# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/81 "2026-08-01T18:56:30Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > Jeep is running ads saying they are the “most patriotic car company.” I guess those of us who don’t drive Jeeps are traitors. In the 1970s, Chevrolet ran its “Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet” campaign. I was too young to understand why it made perfect sense: the quality of their cars (along with the other Big Two) was at their nadir, so it was a good strategy to avoid discussing anything substantive. “Just shut up and buy the damn car. Unless you’re some kind of communist”. [Chevrolet TV comercial 1970s - Baseball, Hot dogs, Apple pie, Chevrolet - ORIGINAL!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqweygy9K9Y) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/82 "2026-08-01T19:01:26Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > That was the first thing I thought of when reading the OP- Norton’s misreading of that line to Kramden’s consternation. And the followup when Kramden misreads the line on stage. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/83 "2026-08-01T19:21:40Z")
Yes I forgot about that part! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/84 "2026-08-01T22:18:26Z")
USAA recently had a series of commercials that I objected to. Some of them had Rob Gronkowski trying to get USAA insurance, and being told that he didn’t qualify because he wasn’t a member of the armed services (or a elligible family member). As it happens, I am qualified for USAA, so maybe I watched those commercials a little more intently than most. At some point I realized that they weren’t actually selling anything about the product except its exclusivity (in the worst sense of the word). They didn’t promise lower prices, or better service. The only message in those commercials was “get USAA because other people can’t”. At the time, in one of my calls with them, I happened to mention that I objected to the message they were sending. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/85 "2026-08-01T23:10:01Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > At the time, in one of my calls with them, I happened to mention that I objected to the message they were sending. But it got you to call them. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/86 "2026-08-01T23:34:52Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > At some point I realized that they weren’t actually selling anything about the product except its exclusivity (in the worst sense of the word). They didn’t promise lower prices, or better service. The only message in those commercials was “get USAA because other people can’t”. Cadillac had a series of ads I used to hear on the radio encouraging listeners to purchase one so everyone knew they had “arrived.” The ad didn’t mention any specific model or tell us what’s so great about owning a Cadillar except it would impress other people. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/87 "2026-08-01T23:43:09Z")
I think the majority of advertising is based on emotional appeals rather than rational appeals. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/88 "2026-08-01T23:44:55Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Cadillac had a series of ads I used to hear on the radio encouraging listeners to purchase one so everyone knew they had “arrived.” The ad didn’t mention any specific model or tell us what’s so great about owning a Cadillar except it would impress other people. For decades Cadillac was synonymous with fancy rich person car. You’d have to be pretty old at this point for it to resonate but it makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/89 "2026-08-01T23:48:03Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I think the majority of advertising is based on emotional appeals rather than rational appeals. You’re not wrong. Back when I was an undergradaute, I took a course called American Culture and we spent a lot of time on advertisements and had a profound influence on me. I remember a television ad for a minivan (I think) circa 2008 featuring a nuclear family going on a road trip. The ad featured each member of the family being satisfied by being able to set everything for themselves individually (television, air, music, etc., etc.) and was really focused on the family dynamic. I realized they were trying to sell us familial bliss. Buy this car and everyone will be happy. But at least that ad showed us some features of the vehicle. The Cadillac ad had none of that. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2026, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/90 "2026-08-01T23:48:33Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > For decades Cadillac was synonymous with fancy rich person car. You’d have to be pretty old at this point for it to resonate but it makes sense. How long has it been since Cadillac was the Cadillac of cars? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/91 "2026-08-02T00:17:51Z")
It started when they shrank the Fleetwood in 1977. The introudction of the Cimarron in 19891 was a bullet through the heart. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/92 "2026-08-02T00:36:47Z")
The name still lives on in Cadillac margaritas. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/93 "2026-08-02T00:41:17Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > Also I have never figured out why a gecko or emu should influence who I buy insurance from, but maybe that doesn’t fit this thread. Nothing will ever beat the out-of-touchness of giving an insurance mascot their own prime time sitcom. > **[Cavemen (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavemen_(TV_series))** > > Cavemen is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 2 to November 20, 2007. The show was developed by Joe Lawson, Josh Gordon and Will Speck, based on the GEICO Cavemen TV commercials, which were also written by Lawson. It was described by the network as a "unique buddy comedy that offers a clever twist on stereotypes and turns race relations on its head", and is set in San Diego, California. The show earned an extremely negative reception, becoming regarded as one of the worst televisi... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/94 "2026-08-02T01:22:44Z")
I’ve been a USAA member and customer since … long ago. Everything about how they’ve changed their field of membership eligibility and marketing is offensive to what they stood for when I signed up. Everything. But yes, their underlying mission since day one has been “We only sell to a group of good risks who are atypically honest and well-behaved. So we can provide the same coverage at less price because typical raggedy Americans, warts and all, are not part of our risk pool. You’re filtered, and you deserve to be in a risk pool only with other filtered people.” Everything they have changed since I joined has been about keeping the marketing message the same while continuously diluting the shit out of the reality in a relentless quest for ever greater volume. They haven’t pissed me off terminally yet. But I have no doubt that their quest for volume amounts to having raised my premiums 50% for zero benefit to me as they broadened their risk pool in a bad direction. They like to advertise we’re “members”. Nope, just customers to be abused. Like every other megacorp. Spare me the BS in your ads. ---
**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 2, 2026, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/95 "2026-08-02T01:33:18Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I think the majority of advertising is based on emotional appeals rather than rational appeals. My very young kid got angry at the end of a Coke ad with dancing, happy teens: **“But they didn’t say it tastes good!”** “What do you mean?” “Well, people should buy it because it tastes good, right? And all they showed were people dancing around drinking Coke! And no one said how it tastes!” So I tried to explain “lifestyle advertising” to a preschooler, but I didn’t do a very good job… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/96 "2026-08-02T01:42:48Z")
> [@digs](#): > > So I tried to explain “lifestyle advertising” to a preschooler, but I didn’t do a very good job… If your kid was a boy you could have showed him this tone-deaf commercial. He’d have gotten it instinctively. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LtnMtrEB1-I/hqdefault.jpg "Old Milwaukee") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtnMtrEB1-I) ---
**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 2, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/97 "2026-08-02T01:52:07Z")
Ha! In that case, they don’t DARE tell how Old Milwaukee tastes! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/98 "2026-08-02T02:28:51Z")
I haven’t read this whole thread, but some years back, there was a commercial where a man blindfolds his wife and takes her outside to show her the new car, and when she removes the blindfold, she squeals, “WHERE DID YOU GET A BOW THAT BIG?” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/99 "2026-08-02T03:01:44Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > The introudction of the Cimarron in 19891 was a bullet through the heart. Ah yes, that was around the time that the Harkonnens assumed the governorship of Arrakis, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017/100 "2026-08-02T03:07:42Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > For decades Cadillac was synonymous with fancy rich person car. You’d have to be pretty old at this point for it to resonate but it makes sense. I vaguely remember a bit from Mad Magazine sometime in the '70’s. Maybe it was “Ads we’d like to see” or some such… _“Mercedes Benz. The Cadillac of cars.”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-tone-deaf-out-of-touch-commercials/1032017.md?page=6)