# Things you'd be more likely to support if the spokespeople weren't so awful **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043 "2008-12-06T21:27:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/21 "2008-12-09T13:45:45Z")
Just about anything that could be described as “green” or “environmentalist”. The right sort of ideas; almost always completely misguided, often misanthropic motivations. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/22 "2008-12-09T13:48:46Z")
British political parties of all flavours. I mean you’ve got Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and whichever non-entity is leading the Liberals these days. Bring back real characters like Tony Benn, Vince Cable, and Margaret Thatcher. If only Hague hadn’t made a play for the leadership - he’s seasoned now and ripe for it. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/23 "2008-12-09T14:02:34Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > If only Hague hadn’t made a play for the leadership - he’s seasoned now and ripe for it. BTW I’m not saying I’d vote for him, but he’s better (which isn’t saying much) than any of the current shower. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/24 "2008-12-09T18:21:48Z")
Abortion. Both or either side of it. I’m one of the majority in being confused and on the fence about abortion. But both side tend to fall into being screaming wackos that I don’t call myself either pro-life or pro-choice. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/25 "2008-12-09T18:27:22Z")
The anti-smoking Truth ads are so obnoxious and smug that they make me want to light up an entire pack of cigarettes at once. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/26 "2008-12-10T06:54:47Z")
Nothing made me want to go on a Carnival Cruise line less than Kathie Lee Gifford. I really, really do not like the Geico gecko. Or their cave men. OTOH, The Cadbury bunny gets me every, single time. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/27 "2008-12-10T06:59:39Z")
Anything advertised as “green” or “eco-friendly”. I don’t know what it is about the way it’s marketed, but anything prompting me to “save the environment” makes me want to go burn down a rainforest. The worst part is that those compact fluorescent lightbulbs are really great; I just can’t stand the way they’re marketed. Advertise them as cheap or remark about not having to change them out all the time, just shut up about the color green. I don’t care. (I’ve always hated the color green anyway for some reason.) Valete, Vox Imperatoris ETA: I agree on abortion, too. Wingnuts on all sides! ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/28 "2008-12-10T07:13:17Z")
The fat guy that does the “help a starving child in Africa” ads. Look, I have nothing against overweight people. But come on, do you really need to pick one as a spokesperson for that particular cause? ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/29 "2008-12-10T08:05:37Z")
Anti-Drug ads. I havn’t smoked pot in years but I don’t support the anti-drug movement anyway (I’m talking anti-marijuana, not crack), but watching a clip about how you’re more likely to kill children, destroy your little sister’s life from her perception of you, or start smoking meth in a week after yoru first hit… You gotta be f’in kiddin’ me… If this is how the money I spend in taxes to keep streets safe from methheads I’d vote anyone who wholeheartedly supports it out on that single issue alone. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2008, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/30 "2008-12-10T08:16:03Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Here, have a look for yourselves.[http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200710/r191895\_723618.jpg](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200710/r191895_723618.jpg) I’d go Green if it wasn’t for Brown. 😃 He doesn’t look so bad there. Why don’t you go Green & become the new head of the Party? Dress snazzily, whiten your teeth, [del]call out Peter Garrett for the wtf-ery of joining the Liberals,[/del] (belatedly realize he’s in Labor,) generally be the pro wrestler of Aus politics. ---
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/31 "2008-12-10T15:45:59Z")
1. Movies starring Keanu Reeves. The Matrix was decent in spite of him and the actress who played Trinity. I can’t bring myself to watch the others, even with Lawrence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving. 2. Opposition to gay marraige, when the more outspoken critics of it are people like Senator Craig 3. **clayton\_e** , good point on the anti-drug ads. 4. **Auntbeast** - with you on the cave men. The gecko is fine with me - but the caveman thing went WAY too far when they got their own TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/32 "2008-12-10T16:05:52Z")
Another one for animal rights. Sorry, but giving more rights to chimpanzee fetuses than to human fetuses doesn’t gain my vote. In spite of what the dictionaries say, a Spanish “sindicato” and a US “union” aren’t the same animal at all. But I’d be more likely to listen to the sindicatos if I hadn’t viewed their representatives in full “just following orders” mode, blargh! **KneadToKnow** , that actually seems to apply to many belief systems. What happened to “let your actions speak,” uh? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/33 "2008-12-10T16:14:29Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > **KneadToKnow** , that actually seems to apply to many belief systems. What happened to “let your actions speak,” uh? I have no doubt that you are right, I just don’t have experience with any others. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/34 "2008-12-10T16:16:53Z")
> [@bluecanary](#): > > Just about anything that could be described as “green” or “environmentalist”. The right sort of ideas; almost always completely misguided, often misanthropic motivations. I’m a big outdoors kind of guy and I want clean water and healthy fish and lots of trees and land as much as anyone else, but you can’t just sign up for “Please don’t dump raw sewage and industrial waste in the river and arrest anyone fishing without a license” without getting embroiled in all sorts of other issues that I do not agree with such as hard core animal rights or anti-logging campaigns or all sorts of other hippie bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/35 "2008-12-10T17:00:53Z")
Anti-smoking. I hate the smell, and when I tried to smoke for like a month, I never got past the puking. The cancer is an issue as well. But I HATE HATE HATE the “truth” ad campaign. So smug and obnoxious and infuriating. I just want to stab my TV every time I see one of the ads. I really can’t describe the fury it stirs up. Joe ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/36 "2008-12-10T17:22:08Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > Anti-smoking. > > I hate the smell, and when I tried to smoke for like a month, I never got past the puking. The cancer is an issue as well. > > But I HATE HATE HATE the “truth” ad campaign. So smug and obnoxious and infuriating. I just want to stab my TV every time I see one of the ads. I really can’t describe the fury it stirs up. > > Joe I have a print ad from the truth campaign that appeared in Marvel comics. It’s a high-def close up photo (shop, but looks real) of eyelids STITCHED SHUT. There’s a scalpel poised over the stitches that says “Truth”. So goddamn terrible. I’ll post a scan if anyone wants to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/37 "2008-12-10T17:50:35Z")
All the public service/donation commercials that use cute and innocent children to further their cause. ---
**Author:** ![greatshakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greatshakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greatshakes)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/38 "2008-12-11T05:56:01Z")
I rather like Obama and the Clintons, as people, but the Yellow Dog Dems made me almost want to actually vote for the creep McCain. Operative word: ALMOST. ---
**Author:** ![greatshakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greatshakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greatshakes)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/39 "2008-12-11T06:01:55Z")
> [@MeanJoe](#): > > The ShamWow. That guy just drives me crazy but I want to try the damn towels! > > Okay, I’ll jump in on the animal rights stuff. PETA is my primary objection. The 19 year old college freshman who is stridently militant in their views of the “holocaust” at Tyson Farms also get my goat (ha!) You’d prob. do something about it if you weren’t so chicken. Double ha. greatshakes ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043/40 "2008-12-11T06:14:17Z")
> [@greatshakes](#): > > I rather like Obama and the Clintons, as people, but the Yellow Dog Dems made me almost want to actually vote for the creep McCain. > Operative word: ALMOST. But how were Yellow Dogs spokespeople for Obama at all? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-youd-be-more-likely-to-support-if-the-spokespeople-werent-so-awful/476043.md?page=3)