# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/41 "2017-04-18T15:33:22Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > 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 This is reminiscent of a series of KitKat commercials from back in the 80s. The tag line was, “Give yourself a KitKat, give yourself a break”. There was one in which a photographer was waiting patiently to take a photo at a zoo enclosure. He eventually decides to take a break to eat his KitKat bar, and while so distracted, fails to notice the pandas suddenly coming out of their cave to prance about, and thus he utterly fails to get the exact photo he’d been waiting to take. My take away from it was, “Use our product, screw up your job!” ---
**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:** [April 18, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/42 "2017-04-18T17:45:46Z")
AT&T must have scrubbed it from existence, because I can’t find a link to it, but a few years ago they had an ad where a woman was working in her fancy greenhouse, and the husband said something or other about getting a new family plan, and the bitchy wife said something like “I should have married John Clark!” The punchline (such as it was) was that this service was free, but she didn’t know that and was so fed up with his spending habits that she wanted him to know she regrets their life. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/43 "2017-04-18T18:04:11Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > AT&T must have scrubbed it from existence, because I can’t find a link to it, but a few years ago they had an ad where a woman was working in her fancy greenhouse, and the husband said something or other about getting a new family plan, and the bitchy wife said something like “I should have married John Clark!” > > The punchline (such as it was) was that this service was free, but she didn’t know that and was so fed up with his spending habits that she wanted him to know she regrets their life. [I remember that commercial:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=633016) > [@Me](#): > > "The searing hatred this commercial clearly feels for the wife is a cover for a searing hatred of the very people the commercial is counting on to buy their product. It’s a bold and unmistakable indictment of the entire capitalist system, disguised as an advertisement from a major multinational corporation. This is a commercial that says, “If you buy our product, you are what is wrong with the world.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/44 "2017-04-18T19:10:32Z")
I vaguely remember an abortion PSA that had a message so ambiguous, I didn’t know until the final seconds if it was pro-life or pro-choice. It wasn’t around very long. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/45 "2017-04-18T19:14:52Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [I remember that commercial:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=633016) That was great. I really wish I were able to find a video of it now. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/46 "2017-04-18T20:01:13Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#): > > It’s the “made with” that gets me, and probably **Donegal Dragon**. Burger King chicken fries advertise “made with white meat chicken” but leave out of the ad the starch, water, and whatever else, they toss in there. Not 100% white meat chicken at all. > > Along the same lines, one of the buttery spreads- maybe Country Crock?- uses “real ingredients.” No shit, everything in there is real? Doesn’t say anything about real _what_… How about all the references to “farm grown potatoes”? 😕 Where are commercial potatoes USUALLY grown, anyway? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/47 "2017-04-18T20:22:10Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > That was great. I really wish I were able to find a video of it now. Here ya go, tho it seems to have been doctored a little bit making it mildly NSFW: ETA: the edit is actually hilarious. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/48 "2017-04-18T20:27:50Z")
> [@arseNal](#): > > Here ya go, tho it seems to have been doctored a little bit making it mildly NSFW: > > ETA: the edit is actually hilarious. Wow, more bitchy than I remembered. (And the edit was great :)) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/49 "2017-04-18T22:00:38Z")
A classic example of a commercial with an unintended subtext would be Geritol’s old “My wife, I think I’ll keep her!” campaign, which aroused the anger of feminists. I think even the makers of Geritol are embarrassed by it now. I tried searching for an example to link to, but I couldn’t find one. But given the amount of old 70s/80s-era ads that are on youtube, I thought it was strange that not a single one was available, as if they’d been scrubbed off the net. ---
**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 18, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/50 "2017-04-18T22:27:42Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > How about all the references to “farm grown potatoes”? 😕 Where are commercial potatoes USUALLY grown, anyway? :rolleyes: According to my mother, in my ears. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/51 "2017-04-19T00:26:31Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > A classic example of a commercial with an unintended subtext would be Geritol’s old “My wife, I think I’ll keep her!” campaign, which aroused the anger of feminists. > > I think even the makers of Geritol are embarrassed by it now. I tried searching for an example to link to, but I couldn’t find one. But given the amount of old 70s/80s-era ads that are on youtube, I thought it was strange that not a single one was available, as if they’d been scrubbed off the net. There’s a country song by Mary Chapin Carpenter that references this commercial with a feminist spin. It’s called "[He thinks he’ll keep her](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tQ4vpdB-24).‘’ SPOILER! [He doesn’t.](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/marychapincarpenter/hethinkshellkeepher.html) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/52 "2017-04-21T01:08:10Z")
Back in 1964, long before parroting memes was, well, a meme… we spoke in commercial punchlines. My mom would do something, and my dad would sigh “My wife, I think I’ll keep her!” Us kids kept yelling at her to elbow him in the ribs, but she played along, beaming like a bimbo 60’s housewife. We also spouted lines like “That’s a spicy meeeeatball…” Or “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing…” and later “Where’s the beef?” Wow, we were bored… ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/53 "2017-04-22T00:37:07Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > How about all the references to “farm grown potatoes”? 😕 Where are commercial potatoes USUALLY grown, anyway? :rolleyes: Exactly. I keep hearing this radio ad for the genetic background test 23 & Me on the way home every day. In it, 2 people are talking and the woman keeps telling the man things like “I can’t eat ice cream because my genes are inclined toward lactose intolerance”, “I should go to bed early because my genes indicate I don’t sleep well,” etc. My takeaway is that having this information will make me even more neurotic than I already am and afraid to live my life. Also, people who use their service are too dumb to use their own experience instead of mail-away test results to dictate how to live. I wonder why her test didn’t tell her she was too easily influenced. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/54 "2017-04-22T00:58:32Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Back in 1964, long before parroting memes was, well, a meme… we spoke in commercial punchlines. > > My mom would do something, and my dad would sigh “My wife, I think I’ll keep her!” > Us kids kept yelling at her to elbow him in the ribs, but she played along, beaming like a bimbo 60’s housewife. > > We also spouted lines like “That’s a spicy meeeeatball…” Or “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing…” and later “Where’s the beef?” > > Wow, we were bored… That’s pretty adorable, though. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/55 "2017-04-22T03:03:20Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > That’s pretty adorable, though. As was pinching mom on the behind and having her say “Pleeeeease don’t squeeze the Charmin!” ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Ervin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Dan\_Ervin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Ervin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/56 "2017-04-26T14:31:04Z")
Viagra used to have commercials with the tagline “For guys who know how to get things done.” The problem is the guy is usually alone. In one the guy is sailing a boat and some doohickey breaks, so he patches it with some other doohickey. (No, I don’t know how to sail why do you ask?) Anyway the SO is apparently back on dry land. In another, the guy gets his pickup stuck in the mud while towing a horse trailer, so he gets the horses out and hitches them up to pull out the truck. There is nobody around for miles but the horses… Cialis commercials where the 2 people are in separate bathtubs. HOW BIG IS IT GONNA GET? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/57 "2017-04-26T14:35:25Z")
[Fly Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XawRcZWgBPw) {YouTube 0’15"} … yeah baby … ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/58 "2017-04-26T19:33:35Z")
Doubt the commercial I’m mentioning doesnt really match the topic but why is Danica Patrick (I think that was her) touting she quit school at 16, had some bad times but now…she is advertising fast cash joints? Yeah that’s a good one. Kiddies leave school at 16 and you eventually make it! ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/59 "2017-04-26T19:42:54Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > [Fly Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XawRcZWgBPw) {YouTube 0’15"} … yeah baby … I don’t think that message was unintended. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539/60 "2017-04-27T15:35:37Z")
> [@Dan\_Ervin](#): > > Viagra used to have commercials with the tagline “For guys who know how to get things done.” The problem is the guy is usually alone. > > In one the guy is sailing a boat and some doohickey breaks, so he patches it with some other doohickey. (No, I don’t know how to sail why do you ask?) Anyway the SO is apparently back on dry land. > > In another, the guy gets his pickup stuck in the mud while towing a horse trailer, so he gets the horses out and hitches them up to pull out the truck. There is nobody around for miles but the horses… > > Cialis commercials where the 2 people are in separate bathtubs. HOW BIG IS IT GONNA GET? What always got me was the (likely not unintentional) warning on the Viagra commercials about seeing a doctor if it lasts more than four hours. What guy wouldn’t think (Especially if he has problems getting it up in the first place) “Wow! A four hour woody!” :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-with-unintended-messages/784539.md?page=4)