# Contradictions in TV ads **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126 "2018-03-06T17:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/1 "2018-03-06T17:23:56Z")
Last night while watching TV there was an ad for Culver’s fish sandwich. Culver’s guy is talking to some fisherman guy with a foreign accent, talking about how the fish comes from the cold clean waters of the North Atlantic, which are rich in nutrients. Which made me blurt out “Then the water isn’t _clean_, is it?” (Yes, I talk to the TV. Radio too.) Several years ago there was a local ad for some student apartment complex. They had this college girl talking about how she loves her apartment, “it’s so spacious and cozy!” WTF? And of course there is the old Dave Barry joke about pharmaceutical ads that give you conflicting messages; one, you really need to be taking this medicine right now, and two, this medicine will probably kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/2 "2018-03-06T17:33:25Z")
Except “clean” isn’t the same thing as “pure”…right? (I’ll give you “spacious and cozy,” though. :smack: ) ---
**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:** [March 6, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/3 "2018-03-06T17:35:55Z")
Clean as in free of pollution. Nutrients would be fish, and plankton, and sea greens and protein from the sea. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/4 "2018-03-06T17:37:29Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Except “clean” isn’t the same thing as “pure”…right? > (I’ll give you “spacious and cozy,” though. :smack: ) Maybe the layout allows normal furniture placement without feeling cramped but it’s a smallish floor area overall. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/5 "2018-03-06T17:38:01Z")
Ready, fresh as harvest day. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/6 "2018-03-06T17:40:54Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > And of course there is the old Dave Barry joke about pharmaceutical ads that give you conflicting messages; one, you really need to be taking this medicine right now, and two, this medicine will probably kill you. My favorite part is that they always include the advice that “people who are allergic to [this drug] shouldn’t take [this drug].” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/7 "2018-03-06T18:27:54Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Clean as in free of pollution. Nutrients would be fish, and plankton, and sea greens and protein from the sea. Oh, I know. I just thought it was an odd juxtaposition - “it’s clean water, but there’s all this stuff in it!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/8 "2018-03-06T18:31:56Z")
One of the Samsung ads that aired during the Oscars was hyping their new S9 with its magical camera, using a steady stream of forward-thinking hipsters haranguing a couple of teenagers sitting on a bed into using the phone to film a movie. Okay, the theme makes sense, it’s the Oscars, our phone’s camera is groundbreaking, yadda yadda. The tag line was “Do What You Can’t.” One of the aforementioned hipsters was shown doing bicycle tricks in a stage door alley. A tiny line of text popped up over the shot of the guy balancing on his front wheel or some such stunt … “Do not attempt.” “Do What You Can’t” or “Do not attempt” - WHICH IS IT, SAMSUNG? WHICH IS IT!?!? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/9 "2018-03-06T18:44:07Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Clean as in free of pollution. Nutrients would be fish, and plankton, and sea greens and protein from the sea. You’re not Roscoe Lee Brown in a silver wheely Box, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/10 "2018-03-06T18:52:16Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Maybe the layout allows normal furniture placement without feeling cramped but it’s a smallish floor area overall. You pretty much just defined “cozy.” But how on earth would that be considered “spacious” (let alone _also_ spacious)? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/11 "2018-03-06T18:56:00Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Except “clean” isn’t the same thing as “pure”…right? It’s like how the water in your tub is cleaner after you take a bath. Because now it has all that soap in it. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/12 "2018-03-06T18:57:21Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > You’re not Roscoe Lee Brown in a silver wheely Box, are you? No but he is. > [@Misnomer](#): > > You pretty much just defined “cozy.” But how on earth would that be considered “spacious” (let alone _also_ spacious)? 🙂 It would feel spacious while being relatively small. Sort of like [this.](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.habitatapartments.com%2Fresources%2Fapartments%2F846x564%2Fverazzabi-loft-apartment-florence-living-room-3.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.habitatapartments.com%2Fen%2Fflorence%2Fapartment%2Fview%2FVerrazzano-loft.htm&docid=ksZn9XDrnK0YdM&tbnid=NzKRUBA0seoGvM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjgi8Pwr9jZAhUKyYMKHXmCBSoQMwibAigJMAk..i&w=846&h=564&client=firefox-b-1&bih=761&biw=1510&q=loft%20apartment&ved=0ahUKEwjgi8Pwr9jZAhUKyYMKHXmCBSoQMwibAigJMAk&iact=mrc&uact=8) ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/13 "2018-03-06T18:59:33Z")
If it feels spacious, it’s not cozy. C’mon, those words mean totally different things and you know it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/14 "2018-03-06T19:46:29Z")
Not a TV ad, but my wife bought some pink Himalayan salt that says on the label something to this effect: “known as the purest salt in the world. The pink color is due to minerals dissolved in the salt” uhh, what? Does not compute :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/15 "2018-03-06T20:00:17Z")
Anyone in Minnesota who grew up within range of WTCN 11 in the '60s remembers **All-Star Wrestling** on Saturday nights. It was hosted by a short, bald Irishman in dark glasses named Marty O’Neil, who did standup interviews with the actors, uhm, wrestlers between bouts. He also did live commercials for the show’s sponsor, Ziggety-Hoo, a vitamin supplement concocted and marketed by _WORLD CHAMPION_ Vern Gagne. They were full of gems like “And remember: The best time to take it is either during or between meals.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/16 "2018-03-07T13:27:55Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > One of the Samsung ads that aired during the Oscars was hyping their new S9 with its magical camera, using a steady stream of forward-thinking hipsters haranguing a couple of teenagers sitting on a bed into using the phone to film a movie. Okay, the theme makes sense, it’s the Oscars, our phone’s camera is groundbreaking, yadda yadda. The tag line was “Do What You Can’t.” > > One of the aforementioned hipsters was shown doing bicycle tricks in a stage door alley. A tiny line of text popped up over the shot of the guy balancing on his front wheel or some such stunt … “Do not attempt.” > > “Do What You Can’t” or “Do not attempt” - WHICH IS IT, SAMSUNG? WHICH IS IT!?!? Yeah, you see this in a lot of car and truck ads. They show the vehicle doing some amazing stuff, then at the bottom of the screen “Professional driver on closed course. Do not attempt.” So why are you trying to sell me the car/truck by showing it doing something I can’t do in it? ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/17 "2018-03-07T15:47:21Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Yeah, you see this in a lot of car and truck ads. They show the vehicle doing some amazing stuff, then at the bottom of the screen “Professional driver on closed course. Do not attempt.” So why are you trying to sell me the car/truck by showing it doing something I can’t do in it? Oh, sure, I’m familiar with the small-print legal disclaimers. We can’t have lawsuits for people doing stuff they see in commercials, of course! (It does make me laugh to see the ‘closed course-do not attempt’ show up over some innocuous, normal, everyday driving, though.) But since the _entire point_ of the Samsung ad was “Get out of your room, losers, and film/do stuff like we’re doing!” only to add the disclaimer (“oh, but don’t do this specific thing cause we don’t want to get sued if you fall off your bike”) - it kind of ruined their whole theme. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/18 "2018-03-07T15:59:27Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He also did live commercials for the show’s sponsor, Ziggety-Hoo, a vitamin supplement concocted and marketed by _WORLD CHAMPION_ Vern Gagne. They were full of gems like “And remember: The best time to take it is either during or between meals.” :smack: It’s like the ads that talk about sales with discounts of “up to fifty percent or more”. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/19 "2018-03-07T16:38:57Z")
> [@](#): > > _adjective_ > adjective: **cosy** ; comparative adjective: **cosier** ; superlative adjective: **cosiest** ; adjective: **cozy** ; comparative adjective: **cozier** ; superlative adjective: **coziest** > > [ol] > [li] **1**. [/li]giving a feeling of comfort, warmth, and relaxation. > [/ol] Why can’t spacious be cozy? In fact, I can’t find a definition of “Cozy” that requires “tiny and cramped” to be a requirement. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126/20 "2018-03-07T17:03:18Z")
Gorton or someone of that ilk used to brag about how their frozen fish was “fresher than fresh” because they froze it on the boat as soon as they caught it. Frozen is not fresh. And with fish, freezing it reduces the quality in and of itself far more than keeping it on ice for a couple of days. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contradictions-in-tv-ads/810126.md?page=2)