five dollar, five dollar foooot loooongs!’ Oddly, I never found [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZE1zfVaJR0) the least bit objectionable. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/143 "2009-05-12T04:43:42Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Right now, all the cable news channels seem to be airing commercials that play during EVERY break for … well, I don’t know, because I’m usually in the bedroom when they come on, where the TV is background noise, and I’m not seeing the screen. Anyhow, the commercial has 1940s-style cha-cha, rhumba or tango music, and the words “be cooooool” somewhere in it. When I glance at the screen, it’s animated leaf silhouettes showing photos of beds and home interior stuff. That ad is for [Doubletree Hotels](http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/index.do;jsessionid=3A12129F16AC4B2B80BFC858B5EC7B60.etc72) and I do agree that MSNBC and CNN seem to play it at _every_ commercial break. It’s a perfect example of an otherwise innocuous commercial made annoying from being overplayed. I think they’ve been running that ad for about two years. Doesn’t Doubletree have any others? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/144 "2009-05-12T05:09:55Z")
Any boner med ads. Matching bathtubs out in the yard, squeezing into the 1970 prom tux, or being ferried to The F\*\*k Hut on Pleasure Island. Smiling Bob is OK, though! Random people blatting out “five dollar footlong” like they’re trying out for American Idol. Like, we’re supposed to KNOW this song somehow, and get a warm, happy, giddy feeling? Why? The SPCA commercial? I only saw it once, and I would rather go deaf and blind than ever see such a sad, cruel thing ever again. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/145 "2009-05-12T13:47:36Z")
The carpet cleaner commercial where the dog is dragging his ass across the carpet. The mother’s shrill scream makes me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/146 "2009-05-12T14:24:45Z")
Currently playing, seemingly at every single commercial break: AT&T ads. The air, it is saturated with AT&T ads. Some are for their yellow pages, some for their internet service, some for phones. Such overkill makes me question why my AT&T bill is so high and why I ever signed up for U-Verse. There must be some huge battlle waging between AT&T and some other carrier that I don’t know about, to warrant what has to be a multi-million dollar ad campaign, with old people running down pharmacists in their jeep, pizza delivery people sliding down mountains on their pizza delivery cases, moms glaring at their kids for not using their rollover minutes, etc. Repeatedly. On all channels, at all times of the day and night. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/147 "2009-05-12T15:47:06Z")
Another vote for any male enhancement product. Do you know how cringe-inducing that is to be sitting in a living room with young teens and that comes on? How do you explain what that commercial is trying to sell?? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/148 "2009-05-12T15:48:25Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > "five, five dollar, five dollar foooot loooongs!’ And “Do I want chips and a drink? Of COURSE I want chips and a drink (you stupid bitch!)” ---
**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:** [May 12, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/149 "2009-05-12T17:43:47Z")
I don’t know if anyone else gets the Monster “On Comcast spotlight” commercials, but dear god I hate them. The commercials (and it’s always two of em back to back) have this annoying pipe music thing they play, and it just grates on my ears. Not to mention that they play them all of the time…I hate them and literally change the channel when I see them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/150 "2009-05-12T21:07:13Z")
The ad for the online dating service (e-Harmony?) featuring the chunky guy rolling along on his bicycle talking about he’s going to take his daughter to a Broadway show (“She gets to pick, Daddy gets to pay”). Ladies, is this really your dream man? Could _anybody_ be that desperate?\* \*besides, he reminds me a little of my brother-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/151 "2009-05-13T06:25:08Z")
The retarded **State Farm** commercials where the hot dog guy sells JUST the hot dog, or the ice cream guy doesn’t have a stick in the popsicle… ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/152 "2009-05-13T07:18:06Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > There’s a new one which makes me want to throw things at the TV. KFC’s new ads for their grilled chicken feature “Chef” Sandra Lee in a white chef’s jacket. Chef? Chef?! The woman is not a chef, she’s a cook and not a very good one at that. I’m not a fan of Rachel Ray but at least she won’t call herself a chef. I’ve checked Lee’s bios online to see if maybe she actually received some professional training or worked in restaurants and I haven’t found anything that says she did either. What an insult to actual chefs. Cook? Cook? That is an insult to cooks everywhere. Sandra Lee the stepford wife of the food network isn’t a chef, she isn’t a cook, she is someone who opens cans. AFAICT her only ability is that she does not hurt herself with the can opener. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/153 "2009-05-13T07:31:17Z")
Did Head On go out of business? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/154 "2009-05-13T16:24:48Z")
WTF is up with these commercials for “Cricket?” It’s a cell phone company that seems to be aiming at the same market as Boost Mobile. They’ve decided that there’s some link between Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and their product… there’s one with a nervous-looking woman humming along which makes no sense. The one I hate the most, though, is the one where this teenager gets a text at the table. Inexplicably, she climbs on the table and starts singing “Respect.” Which raises two questions: how does one demand respect when standing on a dining room table, and why don’t her parents tackle her ass and throw her in the basement until she turns 18? ---
**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:** [May 13, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/155 "2009-05-13T16:39:32Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Cook? Cook? That is an insult to cooks everywhere. Sandra Lee the stepford wife of the food network isn’t a chef, she isn’t a cook, she is someone who opens cans. > AFAICT her only ability is that she does not hurt herself with the can opener. Well, it was just too long to say “attention whore that only opens packets and cans and dumps the contents in pots and heats them up.” I saw another annoying commercial with Lee, it seems that just telling you to use all this short cut stuff is not enough, now she is getting a show to show people how to shop for all this crap. It might be mildly interesting to see how she justifies buying pre-chopped veggies even though they cost much more than buying the vegetable and cutting it up yourself, but not interesting enough to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/156 "2009-05-13T18:44:25Z")
[And now you know the reason I will never, ever, for any reason whatsoever, including the end times and lack of food, ever set foot in a Jimmy John’s.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8T9hNKXiS0) PS - make sure your sound is turned down or you’ll freak everyone around you out. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/157 "2009-05-13T18:51:28Z")
If Homeland Security picks me up on suspicion of sabotaging railroad tracks, at least it means I never have to hear those Freight Rail Works commercials again, right…? Might be worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/158 "2009-05-13T20:45:46Z")
Any commercial for Quizno’s. But especially the new ones with the guy and his highly disturbing sexual relationship with the oven. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841/159 "2009-05-14T20:43:01Z")
**control-z** said: > [@](#): > > And “Do I want chips and a drink? Of COURSE I want chips and a drink (you stupid bitch!)” To be fair, I often don’t want chips and a drink. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-make-you-want-to-change-the-channel/471841.md?page=7)