# Commercials with unintended messages **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539 "2017-04-16T02:10:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/1 "2017-04-16T02:10:26Z")
Inspired by Boyo Jim’s post about unintended symbology… I have a personal game of watching for unintended but clear messages in TV commercials. Favorite example: a whole series of commercials in support of Frosted Mini Wheats cereal. All of them feature an avid customer of Mini Wheats, who hallucinates that they have the assistance of a small animated, living piece of the cereal itself, standing on their shoulder, helping them to cheat on tests, or otherwise perform above the level they would have, had they failed to eat this apparently drug-laden product each morning. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/2 "2017-04-16T02:16:45Z")
^ Yeah, but where’s the one with the horns, barbed tail and pitchfork for his other shoulder? I hope this was accidental, but years back, there was a tampon commercial with the slogan, “Look for the box with the dots.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/3 "2017-04-16T02:29:33Z")
There’s a recent State Farm [commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM_zTNOvPLI) where a guy tells his wife various things, only to later do those exact things (have kids, buying a minivan, moving to the suburbs). His last line, where his kids and wife are all asleep in his arms while he’s sitting on the couch, is “I’m never letting go.” Since every other thing he says becomes untrue due to circumstance, his pattern seems to indicate that he will, in fact, let go. ---
**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 16, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/4 "2017-04-16T02:35:03Z")
It’s for a psychiatric medication. Right when the voiceover is mentioning suicidal impulses as a side effect, the visual is two women standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/5 "2017-04-16T03:41:32Z")
But the point is do you get the context of what they are trying to market? Communication of intent is all that matters, how you interpret is either your own fault or a misguided, poorly done commercial. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/6 "2017-04-16T05:44:27Z")
There are many contemporary ads where the protagonist does something at the end of the commercial in a style that seems to suggest they’re affable yet inadequate schlubs. Their action or self-presentation, which is presented as a joke-at-their-expense punchline of a sort, usually undoes any confidence the ad has built about its product or service. It leaves me thinking, “You’re a loser and the ad works against selling me That Thing.” ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/7 "2017-04-16T05:53:39Z")
Well, there _ **is** _ that famous [Folgers Christmas commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZnqBL6iYjA)… ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/8 "2017-04-16T07:42:37Z")
From a LONG time ago: A couple are in bed fighting over the remote. Male begrudgingly gives up the remote to the woman. After she turns the channel, you can here the theme to “Bewitched” playing in the background. My friend used to tell me: “That’s because they’re trying to tell you she’s a bitch man…” I didn’t agree, I just mentioned it because this thread reminded me of him. He was always looking for hidden meanings into things. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/9 "2017-04-16T07:51:49Z")
Most of the UK ads for laundry capsules include the line: ‘always keep away from children’. But it’s a bit ambiguous. Do they mean keep the capsules away from children? Or that I should keep myself away from children? I miss my family! There’s a few otc medications that have the line ‘nothing works faster’, so I always take nothing when I have the relevant ailment. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/10 "2017-04-16T14:33:29Z")
Before the most recent Canadian federal election, the Conservative party had a radio ad condemning the Liberals idea of making marijuana consumption legal for adults. The ad had a concerned mother arguing that if marijuana was legal for adults to consume, then children would be able to illegally purchase marijuana. I wasn’t under the impression that children found it particularly difficult to purchase marijuana in the first place, so the ads seemed kind of pointless to me. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/11 "2017-04-16T19:48:07Z")
> [@susan](#): > > There are many contemporary ads where the protagonist does something at the end of the commercial in a style that seems to suggest they’re affable yet inadequate schlubs. Their action or self-presentation, which is presented as a joke-at-their-expense punchline of a sort, usually undoes any confidence the ad has built about its product or service. It leaves me thinking, “You’re a loser and the ad works against selling me That Thing.” Exactly. I always come away with, “Well, your product/service is the choice of stupid people. I’ll look elsewhere”. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/12 "2017-04-16T20:07:35Z")
There’s a car ad where the potential buyer and a salesman are out on a test drive. He tells her about the turbo engine, she floors it. He tells her about the lane assist and she lets go of the steering wheel making the car drift into another lane before the correct stops it. Finally he tells her about the braking assist and she goes “You mean this car can stop itself?” and heads off, presumably right at a tree. These are safety features, not see how your car can save you features. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/13 "2017-04-16T20:25:32Z")
Burger King debuted a new ad with some text which causes a Google powered device to start reading aloud a thing from the BK Wikipedia page. Argh, right? But what’s the “unintended” part? Wikipedia is editable! People started [editing](http://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-wins-google-feud-over-whopper-ad-2017-4) the page so that “other text” not friendly to BK started being recited. Google, of course, realized that BK was evil. (Takes one to know one.) So it blocked the audio from activating devices. Which BK, in order to out-evil Google, tweaked so it would go thru still. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/14 "2017-04-16T20:45:35Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > There’s a recent State Farm [commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM_zTNOvPLI) where a guy tells his wife various things, only to later do those exact things (have kids, buying a minivan, moving to the suburbs). His last line, where his kids and wife are all asleep in his arms while he’s sitting on the couch, is “I’m never letting go.” > > Since every other thing he says becomes untrue due to circumstance, his pattern seems to indicate that he will, in fact, let go. I always hated the offhanded way she informed him she was pregnant again. What a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/15 "2017-04-16T21:06:48Z")
The “can you hear me now?” guy switching from Verizon to Sprint just makes me think he’s a sellout, it doesn’t make me think Sprint is better. ---
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/16 "2017-04-16T21:19:02Z")
My problem with ads is using our poor understanding of the English language to mislead us as to what the company is presenting as true. Such as, McDonalds burgers made “with 100% beef”, this only means that one of the ingredients used in their manufacture is 100% beef. So if I took a sawdust pattie and dipped it into weak beef stock brewed with an ounce of 100% beef, then their ad would be true. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/17 "2017-04-16T22:04:26Z")
> [@Donegal\_Dragon](#): > > My problem with ads is using our poor understanding of the English language to mislead us as to what the company is presenting as true. Such as, McDonalds burgers made “with 100% beef”, this only means that one of the ingredients used in their manufacture is 100% beef. So if I took a sawdust pattie and dipped it into weak beef stock brewed with an ounce of 100% beef, then their ad would be true. I believe the claim is that the burgers ARE 100% beef. From their site, the Quarter Pounder pattie is: > [@](#): > > Ingredients: 100% Pure USDA Inspected Beef; No Fillers, No Extenders.Prepared with Grill Seasoning (Salt, Black Pepper). \*Based On The Weight Before Cooking 4.25 oz. ---
**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 16, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/18 "2017-04-16T22:25:07Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > The “can you hear me now?” guy switching from Verizon to Sprint just makes me think he’s a sellout, it doesn’t make me think Sprint is better. The thing about that ad that hits me - he says Sprint’s reliability is practically the same as Verizon, which is fine if you live somewhere that has Sprint coverage. But he doesn’t say anything about coverage - just reliability. What good is reliability if you can’t get a signal at your house? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/19 "2017-04-16T22:54:37Z")
There’s also a Milky Way commercial where a girl is eating a candy bar while tattooing someone, and misspells the word “regrets” so that it reads “regerts.” When the customer points that out, she responds with “sorry…I was eating a Milky Way.” So…Milky Way candy bars cause you to not pay attention to your job, and to suck horribly at the things you attempt to perform? Sounds like a stupid ad campaign: “Milky Way candy bars. They cause you to be inattentive, and your ability to spell correctly to vanish.” Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Grither](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grither/32/425_2.png) [@Grither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grither)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/20 "2017-04-16T22:55:24Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > Well, there _ **is** _ that famous [Folgers Christmas commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZnqBL6iYjA)… …? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539.md?page=2)