# Things you see in TV commercials that never happen in the real world **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [February 18, 2020, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112 "2020-02-18T15:22:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/61 "2020-02-19T01:31:21Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > This. Don’t people have conditions that are mild? Those with mild conditions take two aspirin, drink plenty of fluids, and get lots of rest. They don’t muck about with the high-priced, potentially dangerous stuff. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/62 "2020-02-19T01:40:00Z")
Women who look like cadavers wondering at what age they should stop caring about their appearance. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/63 "2020-02-19T01:48:58Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Those with mild conditions take two aspirin, drink plenty of fluids, and get lots of rest. They don’t muck about with the high-priced, potentially dangerous stuff. There’s no need for any of that if you have _Your Complete Breakfast_ featuring **New Creemy Chock-‘n’-Cheez Lumps o’ Froot**! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/64 "2020-02-19T01:50:25Z")
Buying an $80,000 car for your spouse without asking them what kind they want. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/65 "2020-02-19T01:54:30Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > There’s no need for any of that if you have _Your Complete Breakfast_ featuring **New Creemy Chock-‘n’-Cheez Lumps o’ Froot**! Ah, you mean those sugar-flavored, sugar-coated, sugar-enriched, and sugar-fortified crunchy little bits of sugar, shaped like protein! Love 'em! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/66 "2020-02-19T01:58:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Ah, you mean those sugar-flavored, sugar-coated, sugar-enriched, and sugar-fortified crunchy little bits of sugar, shaped like protein! Love 'em! 🙂 Chocolate Frosted Frosty Krusty Flakes (only sugar has more sugar!) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/67 "2020-02-19T02:06:25Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > And I bet that won’t be good for sales. At all. All indications are that it hasn’t been. Buick sales in the US have been in the toilet for years now. As I mentioned in another thread recently, supposedly the only reason GM keeps Buick alive is because they’re popular in China. There was a time when a Buick was considered a fairly prestigious car to own, but that hasn’t been the case for decades now. “Mid-level” or “near luxury” brands like Buick\* became pretty much irrelevant when car companies started offering high trim levels on their entry level brands, i.e. if you can get a high trim Chevy that’s just as nice as any Buick, there’s no reason to buy a Buick anymore. \*and already dead brands like Oldsmobile and Mercury. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/68 "2020-02-19T02:51:48Z")
Whatever drug you have been prescribed, you will get to live the rest of your life vacationing in a photogenic wilderness, but in slow motion. Your new car automatically gets you a parking space right in front of wherever you are going, and a license plate painted the same color as the vehicle. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/69 "2020-02-19T03:58:18Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Not a luxury car, but when I bought my wife a car from Carmax they put a big bow on it and took her picture with it when we came to pick it up. LOL … the manager at the Carmax I have bought my last 3 vehicles from was training the saleshuman that was my saleshuman for the momvan I picked up last fall is used to my foibles. I go online, I find the car I want, I get it shipped from wherever and I show up with the amount in cash shoved into a couple pockets in my rattiest field jacket. I give it a cursary test drive and then we do the paper work. About the time we get to the last few questions, one of which is if I want a bow the saleshuman has just asked if I have my own financing or if I want to finance through Carmax and if I want a bow. The manager gently pushes over the stack of cash as I am pulling it out of my pockets and I comment that I didn’t think I looked girly enough to want a bow. The poor kid was totally at a loss as to how to answer, so I now have a pic of me with a momvan and a bow on top =) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/70 "2020-02-19T04:04:27Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Your new car automatically gets you a parking space right in front of wherever you are going, and a license plate painted the same color as the vehicle. And you’ll be zooming down wet streets and drifting through a high-rise metropolis, all to the pulsing beats of loud-yet-accessible music. All to make this car feel like the most exciting sports car ever… until you notice it’s a Corolla. I mean, are you trying to get the sports car set to buy your most boring car? Why not market the Corolla to the people who want a sensible, practical car? THEY will buy it; the Fast&FuriousTokyoDrifters won’t, no matter how many fast cuts with a driving bass you throw at them. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/71 "2020-02-19T04:48:10Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Those with mild conditions take two aspirin, drink plenty of fluids, and get lots of rest. They don’t muck about with the high-priced, potentially dangerous stuff. This! (And it’s largely true, too.) Also, doctors explain medical conditions in neat, white offices with lots of windows, just like they hang out by the patient’s ICU bed, waiting for the family to arrive, on prime-time TV shows, where they also inform a relative of a death or serious diagnosis in a parking lot or a crowded hallway. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/72 "2020-02-19T05:25:55Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > LOL … the manager at the Carmax I have bought my last 3 vehicles from was training the saleshuman that was my saleshuman for the momvan I picked up last fall is used to my foibles. I go online, I find the car I want, I get it shipped from wherever and I show up with the amount in cash shoved into a couple pockets in my rattiest field jacket. I give it a cursary test drive and then we do the paper work. About the time we get to the last few questions, one of which is if I want a bow the saleshuman has just asked if I have my own financing or if I want to finance through Carmax and if I want a bow. The manager gently pushes over the stack of cash as I am pulling it out of my pockets and I comment that I didn’t think I looked girly enough to want a bow. The poor kid was totally at a loss as to how to answer, so I now have a pic of me with a momvan and a bow on top =) Off topic, but…it sounds like you’ve had good luck with Carfax. The car I want is rarely available locally, and I’m saving to pay cash. Carfax might be a way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/73 "2020-02-19T06:00:43Z")
When a married couple is discussing anything, the husband is always the one who is wrong. Always. Start looking for it if you don’t believe me. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/74 "2020-02-19T06:34:55Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Kid makes a huge mess and parents just laugh as they clean it up. > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Parents who throw their entire nicely prepared salmon dinner away because the kid will only eat mac and cheese, and decide the entire family has to eat mac and cheese instead of just ordering the kid to eat what he’s given, or if you’re a pushover, make it just for him. I just had to repeat these two, because I wouldn’t be here today if I had tried any of that stuff. Of course, I’m a boomer so I must be deaf and probably lost my memory too. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/75 "2020-02-19T07:17:26Z")
Sports stars hawking testosterone supplements and women asking him would it help their husband. He’s not a freaking doctor and he doesn’t know if your husband is a 90lb weakling or not. And of course they mean ‘stamina’ in the gym. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/76 "2020-02-19T12:32:14Z")
12-year old kids do something “cool” with one of their construction/blaster/smash-up toys, and yell **AWESOME!!** or **EXTREME!!** , like it’s suddenly 1995 again. Same thing when they run inside from playing outside, to some microwave treats that Mom made just for them. There’s also the Univision version, where little niños communicate exclusively by yelling. 10 or 20 close friends gather for a farm-to-table dinner in the middle of a Napa Valley vineyard. Life takes place at 3/5ths actual speed. Everybody smiles after doing some minor task – reclining an airline seat, taking a bite of food, swiping their credit card … ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/77 "2020-02-19T13:05:44Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Women who look like cadavers wondering at what age they should stop caring about their appearance. Which cadavers? You mean like [this one](https://nypost.com/2019/12/30/maye-musk-on-how-to-make-resolutions-for-a-meaningful-life/)? or maybe [this one](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Mirren#/media/File:Helen_Mirren_2014.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/78 "2020-02-19T13:15:35Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Which cadavers? You mean like [this one](https://nypost.com/2019/12/30/maye-musk-on-how-to-make-resolutions-for-a-meaningful-life/)? or maybe [this one](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Mirren#/media/File:Helen_Mirren_2014.jpg)? No, I’d say Helen Mirren is incredibly well-preserved. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/79 "2020-02-19T14:43:31Z")
Women shaving their legs while perched on the edge of the bathtub and wearing an oversized button front shirt. None of them ever use any foam or anything! People sleeping in beds with perfectly fluffed pillows, neatly folded and unwrinkled bedclothes, and their hair is perfectly styled. Their jammies are also perfect and unwrinkled. The bedroom will be larger than my whole apartment and perfectly but minimally decorated. And then they will awaken still perfectly groomed, glance out the window at Mr. Sunshine, smile, stretch, and bounce out of bed full of beans. Someone shakes pills out of a bottle and exactly two slide out, perfectly lined up with the logo on top. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112/80 "2020-02-19T14:50:13Z")
Doctors writing prescriptions by hand (so 20th century) and when they write them they legibly write the brand name and then underline it. Such things as the patient name and dosage are never written. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-see-in-tv-commercials-that-never-happen-in-the-real-world/848112.md?page=5)