About twenty years ago, I was home sick for a while and got hooked on watching daytime reruns of *Bonanza *and *The Big Valley *on one LA channel. The ads seemed to alternate between some bartenders’ school and a law firm called–I kid you not–The Center for Drunk Driving Defense.
Ever watch the Game Show Network? No? Good, but I do admit to finding Match Game hilarious, and tune in whenever I catch it. All of the commercials are for trade/vocational schools, life insurance that even you can qualify for at 80 years old(!), weight loss pills/surgery, or Wilford Brimley’s moustache talking to me about the diabetus.
I’m not sure my Mom would even have a TV, if she didn’t have that to watch. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Card Sharks while there. A few years ago I was really sick and stayed with Mom for a while. She had GSN on all day.
Curse my failing memory!
On the positive side, I don’t watch daytime TV much. So, that makes me a winner!
-Joe
Yeah, I am ashamed to admit that I know her name but cannot remember my bank PIN. I say this as I am watching Divorce Court, and who is that? No kidding, a commercial for Ronnie Deutch. It has come full circle; I think it is time to go workout now.
Yep. Now The Riddler is going to tell you how to take advantage of the stimulus plan!
He took a break for a few years, or batman got him or something.
This leads to the thought that there are a bunch of really disappointed guys walking around out there with enormous earlobes or something.
Speaking of the diabeetus, I love the Buxton purse commercials. They’re made of gen-u-wine leather! Why does leather always get to be gen-u-wine? You never hear other commercials with gen-u-wine anything. And if it’s mentioned, it’s pronounced correctly. Why is leather, specifically I wonder, gen-u-wine.
I also love the melt down your old gold jewelry ones. There’s even video of flamey gold liquefying. Then they fan a big wad of cash at you. The spokesman sounds like he can barely get the words out, so eager is he to rip you off. “Secure transaction” indeed.
I get several catalogs from various places. Several of them have Buxton products in them. I quickly flip past these items, as I have become deeply suspicious of the company. In particular, I’d like to know why these items are always patchwork leather. Does Buxton make a habit of buying up scraps of leather and then fashioning purses out of them?
Here in Texas, we’ve changed the pronunciation of the word “suite” as it applies to sets of furniture. Or at least the actors in furniture ads have. We’ll hear about a sale on “suits” of furniture.
Holy Bacchus, I almost choked at my desk when I read this. I try to at least look like I’m working, which is generally easier to do when not choking from laughter. At any rate, you wanna know what really chaps my hide about that commercial? Well, besides the fact that the purse is really effing ugly, and is available in “fashion colors” such as red. Oooh, red! Oh my, I’ve never seen a red purse before! Anyway, I hate when the announcer says the purse is so easy to use (because my purse is freakin’ difficult), that items can be found even when wearing a blindfold! Oh come on, I can close my eyes and reach into my purse right now and retrieve a random item. The woman in the commercial is wearing a blindfold and pulls something out of her purse - what does that prove? How do I know that was even what she was looking for?
When I was in college, I actually had to stop watching Star Trek at 10 a.m. because I could no longer take the commercials for Survival Insurance. Could. Not. Take. It.
The OP forgot one whole class of commercials: the convert your structured settlement into cash now! type.
These prey on the people who already got their cash settlement from sueing somebody, but the Judge recognized that they were too dumb to handle a big bunch of cash at once, so structured it so that they only get a certain amount per month.
Aside from the intelligence of the plaintiff, aren’t there tax advantages to avoiding a lump sum? I know there have been discussions about this on the boards before, but I can’t remember how the numbers come out.
I hate the ads for the disability law firm where the voiceover insists that collecting social security won’t compromise your manhood. This all takes place over a picture of the Statue of Liberty serving as a backdrop for the firm’s logo, which incorporates an American flag lapel pin. The ad ends with a condescending suit, presumably the head of the firm, cooing “We’ll deal with the government, you have ENOUGH to worry about.” At some point they put a cowboy hat on the guy–I guess it’s to “toughen-up” his image. It’s not working.
New Zealand must have different at-home people or different laws (We do. Lawyers are not allowed to advertise). I had 3 days sick a couple of weeks ago and apparently everyone watching day time telly here is fat, with acne, needs to steam clean and has an urgent need for a ladder.
I assume there’s no rip-off here except that the average shmoe calling in has no idea what the true worth of his grandpa’s gold coin collection is. With the price of gold where it is, the company could send back a sizable amount and still pocket more than half the actual value.