# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/141 "2012-01-23T22:47:17Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Marley, you don’t remember [The 405](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpx6o4gvmXE)? How could I ever forget? [No, I’ve never heard of it.] ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/142 "2012-01-24T00:40:23Z")
That entire commercial for Champix…what the hell, man? _Google_ - _go to website_ - still doesn’t tell me what the damn product is for. _second page of website_ - STILL doesn’t tell me what the damn product is for. _downloads the “guide”_ - STILL doesn’t tell me… Aw fuck it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/143 "2012-01-24T01:03:40Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > That entire commercial for Champix…what the hell, man? Wow. I’d never heard of Champix, so I did some googling as well - and you’re absolutely right! You might know this already, but Champix is the trade name for [varenicline](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varenicline) in Canada (it’s Chantix in the US), which is used for the treatment of nicotine addiction. The interesting thing is the [US site for Chantix](http://www.chantix.com/index.aspx) makes it quite clear what it’s for, but the [Canadian site](https://champix.com/en/login/?t=%2fen%2fhome%2f.ssx) does not, as you said - it really is not obvious at all what Champix is for on that Canadian site. And the commercial - “I did it!” with the Rocky theme soundtrack - how the hell is that (or the web site) supposed to sell this mysterious product? ---
**Author:** ![Tess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@Tess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/144 "2012-01-24T01:30:41Z")
Any commercial with a perky spokeswoman who stares at the camera and Does. Not. Blink. I feel like I’m being challenged to a staring contest and I know I’ll never win. ---
**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 24, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/145 "2012-01-24T04:54:02Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > If you don’t want to use the subjunctive, I don’t think you are committing a felony, and I would say that someone’s comments about being raised by wolves is a bit harsh. > > But if you had no idea that the subjunctive mood existed, then a gap in your education has been filled, and you should be happy about that. Okay, “raised by wolves” was hyperbole, but… If, as a previous poster claims, the meaning is equally clear whether the speaker uses “was” or “were,” why not go with the usage that doesn’t cause us old-fashioned prescriptivists to foam at the mouth? Meanwhile, back to our originally scheduled programming: I’m really tired of legal disclaimers in ads in 2-point white font against a white backdrop. Makes me wonder what the advertisers are trying to hide. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/146 "2012-01-24T05:51:57Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Okay, “raised by wolves” was hyperbole, but… > > If, as a previous poster claims, the meaning is equally clear whether the speaker uses “was” or “were,” why not go with the usage that doesn’t cause us old-fashioned prescriptivists to foam at the mouth? Well, hyperbole or not, it gave the impression that _you_ was raised by wolves…! ---
**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 24, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/147 "2012-01-24T06:20:25Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Well, hyperbole or not, it gave the impression that _you_ was raised by wolves…! Bwuh? Because I made a (lame, I admit) joke about poor grammar in an advertisement? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/148 "2012-01-24T07:24:38Z")
I can’t stand the one where some schmuck tells you how SS will only pay $250 to dispose of Grandpa when he croaks…so buy a pre-paid disposal service. Yeah, the “average” funeral costs big bucks…so pre plan yours now…and save big! ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/149 "2012-01-24T22:27:54Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > 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. There’s one around here for a some ambulance chaser type lawyer. The commercial says “If you ever saw the movie “A few good men” then you know \_\_\_\_\_\_ will fight to get you the benefits you deserve” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/150 "2012-01-24T22:33:13Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That’s just plain silly. Neither word (“was or were”) would lead to any doubt as to meaning,… You seemed unclear on what was being stated. We explained what was being stated. You may disagree with the rule, but the rule is there for you to understand the point. > [@](#): > > and the ‘rule” (and there are no rules in English Grammar) except your own cite says > [@](#): > > “The older prescriptive grammars were simply wrong. Their analysis was wrong and the proof they offered was wrong. It was just one more rule that was wrong from the outset. The rule actually changed hundreds of years ago and yet these prescriptive grammars kept on misanalyzing this for centuries.” That seems to acknowledge the existence of rules, if disagreeing that this one makes sense. > [@Just\_Ed](#): > > Wow. I’d never heard of Champix, so I did some googling as well - and you’re absolutely right! So I went to the canadian site. Nothing on the first page. Click the link for the “doctor conversation starter”, under “I’m Curious about Champix. Have Questions about Champix?” Nothing on that page. Just a handy three step process in how to talk to your doctor about Champix. > [@](#): > > 1. Download the Guide > 2. Fill It Out > 3. Start the Conversation! Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that? Okay, click to the guide. Nope, nothing. Nada. You know, the first question I have is “What condition is Champix supposed to treat?” You know, so I can decide if I even need to consider using it. Me: “Doctor, is Champix right for me?” Doctor: “Do you have Itchy ovaries” Me: “Oh.” :o ---
**Author:** ![cdsilv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cdsilv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdsilv)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/151 "2012-01-24T22:45:55Z")
Gary Busey - I think the whack on the head he got from crashing a motorcycle w/o a helmet has finally caught up with him. He’s on a local car dealer’s commercia here in Houston… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0MNN2fD08jU/hqdefault.jpg "Crazy Ass Gary Busey in local Houston commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MNN2fD08jU) ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/152 "2012-01-24T23:23:17Z")
Commercials that ask stupid questions or want you to agree with the dumbest things ever. There’s one for Rent A Center type store. It might be local. The voice over says something like, “Is your life terrible because you don’t have an HD TV?” and then the girl gushes, “I didn’t know what I was missing! I’m so glad I rented this HD TV from Rent-A-Piece-Of-Crap!” Another is [Stamps.com](http://Stamps.com) with people exclaiming things that make me shout at the TV. “Going to the post office was the worst thing ever.” no, no it’s not. “Now I never leave the office!” and that’s a good thing? “Can you get only stamps? No, you idiot.” O.K., she doesn’t actually say the words ‘you idiot’ but the way she says ‘no’ leaves no room to doubt that she was thinking it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/153 "2012-01-25T00:03:16Z")
Any commercial concept which has creeped past it’s original concept until it becomes something else. The barbarians started out as real barbarians coming to burn your house and rape your dog because you didn’t have a credit card with enough protection. Somehow they are now the good guys. Kelsey Grammer as a gecko pissed off because people confuse him with geico was ok for a commercial or two. How the hell did it get to this point? He is now sort of British and works for the company? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/154 "2012-01-25T07:51:40Z")
The creepy, way-too happy _Liberator Medical_ catheter representatives. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/155 "2012-01-25T08:48:55Z")
_Stay tuned for the Premiere of the New Hit Series…‘What Evah!’_ I have heard that for many shows, usually awful ones. Most recently, ‘Rob’. What irks me is the word ‘hit’. If it has not premiered yet, It CANNOT BE A HIT!!! It may be a hit. Probably not, but it could happen. But until people actually get a chance to SEE IT, it IS NOT A HIT. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/156 "2012-01-25T19:34:53Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Kelsey Grammer as a gecko pissed off because people confuse him with geico was ok for a commercial or two. How the hell did it get to this point? He is now sort of British and works for the company? I thought they had a commercial where he was so tired of being confused for Geiko, they hired him. But I may be misremembering. I’m really tired of the Chik-Fil-A ads and their damn cows. Particularly the Lolcow aspect. I’m tired of “Eet Mor chikin”. I see the cows and start thinking about hamburgers. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/157 "2012-01-25T21:19:01Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Omigod, _really?_ I \*have \*to get into a drug trial so I can fuck with them. > > “Possible side effects of Lypsinka include talking like Katharine Hepburn and dressing like a Catholic-school girl.” Please don’t, those of us who actually do it for a living would like to be able to be taken seriously when we report issues during a testing process. It can be hard enough getting into programs, having to go through some damned convoluted process to verify something because someone decided pranking to be the thing to do would suck ass. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/158 "2012-01-25T22:06:19Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > Well, except for the last part, where the wife tells him he can’t fold clothes (unless I’m thinking of a different commercial than the one you mean). Really, though, that commercial is pretty good, and it feels almost like that’s a real couple, not the typical TV goofballs > . Sorry - I forgot I posted here! Yes, I actually did mean a different one. That one is ok too but I did think the wife is kinda bitchy. I was talking about the one with the stay at home dad and I think he was talking about how it saves him money or something and the daughter comes by and asks to do hair braids and he says “sure as soon as we finish foldsies” but it wasn’t overly cutesy or patronizing, but just so normal and nice. ---
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/159 "2012-01-25T22:57:38Z")
… those Southwest Airlines commercials they play during football where other airlines are getting penalized for various stuff. Did you ever notice that all the referees are wearing Southwest logos on their uniforms? Imagine if at the Superbowl, all the referees had Patriots logos on their uniform, the Giants would be like, WTF!? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961/160 "2012-01-26T00:00:00Z")
Not a “stupid thing”, but can I just say that weight watchers commercials are starting to make me wish actual harm on Jennifer Hudson? I want to stuff something into her mouth just to shut her up for a second. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-stupid-things-that-annoy-you-in-commercials/609961.md?page=9)