Hey, Dolores, they had the chainsaw guy from Houston on Conan O’Brien! They aired the commercial and I think even hired an ad team to create a new one; it had the chainsaw image but was done with nice music and pleasant voice-over.
My favorite ones recently were the anti-tobacco ads spoofing other ads. The best was for 'SPLODE!, a soft-drink with XTREME carbonation. (much more funny if you’ve seen any Mountain Dew ad). The 'SPLODE! ads feature some kids BUNGIE-JUMPING (maybe BUNGIE-jumping on MOUNTAIN BIKES); they shake the can of 'SPLODE!, open it on the way down and let it go – it SHOOTS straight into their MOUTHS!! When the third person goes down, though, the can EXPLODES and KILLS her. The line (same for all the commercials) : “Only one product actually kills a third of those who use it.”
The Discover channel meteor commercial is my favorite.
“Aaaahhhh…the atmosphere. Aaaahhhhh…”
I absolutely hate those cell phone commercials that feature the sheepherder. (I think it’s AT&T.) They started out with just TV ads, but now they’ve made radio adaptations. It’s so stupid!
As far as worst radio ads, one of the most annoying is the Kroger grocery store radio ad (in the Raleigh, NC area). It features some chick singing about the glories of Kroger in this high-pitched voice. What gets me is that they’re airing this commercial on a rock station.
Just so you know, tampons and dress shields are for two completely different things. At least you admit it’s something guys know little about–but seeing those two things associated with each other really made me laugh!
As far as radio ads, my favorite are the Budweiser (I think) ads where they are “saluting” guys who work hard in unglamourous jobs, like “bowling shoe giver outer” and “pro wrestling costume designer guy”. The guy singing is so serious!
And I HATE those Discovery channel ads, especially the “hello, partially digested fish…” ones!
I hate that commercial, too, but I hate even more the Boch Toyota ad that starts out with the “magical donkey” that “opens the door to great Toyota savings.” They show the stupid donkey opening a door with its mouth. It really creeps me out. What do magical donkeys have to do with Toyotas?
Funny Comercials: The one for Bud Light (I think - it’s for a beer, anyway) where the announcer tells you that if a family function is interfering with your boys night out, you can call a hotline, and vikings will show up and trash the place. They show this guy calling the number, a bus load of Vikings show up and proceeds to destroy everything at the party. The guys wife gets a phone call, and tells him the party’s off because of Vikings. His response: “Bloody Vikings!”.
I also like the commercial for a web site (SavingUMoney.com I think), where a rollercoaster pulls to a stop, and all these cheering, screaming people jump off. One guy just sits there, motionless. Then the screen goes black, and a coupon appears labelled “10% off underwear”. Childish, I know, but I can’t help but laugh.
Worst Commercial: The “Ontario Legal Will Kit” commercial. A husband and wife are talking about how important/easy/fast it is to use. The “husband” starts the spiel, and when the “wife” takes over, you can see his lips moving a little, like he’s a ventriloquist or something! Kills me every time.
I note that “Robin” is, not universaly, but most commonly, a girl’s name. If you have a 14 year old boy in you, you better be a 14 year old girl, or it’s against the law. Except in West Virginia.
I recently remarked to Lib, “Why haven’t I heard an uproar about this one?”
Maybe I’ve just missed any chat about it, but the new Burger King commercial is absolutely disgusting. You know, the one where a young girl is being stalked by an apparent killer and she’s screaming and pounding on a family’s front door? Burger King’s sandwich is so yummy, they ignore her.
Quite honestly, I’ll never eat at a Burger King again.
And then there’s the commercial about a “slug campaign”. Couldn’t tell you who’s the owner is of that one; can’t get past the slug sandwich, slug on a stick… before I click the remote.
That Bear in the Woods ad was the topper, alright, but
every year they get bolder.
Next year, a baby actually getting cleaned, then an old lady saying “I love the softness on my delicate behind”.
I wish it weren’t coming, but it will.
The funniest ad I’ve ever seen was for Monster.com. It’s the one where “a pack of ravenous wolves” is sent to attack a marching band for some reason. I laughed my ass off. It must have been a good ad, because I remember the company. There’s some ad for deodorant starring Tom Green that ripped off the idea, but using tigers attacking weightlifters.
The absolute WORST ad I’ve ever seen is for that “Herbal Essence” shampoo. (“A totally organic experience” He he, get it? phegh!) This woman is on a plane. She goes into the bathroom of the plane and proceeds to wash her hair! As if that wasn’t implausible enough, she then hits the intercom button (I’ve been in plenty of planes, and I’ve NEVER seen an intercom button in a bathroom) and the whole plane hears her cries of pleasure, brought on by this shampoo. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.
[slight hijack for PSA] If you’re in the market (or plan to be for a car, I suggest anyone/everyone read the lengthy article at Carbuyingtips.com; it goes through all the details on “Dealer Invoice” vs “Actual Dealer Cost,” profit margins and “extras” that are not necessary or even appropriately priced. [/hijack]
Now, in a shameless bit of prejudice, I happen to love the commercials of my new company (just started there July 24th), Carfax. If I remind you, I’m sure you’ll recall them or you can see them if you visit AdCritic.com and do a search for Carfax. My favorite involves a dog driving and a farmer…the dog chases some ducks into a pond and our tag line is: “People do some strange things with cars.” I loved that commercial before I ever interviewed with the company but hadn’t remembered it when (until) I went in for the interview.
I also love (i.e. think its incredibly funny) the Serta commercial with the (Wallace & Grommit style) counting sheep.
Look! it is family boy!!! And his dog, Family Mutt!!! Family Auto Mart!!! Family Auto Mart!!!
That is the funnies thing I’ve ever seen. These grown men (all salesmen) run around for hours on end singing and dancing. When there is nothing on, I can watch them for hours…
There’s a series of commercials for Special K cereal (I’m not sure if the spots are Canadian or American) that have been running for a while now. I guess they’re trying to convince women that because men don’t require perfection in their own bodies, neither should women.
There’s one in particular where a guy siting in a bar looks at the camera and says, “I have my mother’s thighs. I just have to accept that.” It cracks me up everytime.
That one where that girl is applying at a restaraunt and the guys says “Well, your resume looks great, what else ya got?” And she smiles impishly and belts out “Chili’s babyback ribs…” or whatnot, then twists her arms up and looks ‘cute’.
A friend and I were looking for somewhere to eat the other day, and we drove past a Chili’s. It was an option, until one of us said “God no, they have those AWFUL commercials!”
So someone should tell Chili’s that that shit is actually driving customers AWAY, the fucking idiots.
I know very little about such feminine mysteries, and although I can’t speak for the other chaps, I [ii]suspect* this is the case with most men.
I saw the ad again just before, and instead of cringing or changing channels quickly, I paid attention to the end of the commercial, and indeed it is advertising tampons.
Unlike the Fran Drescher tampon which was fairly recogniseable as a tampon, in the doggy ad the actual product being advertised isn’t made clear until the end. Which is odd really, being coy about a tampon when the mental picture the content of the ad is quite vivid.
My favorite commercial has been out for a while, but I’ve seen it more lately, so I guess they are re-running it. I have NO idea what company it’s for but it’s made up of kids talking.
*When I grow up, I wanna file ALL day.
I wanna be a YES man… YES woman…YES sir, right away sir.*
I wish I could remember the whole thing…or at least the company.
Worst commercials- I despise the Apple Jacks commercials…We don’t ask why, you don’t ask why. I don’t know why they bug me so much, but I just cannot stand them.
