# Companies you've grown to hate because of their adverts. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 28, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583 "2004-06-28T18:03:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SpasmicChaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@SpasmicChaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpasmicChaos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/41 "2004-06-29T11:57:57Z")
> [@Darkness](#): > > Lynn Hickey’s Auto World (local)… Oh man, will somebody please shoot Doug Hickey? And while your at it, please take out Enzyte Bob too. While we are at it, here are some others I would liked snubbed: The Ditech dude The eHarmony guy The 7UP guy The Labatt’s Blue bear Ron Popeil Anyone in a MSN butterfly suit The “Zoom Zoom” kid While Ditech and Enzyte are at the top of my list, another one I really can’t stand would be the Tinactin commercials. “BOOM! Tough actin’ Tinactin!”. Curse you John Madden. ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/42 "2004-06-29T13:19:13Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > I’ve tried to search for alt brand Ionic Breezes. No luck. > > What would be a good set of search terms? Uh…what do you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/43 "2004-06-29T13:55:35Z")
> [@Fritz](#): > > Uh…what do you mean? I’m looking for Ionic-type air cleaners from non-Ionic Breeze sources. I need terms to feed into a search engine. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/44 "2004-06-29T14:13:41Z")
Labels are a form of adverstising. I drink Diet Pepsi because I’ve come to hate Diet Coke’s boring label. Drives the Coke/Pepsi crowd nuts. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/45 "2004-06-29T14:14:23Z")
THAT BLACK AND WHITE VALTREX COMMERCIAL!!! hi. im a semi-hot white woman. here how herpes ruined my life. and its 45 hours long! and the damn whistling from enzyte bob can make anybody wish they were deaf. plus that crap eatin grin on his face is just sickening ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/46 "2004-06-29T14:19:55Z")
the e-harmony guy GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! he was the first thing I thought of when I read the OP. He looks so smarmy. GAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Those Excedrin commercials: “Bottom line… life gives you headaches. This stuff works.” So??? So does a couple cold beers and a soak in the hottub. My remedy’s better. So There Excedrin! 😛 “Can you hear me now?” What was that Verizon guy? Come closer so I can punch your face in. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/47 "2004-06-29T14:22:02Z")
Oooh oooh oooh! The cell phone company commercial with the little cretin child who goes “Gwandma, I can count to one hundwed, see? one…one…” I sincerely hope that child is tossed out in the woods somewhere and devoured by wolves. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/48 "2004-06-29T14:24:43Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Labels are a form of adverstising. Oh! Any of the variations on “Look! Same old stuff! New label! Must be BETTER!” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/49 "2004-06-29T14:36:40Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Oooh oooh oooh! The cell phone company commercial with the little cretin child who goes “Gwandma, I can count to one hundwed, see? one…one…” > > I sincerely hope that child is tossed out in the woods somewhere and devoured by wolves. Along with the Welch’s Grape Juice girl… ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/50 "2004-06-29T14:51:44Z")
I want to get the first shot at that E-Harmony asshole. God, his artificial charm and smile make me wish my head could fit in a blender. For someone who’s so burned out on and cynical about dating and dating services I especially do not want to see this crap. I wish Geico would cease to exist. They’re every-freaking-where! There is not a single cable station I can watch without seeing that damn gecko or some other shmuck announcing at the most inappopriate times that he saved a shitload of money on his car insurance (like, who the hell carea anyway?) And since he always prefaces this information with “I got good news”, every time someone says this in real life the other person will say, “you just switched to Geico and saved a bunch of money, right?!” Yeah, really original and funny :rolleyes:. Oh, and when they say _fifteen minutes could save you 15% or more on your car insurance,_ my mind always tacks on, “…but it probably won’t.” I’m glad the folks who make Tide brought a swift end to their “everything you can do I can do better” advertising. I was ready to switch brands after seeing this one aired about a dozen times before I finally had to press the mute button to save my sanity every time it came on. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/51 "2004-06-29T14:57:50Z")
[Robert de Niro as Al Capone] I want Enzyte Bob, DEAD! I want his family, DEAD! I want his house burned to the ground! I want to go there in the middle of the night and piss on his ashes! [/Robert de Niro as Al Capone] Any company employing John Madden as a spokesperson, thus about half the adverstisers currently on TV. Anyone attempting to hawk vehicles or furniture in the greater Houston area. OTOH, I’ve kinda gotten into the AFLAC duck lately. The one with the synchronized swimmers is a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![Consumer\_Sovereignty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Consumer\_Sovereignty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consumer_Sovereignty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/52 "2004-06-29T15:10:26Z")
(For the Aussies among us): Virgin Mobile. 3 words: Warren. Ming mong. … If you don’t know what the above are, count yourself lucky. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/53 "2004-06-29T15:13:40Z")
Mentos. Years and years ago I loved these things. Then they started up with those horrible foreign commercials that grated on me something fierce. I haven’t had a “freshmaker” in over ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/54 "2004-06-29T15:20:47Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > I’m looking for Ionic-type air cleaners from non-Ionic Breeze sources. > > I need terms to feed into a search engine. Try Googling “electrostatic air cleaner.” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/55 "2004-06-29T15:36:54Z")
Zoom zoom zoom! Mazda commercials annoy the crap out of me and I won’t ever buy one. Any and all of the cell phone adds. The one that recently made me nuts is the one for Father’s day where the guy calls his dad to tell him about his new cell phone plan and the father keeps saying “Hold on, I’ll put your mother on.” ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/56 "2004-06-29T16:09:20Z")
Another one for UK viewers : - Safe-Style windows. They employ two supposed " comedians " ( Cannon and Ball ) to advertise their replacement windows. The advert is about as funny as the Black Death. What puts the final icing on the cake is when one of these guys tells you to " pick up the piggin phone and give us a call ". In your dreams mate ! ---
**Author:** ![Daftbugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Daftbugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daftbugger)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/57 "2004-06-29T16:38:58Z")
Ocean Finance ads. There’s a number of them and their all absoluately appalling! They supposedly have ‘real’ people on the ads. They only give the impression that only people who are as thick as pig shit take out loans with them. People who only seem to care about how nice the people are and how easy the form is to fill in! Surely that’s the last thing you think about when taking out a loan??? Oh, doesn’t Michael Winner look like a koala? You’ll never take him seriously again… ---
**Author:** ![HoldOnThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@HoldOnThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldOnThere)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/58 "2004-06-29T16:42:57Z")
> [@Fritz](#): > > I am thouroughly, completely, absolutely sick of the Ionic Breeze commercials. Not only are they omnipresent, they’re run at darn near every commercial break on every channel I watch. Further, Sharper Image usually pays for the entire one minute spot. Seems like a five minute spot. > Sharper Image must be making a fortune on this POS air cleaner for them to be spending that much money. BTW, Consumer Reports roundly panned this device. I agree it’s an annoying commercial. People who already have allergies might get benefit from a product like this. But kids who do not have allergies, I have heard, become more sensitized to developing an allergy when they live in super clean environments. So the product can hurt rather than help. The other commercial I can’t stand are the Acid Reflux medications. Do you know anyone with this condition? They make it sound like everyone has it. The ‘shotgun blast’ school of marketing. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/59 "2004-06-29T16:52:29Z")
Mine are mostly local ads (NY’s Capital District): Lia Kia – Not that I would ever buy a Kia, but whoever says, “Ninety-nine! Ninety-nine!” should be shot. Hippo’s – In the ad there’s a metrosexual guy in the store, obviously lip-syncing to the song about their low prices and acting all “I’m so into singing this song”. He, although very funny to watch, annoys me to no end. Water Slide World – I hear the first half-second of this ad and the song is in my head all day. It looks like a fun place, but I refuse to go on principle. I have to mute this ad every time–although it’s usually too late. “Wild you bet!” Aaarrrrggghh!! I can’t even _talk_ about the ad!! Fucillo Auto Mall – “It’s Huuuuuuuuuuu-jah!” F\*ck off and take your little lap dog/announcer-guy with you! Nationally, it’s: Mazda – “Zoom Zoom”? Suck on a tailpipe, kid. Pepto Bismal – These losers have just killed their chances of being in anything other than commercials. Way to hold your asses. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583/60 "2004-06-29T17:52:07Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > JC Penney - I had no real opinion on the store before… > > but the evil, stupid, sexist “Where is your mother?” commercials make me want to stop other people from going there. Ugh. I hate that one the most. I hate the sexist implication it shoves at you, from the one that the women are all shopping whores and that all men are totally incompetant at taking care of their own children for a few hours. I also hate the Pepto-Bismal one with the dancing conga line of office workers. “Heartburn, upset stomach, diarrhea! Hey, Pepto-Bismal!” “Lost another loan to DiTech!” Just dumb. And I agree on the Quizno’s ad iwth the dead rat-things. What a way to kill appetites. There’s a local Kia Dealer who has the WORST ads ever - Scott Donahoo. He’s usually singing and dancing around the showroom floor. The last one was a doo-wop thing, with dark sunglasses and back-up singers. The latest is a take-off on a Hee-Haw episode, complete with hay bales and a banjo player, and a girl in Daisy Duke shorts and high heels. The thing is - he CAN’T sing or dance. They’re just cringe-worthy. I’m actually embarrassed for him when I see these ads, they’re _that_ bad. I actually like the one Geico ad that’s set up to look like an episode of “This Old House.” I think it’s funny. “Hey, the roof leaks, the plumbing’s shot and the foundation’s cracked. But I do have some good news. I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance!” And then he goes off-camera and grabs bare wires or something and all you see are sparks and the homeowner’s horrifed faces. It makes me laugh everytime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/companies-youve-grown-to-hate-because-of-their-adverts/252583.md?page=4)