# The Renaissance Age of Commercials **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907 "2013-08-10T22:46:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/1 "2013-08-10T22:46:28Z")
I think reality TV has dragged down the average quality of TV entertainment. We are in an age of TV quality drought. (Granted, this drought is interspersed with high quality oases – Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Shield, Game of Thrones being obvious examples). On the other hand, I think the quality of TV ads is trending upwards. GEICO’s seemingly unending creativity, Cheerios’ heart- warming kid, even the vampires who like mornings. I say we’re in the midst of commercially goodness. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/2 "2013-08-11T00:18:32Z")
I don’t watch much commercial TV, but your characterization of the current TV landscape as a “drought” is surprising. Most people view the current state of television as a golden age, with an unprecedented number of shows with an unprecedented level of quality. What period of television are you comparing the current programming against, that it fares so poorly? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/3 "2013-08-11T00:27:31Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I don’t watch much commercial TV, but your characterization of the current TV landscape as a “drought” is surprising. Most people view the current state of television as a golden age, with an unprecedented number of shows with an unprecedented level of quality. What period of television are you comparing the current programming against, that it fares so poorly? I dont think anybody would argue that this is a golden age of network TV. And unprecedented levels of quality? Nothing on today is as good as the Sopranos. Nothing is as groundbreaking as The Simpsons; or even Beavis and Butthead. At the turn of the century reality TV was exploding with actual originality…Survivor and Real World, for example. What PBS show is in the same galaxy as The Civil War? Its all opinion, of course, so YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/4 "2013-08-11T00:29:27Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > On the other hand, I think the quality of TV ads is trending upwards. What are these “ads” you speak of? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/5 "2013-08-11T00:35:30Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > What are these “ads” you speak of? I suspect that’s why ads have gotten better. As they’ve become more optional, advertizers are under more pressure to make them entertaining. But I agree with **Miller**. Today’s TV is better then its ever been. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/6 "2013-08-11T00:37:07Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > What are these “ads” you speak of? Geico Jack in the Box Progressive Allstate Heineken DirectTV to name a few I enjoy ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/7 "2013-08-11T01:51:50Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I suspect that’s why ads have gotten better. As they’ve become more optional, advertizers are under more pressure to make them entertaining. > > But I agree with **Miller**. Today’s TV is better then its ever been. I’m pretty uncritical unless something is really formulaic, repetitive, predictable, etc. CSI NY comes to mind in that category. Too over-the-top also qualifies and I put CSI Miami in that batch. But other shows can vary quite a bit and can be enjoyable even in spite of those failings. I still watch both NCIS shows for example although there have been times when they came very close to being deleted the same way I exorcised House. Then there are certain categories which I basically give a pass unless they are truly awful such as sci-fi and fantasy or action/adventure. For example don’t even try to talk to me about any kind of temporal paradox in Continuum. La-la-la-la!!! And if you think Arrow is silly well, you can pay for your own beer next time. And there is quite a lot of very good programming. I never in a million years thought I’d get hooked on “chick flick” type show such as Mad Men or Downton Abbey but they really are amazing. I swear to god I got some cat fur in my eyes when Draper made that confession about the house he was raised in to the Hersey people. But even with all of that, I’m still so averse to adverts that I avoid them gas station toilets. Either I record shows and blow through the commercials so fast I almost can’t distinguish them or I _ahem_ find my content ‘elsewhere’. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/8 "2013-08-11T02:06:26Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > What are these “ads” you speak of? > [@madsircool](#): > > Geico > Jack in the Box > Progressive > Allstate > Heineken > DirectTV > > to name a few I enjoy I think deltasigma’s point was that technology now allows people to skip ads with relative ease. And as a result, advertisers have to step up their game. They have to create ads good enough for people to choose to watch them. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/9 "2013-08-12T06:35:11Z")
I hate all the car insurance commercials ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/10 "2013-08-12T10:42:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > On the other hand, I think the quality of TV ads is trending upwards. GEICO’s seemingly unending creativity, Cheerios’ heart- warming kid, even the vampires who like mornings. The GEICO pig is starting to piss me off. When he was going “Whee! Whee! Whee!” all the way home, he was funny. But the latest pair of commercials are just dumb. First, he’s on a plane and a pair ditzy flight attendants treat him like a child and ask him to turn off his “word game” on his phone. He explains he’s actually using his GEICO app so it’s OK. Except it’s not. The plane was still getting ready to take off and he still needed to turn off his phone whether he was doing something productive or playing a game. The flight attendants may have been twits, but they were right. And then there’s the one where he’s been pulled over. He’s hands the cop his phone with his GEICO insurance card on the screen and the cop is confused. The pig explains that it’s OK because it’s a GEICO app. Except cops don’t ask for proof of insurance when they pull you over. Just license and registration, which isn’t part of a GEICO insurance app. I’ve thought too much about this. ---
**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 12, 2013, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/11 "2013-08-12T11:53:05Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Except cops don’t ask for proof of insurance when they pull you over. Just license and registration, which isn’t part of a GEICO insurance app. > > I’ve thought too much about this. And to add even more thought to this… maybe in YOUR state they don’t, but in mine they ask for license and insurance card. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/12 "2013-08-12T13:37:07Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > And to add even more thought to this… maybe in YOUR state they don’t, but in mine they ask for license and insurance card. I considered that, but presumably, GEICO should all about any auto regulations in the states they’re doing business in. Why run that version of the ad at all in New York state? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/13 "2013-08-12T14:01:30Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The GEICO pig is starting to piss me off. When he was going “Whee! Whee! Whee!” all the way home, he was funny. But the latest pair of commercials are just dumb. GEICO’s entire ad philosophy is to take an idea that works and beat it into the ground with a rock until it barely resembles its original concept and you can’t stand it any more (Cavemen, gecko, pig, etc). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/14 "2013-08-12T14:05:20Z")
I think the uptick in commercial quality is due to two things- the DVR prevalence that **Simplicio** mentions, and the fact that a lot of them are aimed at a national market nowadays. The national TV ads have always been pretty good, but the problem was that until really recently, we got a lot of local and regional ads on local TV which were really atrocious. I mean there’s a ice cream/hamburger chain around here (Braum’s) which seems to re-run 1980s era ads, and they look it- grainy, goofy narration, bad graphics, etc… Nowadays on a network like say… AMC, you’ll get nationwide ads, so they’re generally of a higher quality than what you’d get on your local station during “Wheel of Fortune” in 1985. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/15 "2013-08-12T14:13:39Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I hate all the car insurance commercials I don’t know - State Farm and Farmer’s have some great ads out. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/16 "2013-08-12T14:38:27Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > The GEICO pig is starting to piss me off. When he was going “Whee! Whee! Whee!” all the way home, he was funny. But the latest pair of commercials are just dumb. > > First, he’s on a plane and a pair ditzy flight attendants treat him like a child and ask him to turn off his “word game” on his phone. He explains he’s actually using his GEICO app so it’s OK. Except it’s not. The plane was still getting ready to take off and he still needed to turn off his phone whether he was doing something productive or playing a game. The flight attendants may have been twits, but they were right. I never got the sense he was refusing to turn it off – just denying that he was playing a word game with friends (that reference being a swipe at [Alec Baldwin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Baldwin#Runway_incident)). > [@](#): > > And then there’s the one where he’s been pulled over. He’s hands the cop his phone with his GEICO insurance card on the screen and the cop is confused. The pig explains that it’s OK because it’s a GEICO app. Except cops don’t ask for proof of insurance when they pull you over. Just license and registration, which isn’t part of a GEICO insurance app. As noted above, it’s a fairly common practice in many states. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/17 "2013-08-12T14:54:46Z")
It does seem as though advertisers are more willing to air bizarre commercials than ever before. Case in point: Vonages’s homeless bum mascot. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/18 "2013-08-12T15:07:17Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I never got the sense he was refusing to turn it off – just denying that he was playing a word game with friends (that reference being a swipe at [Alec Baldwin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Baldwin#Runway_incident)). Again, it doesn’t matter what he was doing. The plane is taking off so his phone needs to be put away. They’re twits, but they’re not wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/19 "2013-08-12T17:20:24Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Again, it doesn’t matter what he was doing. The plane is taking off so his phone needs to be put away. They’re twits, but they’re not wrong. Right, i get it – and I’m saying he wasn’t objecting to putting it away; he was showing them he wasn’t using it for a game. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907/20 "2013-08-12T17:31:41Z")
I’m not even sure what GEICO sells and I want to buy six of them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-renaissance-age-of-commercials/665907.md?page=2)