# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/41 "2010-11-15T22:22:40Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > 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. That drives me nuts too, were they kidnapped? Why the crap do we care that it’s real cheese from a bona fide dairy anyway? Your cheese sucks so badly that folks wonder about it’s origin, not the best ad campaign ever devised. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/42 "2010-11-15T22:48:20Z")
> [@Chopper9760](#): > > That drives me nuts too, were they kidnapped? It appears so. > [@](#): > > Logistically, it was a bit of a slog, Calcao said. Crispin execs, who’d advertised in the local newspaper for focus groups, told the participants gathered at a designated meeting spot a white lie—that they needed to be driven 20 minutes away to another location because of a problem in the building. > **[Brandweek 2025](https://event.adweek.com/brandweek_2025/)** > [@](#): > > Domino’s packed groups of people into a limousine with blacked-out windows and drove to a dairy farm, where (without being permitted to see the external surroundings) they were questioned in a windowless room. [http://www.adweek.com/aw/creative/ad-of-the-day/article\_display.jsp?creativeId=274520](http://www.adweek.com/aw/creative/ad-of-the-day/article_display.jsp?creativeId=274520) ETA: Allthough I’m still trying to figure out how they actually got them in the room. Blindfolds? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/43 "2010-11-15T23:28:02Z")
> [@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. > > And get a haircut. > > And get off mah lawn. It is so wrong that there is a commercial that makes me want to smack a child. This one does. The other one with the kid that looks like he is being bullied (Parker?) I am embarrassed to say that I want to smack him too. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/44 "2010-11-15T23:51:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > “Can switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? Do woodchucks chuck wood?” > > No. I love that commercial. Hey you woodchucks, stop chucking my wood! ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/45 "2010-11-16T00:54:47Z")
My other recent favorite is the ad for a drug that is for gout. One of the side effects they list: gout. Isn’t that the same thing as saying the drug just doesn’t work for some people? ---
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/46 "2010-11-16T05:38:46Z")
I think it’s for “go to meeting dot com” - it’s super crappy cell phone quality footage of two jackasses doing inane things, but one of them apparently endears himself to the VERY IMPORTANT CLIENT. Something involving sushi I think? Everything about it suggests a thrown together assignment in a first year marketing course in the worst community college in America, and everyone involved was very, very, high. I saw this gem multiple times while watching CNN on a sick day, and it damn near inspired me to drag my flu-addled self back to the office. Bleh. Oh yeah, and as for that Highlander kid, let me steal a doper’s most excellent phrase - he makes my smackin’ hand tingle. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/47 "2010-11-16T06:33:56Z")
Annoyed mother trying to get her husband and brats to sit still for a photo: Dammit, people, if you don’t stop screwing around do you know what you are going to get for dinner? That’s right; liver and sauerkraut with a side of okra. For the next five meals running! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/48 "2010-11-16T06:37:08Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > Annoyed mother trying to get her husband and brats to sit still for a photo: > > Dammit, people, if you don’t stop screwing around do you know what you are going to get for dinner? That’s right; liver and sauerkraut with a side of okra. For the next five meals running! If you make us all wear that same damn fugly shirt, then screw you, we’re ordering pizza! ---
**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 16, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/49 "2010-11-16T06:47:43Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I love that commercial. > > Hey you woodchucks, stop chucking my wood! There’s nothing wrong with the woodchucks, or the farmer yelling at them. I just think it really undermines the premise of the whole campaign. All the other ads are about things that are true, or can be taken as true within their respective spheres. But when the first question is “can switching to Geico…”, the answer to the second question has to be yes or the whole message just fails, cute, mischievous woodland creatures or no. This thread is about puzzling commercials. This one puzzles me. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/50 "2010-11-16T12:01:39Z")
Those Cialis commercials bother me. If it’s a product about Intimacy, then howcum they’re in _separate_ bathtubs? If you take Cialis while you’re out hiking in the woods, do the woods start folding up and turning into a house? If you take Cialis on the planet Dune does your house start folding down and sand starts spilling in? We were watching the news and the commercial started out like one of those Cialis commercials, but it ended up as an arthritis commercial, with the guy plating Fetch with his dog. But I was so prepared for a Cialis commercial I was looking for the guy and his dog to be in side-by-side bathtubs at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/51 "2010-11-16T12:10:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There’s nothing wrong with the woodchucks, or the farmer yelling at them. I just think it really undermines the premise of the whole campaign. All the other ads are about things that are true, or can be taken as true within their respective spheres. But when the first question is “can switching to Geico…”, the answer to the second question has to be yes or the whole message just fails, cute, mischievous woodland creatures or no. Dude, those woodchucks are clearly chucking wood, so it’s obviously true. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/52 "2010-11-16T12:55:02Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > How about Hulu and their interactive commercials? I don’t mean the ones where you get a choice between one long commercial or several breaks. There’s some that say type your name here, or there’s others - I think for Lowe’s Hardware - that is just a static screen with different items to click on. Why would I still be in that tab, Hulu? Or I’m using the Windows snap feature, and I’m browsing or playing a game whilst doing a mental countdown from 30 or 90. I mean, if I’m watching Hulu, I’ve also got the entire web at my disposal - or I could passively watch their commercials. I usually kill the volume too. That’s not really puzzling, that’s kind of clever if it forces interaction before it’ll let you proceed. I’d imagine it makes the ads more valuable than ones you can easily ignore, and has an easy way of telling what percentage of the market the ad is being observed by, since they can monitor who interacts with it. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/53 "2010-11-16T13:04:05Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > ETA: Allthough I’m still trying to figure out how they actually got them in the room. Blindfolds? In one version, they show the limo pulling into a “garage” that is attached to the room they are in. And while that Windows Mobile 7 commercial is puzzling, we can all agree on one thing: The cougar wife in the black nightie is _hot as fuck._ And the guy ignoring her to play on his phone is _dumb as fuck._ ---
**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:** [November 16, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/54 "2010-11-16T15:24:21Z")
There’s one I see on the Weather Channel all the time, for one of the on-line travel discounters. It shows a woman, apparently named Mandy, sitting on a pier in a bqthing suit eating fruit with a handsome European-looking dude. The narrator talks about how Mandy booked her trip through Orbilocity or whoever, while Mandy’s boyfriend somehow got so tired searching for ticket prices on other sites that he fell asleep and missed his flight, so now Mandy is there by herself and fortunately found Raoul, or whatever his name is, to console her, nudge nudge wink wink. Setting aside the ridiculous illogic of the whole scenario, I guess I’m just a bit nonplussed that the advertisers actually think “book your tickets through us or your slut girlfriend will cheat on you” is some sort of effective marketing strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/55 "2010-11-16T15:30:35Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > [Here’s one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdRSimvvzaQ) that confuses me. This ad smacks of having an idea before they had a client. Boy, I really did NOT need to see such a close-up view of a bulldog’s heavy, swinging nutsack. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/56 "2010-11-16T15:30:58Z")
I just want to know what’s up with all the ads where the product being advertised destroys your house. Off the top of my head, there’s Cialis and the iPad, and I’ve seen a couple more with this theme. Consumer sitting around at home begins using product, house collapses around him (or disappears entirely) leaving him sitting in the middle of the woods/rainforest/grassy field/what-have-you. He always looks pretty happy about it, too. But…I don’t want products that destroy my house. I _like_ my house. I have no interest in a product that does this, metaphorically or otherwise. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/57 "2010-11-16T15:36:29Z")
There’s a DirectTV commercial that puzzles me. A projectionist is in a room when a man silently enters. The projectionist bends over just in time to avoid the blowdart that was aimed at his throat. Puzzled at the sudden appearance of a dart, the projectionist turns, only to be hit by another blowdart, causing the poor projectionist to pass out. The man then steals a few reels of film. (IIRC, there’s a shot of Russell Crowe in this commercial as well). Apparently the point they’re trying to make is that DirectTv has first-run movies earlier than Netflix, but I can’t really get there from here. Does DirectTv steal movies? Attack projectionists? Really like Russell Crowe? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/58 "2010-11-16T15:49:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > We were watching the news and the commercial started out like one of those Cialis commercials, but it ended up as an arthritis commercial, with the guy plating Fetch with his dog. But I was so prepared for a Cialis commercial I was looking for the guy and his dog to be in side-by-side bathtubs at the end. New, from the makers of Cialis: _ **Bestialis** _[sup]TM[/sup]! ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/59 "2010-11-16T15:59:24Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Does DirectTv steal movies? Attack projectionists? Really like Russell Crowe? Hey, if Russell Crowe wanted to steal a movie, he wouldn’t use some sissy tranquilizer dart; he’d just knock the projectionist out by throwing a phone at him. 😃 ---
**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 16, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709/60 "2010-11-16T16:12:49Z")
For a long while, I was saying that “Buy our household cleaning products and your old products will feel like worthless pieces of shit and sadly pine for the days they were loved and wanted” didn’t seem like an effective strategy and it seems that they’ve been slowly moving away from that with every incarnation of Swiffer commercial. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-more-puzzling-commercials/560709.md?page=4)