Annoyance in Advertising

[vovat]

On this lovely Sunday morning (well, I HOPE it's lovely, anyway; I haven't actually been outside yet), I bring you a list of commercials that I've taken issue with recently. I'm sure there are plenty more that I'm just not thinking of.

1. The ads for services that check your credit report 80,000 times a day, even though I've heard that's actually bad for your credit score. At least the songs on the freecreditreport.com ones are catchy, but I'm not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing. "They say that you should always dress for the job you want, so why am I dressed up like a pirate in this restaurant?"

2. Speaking of songs, one that isn't catchy at all is that "Viva Viagra" one. I'm not sure if I've actually seen that one on television, but I found it via a YouTube link, and I have to say it's one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. Seriously, it's a bunch of guys hanging around and singing about their impotence. Hey, advertising writers, you DO know that wouldn't happen, right?

3. That commercial that implies your child will likely be kidnapped or murdered if you don't implant a chip in them. Aren't those locator chips exactly the kind of thing that Libertarians are afraid will lead to a 1984 kind of scenario?

4. I actually haven't seen one of these in a while, but the commercials that pretty much state that wearing some funky body spray will make random girls crawl over each other to have sex with you. There are also some gum commercials that use the aphrodisiac theme, but they don't bother me as much, perhaps because they're not as sexist. (Or maybe I'm really just annoyed by these commercials because the products don't really work that way. :P)

5. Any car (or other vehicle) commercial that presents some really low gas mileage as if it's a GOOD thing.

6. Any Digital Voice commercial, just on principle. My own slogan for digital phone service: "Tired of only getting bad reception on your cell phone? Now you can get it on your land line, too! Plus, it doesn't work when the power goes out!"

7. Yogurt commercials. Not so much the commercials themselves, I guess, but the fact that they seem to only show women eating yogurt. Hey, I've eaten yogurt my whole life! Why do the advertisers have to present it as a feminine thing?

8. I haven't actually seen one of these in years, but they're still worth a mention in such a post: those game commercials where some obnoxious kid yells out, "I won!" at the end. I remember seeing a complaint about how it was almost always boys who won, but I was just so annoyed by the yelling in general that I didn't even notice the sexism.

9. And finally, we come to the kind of commercial that's really been bugging me as of late, and that's the ones where a bunch of young people sit at a table in a restaurant and goof on each other. Who do they think that are, the cast of Friends reincarnated? Like that one Olive Garden commercial. "You do the math; I'll do the alfredo!" Oh, shut up. Not to mention that pasta is a really dumb thing (for the customers, that is; it's smart for the restaurant) to get in a never-ending bowl, because it's quite filling. I often don't even manage to finish ONE helping of restaurant pasta. I like the Olive Garden, but I think I'll wait until they change specials before going back there. They really need to bring back the shrimp and crab ravioli, because that was some good eatin'.

So, what commercials get on YOUR nerves?

Comments

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

I cannot stand the drug company commercials (there are so many, from all the different pharmcos) that chide you "now, ask your doctor about" blah-blah. Most of these drugs are for very serious conditions like RA, bipolar disorder, COPD, etc., and if your doctor has not already tried to get you to spring for the thousands of dollars a years to buy these drugs, you probably aren't in active treatment, or you're dead.

They used to advertise that you, a chemotherapy patient, should "ask your doctor" about a wonder drug to boost your red or white blood cells. In the first place, if my doctor isn't keeping track of my blood numbers while I undergo chemo, I'm doomed. ITSP, the drug reps are in the onco's offices regularly, once a month, to make sure your doc is pushing their drugs. And yes, "push" is the word I meant to use.

I think they just want people to go "hey, my doctor put me on that drug! He must really care!"

He's really probably just trying to justify the billions of dollars he and others make off sick people every year, while making it impossible for non- or under-insured people to afford these drugs.

Galling.

[majellen.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, this! The only one I can stand behind is the Nexium ad, where it IS a condition that many people let go untreated (hi, me over here) and it can get pretty serious. The sad thing about it is that many insurance plans treat it as a tier three drug, which means they barely cover it.

The ones where they don't even tell you what illness it is for really bug me too!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I remember all the Zyban commercials that gave no indication as to what it was, but simply said to ask your doctor about it. Turns out it's supposed to help you stop smoking, and since I don't smoke, it would presumably have been pretty confusing if I HAD taken the commercials' advice.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Any car (or other vehicle) commercial that presents some really low gas mileage as if it's a GOOD thing

It's the ones for SUVs that make me guffaw at this-- when the Really Low Gas Mileage is still WAY higher than what I get with my Corolla.

I HATE car dealership commercials on the radio, the ones that all involve the car dealers yelling stuff and occasionally making very loud jokes that they think are funny. Also, for those of you in this area of the country, the song in Foodland commercials (I believe I once went on on this subject for some time at majellen's house actually, but I don't know who else on this list has Foodland commercials in their area).

But the commercial that always makes me laugh at the logic of it is the ones for those medical supplements, fish oil and memory boosters and those sort of things, that are always like "But we'll send you a FREE BOTTLE! Why would we be giving things away for free?" and all I can think of is "because it's addictive?" I mean, I know they probably AREN'T (at least not fish oil), but I can't help thinking that every time I hear it, anyway.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't see the appeal of SUVs. I mean, maybe if you really DO have a utility to use them for, but that wouldn't explain the smaller ones. A lot of people seem to love them, though.

I HATE car dealership commercials on the radio, the ones that all involve the car dealers yelling stuff and occasionally making very loud jokes that they think are funny.

Yeah, those are horrible. Is there a single person in the world who hears a guy yelling about cars, and it makes them want to buy one?

But the commercial that always makes me laugh at the logic of it is the ones for those medical supplements, fish oil and memory boosters and those sort of things, that are always like "But we'll send you a FREE BOTTLE! Why would we be giving things away for free?"

Is that the one with the old lady who says, "They're giving it away FREE? It MUST be good!" Actually, things that people give away free are usually pretty crappy, unless they're meant to get you hooked.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Is that the one with the old lady who says, "They're giving it away FREE? It MUST be good!"

There are several, but that's one of them.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the drug commercials are geared more toward the doctors themselves. But if that were the case, they presumably wouldn't keep saying to ask your doctor about them.

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

I don't think so, as I said, the doctor's are face to face with these drug reps every week. I think the commercials are (truth in advertising?!) actually geared toward getting the public to ask the docs for these drugs. I think it has just as much to do with excusing the doctors if a drug turns out to be harmful or ineffective ("the patient insisted on that drug, your honor") as it is trying to create the illusion that the patient is getting cutting edge care.

There's lots of info out there that some of the older generic drugs that have been shoved aside for newer, more expensive ones, are just as effective, and in some cases, more (I'm thinking high blood pressure and cholesterol).

[majellen.livejournal.com]

Toy commercials. They are all obnoxious. But they get the job done, I suppose.

The Cialis commercials where they have the people sitting in separate bathtubs in weird places. Hey, I thought this drug was supposed to help you have an erection and supposedly have sex. In which case, wouldn't they be in the SAME tub?

Laxative commercials that show women (and again, only women?) who have problems with "irregularity."

The new sleep-aid ad with the rooster. It always comes on while I'm trying to get Ellie calmed down for a nap. And it is pretty odd too.

I'm sure there are more, I'll be back to this later!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Hey, I thought this drug was supposed to help you have an erection and supposedly have sex. In which case, wouldn't they be in the SAME tub?

Well, that IS advertised as the erection medicine that will let you wait a few hours before after sex. Maybe one of them was planning to jump into the other bathtub after they turned off the camera. But yeah, I really don't get it either.

Laxative commercials that show women (and again, only women?)

They DO show men in Immodium commercials, though. I guess men only have problems pooping too much, not too little.

I don't think I've seen that rooster one, but talk about drug commercials in general makes me think of another annoyance, which is the ones where they MAKE UP a syndrome that their drugs can treat. Hey, my legs can be pretty restless sometimes, but I don't believe Restless Leg Syndrome is officially recognized by the medical community.

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

Bwahahaha! The Cialis commercial with the 2 bathtubs!

Yes, never has there been a visual that said "two people about to have fulfilling sex" LESS than that one!

And I hate the Sonic commercials (may be regional) with the appallingly stupid/obnoxious redheaded man whose stupidity and obnoxiousness is tolerated by his wife and his friend to a degree that makes me "GAH" every time.

[majellen.livejournal.com]

See, I like most of the Sonic commercials. I have yet to eat there though.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

They've only brought Sonics to our area quite recently, although they've been advertising them on local stations for years. I've only ever had dessert from there (a banana split), but Beth and I will probably go to the one in Millville someday soon.

[annamatic.livejournal.com]

As re: freecreditreport.com

I HATE those commercials. And now I've got the song in my head about lobster and iced tea. >__< !!

I'll check in later with some thoughts about commercials. Just had to let me know you planted a nasty earworm!! :p

[vovat.livejournal.com]

They monitor your credit, and send e-mail alerts, so you don't have to end up serving tourists in T-shirts!

I like that one better than the one where the guy bought a crappy car, though. I mean, if he'd KNOWN his credit was bad, he still wouldn't have been able to get a better car, right? Was he so desperate to buy a car that he bought the cheapest thing on the lot? And does anyone ever actually LAUGH at ugly cars?

[annamatic.livejournal.com]

Go to free credit report dot com! YEEHAW! Would've seen it comin' at me like an atom bomb!

*twitch*

[colleenanne.livejournal.com]

Freecreditreport...
it's only bad for your credit score if an outside source (i.e. not you) is checking your score. Your score isn't affected by how often you check it.

Although given the current credit crisis, maybe that's changed.

[yosef.livejournal.com]

I'm always disturbed by the commercials for this pill for "natural male enhancement". I can't remember what it's called now, but they feature this guy named Bob and his stereotypical-looking '50s homemaker wife. They both have on constant over-the-top smiles because their sex is so good and in the background during the part of the commercial where there's words on screen, we see a lot of wood and golf clubs. There's another one where it's Christmastime and all the women at Bob's office want to sit on his lap (he's playing Santa) once they find out his pill secret. I know they're meant to be over the top and ridiculous, but Bob just looks like a creepy, smiling department store mannequin come to life.

[annamatic.livejournal.com]

Enzyte!

With the whistling! That one is SO obnoxious!

you sir,

[daveychu.livejournal.com]

are funny.

Re: you sir,

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I do try, after all. {g}

[petie-s.livejournal.com]

I'd heard a rumor (and haven't validated it because I am lazy) that the guys on the FreeCreditReport.com commercials are lipsynching. Are those three really so photogenic that they're better looking than the band itself?

Viva Viagra. Dear Lord in Heaven, do I want to burn my TV to the ground when I see that.

There's a birth control commercial, I think it's for some implant, that Angie hates. "MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayeveryday". As Angie said, "is it really that hard to take a pill?"

We're in the height of political ad season here in Louisiana, the dirtiest state in the Union. I'm surprised we've not seen, "Candidate A has not publicly decried having sex with dogs. Are your dogs safe come election day?"

I'm getting fed up with ads on XM Radio (yeah, there are ads on the talk channels). A "sultry" voice stating that "women want girth, not width!" Oooooookay.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Are those three really so photogenic that they're better looking than the band itself?

Maybe the actual singer absolutely refused to wear the pirate costume.

I'm getting fed up with ads on XM Radio (yeah, there are ads on the talk channels).

Well, since you pay for the service, it's pretty annoying that there are still commercials. Then again, that's also true of cable TV.

Christmas from August on...

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

I forgot that I also loathe and despise Christmas commercials before Santy Claws shows up at the end of the Macy's parade.

Re: Christmas from August on...

[vovat.livejournal.com]

But you HAVE to start Christmas shopping well in advance! What if the perfect gift sells out before Thanksgiving?

Re: Christmas from August on...

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

Personally, I don't need that gift *sniffs*

Make me somthin' from a pine cone.

Or a coconut (the first Christmas after we were married, my husband bought joke coconut monkey figures for my parents. They loved them. Still had them on the TV when they died).