# Congratulations, Idiots, You Just Got Suckered Into Watching Commercials! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 27, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233 "2003-01-27T14:41:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/21 "2003-01-27T19:04:01Z")
I think you have it wrong, Legomancer. The American public has just suckered a lot of large companies into hiring attractive women and clever writers to amuse them for a few minutes at outrageous cost to those companies. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/22 "2003-01-27T19:21:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mhendo \* > \*\*I used the Superbowl as an opportunity to get some other work done and also get some exercise. I was fixing up some of my digital photographs using photoshop, and whenever a commercial break came on i would walk to my computer (it’s not in my loungeroom) and do some more work. When i heard Al and John’s annoying voices again, i would return to the couch. I managed to miss all the commercials, and the half-time show, which lookd like it was going to be excruciating, as usual. \*\* Heh. I did the exact opposite. I wrote a corporate communications and marketing plan while the game was on, and when they broke for commercials, my boyfriend gave me a yell and I ran in to see the ads. Hey, it was research! ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/23 "2003-01-27T19:41:57Z")
flood, I would hope that the OP would consider discussion of the marketing extravaganza that is the half time show to be at least tangentially relevant, if not directly so. Tangentially means, as I’m sure you are unaware, ‘of or relating to Tang orange drink’. Mullinator (which is Creole for ‘one who enjoys mullets’), your jealousy of my special psychic link with the beautiful miss Twain is unbecoming. “Beware the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat upon which it feeds.” - _Noel Coward_ ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/24 "2003-01-27T19:50:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > **Did they come with a free t-shirt that said “Sucker”?** Hardly, I only buy the official t-shirts, the ones you pay real money for. But its worth it! Also, I got a great deal–at the mall, all the brand name “Sucker” t-shirts were reduced from $20 to $15! ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/25 "2003-01-27T21:15:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*I loathe American football and consider it a national embarassment. \*\* Go to a Green Bay Packers practice and say that to Brett Favre or Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila! Come on, I dare ya! ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/26 "2003-01-27T21:18:15Z")
Superbowl? Is that some sort of sporting event? haha. I agree with the OP, it’s fucking ridiculous that people tune in for the commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/27 "2003-01-27T21:34:07Z")
Speaking of Superbowl commercials, did anyone else do a double-take at the ad filmed at a (presumably fictitious) company called **Felcher**? I mean, yeah, they didn’t spell it with a T, but wow. I really, really want to believe that the ad writers knew exactly what they were doing. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/28 "2003-01-27T21:41:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Finagle \* > \*\*I think you have it wrong, Legomancer. The American public has just suckered a lot of large companies into hiring attractive women and clever writers to amuse them for a few minutes at outrageous cost to those companies. \*\* Yeah, that would be all well and good, but who do you think ends up paying for all those commercials? The cost of advertising and marketing is factored into the price of the product. This, of course, is associated with the idea that we get free-to-air television “free.” We pay alright, but instead of just handing over cash to the networks, we assist in the transfer of money by paying a dollar for a can full of water and sugar worth about 4c. Pepsi then hands some of that money over to ABC. Same principle applies with every other advertised good or service that you buy. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/29 "2003-01-27T21:52:16Z")
mhendo, so you’re saying that if companies didn’t advertise, their products would be less expensive? Riiiight… Superbowl ads are the absolute best investment for your advertising dollar. For $2+ million, you get the guaranteed largest television audience of the year, plus free advertising by way of every news station in the country doing a recap of the SB ads, plus every water cooler in the country (possibly the world) recapping every new ad that was shown, plus every netizen writting about how cool/stupid/manipulative/degrading/l33t each ad was. If advertising didn’t increase revenues, do you think NASCAR cars would look like they do now? The fact is, the better that companies advertise, the larger their consumer population increases. The larger the population, the larger the supply. Larger supply, lower prices. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/30 "2003-01-27T22:19:06Z")
Look, we’re all missing the main point here, which is that Legomancer is obviously superior to the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![MrMyth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19b73/32.png) [@MrMyth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrMyth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/31 "2003-01-27T22:26:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Beadalin \* > \*\*Speaking of Superbowl commercials, did anyone else do a double-take at the ad filmed at a (presumably fictitious) company called **Felcher**? I mean, yeah, they didn’t spell it with a T, but wow. I really, really want to believe that the ad writers knew exactly what they were doing. \*\* I loved that ad. It was like a sixty-second review of the SDMB. It had felching, Junior Modding (Break was over fifteen minutes ago, bitch!), a reference to Office Space (You need a cover on your TPS reports, Bob!), and downright insane ranting (Here comes the Pain Train!! WOO WOO!!). Best. Commercial. EVAR. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/32 "2003-01-27T22:26:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > **Get a frickin life, people. The day I turn on my TV to specifically watch a stream of commercials (vintage MTV doesn’t COUNT) is the day it goes out on the curb.** You watch “vintage MTV”??? Get a frickin… One man’s poison is another man’s inane escapism, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/33 "2003-01-27T22:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*I loathe American football and consider it a national embarassment. \*\* Hee hee hee… I bet you know what a duvet is, huh? I like the choice of “loathe”, and of course the subtle juxtaposition of “American”, conveys the air of smug superiority you so desperately crave… :o Perhaps you would just as soon drop the football reference and cut right to the chase? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*However, I agree that superbowl commercials can be funny and entertaining. \*\* You “loathe” “American” football, but think the mind control and debasement practiced by “American” advertising is not “a national embarrassment”? Don’t you realize that advertisers and their industrialist masters, soaked in the blood of foreign slave labor, are the vanguard of cultural imperialism, and as such are one of the reasons why America is “loathed” abroad? Sorry, I’ll have to ask for your _Elitist_ membership card, as you’ve been suspended pending a review of your last 3 months of credit card statements and magazine subscriptions. 😃 -Rav P.S. Shrub is a moron, I know this 'cause my teachers said so and they’re always right… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/34 "2003-01-27T22:57:05Z")
I managed to catch one - ONE - commercial of the Superbowl, as I just happened to be passing through (taking a break to get a snack during a 8-hour session of _Morrowind_). The commercial? The new _Matrix_ clips. That’s all I needed to see. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/35 "2003-01-27T23:28:30Z")
My only problem with the Superbowl was the fact that neither Michelle Branch nor Shania Twain sang live; Michelle Branch, in particular, was so bad at faking it that they wouldn’t even show a close up of her face. Oh, and I was intensely irritated that Celine Dion sang “God Bless America,” because a.) I hate her, and b.) She’s Canadian, for God’s sake! As far as the commercials go…I was stuck at work and all the TV’s were on the Superbowl, so the commercials were the only thing that made the night go by a little faster. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/36 "2003-01-27T23:39:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Munch \* > **mhendo, so you’re saying that if companies didn’t advertise, their products would be less expensive? Riiiight…** No, if you look at my post you’ll see that i never said that at all. My point was that the cost of advertising and marketing is factored into the price of products. It has to be, or else plenty of companies would go bankrupt. Now, in the absence of a handy test-case regarding the price of a product that is advertised and an identical product that is not, any claim about what price would be charged without advertising is little more than conjecture. It is entirely possible that advertising allows companies to sell more products, and so allows economies of scale that in turn give lower prices. To use the Pepsi example i gave earlier, it is plausible that if they stopped advertising they could reduce prices because their outlays would be less. But perhaps they would sell less Pepsi and so have to raise the prices again to make up for the decreased volume. **The point is not whether or not prices would be reduced in the absence of advertising. The point is that, when companies do advertise, the consumer pays for that advertising when he or she purchases the product. And, in a society where advertising is prevalent, its cost can represent a significant percentage of the final cost of the product.** And, as for the actual effectiveness of advertising, even people who do extensive research in advertising find it hard to draw any firm conclusions because they can only really compare one type of advertising with another. They cannot do test cases that compare advertising with non-advertising, because no firm that advertises is going to stop for the sake of a marketing experiment. So, while you can compare the relative success of ad campaigns within companies (different campaigns for the same product) or between companies (campaigns untaken by different corporations), you can’t really give a firm conclusion about whether people would buy more or less stuff if there were no ads, because the genie is already out of the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/37 "2003-01-28T00:24:09Z")
The Osbournes pepsi ad appeared on australian network news on the night before the superbowl was played and last night we had a news story on that and the other ads including emphasis on The Hulk as that stars our very own Eric Bana and the Matrix sequel as that was made here. However much the ads cost I think they got their moneys worth. The game itself was shown on our government supported SBS (who also show foreign movies and soccer and news from around the globe and Queer as Folk) and they have taken heat in the past for not including the ads with the broadcast. I have no idea if they bowed to pressure this year. I do not drink enough to enjoy gridiron. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/38 "2003-01-28T01:15:18Z")
> [@](#): > > This, of course, is associated with the idea that we get free-to-air television “free.” We pay alright, but instead of just handing over cash to the networks, we assist in the transfer of money by paying a dollar for a can full of water and sugar worth about 4c. Pepsi then hands some of that money over to ABC. Same principle applies with every other advertised good or service that you buy. Hey, it’s more than just sugar and water! It’s also got phosphoric acid and citric acid and coloring and flavoring and _divine caffeine_! ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/39 "2003-01-28T01:39:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SPOOFE \* > \*\*I managed to catch one - ONE - commercial of the Superbowl, as I just happened to be passing through (taking a break to get a snack during a 8-hour session of _Morrowind_). > > \*\* Maybe if they had a commercial for where to find inexpensive RAMbus memory, then I could have been playing _Morrowind_ too, rather than having it sit on my shelf unplayable because I only have 128 memory and can’t afford to pay $800 frickin’ dollars to get more just because some jerks in the component manufacturing industry decided to throw all their effort into a different (and less efficient) type of RAM for no discernible reason. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Raven\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@The\_Raven\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Raven_1)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233/40 "2003-01-28T03:45:23Z")
[hijack] Hey **Rex** , You need $800 worth of RDRAM to run _Morrowind_? Is this a game or a nuclear warhead simulator? A 256MB PC1066 RIMM is $90 where I buy my stuff… That’s only about 20% higher than DDR. Check out [Pricewatch.com](http://Pricewatch.com) or something. [/hijack] -Rav [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congratulations-idiots-you-just-got-suckered-into-watching-commercials/151233.md?page=1)