# Most tone-deaf/out of touch commercials? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [July 30, 2026, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017 "2026-07-30T11:04:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/221 "2026-08-05T20:44:03Z")
> **[This New Toilet Paper Is So Soft And Absorbent!](https://theonion.com/this-new-toilet-paper-is-so-soft-and-absorbent-1819583749/)** > > You probably won’t believe me when I tell you that new Cushy™-brand bathroom tissue is the softest, most absorbent bathroom tissue you’ll ever try. Heck, I was skeptical at first, too! Even after learning about Cushy’s™ specially quilted... ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/222 "2026-08-05T20:44:11Z")
> [@Wallet](#): > > incredibly tone deaf The imagery would have escaped me entirely (not a New Yorker), but the rather oddly specific use of the word “collapse” almost makes it seem intentional. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/223 "2026-08-05T21:02:07Z")
wow. Surely that’s intentional. I can buy that the other one was a mistake, but this seems deliberately cringe. For the uninitiated, here’s what I noticed: 1. “i needed that” is said after something wholesome or cathartic, expressing sort of a sense of relief. not finding something they like or need. 2. this is a negative description, implicitly followed by smh (shake my head) or similar. it’s saying the deal is dumb. 3. the top line would be a lame defense with the “i mean” construction. There’s probably more I don’t get. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/224 "2026-08-05T21:20:12Z")
The tone-deaf ad I will never forget aired within days of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. An overeager marketing person capitalized on the unfolding drama with a jaw-droppingly insensitive radio ad for a local car dealership that said, “Our prices are so low, we’re radioactive” or some such nonsense. I was horrified when I heard it, and my plan was to call the dealership and ream them out (this was pre-internet era, of course). But the ad was so awful that I couldn’t quite believe anyone would be so tasteless, and I wondered if I’d somehow misunderstood. I left the radio on nonstop for a couple of days to hear the ad again, intending to verify the exact wording before I complained. However, I never heard it again. My guess is that the reaction from less reserved listeners was swift and brutal, and the ad was pulled IMMEDIATELY after one broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/225 "2026-08-05T21:58:12Z")
I had to look up Alexandria, because I didn’t know exactly where it was. It wasn’t there; this would have been a town just off I-35. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/226 "2026-08-05T22:05:49Z")
Maybe they assumed that locals knew what it was? Perhaps “One Footrace” would have been more appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/227 "2026-08-05T22:15:22Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > after a night of partying… > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I remember being in college and getting hungry in the evening > > a college right of passage. My college was in such a small town that NOTHING was open after 10… so about 2am, someone would yell “Tri-State Trolley’s leaving!” and whoever jumped in Chucko’s hippie van would get a ride from Michigan, past Clear Lake, Indiana, to Lester’s All-Night Diner in Bryan, Ohio. Not on topic? Well, Lester’s advertised that they were “Home of The 14 oz. Coffee Cup!” … sounds a bit out-of-touch (diner coffee was always free refills). ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/228 "2026-08-05T22:26:54Z")
Would make sense if you were on the road and planning to take it with you. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/229 "2026-08-06T00:56:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Maybe they assumed that locals knew what it was? Perhaps “One Footrace” would have been more appropriate. All locals and folks in this area know about Bloomsday. It still didn’t go over well and was taken down soon after it went up. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/230 "2026-08-06T00:57:48Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The imagery would have escaped me entirely (not a New Yorker), but the rather oddly specific use of the word “collapse” almost makes it seem intentional. I didn’t even connect the “collapse” wording. Yeah, that makes it odd. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017.md?page=11)