Stupid Commercials

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

The problem is...

While you may think they're obnoxious, insipid, or just flat-out idiotic...they work. You know the commercial for Gamestop because of that Unicorn. You remember AT&T's commercials.

They have placed their product in the "top of your mind" as a result. Meaning that while they seem to be written for and by inbred chimpanzees...they worked as intended and to them that's all that counts.

[telecom_goddess]

the Geico commercials that are "how happy are people after switching to geico"

and the pig ones, that pig is just smug and irritating.

the Car commercials with the hip-hop dressed dancing hamsters

The pig ones are ok...and on IFC they run a special one during the show Portlandia that is tailored to that show, and is kinda funny. I also kinda like the "mayhem like me" ones.

but commercials in general are annoying everywhere.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

The problem is...

While you may think they're obnoxious, insipid, or just flat-out idiotic...they work. You know the commercial for Gamestop because of that Unicorn. You remember AT&T's commercials.

Yeah... but to be more specific, they placed their product in the "Top of my mind that annoyed the hell out of me so I won't be buying their product."

Not a good thing, lol.

[HYHYBT]

While you may think they're obnoxious, insipid, or just flat-out idiotic...they work. You know the commercial for Gamestop because of that Unicorn. You remember AT&T's commercials.

Not quite. When I read about Geico's pig commercials being annoying, it took some thinking. I remember seeing the obnoxious pig, but didn't even have it in my head associated with insurance, much less the right company. And the AT&T one, I'm not *absolutely* certain the aggravating commercial I'm thinking of is the one that's for them, though I do know it's for a cell phone company of some sort because it goes on about 4G and fast grandma.

Whereas it's quite possible to make *likable* memorable commercials. Geico's "we all make dumb mistakes" series from a few years ago, with things like someone turning on a giant vacuum cleaner and being swallowed by it, got *boring* eventually, as anything repeated too often will do, but the first few times for each were cute and they were never infuriating. For that matter, the current (?) Progressive commercials... how can I put this? They stand out in an unobtrusive way. No obnoxious loud noises, not a lot going on really, but they look and feel different. You know when one is on even if you're not paying attention to the commercials, and you know who it's for by now. And, if you're like me, you're still puzzled at the notion of insurance being something you pick up in a box off the shelf as if it were a cake mix.

[blas87]

Oh yeah, that hotdog stand chick commercial for online college sign up whatever shit doola is still on MTV and E! every once in a while.

I don't watch a whole lot of TV anymore, just simply because everyone I hang with has Roku or Netflix, but when I'm at home and babysitting my Dad, it's whatever he's watching or the nights I stay at home and don't have to be to bed early for work, I just watch whatever's on MTV while I do my nails or whatever.

[Bloodsoul]

Aww, I kind of like Bob's Discount Furniture.. although I wish he'd still say, "Come on down!"

I've also found the Geico "Maxwell the Pig" commercials to be far more tolerable on the radio; speaking of Geico, when the Gecko was talking about the "behind-the-scenes" work I was expecting him to say that his accent was CGI. The Speed Racer variation is still my favorite Geico commercial.

99% of my video watching is done online, now, via independent producers (such as CineMassacre, That Guy With the Glasses, and The Spoony Experiment), and I find the majority of the ads played during their videos to be forgettable, aside from those Zapost ads years back with the puppets. Dear Arceus, those were creepy.

Then again, this is all coming from the guy who likes to watch commercials for Crazy Eddie. I've also caused the front page of my website to display a random, old commercial (usually videogame related) until I actually get around to rebuilding the whole thing. "After these messages, we'll be right back!"

[Rageaholic]

I just remembered another horrible commercial that can be summed up in one word, "Scroogled". It's bing trying to be clever and failing epically. Yeah, I hate how Google tracks your data and all that, but at least you can find what you're looking for! I have had no luck with Bing.

I'm also getting annoyed by these commercials that attempt to make music out of random noises. I can't really explain it, but Kit Kat does it and so do those notebook commercials. They were clever at first, but they've been done to death for years.

[Rageaholic]

More stupid commercials after watching Big Bang last night.

-The AT&T ones with the kids acting like your stereotypical old man; "you kids have it so easy today". It's not funny, it's not cute, it's just plain creepy. I actually perfer the other AT&T ads to these.

-Nationwide for that annoying jingle at the end of every commercial.

[guywithashovel]

I'm starting to get a little annoyed with Flo from Progressive.

However, I have noticed a trend where other companies seem to be trying to imitate Progressive by having a cute, spunky girl serve as their spokesperson in the commercials. Wendy's and Office Depot are both doing this, and I don't feel any annoyance towards either of those girls. Though I do look on with some disbelief when the newest Wendy's girl (the one who says "Now that's better!") comes on TV. Maybe I'm in the wrong here, but I find it hard to believe that anyone who eats Wendy's food as much as that girl claims to could be as thin and trim as she is. I'm told that some people are blessed with awesome metabolisms that allow them to gorge on all kinds of great-tasting, fatty foods without their bodies showing it. Still, it's a little hard to believe.

[Mytical]

For the most part..every newer commercial seems to get more and more annoying. I swear it is like somebody is either 1) On some serious drugs..or 2) Before they make ideas for commercials..going to the nearest hard wall and hitting their head against it until they can not think straight .. and then making the commercial.

Case in point the 'how happy are they commercial'. I honestly have no clue which company they are for, but the worst of the bunch is the bodybuilder directing traffic. With a forced smile on no less. What has that got to do with anything? At all?

One of the worst imo is for Direct Insurance. Stars 'Matt Morgan' a pro (or ex-pro..haven't seen him lately) wrestler beating up on insurance people. Now..if it was about health or even life insurance I guess it would make some kind of sense..but it is about auto insurance. What the flip does somebody throwing people around in an office setting have to do with car insurance? At least have him do things like throw the people through a window of a car or something..sheesh.

[Rageaholic]

I'm starting to get a little annoyed with Flo from Progressive.

However, I have noticed a trend where other companies seem to be trying to imitate Progressive by having a cute, spunky girl serve as their spokesperson in the commercials. Wendy's and Office Depot are both doing this, and I don't feel any annoyance towards either of those girls. Though I do look on with some disbelief when the newest Wendy's girl (the one who says "Now that's better!") comes on TV. Maybe I'm in the wrong here, but I find it hard to believe that anyone who eats Wendy's food as much as that girl claims to could be as thin and trim as she is. I'm told that some people are blessed with awesome metabolisms that allow them to gorge on all kinds of great-tasting, fatty foods without their bodies showing it. Still, it's a little hard to believe.

Flo had the opposite effect on me. First I found her irritating, but now I don't mind her as much.

As for the Wendy's girl, she is really starting to get on my nerves.

[bex1218]

I hear a commercial at work for Geico. Well, a bunch. One is taking an inanimate object like a wallert and saying how it wants to do something but then mentions it can't cause its a wallet. But it is happy to do whatever but remember it can't cause of whatever reason. Then there's Maxwell the Pig talking about making a card or whatever with your fave character and he couldn't do his "wee" thing.

[Aethian]

I didn't mind the Wendy's commercial when Dave was still around cause a few times it was the real Wendy that was being shown. The Wendy now I don't like, just something about her really pisses me off.

[Ginger Tea]

It's not a stupid commercial as such, but to avoid seeing the lynx lifeguard advert EVERY single adbreak, I started clicking on random thumbnails in the now prevlelant multiple choice (also if you click none instead of the main one showing its the bloody lynx one which is NOT on the menu) ... crap still bitching about the lynx one ...

OK so Adobe have two adverts running, one a shock test one if people say buzz words (nice visual pun) and the other is someone being bitch slapped till he says that you CAN measure ROI with social media.
How wonderful for you, I hope you can go home and satisfy your wife in bed now you have spread the word.
wait, hang on, what the fuck is ROI what is it measured for and am I really the target audience for your product.
I just watch video's about people taking the piss out of movies, I have no idea what the ever loving you are selling as a product or a service, I know your company and some products (not that I have use for them), but this is not like trying to sell me a car that I cannot drive, this is trying to sell me something I don't think even the advertisers know anything about.

[TheHuckster]

It's not a stupid commercial as such, but to avoid seeing the lynx lifeguard advert EVERY single adbreak, I started clicking on random thumbnails in the now prevlelant multiple choice (also if you click none instead of the main one showing its the bloody lynx one which is NOT on the menu) ... crap still bitching about the lynx one ...

OK so Adobe have two adverts running, one a shock test one if people say buzz words (nice visual pun) and the other is someone being bitch slapped till he says that you CAN measure ROI with social media.
How wonderful for you, I hope you can go home and satisfy your wife in bed now you have spread the word.
wait, hang on, what the fuck is ROI what is it measured for and am I really the target audience for your product.
I just watch video's about people taking the piss out of movies, I have no idea what the ever loving you are selling as a product or a service, I know your company and some products (not that I have use for them), but this is not like trying to sell me a car that I cannot drive, this is trying to sell me something I don't think even the advertisers know anything about.

I would hope the advertisers know what ROI is. It stands for "Return on Investment" and it's a major concept in advertising.

Some people consider the term a "buzz word" though, so it is quite ironic.