Commercials: The Good, the Bad, and the FRIGGIN' ANNOYING

[murlough23]

I was thinking last night that there are certain commercials which I would gladly pay to never, ever see again. And there are others which are so awesome that I've scoured YouTube trying to find them so that I might pass them on to others who didn't catch them during their run on television.

In the first category (at least, in terms of ads presently on TV): Mazda's "Zoom Zoom" campaign, Intel's Core2Duo ads with the goofy dancing people who multiply like amoebas, and any ad ever done by Old Navy since the dawn of time. I vow to never purchase products by any of these companies.

In the second category: That ad that aired during the SuperBowl a few years ago with the guys who wrangled cats, Budweiser's spoof of the "Wassup!" guys with the preppies who exclaimed "What are you doing?" (a close second is the one with Japanese chef who exclaimed "Wasabi!"), and the crown jewel of TV advertisements, the "Got Milk?" ad with the Trix rabbit. There are several beer commercials besides the "Wassup!" guys that also amuse me greatly, so they win the award for best ad for a product that I will never buy.

Borderline: I find Toyota's Yaris commercials amusing, with the two cars basically playing Super Mario Kart and throwing various gadgets at each other, but then I realize that these commercials are beyond pointless because they don't tell you a damn thing about the actual car.

OK, your turn. Which ones provide a good opportunity for a bathroom break, and which ones make you convince yourself to hold it for another 30 seconds?

NP: "God You Are My God", Delirious?

[bloop]

I generally really like the look of Apple iPod commercials.  Mac/PC guy is annoying, though.

Commercials for ED drugs are always good for a laugh just for their double-entendres and very thin visual references.  But, remember kids -  Ditka is more interesting than a doctor.

[murlough23]

Mac/PC guy is annoying, though.

I kind of like those. They're funny, even if they're cheap shots at the PC. The online spoofs of those ads are funnier, though.

Commercials for ED drugs are always good for a laugh just for their double-entendres and very thin visual references.

They did a great spoof of these ads on SNL a few years back, for a product called "Dr. Porkenheimer's Boner Juice". My favorite part was, "If you experience an erection that lasts for more than 24 hours, call a friend and brag about it."

NP: "Spirit Moves", Out of Eden

[enemy anemone]

I rarely watch tv but I remember a commercial for the VW Beetle that was cool. it showed random square objects one at a time, then after a bunch of those, boom, the round little Beetlebug. 

I've only seen one of the Mac/PC ones and thought it was funny. I don't care to use Macs, and I'm sure the commercials would get tiresome if you see them all the time, but it cracked me up.

Old Navy ads are horrible but I like some of their clothes. probably would never venture into one of their stores solely based on their commercials though.

the Aveeno lady has the most annoying voice. I also have no patience for mascara ads with the lady talking in a fake-sounding accent. I guess eyelid hair is so much more glamorous if you talk about it with an accent.

I liked the ad with the guys in the car at the drive thru talking about what to order...can't remember what fast food place it was for or what words the one was mispronouncing, but it made me laugh every time.

[AldaForPresident]

If I never, ever see the Audrey Hepburn Gap commercial again, I can die, if not happy, a lot less annoyed.

I like the Absolut Vodka commercials a lot.

[AldaForPresident]

Oh, and the car commercials- not sure what car- where the various people are driving down the road having a conversation and then all of a sudden, POW, they crash can die the way the people in the car should.

[murlough23]

If I never, ever see the Audrey Hepburn Gap commercial again, I can die, if not happy, a lot less annoyed.

Wordy McWord!

[enemy anemone]

I love Audrey and some of Gap's clothes, and the beatnik look (black turtleneck, black pants, flat black shoes) is okay, but I loathe the stupid Gap ad.

I hate any clothing company that calls a pair of pants "a pant". or a pair of panties "a panty". as if that makes them sound more genteel or something.

[murlough23]

I hate any clothing company that calls a pair of pants "a pant". or a pair of panties "a panty". as if that makes them sound more genteel or something.

I can just picture Ellen Degeneres now: "Maybe they charged me per pant".

Incidentally, that commercial where she's meditating about the tickets and says "I will not sit next to the guy who has to sing along to every word"? Whoops. Apparently I was next to Ellen Degeneres at a recent concert. Or something.

[Josh]

I love the Mac/PC commercials, mostly because they remind me of funnier John Hodgeman moments from The Daily Show.

I also really like those cell phone commercials (I think it's Verizon?) with the mom and daughter arguing. "You've ALWAYS loved me, and you ALWAYS will!" "I know you mean that."

[AldaForPresident]

I also really like those cell phone commercials (I think it's Verizon?) with the mom and daughter arguing. "You've ALWAYS loved me, and you ALWAYS will!" "I know you mean that."

I love that one too! "You are the most grateful little...."

[murlough23]

I gotta hand it to Verizon, between those non-argument ads and the ones about "the network", they've really brought their A game. I remember when the company first started out and they had this really terrible theme song, some chick remaking the classic rock song "People Got to Be Free" (I don't know who it's by; I just remember it because DeGarmo & Key remade it in 1994). It was unbearable, and I vowed I'd never be a Verizon customer. How times have changed.

[Aaron]

I like the most recent one with the fake network and the cardboart cutouts.

[Vlad!]

I loved the old (very old) Hardees commercials. They had a series of commercials with the refrain "if you're gonna go, go all out!" It was a bunch of people taking tasks to the uber end of extreme. Credit card companies, surprisingly, can also come up with some remarkably clever commercials--there was a Visa commercial about rabbits in a pet store maybe five years ago which was amusing, and the Capital One marauding viking commercials were funny before they started being milked for more than they were worth.

I hate most car commercials, most clothing commercials, and most retail store commercials. Actually, I'm not a fan of commercials in general. I seldom watch TV, but if I am watching it, I'd rather be wasting my time watching the program, not wasting my time watching some company trying to sell me something. This is why, when I do watch TV, it's usually on DVD.

I have to admit that one guilty pleasure if mine is the Fandango commercials in front of movies. Both the singing paper bags and the stupid guys "there's a wild Fandango...loose...in the theater" make me laugh, even though I know that the commercials are stupid and borderline annoying.

[AldaForPresident]

I love Fandango commercials, especially the one with the song "Is the movie sold out my husband/Chita my queen, I've used Fandango/My happiness is a golden poem/I'll get the popcorn." 

[bethany]

My favorite commercial of all time - directed by Spike Jonze.

[enemy anemone]

awwww, I felt sorry for the lamp. how is the new one much better? it's not red. the red one still worked when the mean lady kicked it out!   

I wish the Verizon commercial dude would just shut up already about the network.

[bethany]

awwww, I felt sorry for the lamp.

<swedish accent>That is because you are crazy.</swedish accent>

[dgp11776]

I like the careerbuilder.com ads where the guy works with monkeys.

[bloop]

I loved that trippy M&M commercial set to Iron & Wine.

[Josh]

I loved that trippy M&M commercial set to Iron & Wine.

Yeah, I guess, although sometimes commercials like that tend to ruin great music for me. I simply can't listen to Blondie anymore without thinking about Swiffer.

Which reminds me of the greatest commercial EVER: The Victoria's Secret one with Bob Dylan singing "Lovesick" and leering at the models. 

[Aaron]

Yeah, I guess, although sometimes commercials like that tend to ruin great music for me. I simply can't listen to Blondie anymore without thinking about Swiffer.

Which reminds me of the greatest commercial EVER: The Victoria's Secret one with Bob Dylan singing "Lovesick" and leering at the models. 

Which swiffer commercial was a Blondie song used?  I know they use DEVO's "Whip It" as "Swiff It", but I don't recall Blondie

[AldaForPresident]

Which reminds me of the greatest commercial EVER: The Victoria's Secret one with Bob Dylan singing "Lovesick" and leering at the models. 

I remember the first time I saw that I was with my grandparents, and I said, "That's Bob Dylan! Bob Dylan did a Victoria's Secret commmercial!" and they were like, No, no, that wasn't Bob Dylan. It just looked like him. 

[bloop]

Hey, I love Iron & Wine, and kaleidoscopes, and I at least like M&Ms.  Thus I liked the commercial.  It doesn't take much to please me.   

That Victoria's Secret commercial is the winner so far if you ask me.  Good one, Josh.

[bethany]

Except it's still VS, so it still sucks.

[bloop]

Hm.  The wife likes VS stuff.  She's the only expert in the house on such things.  I just know I find the commercial visually appealing and mildly creepy - a mix I can appreciate.

[bethany]

Well, I actually do like VS's wares. I just really don't appreciate their commercials.

[murlough23]

Except it's still VS, so it still sucks.

You might see that differently when you're married. 

Anyway, to respond to the comment somewhere above that we'd rather be wasting our time watching TV shows instead of the commercials, I agree. But if we have to have commercials, I'd at least like to see commercials that are funny.

[AldaForPresident]

Oh! I love the American Express commercials with Robert De Niro (directed by Martin Scorsese), Wes Anderson, and M. Night Shyamalan.

[bethany]

You might see that differently when you're married. 

Like I said, I really do like VS's wares. They make really nice lingerie/undergarments. It's their advertising campaigns that thrust nude or nearly nude gyrating women in front of my face that I object to. And I doubt that will change once I'm married.

[murlough23]

Like I said, I really do like VS's wares. They make really nice lingerie/undergarments. It's their advertising campaigns that thrust nude or nearly nude gyrating women in front of my face that I object to. And I doubt that will change once I'm married.

OK, that makes sense. There's a difference between what a woman can show her husband and what she should be showing the general public. No argument there.

Though it does make their "wares" kind of tricky to advertise, since you usually advertise clothing items by showing people wearing them.

[bloop]

I know about the half-naked models, and they're fine by me.  I don't remember the fully naked ones though.  Are those print ads?

(it does irk me when clothing companies sell their clothes by depicting people not wearing them or anything else.  VS, to my knowledge, are little more revealing than a bikini, so I'm alright with that.)

[bethany]

I know about the half-naked models, and they're fine by me.  I don't remember the fully naked ones though.  Are those print ads?

(it does irk me when clothing companies sell their clothes by depicting people not wearing them or anything else.  VS, to my knowledge, are little more revealing than a bikini, so I'm alright with that.)

Yeah, in print ads they often have topless women (covered by arms or knees or whatnot) - usually advertising one of their fragrances, which makes little sense to me, but whatever.

[bloop]

[Vlad!]

I don't remember Blondie on a Swiffer commercial, but there was a phone company (or was it a cell phone?) commercial with clips of "Hangin' on the Telephone".

And I know what you mean; there are some good classic rock songs that only make me think of truck or jean commercials now >_<

[murlough23]

Yeah, in print ads they often have topless women (covered by arms or knees or whatnot) - usually advertising one of their fragrances, which makes little sense to me, but whatever.

Yeah, that's pushing the envelope of what's necessary to advertise the actual product. I don't mind "sex sells" so much when they're advertising their lingerie, because what they're selling, in a sense, is sex. It's a way for a woman to do something sexy for the man she loves behind closed doors. Nothing wrong with that. But when it's a fragrance or some other item not directly linked to sex, it's kind of annoying and cheap when they use skin to get our attention. (Not that fragrances can't help set the mood, but clearly plenty of women wear VS fragrances for reasons other than to make men horny.)

Basically, the bottom line is, advertise what you're actually selling. Show me the merits of the product. If you just resort to showing me how the product's gonna get me a bunch of sexy babes, I'll assume your product has no real merits to advertise.

[MJanke]

My favorite one right now is probably the T-Mobile commercial about "Your Five" where the guy finds out that his friend has his girlfriend in his Five. He says it's innocent and then all of a sudden "Secret Lovers" starts to play. "I should probably get that." It's hilarious.

I also love the Man Law Miller Lite commercials. They always crack me up.

Don't fruit the beer!

[starhawk]

I remember seeing this commercial once, years ago, and it made my entire family laugh.  It was a Jack In the Box fast food chain commercial, back when they were using their little antenna balls in their commercials. 

The commercial starts with the Taco Bell chihuahua strutting up to a man sitting at a bench.  the dog barks at him and says the typical "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" line.  Then one of the Jack in the Box antenna balls, from a car parked on the road in front of them, turns to the dog and says, "So WHAT?  You're a dog.  You'll eat anything!"

It was really funny...at the time.  In the midst of all the Taco Bell dog commercials.  I don't know if there were any legal issues with Jack in the Box using the Taco Bell line, or what not, because I never did see the commercial air again.

[murlough23]

I was just thinking about that commercial for Verizon or whatever cell phone company it is, where they're advertising how you don't have to know anything about music to be able to download it, and these two guys have downloaded "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash and are singing along to it erroneously - "Stop the Cat Box". What's really stupid about that ad is that the lyric they're messing up is THE TITLE OF THE DAMN SONG. Hello? You guys weren't reading the screen when you downloaded it? How did you even know you were getting the song you wanted in the first place?

NP: "My Idea of Heaven", Leigh Nash

[Wildcatblue7]

I don't know, but I think that commercial is hysterical.

My all-time hate list:
Anything from Burlington Coat Factory
"Happy Bob"--SHUDDER
any ad for a reality show
"Gellin'?  Like a felon!"  (You. Are. So. White.  HATE THOSE.)