# Radio commercials with cars honking and skidding sounds **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 9, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988 "2004-08-09T05:00:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/21 "2004-08-09T12:38:12Z")
The people who developed these ads deserve a place in hell right next to the people who make TV commercials with ringing doorbells. Fuckers. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/22 "2004-08-09T12:46:59Z")
I’ve been startled by similar commercials. My hearing isn’t particularly bad and my car stereo isn’t anything special. If you were to give me an “Is it live or is it Memorex” test, I’m pretty sure I could pick out which was which. I’m just not expecting to have to do that while driving. It has nothing to do with whether the sound is exceptionally high quality. It’s almost automatic to go on alert when I hear screeching brakes or a siren while driving. The fast reaction part of my brain is fired before the logical part can put together that it’s only the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/23 "2004-08-09T12:47:22Z")
> [@Jadis](#): > > The people who developed these ads deserve a place in hell right next to the people who make TV commercials with ringing doorbells. Fuckers. :mad: Those are even worse when you have a dog! I can’t tell you how many times my dog went nuts because somebody was at Frasier’s door. ---
**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 9, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/24 "2004-08-09T12:51:08Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > What the…? Oh… Well, I haven’t tried either lithium or electroshock, but have learned to read. Good luck in your quest to do the same. 😛 Please accept my apology **Liberal** , I was commenting on the mental state of **Libertarian**. What’s up with that, anyway? I thought when a user changed their name, the old one was retired for this very reason. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/25 "2004-08-09T12:59:01Z")
> [@SHAKES](#): > > But in retrospect, maybe advertisers should know better than to make such sound bites like these for radio. Which I would _think_ the majority audience is DRIVING. Are you kidding? That’s EXACTLY why they put these sounds in. The advertisers KNOW that a large percentage of the radio-listening population are in their cars. A large percentage of people have “tuned out” and aren’t paying attention to the commercials. Then this sound comes on. The people not paying attention to the commercials have some basic part of their brain triggered, and they react. They look around. They wonder if they’re in danger. Then, they realize the sound they heard is actually on the radio… _which they are now paying attention to and the advertiser’s work is done._ ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/26 "2004-08-09T13:08:14Z")
Sirens bother me whether I think they’re coming from outside the car or not - I still want to just be sure that I’m not impeding the progress of an emergency vehicle, accidentally “evading arrest”, or whatever. I also know that while riding in the back seat, I’ve vocally imitated sirens well enough to make a few different drivers freak and look around for the police car. As for the comparison to CDs, I can listen to a CD ahead of time and know what it contains. I can’t predict from moment to moment what will be playing on any given radio station. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/27 "2004-08-09T13:41:24Z")
One simple phrase for you, folks: “XM Radio” All the great radio joy and no commercials (on most stations). All for $15 per month! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/28 "2004-08-09T13:49:25Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Please accept my apology **Liberal** , I was commenting on the mental state of **Libertarian**. > > What’s up with that, anyway? I thought when a user changed their name, the old one was retired for this very reason. Apology accepted. 🙂 No biggie. Like I said in the ATMB thread, it was an eerie experience for me the first time I saw it. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/29 "2004-08-09T13:57:02Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Those are even worse when you have a dog! I can’t tell you how many times my dog went nuts because somebody was at Frasier’s door. My dog jumps up, runs to the door and starts barking everytime a commercial comes on for Domino’s pizza (you know . . . “Get the door–it’s Domino’s!”) . . . and she’s never even lived in a house with a (working) doorbell! 😕 As to the OP, yep, I’m on that wagon. In fact, I skip the fourth song on my Gap Band CD (_Burn Rubber on Me_, which begins with an engine revving, followed by squealing brakes) when I’m driving, because even though I KNOW it’s just the song, it still makes me twitch a little. Sometimes, though, I just really need to sing the song, so I fast forward through that part . . . _You told me to go up the block! To get you a strawberry pop! When I got back to the flat! You had burned rubber out the back!_ Ahem. Carry on . . . ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/30 "2004-08-09T14:24:23Z")
Thank you all for your replies so far. I see that others have the same problem and it is not just me. These ads are not so scary and dangerous when you are driving down the open road. However, in a radio market like Boston, thousands of people are listening to a station at any given time. That means that someone is trying to execute a tricky maneuver like merging and crossing across three lanes of heavy traffic in downtown Boston (required in places). A split second delay in judgement or a hesitation after you start could easily cause a multi-car wreck. You could probably come up with other scenarios that are not just likely but a virtual certainty based on the number of listeners and the number of advertisers that pull this crap. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/31 "2004-08-09T17:32:06Z")
> [@Libertarian](#): > > You are a lying shitbag… unless you’ve heard the ad before and know to expect the sound, your brain isn’t going to distinguish between the radio and reality in a split second. You’re quite the shitbag yourself, and you need to get a new username, since this one is pretty strongly identified with someone who since switched to a rather similar one. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/32 "2004-08-09T18:45:30Z")
Oh man, these ads scare the fuck out of me. I don’t want to be driving anyway, and I really hate being on the freeways, so I don’t need to hear horns, squealing breaks, and sirens. It usually takes me the rest of the drive to calm down after getting the shit scared out of me. Yes, I’m sure to buy a product that gives me a heart attack every time their commercial comes on the radio. :rolleyes: I hate people so much sometimes, I really do. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/33 "2004-08-09T18:51:10Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Don’t even think about tickling me either. My reflex is to turn and punch. A few people found that out the hard way. None of this is a conscience response. > > I am sure that I am not the only one or maybe I am. Either way, I am still pissed. You’re not the only one. Anyone who thinks it’s funny to sneak up behind me and touch me or spook me just to watch me jump 90 feet is in for a faceful of my fist. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/34 "2004-08-09T18:58:09Z")
Yeah, gotta say I do hate those fuckers who use police, ambulance or firetruck sirens in their advertisements. I always end up doing the ‘rearview look’ before I realize there is no cop about to pull me over, or emergency vehicle about to plow me. But the advertisers, they know that it gets your attention to use sirens, so they keep using them. Then what happens? You start tuning out noises that are common in advertisements. Hear a siren? Just another fucking ad. By then it’s taken you too long to realize this one actually _is an ambulance_ and you’re looking like a jackass for holding it up. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/35 "2004-08-09T19:08:53Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > One simple phrase for you, folks: > > “XM Radio” > > All the great radio joy and no commercials (on most stations). All for $15 per month! Fifteen? When did the rate increase? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/36 "2004-08-09T19:15:43Z")
I got an idea. Call one of the places that does advertising like this at around midnight when you know the offices are closed and you can get an answering machine. Talk in a very quiet voice and mumble so they crank up the volume on their phone then blow a whistle into the phone. Then say “Did that scare you? Well so did your shitty commercial!” ---
**Author:** ![CloudClever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@CloudClever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CloudClever)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/37 "2004-08-09T20:06:02Z")
After I play Need for Speed HP2 (a racing game w/ cops) and try to drive, I hear sirens all the time. There’s nothing like driving when you hear a faint sound that sounds sort of like a siren every two seconds. It takes a long while to calm down after you hear anything that sounds remotely like a siren, your adrenilin starts pumping, and you go on to high alert, trying to make sure that there is nothing going on in your area. FWIW, once I woke up in the middle of the night because the A/c turned on, and I thought it was a TIE fighter. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/38 "2004-08-10T06:59:42Z")
As a Libertarian, there aren’t a whole lot of things that I think should be illegal. But those ads are among them. If you’re one of the people who doesn’t think he’s affected by these commercials, just remember that a nearby driver might be taking evasive action right into your car. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/39 "2004-08-10T13:28:31Z")
You can write your state rep with “there ought to be a law” Which I think there should be. If you are playing CDs in your car (or MP3s), you presumably know what the songs are and are ready for music that contains horns, sirens or crashing sounds. On the radio, you aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988/40 "2004-08-10T16:59:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > And if you aren’t prepared to hear people shout “fire!”, then maybe you shouldn’t be going to crowded theaters. Such a twisted analogy that it just didn’t make any sense to me at first. But I think I get it now: by your rationale, it should be illegal for an actor to shout “fire” in a movie that’s played in a movie theater. Yes? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-commercials-with-cars-honking-and-skidding-sounds/258988.md?page=3)