# Isn't Jennifer pretty? \[commercial\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529 "2011-08-13T00:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/21 "2011-08-13T03:50:05Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > I think you’ll find that kids are quite familiar with the notion of a joke. You’re wringing your hands over a non-existent situation. You think that (AT&T) is funny? Do you have children? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/22 "2011-08-13T03:54:21Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I think you’ll find that kids find H&G are scary, but a fairy tale. I also think you’d also find that those same kids would find the situation in that AT&T commercial quite real. Which in some families it is all _too_ real. > Uncomfortable paragraph. Sorry. I would love to get some links to news reports about kids being stuck in featureless rooms with men who offer them ponies or ice cream and then take it away arbitrarily. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/23 "2011-08-13T04:08:05Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It’s like a lot of commercials. The message is “Buy our product - assholes love it!” > > But you are correct - not funny, even a little. > > Regards, > Shodan Yup. I don’t know if this a trend of the last five years or so or whether I’ve just been noticing it more - many ads are sociopathic. I don’t think this is ad is really saying what parents secretly think, which is where the humour is supposed to come from. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/24 "2011-08-13T04:41:21Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > You think that (AT&T) is funny? Do you have children? Do you know children who find this commercial frightening? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/25 "2011-08-13T12:30:13Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I would love to get some links to news reports about kids being stuck in featureless rooms with men who offer them ponies or ice cream and then take it away arbitrarily. The commercial that is the subject of this thread is linked to in the OP. We’ve wandered a little. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/26 "2011-08-13T12:40:03Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Do you know children who find this commercial frightening? Disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/27 "2011-08-13T12:44:14Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Disturbing. It’s certainly possible, but I find it difficult to take seriously. I think most kids would recognize it for what it is, a (slightly funny) joke in a commercial. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/28 "2011-08-13T13:16:26Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It’s certainly possible, but I find it difficult to take seriously. I think most kids would recognize it for what it is, a (slightly funny) joke in a commercial. I don’t know. It would be informative to be the “fly on the wall” in a room where children of the age group depicted in the op commercial (9 or 10 or so} see it. That’s a very tender time in a kid’s life. [Sibling rivalry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibling_rivalry) doesn’t need encouragement. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/29 "2011-08-13T13:24:29Z")
You know there’s this this thing called parenting. Part of this process involves the mother or father (or both) actually _talking_ to their children. Explaining to them various things about the real world. One of these things could even be… oh, I don’t know… _subject matter on TV._ Sounds crazy, I know, but psychologists these days are saying it actually works. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/30 "2011-08-13T13:35:31Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > You know there’s this this thing called parenting. Part of this process involves the mother or father (or both) actually _talking_ to their children. Explaining to them various things about the real world. One of these things could even be… oh, I don’t know… _subject matter on TV._ > > Sounds crazy, I know, but psychologists these days are saying it actually works. Yes, that would be nice, wouldn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/31 "2011-08-13T13:53:18Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > You think that (AT&T) is funny? Do you have children? I thought it was funny. I watched it twice, and thought it funny both times. I also have children, although the youngest is twelve, so they’re all old enough to understand humor. > [@levdrakon](#): > > So I just watched all the Ally Bank commercials on YouTube. They’re not bad. My favorite was [“Studio.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg4D94YDKqI) My favorite is the one where the guy is interviewing. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/32 "2011-08-13T13:54:15Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yup. I don’t know if this a trend of the last five years or so or whether I’ve just been noticing it more - many ads are sociopathic. I don’t think this is ad is really saying what parents secretly think, which is where the humour is supposed to come from. I suspect that many parents of more than one kid—in their heart of hearts, no matter how deeply repressed, when it’s “genitals hooked up to the car battery” truth-telling time—actually do have a favorite. Why someone felt this dark, deeply buried truth would make good fodder for lighthearted advertising is harder to understand. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/33 "2011-08-13T13:57:57Z")
I love how everyone is in arms because children COULD be upset/hurt/offended/SCARED FOR LIFE by this commerical, but no children have claimed so… I’m sure most children are aware there’s a favorite. Even if there isn’t, one sibling usually gets the better treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/34 "2011-08-13T14:11:50Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/35 "2011-08-13T14:26:38Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I suspect that many parents of more than one kid—in their heart of hearts, no matter how deeply repressed, when it’s “genitals hooked up to the car battery” truth-telling time—actually do have a favorite. > > Why someone felt this dark, deeply buried truth would make good fodder for lighthearted advertising is harder to understand. Exactly! I don’t need to personally see children falling like leaves into devastating depression to realize that the commercial isn’t a _good_ thing. And I’m referring just to the commercial linked in the op. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/36 "2011-08-13T14:31:19Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > but no children have claimed so… How could know that? Besides, many kids learn to suffer in silence. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/37 "2011-08-13T14:34:54Z")
The comercials are funny and the message is transparent to most who watch. The commercials starring “Mayhem” are also extremely funny but could be in poor taste to victims of real “mayhem”. So what, i laugh anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/38 "2011-08-13T14:35:30Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Isn’t the point that the commercials are MESSING WITH CHILDREN, which is cruel? I do get the joke, but it isn’t funny enough to excuse telling it. Tell me about it. The guys making fun of Sasquatch need to wise up too. Not funny. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheField](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@LilyoftheField](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheField)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/39 "2011-08-13T15:24:51Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yup. I don’t know if this a trend of the last five years or so or whether I’ve just been noticing it more - many ads are sociopathic. I don’t think this is ad is really saying what parents secretly think, which is where the humour is supposed to come from. Really? You think this ad is sociopathic? I think its funny. Perhaps I have sociopathic tendencies? Nah, that can’t be right - my mom always liked me best! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529/40 "2011-08-13T15:41:31Z")
> [@LilyoftheField](#): > > Really? You think this ad is sociopathic? I think its funny. Perhaps I have sociopathic tendencies? Nah, that can’t be right - my mom always liked me best! 😛 I think it shows a lack of empathy for those who would be disturbed by it. And I don’t have to do a survey to know that many children, and some parents, will see themselves in that commercial and be disturbed by it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-jennifer-pretty-commercial/592529.md?page=3)