# Latest stupid commercial thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102 "2012-07-23T02:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/341 "2014-03-14T14:39:47Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Talking mime - freaky? Not as freaky as the talking baby. Isn’t that the point? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/342 "2014-03-15T01:33:43Z")
I just saw a Dominos pizza commercial where viewers are invited to go online and look at the artistic creations made by the employees, on their own time. I guess being a creative artiste is directly related to the ability to put toppings on pizzas! Seriously. (I’m not saying this is stupid, exactly. I think it’s nice their work is shown on that site. It’s nice that Dominos pizza employees are artistically talented, but… they are drawn to work there because…putting on toppings gives them an outlet?) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/343 "2014-04-08T17:58:41Z")
“Our pizza builders are artistes!” Okay, so I don’t know why that family so so freaked out about Sprint’s calling plan name. The girl’s got cartoon birds as her companions, and dad is a hamster. Clearly the name “Framily” is a simple abbreviation for Sprint’s “Fiends and Framily” plan. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/344 "2014-04-08T18:31:23Z")
Sprint’s “Frobinson Framily” series. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/345 "2014-04-08T19:29:47Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Sprint’s “Frobinson Framily” series. God, I hate those. ---
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/346 "2014-04-09T19:57:48Z")
The KFC [commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrTQTVfg4rA)where a woman’s proudly explaining that buying a fast food dinner is a huge accomplishment for her, since she’s previously served her family rice cakes for dinner. I counted at least 20 jumps in a 40 second commercial. Presumably it’s supposed to look like a group of Vine postings, but it looks like the mom can’t even manage to talk for five seconds without screwing up. Which probably isn’t too far off, if she can’t even manage to slap together sandwiches for her kids. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/347 "2014-04-09T23:05:46Z")
I can’t stand commercials with those fake jumps, like the KFC commercial mentioned above. I had no idea what they were trying to imitate, other than (crappy) amateurish camera work. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/348 "2014-04-10T06:21:21Z")
The car commercials where the salesman says “It’s my job to be helpful” and the customer cons him into some dangerous or demeaning task. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/349 "2014-04-10T15:47:22Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I can’t stand commercials with those fake jumps, like the KFC commercial mentioned above. I had no idea what they were trying to imitate, other than (crappy) amateurish camera work. It’s “hip”. it’s “now”. It’s clueless ad execs trying to “capture the vibe” of the modern internets age, like using The Twitter. Trouble is, I bet there are really lots of video blogs or whatnot out there that have bad jump cuts just like that. it’s probably where KFC got the idea. Young people - they just don’t care about quality anymore. They think John Hancock signed the Constitution. Durn whippersnappers! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/350 "2014-04-10T15:51:21Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > The car commercials where the salesman says “It’s my job to be helpful” and the customer cons him into some dangerous or demeaning task. Really, any commercial where the sales associate says “We can help with anything” and the customer gives some dumbshit request like “What to buy my wife for our anniversary” or “My neighbors play loud music” or “Smooth things over with my angry mom”. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/351 "2014-04-10T21:10:18Z")
This isn’t especially dumb, but IMO it’s counterproductive — for many years, and especially in ads that are trying to get you to join or donate something, they’ll have a dozen or more people reading the same script. Somebody says a few words, and then somebody else says the next few words, and so on. They may be in completely different locations or circumstances, like an army recruiting ad that cuts from one person to another, in various locations around the world, but clearly reading the same script. Sometimes they’ll even have several of them repeat the same few words, rather than take up where the last person left off. I just don’t get it. It doesn’t add anything to the message; all it does is make it clear to anyone over five years old that they are reading a script, rather than speaking from the heart. I realize that all ads are scripted, but I don’t see why they would want to make that so obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/352 "2014-04-16T03:56:37Z")
Stubhub with the two girls on a bench. One says “I wanted to go see that concert” and the other calls the Ticket Oak to ask if it has any tickets. Ticket Oak, shakes its branches and a huge pile of tickets falls out. Ticket Oak says “Oh, a couple…” My immediate thought: Man, that concert must suck because there’s still hundreds of unsold tickets with just hours to go before showtime. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/353 "2014-04-18T17:58:27Z")
The Tommie Copper commercials are annoying me. The woman (I forget her name) makes a big deal about how stressful her life is. OMG! She has to get her kids up and dressed and off to school and then she has to go to work and teach a few classes and attend a few meetings. It’s only by wearing Tommie Copper that she can do all that. Like it makes her special. Welcome to the real world where millions of women go through the same thing every morning. It’s called life. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/354 "2014-04-18T21:26:11Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > The Tommie Copper commercials are annoying me. > > The woman (I forget her name) makes a big deal about how stressful her life is. OMG! She has to get her kids up and dressed and off to school and then she has to go to work and teach a few classes and attend a few meetings. It’s only by wearing Tommie Copper that she can do all that. > Like it makes her special. Welcome to the real world where millions of women go through the same thing every morning. > It’s called life. How does Ellen Sherman do it? She’s smart. She takes Speed. Yes, Speed, the little blue diet pill you don’t have to be overweight to need. > **[SNL Transcripts: Lily Tomlin: 11/22/75: Speed - SNL Transcripts Tonight](https://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75fspeed.phtml)** > >  Saturday Night Live Transcripts  Season 1: Episode 6 ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/355 "2014-04-18T22:54:59Z")
The Tina Fey/American Express ads where they swipe the wrong side of the card. The card is translucent. You can see the magnetic stripe from either side of the card. And on the commercial you can clearly see that the magnetic stripe is nowhere near the credit card reading machine. Were someone to swipe the card the way it happens over and over again in that series of commercials, they’d quickly turn it around and re-swipe it because nothing would have happened or the card reading machine would show something was wrong with the card. Cards get swiped wrong on most credit card commercials, because the stripe is on the same end of the card as the logo & companies want to make sure you see their logo. But with an opaque card, I won’t notice or can at least suspend my disbelief. But I can’t ignore a closeup of a card going through the reader wrong. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/356 "2014-04-18T23:56:37Z")
Ford commercials show some really stupid customers. The two I saw were the one with the lady whispering about her dog’s procedure, and the other lady asking for her kid to be carwashed. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/357 "2014-04-19T00:00:08Z")
The Trivago ads. Firstly, I’m not sure what the business model is that convinces anyone the world needs another hotel price-gathering site. What with Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Kayak (my personal favorite), [Hotels.com](http://Hotels.com), Booking.yeah (I mean, .com) … do we really need another one that does the same thing? But most unsettling, the Trivago guy. Vaguely early middle-aged, with a vague trace of some unidentifiable European accent … and his stylishly rumpled gray shirt unbuttoned nearly to his midriff. Come on, man! Nobody wants to see that! Button at least one or two more of those buttons! The Trivago guy strikes me as someone I would steer clear of, especially if I saw him at a hotel. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/358 "2014-04-21T21:27:42Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > … they’ll have a dozen or more people reading the same script. Somebody says a few words, and then somebody else says the next few words, and so on. They may be in completely different locations or circumstances, like an army recruiting ad that cuts from one person to another, in various locations around the world, but clearly reading the same script. Sometimes they’ll even have several of them repeat the same few words, rather than take up where the last person left off. > > I just don’t get it. I think the theory is to try to show so many diverse people with diverse backgrounds all with the same connection, idea, emotion, whatever. All trying to be part of the same solution or whatever. Repetition for emphasis. > [@Sahirrnee](#): > > It’s only by wearing Tommie Copper that she can do all that. What is Tommie Cooper? Okay, how about the latest Heineken ad where some guy is on a cruise ship, sees a hot babe, orders a [del]beer[/del] Heineken and shuffleboards it to her across the floor, then inexplicably breaks into dance in various styles across the floor. That’s weird enough, but for some reason they decide that the guy changes every time you look at him, there’s a different actor. One is White, one darker skinned, one Asian. It’s mind-bogglingly bizarre. At first I didn’t realize they were supposed to be the same guy. WTF? Heineken makes you a master of disguise and a champion dancer? Heineken means you never actually get to talk to the lady because you’re busy getting swept around the room? Heineken - because your beard is more interesting than the Most Interesting Man in the World’s beard? ---
**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:** [April 21, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/359 "2014-04-21T21:43:04Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Okay, how about the latest Heineken ad where some guy is on a cruise ship, sees a hot babe, orders a [del]beer[/del] Heineken and shuffleboards it to her across the floor, then inexplicably breaks into dance in various styles across the floor. I hate all the Heineken ads, if just for the cacophonous, ear melting music. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102/360 "2014-04-21T21:56:54Z")
OK, how about the [Discover ad](http://youtu.be/HNNx4Zkh50I) that they play ENDLESSLY during the hockey playoffs: A woman calls Discover to ask about her credit report showing up on her bill. The woman employee taking the call explains that this is a free feature now. The woman calling says “Awesome sauce!” to which the employee says “Hah my twin sister says that all the time.” Then she realizes it **is** her twin sister. “Wait - Erin?” blah blah. OK, assuming for a ridiculously doubtful moment that these twin sisters **did not recognize each others’ voices** , AND had never spoken about the fact that one of them works for Discover…the employee had pulled up the caller’s info on her computer! She didn’t fucking recognize her twin fucking sister’s fucking customer information on her screen?! Ugh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-stupid-commercial-thread/629102.md?page=19)