# Really stupid things that annoy you in commercials **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961 "2012-01-19T00:54:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/81 "2012-01-20T22:19:39Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Any ad or infomercial that tries to make some simple, everyday task look _really impossible_ until you use thier gizmo. You’re flingin’ flangin’ correct! (sorry about the ugly link, I’m on my phone) [http://http](http://http)://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frD6yrV2Dy0&feature=youtube\_gdata\_player ---
**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:** [January 20, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/82 "2012-01-20T22:32:16Z")
A minor thing that I can’t stop noticing now is whenever they show a credit card being used in a commercial, they swipe it right-side up through the machine so you can easily read the logo on the card. That’s not where the magnetic strip is! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/83 "2012-01-21T01:27:36Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > I don’t like the one where the guy is on the phone with Allstate in the middle of the night and his wife gets jealous. **First off, why is he on the phone apparently just making changes to his plan in the middle of the night** , why can’t she tell it’s a guy even after he tells her his name is Jake, and then I feel bad for the poor Allstate guy who is working in the middle of the night and dealing with idiots calling. Bolding mine. The whole point of the commercial is to let people know they can call up and talk to a real actual person 24/7, that’s why dummy is calling in the middle of the night. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/84 "2012-01-21T03:20:04Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Any ad or infomercial that tries to make some simple, everyday task look _really impossible_ until you use thier gizmo. [Like these?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08xQLGWTSag) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/85 "2012-01-21T13:03:21Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > V/O: “More power…more style…more technology…Less doors.” > > ARRRRGH! _ **Fewer** _ Doors, dammit! > > Rasps my eardrums, it does! I knew I wasn’t the only one! > [@Finagle](#): > > Maybe I have a jaundiced opinion of mankind, but I find it more likely that trucks could snowboard than that package staying put for an entire afternoon. I thought I was the only one! Big box store ads which show every single customer (and there are lots, in the crane shot) being walked around by a blue shirted employee. I don’t know about you, but I spend my time in these stores alternately fake-texting on my cell phone so as not to make eye contact with the vultures while I’m looking, and searching the suddenly deserted aisles for assistance once I actually want to buy something. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/86 "2012-01-21T13:09:35Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > [Like these?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08xQLGWTSag) That is hysterical! But I kind of love these kinds of ads, just for their snarking and laughing factor… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/87 "2012-01-21T15:01:35Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > Car horns, sirens, or screeching tires in radio commercials. They should be illegal. YES! And in NPR stories, as well. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/88 "2012-01-21T21:30:04Z")
Personally I hate lawyers that advertised on television. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/89 "2012-01-21T23:02:33Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > Personally I hate lawyers that advertised on television. I heard one the other afternoon while I wasn’t paying full attention, and the satisfied client said of the attorney, “He’ll fight for your right…” which I of course finished, mentally, as “…to party.” You may want to rethink that ad, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/90 "2012-01-21T23:35:29Z")
I was just in the Shop-Rite today, and every few minutes that damn Can-Can song would come over the PA system. I was getting a prescription, and the poor druggist said, “I hear that damn thing _all day_, then I get home and turn on my TV and there it is again. I \*dream \*that fucking song.” ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/91 "2012-01-22T04:45:08Z")
Ok, this is a _Liberty Mutual_ ad and I found unrealistic (and a tad offensive) as a disabled person. Under the theme of “just doing the right thing”, it features a young woman seeing a blind woman approaching a doorway to a public building and that young woman opening the door for her (and in turn others). The blind woman, sensing her whereabouts with a cane/stick, ends up just walking though the open door unperturbed. She simply shuffles away, as if none the wiser to the good deed that was just done on her behalf. A blind woman who is out and about in the world is not going to be approaching a doorway and _not_ be aware of it. Additionally, they are not going to be unaware that the door has been opened independent of any effort on their part. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/92 "2012-01-22T05:52:20Z")
In the most annoying non-jingle I hear on the radio, there is a woman with a better voice than the non-tune deserves singing about Mattress Firm being a good place “to get a gray night’s sleep.” I’ve heard it a million times. She doesn’t say “great,” she says “gray.” This, combined with the lameness, the fact that the jingle is only one line and isn’t really a jingle because it doesn’t rhyme and isn’t catchy in the least, the tune doesn’t resolve, and it’s repeated way way way way way too often, has made me switch from any radio station playing this ad. It has caused me to bring CDs into my car so I won’t have to listen to commercial radio at all. Thanks a lot, Mattress Firm. Now I will never hear any new music ever again. Also, I will buy my next mattress ANYWHERE else. Possibly even Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/93 "2012-01-22T06:10:16Z")
n/m double post ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/94 "2012-01-22T19:54:28Z")
Can we roast the E-Trade talking babies over open spits already? It’s bad enough hearing the actual ads, but now the football pregame show just now had one on there giving his “expert” advice on the game. Let me say it one more time: TALKING BABIES ARE FUCKING FROWNED UPON IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT! ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/95 "2012-01-22T21:09:49Z")
If I ever get my hands on the guy who came up with the idea for **cartoon mucous characters** I’m going to _break his goddamn neck_!!! ---
**Author:** ![Zago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecccb3/32.png) [@Zago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zago)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/96 "2012-01-22T21:10:46Z")
There’s a diaper commercial - cartoon babies coming down the runway turn their buts to the audience and WHAT? There’s some kind of explosion in the diaper - am I supose to think that if the diaper wasn’t so good the audience would be sprayed with pooh? Also - those toilet paper commercials claiming ‘fewer pieces left behind’. I didn’t realize this was even a problem and it’s gross to think that there might be people walking around with toilet paper stuck on their ass. ---
**Author:** ![slm2955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c6cbf5/32.png) [@slm2955](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slm2955)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/97 "2012-01-22T21:41:01Z")
> [@Landshark](#): > > Joseph A. Bank clothing stores commercials. Specifically, how the announcer uses very brief pauses while saying “Joseph A. Bank.” > > Does anyone else notice those pauses? I perceive them like this: “Joseph (pauses a fraction of a second) A. (pauses a fraction of second) Bank” > > Something about that just rubs me the wrong way, and really irritates me. Thats commercial irritates me as well…everytime I see it I just wanna throw the television out the window! ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/98 "2012-01-22T23:14:42Z")
There’s a radio commercial for Right Size Smoothies that introduces their pitch by saying “Did you know that women over forty need to spend an hour at the gym every day _just to maintain their current weight?_” No, they don’t. They really, really don’t. It’s not a function of age, gender, or time spent exercising that solely determines whether you gain or lose weight. If they’re gaining weight, they need to eat less. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/99 "2012-01-23T00:21:15Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > If I ever get my hands on the guy who came up with the idea for **cartoon mucous characters** I’m going to _break his goddamn neck_!!! At least they seem to have retired the cartoon toenail virus and his flip-top toenail bed. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![Runestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@Runestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runestar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/100 "2012-01-23T00:45:08Z")
It has been alluded to a couple of times already, but the State Farm ads with the guy (Jerry?) irritate the heck out of me. As someone who’s worked in insurance for 25 years, I can assure you that if you’re the sort of driver who regularly runs your car up telephone poles or ( as in the more recent set of ads ) crashes your car into your own garage, **we don’t want you as a customer!** Your agent undoubtably heaved a sigh of relief when you went with that “15-minute insurer”, and would be overjoyed if she never heard from you again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961.md?page=6)