# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/121 "2011-11-20T09:28:56Z")
Every goddamned week there is an ad in the local paper for the gold-buying outfits around here, and they also want old silver coins and watches, although i think my sisters might kill me If I sold grandpa’s coins. I’m not loaded down with tacky bling that i am dying to unload, and even if i was i’d go to a jeweler before i went to one of these places. ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/122 "2011-11-20T09:54:40Z")
> [@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? This guy sounds like a lawyer, already trying to litigate your disgust away. “He didn’t mean to shoot her in the head 5 times, his mother wasn’t nice to him you see, and public education, let us not forget Mrs. Volchevsky and those time outs.” Civilization is the process of using language and hierarchy to lubricate the orifices of the masses so that when the daily bendover occurs they say, “These Santa Ana winds sure are warm.” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/123 "2011-11-20T10:11:41Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > when a victim gets less than $20 and the lawyers get $51 million? > > yeah. Not knowing the case, of course, but mant class actions are brought precisely because each individual claimant has a relatively small loss. Sometimes only $20-50. No one would sue individually over that amount, and a large company, say an insurance company, could rip off one million customers $25 each and improperly add $25,000,000 to their bottom line. A class action that gave $20 to each ripped off insured, and paid the attorneys fir their work, would not be so outrageous. I will also admit, some class actions are ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/124 "2011-11-20T10:26:30Z")
dont want to get sidetracked from the topic but of course youre right in how they work, it shouldn’t be that private companies need to do this, the government should be investigating and bringing suit (which they do on rare occasions, maybe its just fines mostly but they get the job done sometimeswith orders for restitution) No reason to rely on lawyers only perusing the easy to win cases, the big cases, and often getting paid several lifetimes worth of compensation for one case. ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/125 "2011-11-20T10:31:56Z")
The only ads i see these days are online, and it’s usually the same ad Ill watch 100 times before the next one comes up, Captian Morgan was certainly being pushed hard, maybe with the economy and new alcoholics appearing out of the woodwork they want to make sure people kill themselves with their brand, get them used to it while so many are going to the well. California first 5 or the, “Hey poor laborers please don’t neglect your children even though you have no time or money to provide them with their needs whatsoever. Also, please stay out of our public places. Thank you.” Financial advisors “Do you have the audacity to look at how incredibly intelligent and trustworthy we appear?” I want these people to die in a fire, nothing more irritating than that ad, ever ever ever, and I have seen a lot oftamponads. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/126 "2011-11-20T10:38:01Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Gold is a focus of superstition. It does have practical applications in aerospace electronics, as in jewelry, as it doesn’t corrode. True, but how just how much jewellery are you going to need if society collapses and money ceases to have any value? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/127 "2011-11-20T14:20:01Z")
Captain Morgan spiced rum, directed nonstop at the budding underage alkies. It’s been the drink of choice in most drunk-driving cases around here. All it is is this decade’s Night Train or Mad Dog! ---
**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:** [November 20, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/128 "2011-11-20T16:11:15Z")
And the real Capt. Morgan was a scurvilicious smallpox-pocked man who resembles the ad icon as much as the Geico Gecko does. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/129 "2011-11-20T18:56:56Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Dane Cook. I’ve heard the name but have no idea who this guy is. Sounds like I’m fortunate. I think he’s a truly awful comedian who is wildly popular with college students. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lovely_Margo_Lane)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/130 "2011-11-20T19:18:41Z")
Pandora jewelry is advertised really heavily on several of my local channels. There’s no way it isn’t overpriced garbage with the amount of money that gets poured into their ad budget, both by the manufacturer producing the fancy ads and the local retailers paying for ad time. It’s worse than Jared, though admittedly not by much. ---
**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 20, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/131 "2011-11-20T21:41:29Z")
The thing that makes me so suspicious of natural gas advertising is articles like [this one](http://cleantechnica.com/2011/06/10/solar-power-graphs-to-make-you-smile/). A quick look at the [steadily falling price of solar power](http://c1cleantechnicacom.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2011/06/solar-pv-cost-trend.png) suggests that solar is going to be both the cheapest and also the cleanest/most convenient way to generate power. I think the flood of natural gas advertising is designed to divert people’s attention away from both the problems with fracking and the competitiveness of other sources of power. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/132 "2011-11-20T21:46:04Z")
> [@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? Actually, yes. Their market share on dinner took a hit from health crazes, from “eat less red meat”, etc. Why do you think Pork picked “The _other_ white meat” as its slogan? Their ads are from the same motivation - loss of market. “People are eating less beef. What can we do? Start a marketing campaign to remind them about beef.” > [@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? They can’t tout the health benefits, so they change the framing of the conversation. Instead of pushing how healthy it is, they do a “feels good” campaign where they remind you that beef is as American as mom and apple pie (Wait, Mom is American? Do other countries not have a mom? Shut Up!) Essentially, they want you to remember how tasty it is, how many things you do that it fits in. They want you to think “I’m barbecuing, let’s get hamburgers” not “Let’s get chicken.” So yes, they very much are counting on consumers to decide to buy more beef because they think about beef when thinking about what to eat. ---
**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 21, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/133 "2011-11-21T20:23:40Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Not knowing the case, of course, but mant class actions are brought precisely because each individual claimant has a relatively small loss. Sometimes only $20-50. No one would sue individually over that amount, and a large company, say an insurance company, could rip off one million customers $25 each and improperly add $25,000,000 to their bottom line. A class action that gave $20 to each ripped off insured, and paid the attorneys fir their work, would not be so outrageous. > > I will also admit, some class actions are ridiculous. My main beef is that the lawyers get their cut in cash, while the consumers usually get their their awards in gift cards or discounts or otherwise not in cash. In your insurance example, the customers would not receive the $20 in cash, but as a partial payment towards their next premium. An airline will offer a certain amount of money off the next flight, for instance. So the consumer’s awards are only good if the consumer makes another purchase from the offending company. I dunno about you, but when _I_ am suing a company, I don’t want to have to do business again with that company. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/134 "2011-11-22T04:00:58Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > I think he’s a truly awful comedian who is wildly popular with college students. This is correct. And to drill down a bit further, he is wildly popular with college _girls_. College boys, who are wild about college girls, go to Dane Cook concerts because that’s where all the college girls are. QED ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/135 "2011-11-22T06:22:21Z")
Jared commercials make me want to punch people. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/136 "2011-11-22T06:26:59Z")
> [@SnakesCatLady](#): > > Durg advertisements where the side effects are worse than the problem the drug is intended to treat. Yeah, that pill you can take to make your eye lashes thicker and the side effects are change in color pigmentation and blurry vision! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/137 "2011-11-22T07:30:30Z")
Geico, as a post up-thread has already mentioned. Cable TV services, especially Comcast. And AT&T U-Verse. Geico. Persian rugs going-out-of-business sales. Did we mention Geico yet? Abandoned multi-million dollar bank accounts in Nigeria. Which also reminds me… Geico. And as for: > [@jabiru](#): > > Funeral plans. I’m sick of them but I guess they’re onto something. Strange they should advertise so heavily for a service that most people only need one of. Geico. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Retirement homes. > > Let’s face it, they’re all the same. It’s a shitty place to go die. I hate hearing about all the wonderful plans and activities and outings and food and movies and dancing and singing and shopping trips and… > > I’ve visited these places and you’d be lucky to find a half dozen residents who you can even converse with. The reason you’re in there is because you’re no longer able to do things for yourself. Stop advertizing the fact that you’re running Club Med. Well, there really are retirement homes like you see in those ads, but of course those are for well-to-do retirees who are in fairly good health. The rest of us will rot in those shitty rat-hole homes like you are thinking of. > [@Daylate](#): > > Out here in Western Washington we are besieged by commercials (at least on the radio) by some treacley-voiced smarmy guy promoting a drunk hospital over in Seattle. I can’t even stand five seconds of listening. From the frequency of the commercials, there must be a really big supply of drunks around here. Probably caused by our winters. That hospital must pitch to quite a large service area. I think I’ve heard their ads in the San Francisco area too. ---
**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 22, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/138 "2011-11-22T15:09:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Persian rugs going-out-of-business sales. Lol! The persian rug store in my town has been ‘going out of business’ for _years_. ---
**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 22, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/139 "2011-11-22T15:13:48Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > when a victim gets less than $20 and the lawyers get $51 million? > > yeah. [Those victims paid a 3% foreign currency exchange fee for using a credit card outside the US](http://www.kcby.com/news/consumertips/133937288.html). Most of them wouldn’t even have known they were scammed if not for the lawyers. How much do you think they should be getting? That $51 million is part of a $336 million total settlement. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085/140 "2011-11-22T15:23:51Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > [hijack] > > Do you have a ballpark? Let’s say for my example. Spike is a station targeted to 18-35 year old males (I’m guessing). They run the same ads all day, so the Progressive ad is followed by the weird dude in the 21st century insurance commercial, Then the ITT Tech ad, some spike programming advertising, and then lather, rinse and repeat. All day. For a 24 hour period, are we looking at $10K a spot, $5K? $1k? I really have no idea. And there are so many channels now with all sorts of commercial time to fill… It can’t be too much. I’ve seen local businesses advertise on the cable stations with my carrier, and they don’t seem like businesses that could afford a $5K spot 24 times a day. > > Also, what happens if the station can’t sell it’s advertising slots for the day? Do the same 6 commercials get put in a loop? > > [/hijack] Sorry, no ballpark; I didn’t work in media buying, so I really couldn’t begin to guess. I do know that the “local buys” that your local businesses do with the cable operator (in which the cable company “cuts in” the local ads on top of whatever ads the cable network is running) can be **very** cheap, especially if (a) they aren’t running on the top-tier cable channels, and (b) they buy a number of ads at once. As far as the second question: if a cable channel doesn’t sell all of their ad space, they’ll run promos for their own programming (or occasionally promos for programs on sister stations). That, too, can get very tiresome if you watch the same channel for a few hours (oh, look, it’s that promo for _Mythbusters_…AGAIN!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-advertised-so-much-it-makes-you-suspicious/603085.md?page=8)