Certain current TV commercials

[Ree]

I know this seems like a petty thing, but in the past two days, I have seen two different ad campaigns using the slogan, "Nobody like surprises."

I'm sorry, but I LOVE surprises.

The examples they use in the ads are extreme, and are really examples of unpleasant shocks more than surprises.

To me, it makes more sense to say that nobody likes unpleasant surprises. That's a no-brainer.

LOL.

Just a rant.

Nothing serious.

Do people really hate surprises?

Am I odd? (OK..that one was probably a no-brainer, too. )

Another ad out right now shows a man giving a woman a gift saying, "Merry Christmas."
She gushes about it and then turns around and hands it to her mother saying, "Merry Christmas."

It really ticks me off.

Anyone else?

[kiwi]

I hate them. My 17th Birthday my friends organised a surprise party and had 40 people meet me at a resturant.
Because I thought it was a casual dinner I had no make up, my hair was greasy and I threw a jacket over my work uniform
All the photos of me look awful, I felt awful during the dinner I just wanted to sink into a hole the entire time.

I made sure it was clear I never wanted to be surprised like that again. Im a planner, I like to know where I am going so I can dress appriopriately for the situation and look forward to it. The anticipation of something is almost as enjoyable for me as being there.

[Ree]

I hate them. My 17th Birthday my friends organised a surprise party and had 40 people meet me at a resturant.
Because I thought it was a casual dinner I had no make up, my hair was greasy and I threw a jacket over my work uniform
All the photos of me look awful, I felt awful during the dinner I just wanted to sink into a hole the entire time.

That was really a thoughtless thing to do. Some people think "surpise" is a code word for "ambush", and they think it's hilarious to catch the person when they look terrible.
Any time we planned a surprise party for people, we always made sure they looked nice.

My Mom hates surprise parties, too. We never surprise her.
Well, we always plan it without her knowledge, but we tell her before the event so she's prepared.

Maybe it's because I have never had many surprise parties that I love the idea of them.

[Stormraven]

For me, at least, it depends on the nature of the surprise. I'm generally fine with small surprises in the form of gifts or the like - things which don't really affect me - but I cannot stand surprises that change my expectations / routines.

Some examples might be in order. A gift - whether expected due to occasion or not - isn't a problem. But if I'm expecting one thing - say, a friendly dinner with one or two people - and find myself facing something seriously different, like a surprise party with ten or more people, I will not be pleasant company.

[gremcint]

There's a big list of commercials I don't like. Most of them are because they've been on so long I'm sick of them.

The ones I hated right away:

-Gap commercials
-Old Navy Commercials
-Charmin (they are fucking disgusting)
-Excel (the one where the guy freezes his head)
-Axe (especially the chocolate guy one)

[AdminAssistant]

I would love a surprise party. I've never had one. Actually went to someone else's surprise party on my birthday. That, to put it mildly, sucked.

[Ree]

Actually went to someone else's surprise party on my birthday. That, to put it mildly, sucked.

That really would suck.

[Giggle Goose]

Awww, that must suck, AA! I'm sorry! If I was closer I would throw you one...I just wouldn't say when, of course .

I've never had a surprise birthday party, but at my last day at my former office my co-workers threw me a surprise party before I moved. I was all kinds of delighted! Probably one of my favorite memories.

I love surprises, too, Ree!!!! I'm not sure why that word has such a negative connotation. I usually refer to things like unpleasant occurences as "bombshells" or "curveballs". "Surprises" should be fun .

[Boozy]

My 17th Birthday my friends organised a surprise party and had 40 people meet me at a resturant.
Because I thought it was a casual dinner I had no make up, my hair was greasy and I threw a jacket over my work uniform.

Poor planning on your friends' part. All they had to say was something like, "Meet us for dinner -- but spruce up a bit before coming, because we want to take a few pictures." It wouldn't have ruined the surprise, and it would have made sure you were dressed appropriately.

Surprise party planning requires a whole different skill set than regular party planning, as I've learned. I am not sneaky enough to pull it off.

[jackfaire]

I love surprises. One year my dad took me over to work on my grandmother's house. He sprayed me down with a hose and made me walk home.

I was furious but then I walked into my house and everyone was waiting there for my birthday, I had forgotten it was my birthday.

[DesignFox]

I love surprises. The one year my friends threw me a surprise party, (my 17th birthday) I was thrilled. I remember I was all bummed out because I *thought* everyone had plans and couldn't hang out (I mean, I called ALL my friends) but it turned out they were all waiting at the one friend's house. I got attacked with toilet paper, the house was decked out with toilet paper and signs (marching band thing) and they got pizza and everything.

Kiwi, what your friends did to you was not nice. They could at least have given you the opportunity to clean up, especially if they knew you were coming to the restaurant straight from work. Even my friends had the courtesy to make it sound like we were doing something that required me to get cleaned up....(not dressed up, just not un-kempt, since, obviously, they took pictures)

I liked to be surprised with my presents, too. I was never the kid that snooped around the house trying to find the gifts before Christmas or my birthday or whatever. The anticipation is part of the fun for me!

I agree with you all that something unpleasant would be more of a bombshell or shock...or some other such variant.

Haven't seen the commercials you are referring to, Ree.

But I will second the "hate" of the Axe deodorant commercials. They make my blood boil. Those and the stupid GoDaddy commercials. Not much usually offends me, but I can't help it. THAT shit gets to me.

[jackfaire]

I hate the Axe commercials too. It's like, "ooooooooh okay so my hair is bad that is what I have been doing wrong has nothing to do with the fact I definitly am not a 6' something model"

[DesignFox]

I hate the Axe commercials too. It's like, "ooooooooh okay so my hair is bad that is what I have been doing wrong has nothing to do with the fact I definitly am not a 6' something model"

I dislike the ones portraying women practically humping inanimate objects over the smell. I can't even talk about it, anymore. Nothing nice to say.

[blas87]

I hate any type of commercial advocating that people (and kids) act like brats or SCs.

Those Taco Bell commercials, and this commercial for fish sticks, I can't remember what specific brand, but in the commercial, the mom gives her daughter a plate of fish sticks and the little brat stomps up to her mom and says "You're feeding me THESE fishsticks! I want XBRAND fishsticks!" all angry and demanding, then when she gets her way and gets the special brand of fishsticks, she's eating like a slob and all happy about it.

Way to encourage giving in to temper tantrums.

I could think of such better commercials than kids acting like brats and adults acting like idiots and entitlement whores.

[guywithashovel]

I hate any type of commercial advocating that people (and kids) act like brats or SCs.

On a similar note, I tend to dislike commercials that portray service staff as dumb, rude, or a combination of the two. I can't remember what company it was for, but several years ago, there was a commercial that showed several scenarios of service staff "falling short." First, it showed a scene where a fat waitress shoved a cup of coffee across a counter and inadvertently splashed some of it on the customer. Then it showed a woman at a jewelry counter trying to get service from two girls who were having a gab fest. Later on it showed a woman in an expensive pants suit pumping gas in the pouring rain while two service attendants were sitting inside drinking coffee. This commercial was actually posted in a thread on CS, and we talked about it in pretty good detail. If anyone remembers, that would be great, though it *was* several years ago (like 2004 or 2005), so if no one does, it's fine.

I've also seen several other commercials where the cashiers can't seem to stop rolling their eyes or can't comprehend anything that's going on around them. They also like to portray cashiers as dense teenage girls who would rather file their nails than do their jobs.