# Things advertised so much it makes you suspicious **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085 "2011-11-16T02:53:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/101 "2011-11-18T23:37:10Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > absolutely. Advertising is a legitimate business expense. They can even write off Flo’s lipstick if they bought it. (Have I mentioned that I hate her? It’s an irrational hate, but my intestines feel like they tie in knots when I see her. I have a very negative reaction to her.) You deduct business expenses from your gross income, not your tax liability. Let’s say the tax rate is 30%, spending $100,000 on a useless advertising campaign will save you $30,000 in taxes, \*\*NOT \*\*$100,000 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/102 "2011-11-18T23:42:11Z")
> [@thatguyjeff](#): > > Any ad for a law firm offering compensation related to any medical problem, drug, device, etc. > > Mesothelioma, etc… Yeah, someone is getting paid, but it ain’t you. Latest payout I heard about, each claimant got about $18. The lawyers got _$51 million_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/103 "2011-11-19T00:35:12Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > What’s up with CSX advertising? If you’re someone who ships by rail, you’re probably already set up with a shipper. And it isn’t like you can do a lot about the company that happens to own the track and siding next to your building. If it happens to be CSX, you use them. If it’s CN or UP or whatever, you deal with them. If you don’t ship things by rail, the commercial does nothing. Not every business that **can** ship by rail actually does. (1) Intermodal is much bigger now than, say, 20 years ago. Intermodal means you don’t have to have a siding at your factory or warehouse to directly load and unload as the container or trailer moves as/on a truck the first and/or last few miles. And intermodal means you can use any railroad with an intermodal yard within an acceptable drive of the source or destination, not just the adjacent or closest one. The railroads that advertise want to remind businesses that don’t have a rail line next to them as a constant reminder 😃 that rail is still an option for them. (2) Even among businesses adjacent to a rail line that move enough stuff to fill one or more whole railcars, not everyone does. To be a bit blunt, a lot of railroads’ freight service stunk in the '70s and into the '80s, and some shippers went 100% to trucks and never looked back. Though reliability and customer service have **generally** improved leaps and bounds since then, many shippers don’t know that, and some shippers have heard it but don’t believe it. 😉 Advertising won’t signficantly affect the second group but it can make a dent in the first group. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/104 "2011-11-19T00:40:59Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Viagra/Cialis/Etc. > > I never understood how there could be such a tremendous demand for this stuff that there is advertising 24/7 for it. This one is easy to explain. Viagra is a huge seller for Pfizer.. That single drug accounted for [$2 billion in sales for 2010](http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/15/us-pfizer-idUKTRE77E2H520110815) alone. Cialis is made by Eli Lily, and is their effort to go after the same multi-billion dollar market. It sold [$1.6 billion in 2009](http://www.pharma-share.com/eli-lillys-cialis-continues-market-growth). Couple that with the fact that the patent for Viagra expires in 2012, and it is very much in both companies interest to advertise their two products heavily. They are the Coke and Pepsi of boner pills. Bayer’s Levitra would be the Snapple . As to why these are so popular. People like sex. It’s as simple as that. Fuck, at least their commercials don’t feature “Smiling Bob”. That shit should make anybody suspicious as Hell. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/105 "2011-11-19T02:07:58Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > For me, when I see a movie heavily promoted, it’s pretty much a guarantee I will think it sucks. If it’s advertised everywhere, there are interviews and specials, fast-food tie-ins and tv commercials around the clock, that pretty much clues me in that they really need people to go see this thing. This was confirmed by an actor in hollywood (can’t remember the name, sorry), in an interview he did. I don’t know if he said it as a joke, or it’s the rule… but the worse a movie is expected to do at the box office, the more up front advertising you will see and the earlier the advertising will start. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/106 "2011-11-19T02:09:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Latest payout I heard about, each claimant got about $18. The lawyers got _$51 million_. And people wonder why this country is going down the crapper. This is disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/107 "2011-11-19T02:13:37Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > You deduct business expenses from your gross income, not your tax liability. > > Let’s say the tax rate is 30%, spending $100,000 on a useless advertising campaign will save you $30,000 in taxes, \*\*NOT \*\*$100,000 Yes, that’s correct. what did I say? Sorry if I implied otherwise. Oh, I see. I said it was a legitimate business expense, and the other poster asked if it was tax deductible. In any event, you are correct. Flo’s lipstick would be part of the advertising budget for the year and deducted from Gross income. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/108 "2011-11-19T02:52:40Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > And people wonder why this country is going down the crapper. > > This is disgusting. It’s disgusting that a couple of dozen (perhaps a hundred) lawyers got $51 million for ten years of work? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/109 "2011-11-19T03:13:41Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I guess I can see that, but it’s not like the ads are touting the health benefits of eating it or anything. If you’re cutting down on red meat, are you going to change your mind after seeing an ad for it? What people resolve to do and what they actually do might be two different things. My husband and I vastly prefer beef and pork over poultry, but my husband is convinced that poultry, even deep fried poultry, is healthier than beef or pork. So he resolves to eat more poultry. But if I suggest that we have chicken fried steak for dinner, instead of grilled chicken again, his good intentions go right out the window. > [@Shawn1767](#): > > For me, when I see a movie heavily promoted, it’s pretty much a guarantee I will think it sucks. If it’s advertised everywhere, there are interviews and specials, fast-food tie-ins and tv commercials around the clock, that pretty much clues me in that they really need people to go see this thing. +1. If a movie NEEDS to be heavily promoted, it will almost certainly suck. Yeah, I need to be aware that a movie is out, and what it’s about…but I am really, really suspicious about interviews and sneak peeks that come out before the movie is released. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/110 "2011-11-19T04:05:20Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s disgusting that a couple of dozen (perhaps a hundred) lawyers got $51 million for ten years of work? when a victim gets less than $20 and the lawyers get $51 million? yeah. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/111 "2011-11-19T12:02:11Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.” Those really confuse me. What’s the goal there? I mean, is the beef industry really in some sort of trouble that requires advertizing? The beef industry was under attack in the 1980s. Remember, fats were bad for you back then. In the late 80s we got the Pork: The Other White Meat campaign and I think beef even had a campaign before the “It’s What’s for Dinner” campaign began in the early 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/112 "2011-11-19T13:50:13Z")
As a fan of sports radio, I’ve learned that AM radio attracts the sleaziest and most suspicious of all advertisers. In all seriousness, ads on sports radio are pretty much limited to: 1. Beer 2. Strip clubs & titty bars 3. Military recruiting 4. Gold 5. Computer virus removal 6. Systems for getting out of credit card debt 7. Ways to turn structured settlements into cash 8. Medical secrets “they” don’t want you to know about 9. Lawyers who can help you sue somebody All things considered, the beer and titty bar ads are the LEAST suspicious ones I hear! (Get the feeling advertisers don’t have a very high opinion of us AM radio listeners?) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/113 "2011-11-19T14:42:12Z")
My gf works in advertising. I asked her why coal was being advertised so heavily, since I sure as hell do not buy it, nor to any of my friends. In this case it is being done to help them hire employees to work underground. They do public relations type commercials and then have less difficulty hiring. ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/114 "2011-11-19T14:48:35Z")
Did you know you have THREE credit scores? And that (apparently) only males have one credit score that’s short and wears a hockey mask with his leotard? All-male ads make me suspicious. I don’t normally take notice, but there are two that grab my focus for all the wrong reasons: The GE one playing endlessly right now, showing the guys building the jet engine in Peebles (?) Ohio would have one believe that there are no shavers or razors in the town. Hair everywhere. My favorite non-stop ads are the ones for Angies List. The makers of those commercials employ the very worst of the worst hair stylists. IMHO. Radio ads that get zapped: the ones that loudly repeat the 800 number three times. Like it’s written somewhere that nobody will remember your phone number unless you say it three times. That’s three times. That’s three times. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/115 "2011-11-19T20:37:02Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And I still find it amusing that I can’t have an ounce of marijuana[which has never directly caused death through overdose], yet I can carry around a pill that can kill a person if they hork down more than 3 per 24 hour period for a few days … :rolleyes: > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > While I haven’t looked at them closely, I always assumed they were just thinly veiled prostitution services. I live in a state where medical marijuana is legal. The ads for it have completely taken over the space where all those zillions of sleazy ads for actual thinly-veiled prostitutes used to be. I was suspicious of the ‘adult services’ or ‘massage’ ads, because what else besides prostitution could they possibly have been for? I’m not too suspicious of the MMJ ads though. It is just strange that there are soooooo many of them. > [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > Take **Progressive** , for example. I hate that weirdo Flo with the fire of a thousand suns. I always have thought Flo is kind of hot, even if Progressive itself is a little annoying. Flo should seriously consider switching to a skimpy nurse outfit and peddling MMJ. And, +1 to movies that advertise like crazy, I hadn’t thought of that one. I never saw Planet of the Apes, even after it got decent reviews, simply because the blanket ad coverage for it screamed to me too, “This movie sucks!” ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/116 "2011-11-19T20:54:10Z")
As to movies, my rule of thumb is that if you see more than three different trailers for a movie it’ll suck. ---
**Author:** ![kcor1953](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kcor1953/32/3221_2.png) [@kcor1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kcor1953)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/117 "2011-11-19T21:22:35Z")
I just went to my profile page here and it had an ad about investing in gold coins. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/118 "2011-11-19T21:42:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Radio ads that get zapped: the ones that loudly repeat the 800 number three times. Like it’s written somewhere that nobody will remember your phone number unless you say it three times. That’s three times. That’s three times. Actually, unless the number spells out something, I AM unlikely to remember it unless it’s repeated several times. And by several, I mean more than three. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/119 "2011-11-20T00:08:04Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I always have thought Flo is kind of hot, even if Progressive itself is a little annoying. Flo should seriously consider switching to a skimpy nurse outfit and peddling MMJ. I just threw up a little bit in my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/120 "2011-11-20T00:20:58Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Gold. I can hardly go a day without seeing a pitch to buy gold. I don’t need any gold. I can’t eat it or really do anything with it, except invest money. And it doesn’t seem to be that great of an investment, adjusted for inflation. But the media is practically screaming to buy it. I’m suspicious. Gold is a focus of superstition. It does have practical applications in aerospace electronics, as in jewelry, as it doesn’t corrode. > [@](#): > > Natural Gas. Geez, every.single.magazine has these full-page ads about how freakin’ great natural gas is. TV and radio too. Is it that people haven’t woken up to what a miracle the stuff is, or is somebody trying to shift the public’s opinion against its own best interests for their personal gain? We know how great it is, we don’t need to be told. It is a fossil fuel, and overconsumption encourages us to waste our helium reserves (in the same wells). You are right to be leery. Let me add (US only, fortunately) the ads for various drugs of dubious medical value: anti-depressants, erectile dysfunction drugs, and so forth. A lot of this is trying to goose demand for unnecessary prescriptions, and pull some money from HHS through Medicare. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085.md?page=7)