# Zyppah (Happy Z backwards) sleep apnea device commercials **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [January 29, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826 "2024-01-29T17:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/1 "2024-01-29T17:30:13Z")
If you listen to Sirius XM then you’ve probably heard these commercials whose spokesman is Jimmy from apparently south Boston. The company that owns the Zyppah brand is based in California. While I highly doubt that they view New England as a target market, why have they chosen the character of their spokesman to be a south Bostie person? They supposedly hired Shaq back in 2019 to be their “ambassador” as Shaq advertises everything, but I have never heard Shaq on one of their commercials. The product itself has questionable reviews as to whether it works at all. There have even been studies that rate the Boston accent as one of the most annoying accents in the US. So why do you think Zyppah chose this accent for their spokesperson? ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/2 "2024-01-29T17:34:05Z")
From what I’ve heard on the radio, a lot of people seem to think obnoxniousness is a plus. There’s a school of thought in advertising that getting your audience’s attention in any way possible is a good thing. And look! You remembered the product’s name and we’re talking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/3 "2024-01-29T17:40:12Z")
They used that accent because that’s how Bostonians pronounce words ending in “er”, so chowder becomes “chowdah”. At least that’s the cliché. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/4 "2024-01-29T17:44:43Z")
Yeah what @Hatchie said. “Zyppah” is how a Bostonian would pronounce my username. ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/5 "2024-01-29T19:14:45Z")
Of course, they’d pronounce the company name as “zipper.” (Norm Abram, in The New Yankee Workshop, would teach you how to make a “chest of draws.” And if you were interested, he’d send you a measured “drawering.”) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/6 "2024-01-29T20:36:11Z")
Ayup. Where in the world is “Asier Minah”? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/7 "2024-01-29T20:57:24Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > And look! You remembered the product’s name and we’re talking about it. But…so what? ANyone here that need a CPAP is going to get it the right way, with a prescription, under a doctor’s care. Not from some satellite radio commercial huckstah. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/8 "2024-01-29T20:59:53Z")
Sure, _we_ will. But people who don’t have a doctor or who don’t want to go through the trouble and expense (both extremely frustrating) of getting a proper diagnosis and an actual CPAP are ripe for it. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/9 "2024-01-29T22:32:16Z")
Jimmy in the commercials doesn’t come across as scientific or that well educated at all. I’m guessing this is the demographic they are going after, and whose significant others are complaining to them about their snoring and $100 bucks for a mouthpiece sounds like a better solution than $1,000 CPAP machine. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/10 "2024-01-30T00:44:56Z")
CPAP machines don’t cost $1K. It’s the sleep test and the doctors and the equipment suppliers and all that meshugah that they’re probably trying to avoid. And I don’t blame them much. I’ve been using a CPAP for 25 years, very happily, but if I never have to talk to another supplier or sleep test technician again, it will be too soon. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zyppah-happy-z-backwards-sleep-apnea-device-commercials/996826/11 "2024-01-30T01:29:30Z")
It’s now [possible to have a sleep apnea test at home](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/what-to-know-about-an-at-home-sleep-test). It’s not as accurate or comprehensive as a lab test, but it’s considerably less expensive, and less of a hassle.