# What is the worst single line in an advertisement? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [December 19, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762 "2022-12-19T02:18:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/121 "2022-12-22T03:39:48Z")
Ring around the collar. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/122 "2022-12-22T04:36:59Z")
Maybe this hasn’t been mentioned in the thread yet because it’s not a traditional advertisement, but I think it deserves mention: “Hopefully your favorite President of all time. Better than Lincoln. Better than Washington”. [Donald Trump’s Collect Trump Cards NFT Commercial - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeUH90coXSI) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/123 "2022-12-22T15:33:39Z")
There’s a commercial where the guy introduces himself, “I’m Emmitt Smith”, but if I’m not looking at the TV, I hear, “I’m innocent.” ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/124 "2022-12-22T15:54:55Z")
“I love Butt Drugs!” ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/125 "2022-12-22T16:27:21Z")
On a trip to Brazil in the early 1990s, I picked up some magazines to take home, including a copy of _Veja_, a popular weekly news magazine, like Time or Newsweek. As I was flipping through the pages I found a full-page ad for what was presumably a racy television show that showed an outstretched hand with a hairy palm and some prose that said something like “You’ll enjoy the show, the only problem is the side effects.” I did a double and triple take as I looked at that ad and wondered “Are they saying what I think they are saying?” I could imagine something like that in a men’s magazine, but not in the number one weekly news magazine in Brazil. It was a professional ad, not looking sketchy at all. All of the other ads in the issue were in line with what one would see in Time or Newsweek at the time. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/126 "2022-12-23T03:50:32Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > > > I dislike the ads that say “Ask your doctor about PettingZoo”. > > I saw these ads paraphrased as “Ask your doctor if YOU can need (drug name).” “Ask your doctor about {insert snake oil}” has long been a wink-wink-nudge-nudge (“It’s your health, take charge! Demand our snake oil!”). But I caught the tail end of an ad the other day which was finally explicit: “Ask your rheumatologist **for** RINVOQ!” This after describing the horrific possible side effects, most of which would have had me heading for the proverbial hills. I can only imagine how My Father the Doctor™ — on whom be peace — would have reacted if a patient had demanded (as opposed to asking about) a particular medication. If he were in an especially good mode he would merely have suggested that the patient find another physician. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/127 "2022-12-23T03:56:07Z")
In many places, the law says if you say what KrappyDose does you need to say all the common and dangerous side effects, preferably while showing pictures of attractive people dancing and playing shuffleboard. If you don’t say what it does, you can instead have smug people tell you “I know what KrappyDose does? Do you? Huh? Do you, punk?”…. I can’t personally say I have had _lots_ of people ask me about these, but given the avalanche of internet twaddle people do ask about they don’t need more encouragement. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/128 "2022-12-23T18:47:11Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > she said “How’d All do?”. When you say that out loud it just sounds ridiculous, like you’re trying to yodel. I’ll see you, and raise you one “Aciphex.” ---
**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:** [December 23, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/129 "2022-12-23T19:09:04Z")
It’s like they came up with the Jamitol punchline, then just… didn’t bother to write a joke around it. ---
**Author:** ![boson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boson/32/11407_2.png) [@boson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boson)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2022, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/130 "2022-12-24T04:09:30Z")
In a line from a Marlon Brando movie, “What do you got?” When you think about it, the majority of ads hug that snake oil line. I look a a magazine at my side: ad for running shoes, “peace, love, comfort.” Current ad for a wristwatch, “World of Enchantment.” This is just from my room today. “What are you rebelling against?” “What do you got?” And those chewing gum commercials years ago where the kid is zooming around like he is tripping. I don’t know the lines from the ad and I don’t want to remember. If there is heaven and hell, people in advertising departments better be careful. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/131 "2022-12-24T16:19:35Z")
> [@boson](#): > > If there is heaven and hell, people in advertising departments better be careful. “Hey, why are we in the same level of this inferno as politicians?” “Wellll, you did lie for a living, didn’t you?” ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/132 "2022-12-25T09:53:35Z")
There’s a commercial about a drug for ulcerative colitis. The portion of the commercial where the benefits …of the drug are listed has me arguing with the TV every time it plays. If you have UC, and you take this miracle drug, there IS VISIBLE improvement. (emphasis from commercial) Who looks at that body part and makes the evaluation? Are there groups of people who take a tour? Do we really need to know this? ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/133 "2022-12-25T20:31:14Z")
There is a commercial I hear on various podcasts or the radio that drives me nuts. It’s for some migraine medicine and the first line says that a woman “wanted a scary story” followed by “then she realized it was a migraine.” WHAT? I’m not a migraine sufferer so I don’t know. Are migraines preceded by a desire to hear a scary story? Or is that as utterly nonsensical as it sounds? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/134 "2022-12-25T20:52:23Z")
No doubt effective, but annoying as hell: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/cwCtM6D4GOc/maxresdefault.jpg "I've fallen, and I can't get up!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwCtM6D4GOc) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/135 "2022-12-25T20:57:51Z")
The same company had what I consider one of the best ads. Former Surgeon General C Everret Koop said “You can live alone, without ever being alone. That’s why I wear one.” But yeah, the “I’ve fallen! And I can’t get up!” really does get on your nerves. ---
**Author:** ![alfonzos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alfonzos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alfonzos)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/136 "2022-12-25T23:37:33Z")
This used to annoy me when it ran in the sixties because it made no sense: “Serutan: it’s ‘natures’ backwards.” This also made no sense but it’s the work of Bob & Ray so I’ll let it slide: “Millbrook Bread: bread baked to music.” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/137 "2022-12-26T00:13:07Z")
“Hey good lookin’! We’ll be back to pick you up later!” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hqIrzkPDtrk/hqdefault.jpg "Mr. Microphone By Ronco (Commercial, 1978)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqIrzkPDtrk) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/138 "2022-12-26T02:29:08Z")
Maybe it has something to do with [auras](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(symptom)?wprov=sfti1), a common precursor symptom of migraines. ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2022, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/139 "2022-12-26T07:05:08Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kgv7U3GYlDY/maxresdefault.jpg "What a Savings") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgv7U3GYlDY) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762/140 "2022-12-26T15:18:55Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > “I’ve fallen! And I can’t get up!” Might have been annoying, but it’s now a phrase that has become a part of the American vernacular. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-single-line-in-an-advertisement/976762.md?page=8)