Saturday, May 7, 2011

You Know You Need a New Ad Agency When . . .

The other day the Wild Child mentioned how stupid television commercials seem to have become lately, and I wholeheartedly agreed. There's nothing clever or catchy about them anymore; they all seem to be unmemorable at best and moronic or distasteful at worst. Tonight I was watching TV and one of the commercials I most dislike came on--I just kind of cringe every time I see it. But seeing that commercial reminded me that I've kind of wanted to talk about bad commercials for awhile now.

That one I saw tonight? Well, I'm hesitant to mention the product name. I noticed that YouTube postings of this oh-so-annoying commercial have been removed, so that makes me wonder if the product manufacturer is aggressive about unauthorized use of their advertising. But maybe you recognize the photo below from the TV ad and know which one I'm talking about? Actually, if you position your cursor over the photo, it should tell you the name of the toilet paper product on your bottom tool bar--it will appear near the end of the gobbledegook. But if you still don't get it, it's quilted. Which I think is kind of embarrassing for us quilters!


If you haven't seen the ad, perhaps you don't know what's so annoying about it. Well, mostly I find it annoying because there are a bunch of unattractive women with kind of annoying voices suggesting it's time for women to "come clean" and talk about what really happens in the bathroom. Huh? Am I missing something? What's going on in the bathroom that I don't know about? I think I'm probably paraphrasing rather than quoting the ad verbiage, so I might be a little off but all in all, it's just a really weird commercial that I don't think does a whole lot to make the product attractive to consumers.

Here's another one I've saved for quite awhile to share with you--and there are more for this product at YouTube if you want to indulge in a mini commercial viewing festival!


So how about you? Are there any commercials that absolutely make you cringe and/or leave the room when they come on?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about Cialis and the 2 bathtubs?

Laurie in Maine said...

Jello advertising people have lost their mind! A few months ago they started with Scare the Kids (if you take mommy's pudding you'll go into the ground - there may have been snakes there. Kid asks "but we'll come back? NO you stay there for 100 years...) yesterday the numbest "Put on tour pudding face" came across the screen for my 1st viewing. ugh!

JoAnne said...

Were you quilting back about ten or more years ago when the same "quilted" tp was advertising the fact that it was "quilted" and the women were sitting around some TP like it was a quilt "quilting?" The only thing was, they were using knitting needles!!!

Currently, I really dislike the cholesteral lowering drug with the "guilt trips." The daughter/brother/sister, etc is chastising the other party (implied to be like you) because they are not taking the medication. Really?!! Nagging and guilt tripping on the tv? Where's the mute button!
Better yet, I DVR and fast forward.

Nancy said...

The worse commercials are the ones for "only with a prescription" medications. Laymen should NOT believe that they can visit their physician and "tell them" what to prescribe...and no, I am NOT a physician...(full disclosure, I am a nurse and hubby is pharmacist)...I think it is is irresponsible of the pharmacy companies to market these to the the public..
ok, off the soapbox and off to a day of sewing with friends...

Vicky said...

Nancy, I wondered about that. I can see a patient walking into the doctor's office and describing their symptoms right off the TV.

The ad that's most irritating to me is on the radio. I have to change the station when I hear that little ditty being sung. Of course, the song worked because I now know that if I want to donate a car, I can call 1-800-Kars4Kids. But since there are too many letters/numbers, maybe I ought to call it just to find out. On the other hand, I can change the station..... whatever happened to plop-plop-fiz-fiz?

sunny said...

As I'm reading this, a Kelly Ripa commercial is on. 'nuf said. And I have to agree with the two bathtubs. I even thought most of the Super Bowl ads were pretty bad this year. I seldom 'get' how the commercial relates to the product being sold. On the other hand, it's hard to not like a Hallmark mushy commercial or the Clydesdales!

Tiffaney said...

I find that commercials now seem to share a creapy theme. Thinking it was just that I am not the target audiance I asked DD & her DBF. They are of the target age and also find them to be creapy.

Why would anybody want to purchase car insurance from a company that has a clueless guy for a CEO.

Bring back the days of the funny commercials. They were so much better.

Josie McRazie said...

I do agree with most of the Super Bowl comercials this year...however the little guy in the Darth Vader was the CUTEST ever!!
I do agree that the prescription thing has gone a little to far!! I mean 'ask your doctor about' well I think if your Dr. is anything they would be telling you about!! Right?? I know my daughter is on meds for seizures and her Dr. tells me the difference between them and the side effects and yadda yadda!! I just don't know what people are thinking!!

Heartsdesire said...

I usually tune out when the commercials come on. They are really insulting to my intelligence. The one that really gets me right now is the little bear with the toilet paper bits stuck to his bottom. I've never had TP that stuck to my bottom and I don't think anyone else has either. Like I say, ad people think we're stupid. And they are very well paid to come up with this nonsense.

Anonymous said...

No wonder prescription drugs cost so much - all that money to produce and show the commercials. And as being creepy - there are several out there that really turn me off from buying their car. And after getting my sewer drain cleaned out, I asked the guy which tp was better, he said that that quilted tp brand was the worse tp to use. Sorry about the rant.
cindy

Unknown said...

I have to say a LOT of them make me cringe or want to never watch tv again.

Sharon said...

Colon health, not cool. I hate, hate, hate this commercial. What sick pervert made this up and even worse who was the sicko putting it on TV. I just hate the bears hinny for Charmin. I mute them and don't look up.