# Commercials that think you're an idiot **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494 "2013-07-03T00:13:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/41 "2013-07-03T16:49:58Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > “Only \_\_\_ Juice has Phyto-chemicals…” Ok, plant chemicals, I dig it. So? Also, any commercial that claims its product is the _only_ one that has TrademarkedNameIngredient. Yes. Because that’s how trademarks work. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/42 "2013-07-03T16:53:31Z")
I don’t know if they make me feel like an idiot, but the Western Sky Loans commercials sure make me feel like I need to take a shower after reading the fine print. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/43 "2013-07-03T16:57:03Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > I don’t know if they make me feel like an idiot, but the Western Sky Loans commercials sure make me feel like I need to take a shower after reading the fine print. At least the one they show here comes right out and says they’re expensive. (Or at least they did; I haven’t paid attention recently.) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/44 "2013-07-03T17:05:24Z")
“Focus medical group is opening a free trial for (insert woo pills here). We are looking for volunteers to join this exciting study. Call 1-800-DRQUACK to sign up and receive your 1st month’s free supply.” Is anyone fooled into thinking this sort of pitch is an actual controlled medical research study? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/45 "2013-07-03T17:06:48Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > At least the one they show here comes right out and says they’re expensive. (Or at least they did; I haven’t paid attention recently.) And they’re getting progressively more blunt about their honesty. I think the next round of them is on target to say “We’ve got money and you don’t, be happy we aren’t asking for your children.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/46 "2013-07-03T17:21:39Z")
“This seminar will be sold out, so register now to avoid disappointment.” - So, why are you advertising at all then? “This weekend only, all reasonable offers will be accepted!” - So, on the other 51 weekends this year you only accepted unreasonable offers? ETA: Any radio commercial where they dub in background noises to make you think they actually recorded the commercial in a tire shop, kitchen, car dealership, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/47 "2013-07-03T17:22:04Z")
There’s a radio commercial for Frontier broadband Internet service that I hear during every Seattle Mariners game. During the high-speed “fine print” jabber at the very end of the commercial is the line, “$9.99 broadband processing fee upon termination of service.” Translation: “Cancel your account? Fine. We’re going to gouge you for an extra ten bucks for no legitimate reason, and cloak it in a technobabble name that you’re too stupid to recognize as meaningless.” ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/48 "2013-07-03T17:27:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The year is 2013. Anyone who spends any time playing video games knows the difference between what actual game footage looks like and what pre-rendered cutscenes look like. > > And yet, God help us if every single ad for the next blockbuster game isn’t made entirely out of cutscenes and CGI and doesn’t include so much as a single second of what the game actually looks like. I don’t want to play the game. Just turn the cutscenes into a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/49 "2013-07-03T17:32:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > At least the one they show here comes right out and says they’re expensive. (Or at least they did; I haven’t paid attention recently.) Unless it’s in the process of being changed (or regional), here they don’t make mention about being expensive at all, but they do mention that YOU can have $10,000 in your account TOMORROW. All of the information stating that the loan is at +80% interest, and you’re expected to make payments of $750 per month for 5 years or so is in the fine print at the bottom of the screen. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/50 "2013-07-03T17:41:01Z")
I did the math for one of those Western Sky loans - you end up paying something like $85K over 6 or 7 years for a $10K loan. Totally insane… ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/51 "2013-07-03T17:46:13Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > Unless it’s in the process of being changed (or regional), here they don’t make mention about being expensive at all, but they do mention that YOU can have $10,000 in your account TOMORROW. All of the information stating that the loan is at +80% interest, and you’re expected to make payments of $750 per month for 5 years or so is in the fine print at the bottom of the screen. I can personally testify having heard one of their ads on the radio that outright said “Sure, it’s expensive, but you need money now!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/52 "2013-07-03T18:02:30Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I can personally testify having heard one of their ads on the radio that outright said “Sure, it’s expensive, but you need money now!” As I said, I haven’t paid attention recently. But that sounds a lot like what I remember; at least the ‘Sure, it’s expensive’ part. I have the impression that the message was, ‘Sure it’s expensive; but not as expensive as getting payday loans.’ ---
**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:** [July 3, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/53 "2013-07-03T18:21:03Z")
Yeah, when I’ve heard it, it has been “Kind of expensive but cheaper than a payday loan!” ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/54 "2013-07-03T18:25:10Z")
I like the Allstate ad mentioned above. I giggle every time the girl says “silence.” And if you haven’t run into a man insisting that men are better drivers, you don’t live in the same America I do. It’s a very common stupidity. (Although if you are implying that the logic fails because her check does not necessarily support her claim that she is the better driver, you might have a point. However, she has a check and he doesn’t. It’s a good start to the debate. ) The Sizzler ad where the standard incompetent dad is about to feed his kids cereal for dinner (but they like it!) and is told he can just take them out for dinner. He’s so surprised, because of course no warm blooded American knows that such things as restaurants exist and are a good alternative when you don’t feel like cooking. I’m also annoyed at the implication that the father is so incompetent that he can’t even manage spaghetti and a salad for dinner. It’s either cold cereal or Sizzler. There are no other viable options for dinner even though that pantry looks pretty full. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/55 "2013-07-03T18:29:45Z")
I like the commercials for new TVs with a better, clearer, sharper picture, complete with some pictures showing on that TV to display its greatness. “Wow! Look how much clearer that TV looks…on my current TV!” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/56 "2013-07-03T19:10:33Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > A local car dealer has been running radio ads where he’s offering deals on trade-ins where he says something like “we need cars so badly that we’ll offer you blah blah blah…”. > > You don’t need cars you dishonest so-and-so. You’re offering a transaction where a person drives in with one car and drives off with another, how would that help with a car shortage? > > This same guy also says, “I believe everyone deserves to be driving a brand new car”. Really? Then what’s your plan for all of those trade-ins you need so desperately? Are you going to try to sell them to people that you believe deserve better? I have to include this link to the only honest car dealer: [Not safe for work, but what are you doing watching this at work, anyway?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZuN0xXWLc) ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/57 "2013-07-03T19:27:11Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > A local car dealer has been running radio ads where he’s offering deals on trade-ins where he says something like “we need cars so badly that we’ll offer you blah blah blah…”. > > You don’t need cars you dishonest so-and-so. You’re offering a transaction where a person drives in with one car and drives off with another, how would that help with a car shortage? > > This same guy also says, “I believe everyone deserves to be driving a brand new car”. Really? Then what’s your plan for all of those trade-ins you need so desperately? Are you going to try to sell them to people that you believe deserve better? I know this may come as a shock but not everyone that buys a car has a trade in. Furthermore not every car that is traded in is kept and put on the used car line. Many are wholesaled or sometimes junked. When the supply is short the dealer has to either go to an auction or advertise for used cars. Often both. ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/58 "2013-07-03T19:47:39Z")
The Radio Ads that try and start off as though you are coming back to your “normal station”… intro music… "welcome back, more great music in a second but I was just handed this special news for our listeners only _rustles paper_ The other is any car ad TV or Radio where they imply that they they are making only $50 on the car PLUS they will give us 3X your trade in value… in reality you are getting neither, but some poor idiot believes it i am sure. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/59 "2013-07-03T19:53:56Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > And if you haven’t run into a man insisting that men are better drivers, you don’t live in the same America I do. I’ve run into a few women who think _other women_ are shittier drivers than men. What does that win me? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494/60 "2013-07-03T20:08:40Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > any damn infomercial which makes it seem like people can’t do mundane tasks such as folding a T-shirt without suffering life-threatening injuries.. 30 Rock parodied this (some Tracy Jordan hair-brained idea about making sandwiches without bread), where their infomercial shows people hurting themselves handling a slice of bread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-that-think-youre-an-idiot/662494.md?page=4)