# Yet more puzzling commercials **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709 "2010-11-15T05:58:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/21 "2010-11-15T17:17:57Z")
“Do you bleed and take blood thinners?” Erm, don’t most people bleed? The first time we saw it, TheKid piped up “No, I’m undead. I don’t bleed”. Stupid BloodArrest commercial. ---
**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 15, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/22 "2010-11-15T17:47:29Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Totally agree with the two in the OP and while we’re talking ED, what’s up with the separate bathtubs in the Cialis ads? And why are the guys in these ads always leering? Leering isn’t a turn-on. > > I also don’t get the ads about a “belief project” – can’t remember what they’re for, maybe a phone? > > I do like the ad with the confident kid – the one who tosses a toy onto a box of baking soda that puts out mom’s fire, and then he saves a busload of cheerleaders from a tornado. Something to do with buying a car. > > Don’t quite get the ad with the woman who’s buying a car, and her first criteria is new or used – WTF? Don’t you know new or used before you start the search? Second criteria is color – especially since her preferred color is black – black is the worst, unless you own a car wash. > > “To the cloud” – not bad ads but they’re overplayed. Drug ads seem to have cornered the market on skeevy-looking guys. They either look like pervs or someone just out of drug rehab. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/23 "2010-11-15T17:51:34Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Yeah, that’s the one I came in here to say. Your kid’s embarrassed to get in the wood paneled station wagon. Fine, he can walk home. Really, who’s this commercial geared toward? > > And to tell you the truth, when I was kid I would have happily hopped into a wood paneled station wagon if it meant not having to ride the bus. > > Coming from a guy who drove a beat up station wagon (albeit not a wood paneled one) in high school. You have to be really emasculated before you really care about how cool your car is to your grade school kid. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/24 "2010-11-15T17:59:33Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > . > > “To the cloud” – not bad ads but they’re overplayed. The one where the Mom cuts and pastes from a series of family pictures to get one where everyone is behaving is pretty stupid. To paraphrase a comment I heard somewhere, since when do you need to “go to the cloud” to use an image editing program? My reaction may be colored by the fact that I don’t want my data or applications “in the cloud”. I want them on my machine where they’re available if I have no web connectivity. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/25 "2010-11-15T19:04:48Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Actually, while the WIndows 7 ad might still be bad for other reasons, I can think of a lot of people it will appeal to. I would also submit that the kind of people who complain about it on a message board are prolly not the ones it’s aimed towards. Microsoft has always aimed at the mass market, and this is no different; they aren’t going after the early-adopter tech-lover who loves the tech itself, but the guy who doesn’t care about the tech and just wants to get things done and get off the phone. > > It’s just a different segment, not a bad ad in that sense. People who hate all the tech stuff would probably just buy a damn phone - one you can get for free when you sign up or extend a contract. Microsoft hardly has the easy-to-use vibe sewn up, after all. I seem to remember from an article in the Reg that smartphone penetration on the US is around 30%, so they’d be aiming at the wrong market. So, you may or may not use the apps, but you’ll probably be thinking of using them when you buy the phone, so advertising how fast you can stop using them is a bad idea. Not to mention that this doesn’t seem to be a negative for either iPhones or Android phones. ---
**Author:** ![ratmanizhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b5ac83/32.png) [@ratmanizhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratmanizhere)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/26 "2010-11-15T19:39:18Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > The thing that annoys me about this commercial is they skip right over the part where he writhes on the ground in agony - his face and arms covered in second degree burns because he uncapped a hot radiator. That was the same thing I thought about the first time I saw this commercial. Plus, how is that small bottle of water adequate to refilling the radiator if it’s overheating? All the vehicles I’ve ever owned took at least a couple of gallons to refill. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/27 "2010-11-15T19:46:30Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I also don’t get the ads about a “belief project” – can’t remember what they’re for, maybe a phone? There was some promotion by… Pepsi?.. where they were taking ideas for wonderful world changing actions then then having people vote on them online. I don’t hang out on Facebook much but still managed to receive pleas to vote for someone’s aunt who wanted to fund a clinic to combat Weeping Clavicle Dropsy in 3rd world children or train helper monkeys to become literate so they could type letters for disabled war vets. A while later, Pepsi (?) was running ads about how they were funding someone’s project to put on all-ages rock shows for teens. I suppose teenage rock concerts sounded sexier than fighting Weeping Clavicle Dropsy in Mozambique and legitimately got more votes but it still sounded kind of dickish when I saw it on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/28 "2010-11-15T20:07:33Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Progressive’s Flo saying “Go big money.” What does that mean? It’s just a really lame joke. You’re meant to take it as if she were saying, “Go, big money! Do your awesome little dance!” But she’s actually shooing him away for his break. I can’t say I loathe Flo, but when the company finally decides to retire this series of commercials, I’m definitely not going to be weeping bitter tears. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/29 "2010-11-15T20:10:15Z")
I love the ones for some lawyer outfit “If you took Avandia and suffered death, heart attack, or stroke…” Hmmmm… I took Avandia, did I suffer death? ---
**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:** [November 15, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/30 "2010-11-15T20:11:09Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Actually, while the WIndows 7 ad might still be bad for other reasons, I can think of a lot of people it will appeal to. I would also submit that the kind of people who complain about it on a message board are prolly not the ones it’s aimed towards. Microsoft has always aimed at the mass market, and this is no different; they aren’t going after the early-adopter tech-lover who loves the tech itself, but the guy who doesn’t care about the tech and just wants to get things done and get off the phone. I concur entirely: I think they are aiming at people who see other people using their iPhones, BlackBerries, whatever, and regardless of the facts of the situation, get the idea in their heads that “those poor suckers are lost in their little world,” then offering them a way to have the convenience of a smart phone but with the promise that you won’t have to give up your “real” life. The truth, of course, is that you spend as much time on your smartphone as you want to, the operating system doesn’t really matter. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/31 "2010-11-15T20:15:12Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > In what sense did you did that one? Sorry, mate. I meant that I did indeed \*like \*the commercial with the randy bulldog. Gad, my omissions have been abominable recently. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/32 "2010-11-15T20:51:56Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Who thought that having [this kid](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80pNUxIczig) advertise your Toyota Highlander was a good idea? Empower your annoying little shit of a kid by letting him tell you what kind of car to drive. Oh that’s a good plan. That child was a horrible, horrible mistake. I’m one of the few people who find the Toyota Sienna commercials amusing (the utter cluelessness of the people involved sells that for me). But the child in the Highlander commercials is horrid. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/33 "2010-11-15T21:00:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You have to be really emasculated before you really care about how cool your car is to your grade school kid. Exactly. When I watch that commercial I’m thinking that Toyota is trying to me, “The main reason for you to buy this thing is because you lack the balls to stand up to your kid and are willing to spend inordinate amounts of money to make him feel cool.” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/34 "2010-11-15T21:01:46Z")
I’ve mentioned before the Domino’s Pizza commercial where the people are at a focus group talking about how they don’t know what ingredients are in the pizza, and then the walls roll back, and they’re shocked to find that they’re in the middle of a picturesque dairy farm. Where the hell did these people think they were, a shopping mall? How do you get people to a dairy farm without them seeing, you know, cows and stuff, on the way? It just don’t add up. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/35 "2010-11-15T21:06:45Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Where the hell did these people think they were, a shopping mall? How do you get people to a dairy farm without them seeing, you know, cows and stuff, on the way?. Or more to the point- _smelling._ And, Ok the cheese is real, how’s about the other stuff? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/36 "2010-11-15T21:07:49Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Exactly. When I watch that commercial I’m thinking that Toyota is trying to me, “The main reason for you to buy this thing is because you lack the balls to stand up to your kid and are willing to spend inordinate amounts of money to make him feel cool.” And, it’s a child who clearly needs some “attitude adjustment”. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/37 "2010-11-15T21:14:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Or more to the point- _smelling._ Well, that could still be a shopping mall. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/38 "2010-11-15T21:26:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Where the hell did these people think they were, a shopping mall? How do you get people to a dairy farm without them seeing, you know, cows and stuff, on the way? > > It just don’t add up. Yeah, I lost any minuscule amount of faith I might ever have had that Domino’s was actually trying to make good changes when they aired that commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/39 "2010-11-15T21:38:32Z")
There’s a series of ads for Netflix I hear on the radio all the time, and I just don’t get what they’re going for. The ads are presented as a game-show with an announcer asking, in hushed tones with a little tick-tock sound effect, absolutely inane questions. The ‘contestant’ answers with completely unrelated and equally inane responses, to which the announcer tells him, “Correct.” For example (made up, not actually in the ad, because I can’t remember specifics, but trust me … it’s something like this): “Fred has a red shirt and Babs has three apples. What time is it in Singapore?” “Belgravia?” “Correct.” And the last question is something like, “Name a way that Netflix delivers movies to your home.” And the answer is the hook, “Netflix streaming! Yay!” Cue the big win music and the disclaimers. But I don’t get it. What the eff do the inane questions and answers have to do with … well, fucking anything? The ad seems to be saying that getting Netflix Streaming is about as probable as Bab’s apples. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/40 "2010-11-15T22:07:35Z")
“Can switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? Do woodchucks chuck wood?” No. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709.md?page=3)