# Commercials you just don't get **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539 "2010-06-17T13:48:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/21 "2010-06-17T16:28:17Z")
I don’t get the [FreeCredtiReport.com](http://FreeCredtiReport.com) ads. I mean a get that they are annoying, but I don’t get why having crappy credit means you have to have a crappy job? ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/22 "2010-06-17T16:32:47Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > There is a commercial where they are selling insurance and the sales guy calls to get a better deal and then he says: Guys, I just threw up a little in my mouth. > > I have no idea whether this is supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing. Do I want their insurance because the deal they are offering makes him throw up? He says, “Guys! I just gagged!” That’s another weird series of commercials. It first looks like he’s calling to get approval to do some special deal. Then, he starts dictating what the deal is. The deals are kinda spurious: For one woman in particular, he offers her “vanishing deductible”: $100 off her deductible for every year she doesn’t have an accident. So he’s reducing the amount she’ll pay for deductible, for someone who doesn’t have accidents. Big whoop! Why not deduct from her _premiums_ then? I think if Mr. Blue-phone Nationwide and Ms. Flo Progressive ever married and have children, they’d have the most annoying insurance spokespeople. And they’d all have Australian geckos as pets. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/23 "2010-06-17T16:42:49Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I don’t get the [FreeCredtiReport.com](http://FreeCredtiReport.com) ads. I mean a get that they are annoying, but I don’t get why having crappy credit means you have to have a crappy job? Actually, some companies _do_ look at your credit report. I can see doing that if the job entails handling money, but it’s done a lot for non-money positions. Hell, some companies will only interview people that currently have jobs. Way to keep the unemployment rate high. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![baileygrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@baileygrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baileygrrrl)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/24 "2010-06-17T16:43:20Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Those “Visit Canada” ads-where they don’t say anything-you just see the Canada logo at the end. > There is one where people are jabbering away (on a kyak)-and an otter climbs aboard-then the voices stop (otter kills kyaker?) I love these commercials! I think they capture the true spirit of being Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/25 "2010-06-17T16:47:33Z")
> [@AWB](#): > > Actually, some companies _do_ look at your credit report. I can see doing that if the job entails handling money, but it’s done a lot for non-money positions. > > Hell, some companies will only interview people that currently have jobs. Way to keep the unemployment rate high. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: While that may be true, it is not even close to generally the cast that bad credit confers a life of drudgery at a fried fish joint. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/26 "2010-06-17T17:25:27Z")
That commercial from years ago for [Levi’s wide leg jeans](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ne4X6ucn_Q) that had a guy on a surgical table and everyone starts singing “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell. The only thing I saw in that commercial that had anything whatsoever to do with wide leg jeans was a brief shot of one doctor taking an air hose and blowing up another doctor’s scrubs up like a balloon. An entertaining commercial, don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/27 "2010-06-17T17:29:25Z")
> [@AWB](#): > > Actually, some companies _do_ look at your credit report. I can see doing that if the job entails handling money, but it’s done a lot for non-money positions. Many companies will look at your credit report if they’re going to ask you to use a company credit card to pay for your travel and other expenses. If you have a history of not making your credit card payments on time, defaulting, etc., they don’t want you having a credit card with the company name on it, even if you’re ultimately responsible for the debt, and even if you can explain all the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![markm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@markm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markm)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/28 "2010-06-17T17:54:01Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](#): > > The car commercial where a father is going somewhere and takes his daughter with him out of a kid-crowded house -she goes to sit in the rear seat, and he encourages her to sit further up, saying either “your brother’s sick”, or “your brother’s seat” and then she looks up at the sunroof. Then he asks her if he’s told her about growing up with a bunch of sisters. I can process all these elements separately, but it just doesn’t make sense all together. It’s a poor visual narrative or something. Maybe it just clicks for people who have kids and drive these sorts of vehicles. (I drive a teensy sedan) I like that commercial, and it does make sense if you either grew up with several siblings or are a parent with multiple children (I’m the former, dating a woman who is both the former and the latter.) The little girl tends to get lost in the shuffle, so to speak, what with all the other children around. So dad takes her with him, and when she dutifully shuffles into her seat, the back seat (forgotten seat, since it’s not easily seen from the driver or front passenger seats), he smiles at her and says, “No, your brother’s seat.” She moves up into this new-to-her seat and sees the van (or whatever it is) in a different way. She is in awe of not being relegated to the back of the car. I can’t remember, but I think she’s the only daughter and the rest of the children are boys, which will further isolate her in the familial structure, so dad is trying to relate to her about how he knows what it can be like to be the forgotten child. Sweet, sappy commercial to tug at the parents out there. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/29 "2010-06-17T18:12:44Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Those “Visit Canada” ads-where they don’t say anything-you just see the Canada logo at the end. > There is one where people are jabbering away (on a kyak)-and an otter climbs aboard-then the voices stop (otter kills kyaker?) I HATE the otter commercial. The guy can’t even form complete words - he’s squeaking like a retarded monkey! I just want to smack him. Not that I’d smack a retarded monkey, but you know what I mean… Joe ---
**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:** [June 17, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/30 "2010-06-17T18:47:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The one I don’t get is the Men’s Warehouse ad where this guy goes into a van with two other guys and asks where the Men’s Warehouse is. One of the guys originally in the van says “Now, get out of the van!!?” Huh? It was some sort of government surveillance stake-out type vehicle with government agents sitting inside. I don’t know why the guy wandered into the van thinking it was a Men’s Wearhouse but I remember that much. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/31 "2010-06-17T19:19:49Z")
Thanks, **markm** that’s a good explanation and one that even makes me a little emotional! You should have been a consultant to the filming director, because I think the problem with it is that it’s done in such a quick-cut style and I just couldn’t be sure of the backstory or context. Plus their speech seems to be muffled, or I’m just losing my peripheral hearing. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/32 "2010-06-17T19:21:09Z")
I find the Canada commercials kind of creepy. They mostly look like “last moments before this person died” kind of things - you’ve got a choppy shot, you’re not sure what’s going on, people are enjoying themselves and then wham! - snatched by a Giant Loon (or torn to pieces by an otter). I don’t quite get the insurance commercials with the Keanu Reeves/Tom Cruise hybrid guy. Aside from being uncertain if I recognize him, they’re all shot as if the camera operator loses interest from time to time. It’s like _Slacker_ as a commercial. I swear I recently heard a bit after the “I wear no pants” adding in a promo for some website or something, and at the end they said, “if you don’t do it, we’ll play that song again”. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/33 "2010-06-17T20:14:20Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > I swear I recently heard a bit after the “I wear no pants” adding in a promo for some website or something, and at the end they said, “if you don’t do it, we’ll play that song again”. Just heard that bit the other day. I usually mute the commercial, so it may not be new, but I only noticed it this time. Joe ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/34 "2010-06-17T20:46:39Z")
Some commercial where some guy has a nickname, but his website about saving money or something (I have no idea what) has a mundane name like Fred or Bill or something, and some girl is harassing him about it. I don’t have any clue what that commercial is about. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/35 "2010-06-17T21:34:48Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > It was some sort of government surveillance stake-out type vehicle with government agents sitting inside. I don’t know why the guy wandered into the van thinking it was a Men’s Wearhouse but I remember that much. Yeah, I figured they were doing surveillance. But they say something about how MW makes you look good in clothes outside the van. It kind of makes sense, but it just seems like such a weird way to promote your product. What’s the point of talking about “outside the van” as if it’s somehow related tot he product. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/36 "2010-06-17T21:38:21Z")
The “we wear no pants” is a descendant of the old National Lampoon ad about shooting this dog if you don’t buy this magazine. The ad end with a line like: we are going to keep running this ad until you go out and buy our brand of trousers. Somebody thinks you can sell more stuff by promising and end to irritation than by just being charming. Sort of a flies, vinegar, honey thing. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/37 "2010-06-17T21:51:45Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > The “we wear no pants” is a descendant of the old National Lampoon ad about shooting this dog if you don’t buy this magazine. The ad end with a line like: we are going to keep running this ad until you go out and buy our brand of trousers. Somebody thinks you can sell more stuff by promising and end to irritation than by just being charming. Sort of a flies, vinegar, honey thing. Bah! That song was written by a friend of mine; it’s actually pretty funny if you listen to the whole thing. ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cu2nmeKvN1I/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/cu2nmeKvN1I?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque That’s his band (The Poxy Boggards - a 12-man folk group) performing it. They’re seriously awesome, and have great harmonies. However, they had the actors sing it instead of the group, plus they left out all the good parts (meaning, dick jokes). ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/38 "2010-06-17T22:11:45Z")
Incidentally, is it just me, or do the successive Kraft Philly Angels seem to be getting fatter and fatter? That Philly must be some good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/39 "2010-06-17T22:15:18Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Don’t have a cite, but . . . I’ve seen commercials for medications that don’t tell you what the meds are for. We’re just supposed to “ask our doctor” whether we need them. And, in the same vein (punny!), there are the medication commercials that spend 99.4% of their time talking about the side effects, leaving the audience to ask “Is it worth risking heart failure and death to get rid of my mole hairs?” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539/40 "2010-06-17T22:17:37Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Legal reasons. They don’t have to tell you the side effects if they don’t tell you the benefits either. Viagra has it easy in this respect - everyone knows what it’s for, so they get to just wink at the viewer and mention their drug’s name, and they’re set. Much easier, for one of the side effects that is mentioned is “Please call your doctor if your erection lasts longer than four hours.” Shit, forget about the doctor! I’m calling all my fuck buddies - it’s orgy time! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commercials-you-just-dont-get/543539.md?page=3)