I laugh my ass off at the guy singing Shania in the truck.

I also am amused by that Staples commercial where it's like a bingo game to find the correct toner cartridges.

I finally remembered what else I wanted to post on: the black&white m&ms ad! First of all, am I the only one who got a 'Druggachuesttes' vibe from it? Second of all, why does the yellow m&m have lips like Jimmy Carter? They did always look like that, right?

Yeah, Pizza Hut cracks me up with their Meat Lovers' pizza too. "Six different kinds of meat! Five of which are pig!" If ever a commercial needed to have "oink, oink, moo, oink, oink, oink" in it, that's the one.

I sat through the whole KidzBop ad the other day, too. It was extra funny because I had only recently been forced by a friend to watch the real "Hey Ya" video in full--I normally am NOT into watching videos, no matter how much I like an artist. Unless it's VH1 Classic, and those are awful videos too, just great songs. I digress. Anyway, I found it hilarious how the kids were trying to go for the basic look of the "Hey Ya' video while adding extreme amounts of dorkosity.

The thing that puzzles me is--if they keep coming out with new editions, then someone out there must be buying, right? I mean, these "albums" must cost AT LEAST $20 to produce.

Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk was an amazing show. Savion also did a kids' performance when I was in college (waay too many years ago, it seems) that I got to photograph for the paper. I would let him knock over my laundry paraphenalia. But not if he were actually a white woman drinking V-8. Lame.

Yay, the "Thug Nation" ads!!
I immediately thought of TWOP and couldn't stop laughing while I was watching it.
Unfortunately, I'm not a thug or a pimp or whatever the third thing they mention is, so I guess I'm just not meant to buy this particular CD.

Yeah, this, to me, is what makes the commercial dumb, and not the fact that Savion turns into a (horror of horrors!) white woman. I just assumed that it was the woman who turned into Savion, full of pep and vim or whatever V8 is supposed to give you, and then back into herself. It sort of makes me think of the old Peppermint Patty commercials, where people would imagine themselves as skiiers or snowboarders or other cold-weather adventurers whenever they bit into a York Peppermint Patty. But the wrecking other people's stuff in the laundromat really is dumb. "When I take a sip of V8 spicy, I imagine myself as a famous dancer, knocking over people's property and creating a public disturbance! Whee!"

OK, I've read through many, many pages of posts and haven't seen this mentioned (but if so, I apologize): The Uncle Ben's Flavorful Rice ads -- do they bother anyone else? They've annoyed me from the first time I saw one, but I couldn't really figure out why. Then I realized -- first of all, I couldn't understand even what was being said. The woman who says the line has a fruity english accent that's really difficult to understand. Secondly, it's pretty obviously dubbed, like a bad kung-fu movie. I hate it. Anyone else?

Me! I hate it too. It isn't just her voice that bugs me, though. I'm totally annoyed by the idea that they are throwing rice with gross brown dusty flavoring shit on it at the bride and groom at a wedding. On accident. Idiotic.

Please, someone help me out here. There's a Raymour and Flanigan ad--they have maybe 12 that play in rotation and this one's turn has come again--it's the one with the father and daughter applying for credit online at the R&F website. WTF is up with the girl's mouth?! She's like a muppet! Is it just me? And is she the actress who played Divia on Forever Knight?

Yeah, I hate that ad for many reasons, but your comment reminds me of this scene in Get a Life in which he gets married and during the obRice scene, gets hit by a rock about the size of a human fist by Sharon, his nemisis, who exclaims "I guess that rock got in there by accident!" Hee!

Most commercials with Savion Glover get my attention in a good way, but if I were at the laundromat, Savion walked in and started knocking my stuff onto the floor, I'd knock his legs out from under him and laugh while the other patrons beat him up. I like Savion, but nobody gets away with that.

I have other commercial gripes, too. The Vicks Vapor Rub kid is so creepy looking that I have to turn away whenever that spot comes on. That boy belongs on Angel as a demon. He wouldn't need any makeup.

Whoever wrote the copy for Hooked on Phonics obviously hasn't checked out Hooked on Grammar. "Your child" is not a "they," moron. "Your child" is a "he" or a "she" (or in rare cases, both, but still not a "they"). "Your children" are a "they," moron. If using he or she is such a bother, use the plural throughout and you still get the benefits of non-sexist language. Screwing with noun-pronoun agreement makes the creators of Hooked on Phonics look like they flunked out of school.

Oh, that is so true! That kid is so freaky looking. The makeup artist totally went overboard trying to make him look sick. He just ends up looking dead. Creepy indeed!

How about that "Vapor-Cup" product they advertise? Mmmm! Just fill a cup of mentholated dry product with hot water, and, delicious!! Carry around the cup to clear your nose!!! Then serve it to your boss and his farts can smell like Vapor-Action goodness!! Tell him it's new Menthol coffee!
Topic:Superbowl's a week away!! Commercial lover's dream, coming up!!

I saw a great local commercial today while watching the NFC game: Our FOX affiliate is plugging their news copter by telling the story of how a guy lost the cops but the copter was able to track the guy and guide police to his position for the arrest. Then the announcer says, "What does this guy think of SkyFOX?" Cut to footage of the guy flipping off the copter as the announcer says, "He thinks we're Number One."

Loved it.

Now that, is awesome.

I just about died reading this. And I thought nothing could be funnier than your comments from the Days thread, DoctorNeon!

But, yes, Vapor Cup is seriously disgusting and oh so stupid.

I never watch the Superbowl, but I think I might this year, just so I don't miss out on any of the snarking here :)

I watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. Seriously. I read a book while Mr. Pandora watches the game. I look up when the commercials come on.

Hee-larious. Check out the little girl's look of amazement as she watches Mommy repair the sunglasses. Um, weren't you there when she fixed your glasses like two seconds ago?

Latest commercial hate: The "I'm lovin' it" ad where the guys play cards using French fries as chips. Ew, ew, and EW. I don't want people fondling my fries. I also loathe the ad where the woman goes batshit crazy on her hubby's personal belongings because she sees a Subway wrapper in the trash. Turns out, he's just eating a new Atkins wrap. Tee-hee. Except not, because bitch totally trashed his office.

Me too. Hee. It's funny 'cause it's true.

A gangsta, if I'm not mistaken. "Thug Nation: for those times when the thug in you misses your Uncle Charles!"

Bwah! Yeah carry it around until that shit spills and makes a huge mentholated mess.

My thought was "people still use rollerskates?". Hello, mom, we're in the 21st century--people use rollerblades. And the TPTB wonder why McDonald's is going down the drain--aside from craptastic food.

Some ad-hate for you to ponder. The Cellcom sons are back. This time, an apparent TD by the Packers is negated by a ruling of an incomplete pass. The mumblebrothers call Coach to tell him to challenge it, as the receiver was in bounds. The agony! "Hewhe wahhss in bouwnds, dahd". "Yeah, chahhlennge it, dad. Chahllennge it." Cellcom: Please. Just. FUCKING. STOP. Nextel may not have the best coverage near us, but I swear to God...knock it off. Or unwire the boys' jaws.

And now, another product available at fine stores everywhere, like Osco, Ace and Walgreens. The Chimney Sweep Log. Apparently, burning this item in your fireplaces "dries" up the creosote and reduces the risk of catastrophic fire. Uh, ok. Then the disclaimer at the bottom: CSL should not replace regular chimney cleaning and inspection. Well, then why in the fuck would I bother using it??? I mean, if I still need to do the annual cleaning and inspection, what good does this do me? Idiots.

Arg, Patricia Heaton is schilling yet another product! Seriously, did she lose a bunch of money in bad investments or something? The Jewel/Albertsons ones are bad enough since they're on every other second. Then all the damn ones for The Goodbye Girl on TNT (thank god that's over with now). Her latest is for Sunbelt granola bars. And the plug?

"Sunbelt granola bars have the same great quality ingredients of the other brands, but at a lower price!" WTF? That's a weird plug. Do all the other brands have quality ingredients? I'm sure some don't, especially the generic store brands.

OMG, I never saw that McD's one! Using fries as poker chips? I just threw up a little.

I had just come to register my hate for the Subway office trashing ad. Seriously, are you going to go that apeshit if your spouse cheats a little on his or her totally unhealthy diet plan? Breaking his sports memorabilia? If you're that mad, divorce him, get that stuff in the settlement and eBay it. Subway ads are so evil to make me think this much about them.

I have utter, seething rage at the "I'm lovin' it" commercial in which the rapper extraordinaire "sings" about taking love taps from his girl. I mean, what the fuck?

I have hatred for just about all the "I'm lovin' it" ads, including the one where they have stupid looking "generic hip young black man" twirling his tiny dumbass little umbrella. I'm sure this has been discussed, but that guy is in a Best Buy ad, a Zima ad (who are they kidding), and about a million other ads that I'm too preoccupied at the moment to remember (his first appearance that I can recall was on some ad for chips(? lays?) where he opens a can and his cat comes running and then some chips and friends show up and then a beer(?) and more friends show up- so maybe it was for a beer?). But does anyone know this clown's name? I want to send him hate mail.

Btw, I think they are on rollerblades, I dunno why I said rollerskates, but still, wtf?

People play basketball on rollerblades? That blows my mind.

Oh, I did like the I'm lovin' it ads with the silly looking kid who wins all that money and gets like yachts and girls or something. I like the kid's facial expressions, what can I say.

edited to add- you're not talking about that stupid guitar playing moron who does these silly little high pitched riffs mixed in with the rest of his dumb song "she (his girlfriend) was an ugly troll. But I loved her anyway"? Yeah, um, shut the f' up.

Wow. Now I feel old, because I bought some roller skates last year. I never could get the hang of rollerblades. But yeah, we're still not "lovin' it," McDonald's.

Heh. I know exactly who you're talking about, but I do not know the guy's name. Drat.

I hate how the "I'm lovin' it" commercials seem to play "ethnic" for a target audience. The whole rapping bit, I'm guessing they're trying for black customers, and now on the radio I heard a boy-band lovin' it commercial, which I'm assuming is for the white teen girl crowd. Yecch.

I've got a question about local ads. I always see ads on the WB with various stars from their shows (James Marsters, Ruthie from 7th Heaven, Ephram from Everwood and a few others) saying "this is Boston's WB 56." So, do the actors have to do a different version for each affiliate? That would take a long time. Do they just divide it up amongst the actors? I mean, would Cleveland's WB instead feature people from One Tree Hill and Charmed?

I think they do it over a period of time. I remember in the early '90s Oprah would tell us that her show would be on at 4, on the One and Only Channel 4. I was like, why does she care about Jacksonville?

Chiming in on that, I keep seeing one that's, "Hidden Valley has come to Chicago's Navy Pier to hear what folks have to say about our Ranch dressing!" And then they show the people talking about it.

Since I'm here in Chicago, I was wondering if everyone in the country sees it too, or did they make different commercials for different regions? As in, ""Hidden Valley has come to South Dakota's Mount Rushmore to hear what folks have to say about our Ranch dressing!"

No, I've seen the Navy Pier commercial and the Dallas commercial and I'm in northwest Florida.

Not sure if I'm putting this in the right place, but any thoughts on the flood of American Idol ads on Fox?

My favorite was the one where Simon proclaims, "It's going to blow America away." Because the first time, all I heard was, "It's going to blow."

Can someone please explain the stupid Advair commercials featuring a guy running away from this dog? Granted, the pug is hands down adorable, but what the hell does it have to do with asthma?

Does the pug symbolize your asthma attacks, which you are trying to escape from? If so, then why pick the cutest thing out there to equate with something so, um, deadly? Again, thinking too much about commercials ;)

BTW, that same pug is featured in all of the Advair print ads and I often feel the urge to cut every single one of those pics out and paste them my walls :)

Hee. He's not running away from the dog, he's chasing after the dog. Advair helps him do this even though he has asthma. What I can't stand is the way the Advair announcer guy says, "Go." It's so menacing and demanding. No, you go, Advair guy.

formergr, I'm in Dallas and have only ever seen the Dallas Farmers' Market Hidden Valley commercial.

ChinkyGirl, I thought the point of the ad was that with our fabu asthma medicine you can CHASE your crazy pug through town without having an asthma attack. Doesn't the dog run out of his apartment when he opens the door? Cracks me up when the pug is sitting in the bar in front of the painting of the dogs playing poker. And then he's in the cab. Stupid commercial, but I love that pug! You beat me, FfrauleinN!

Hee! My take on the Advair/pug dog connection was that the dogs are snorty and snuffly w/ a penchant for shortness of breath--- just like you if you don't use Advair. I must have been out of it or something...

Now see, (defending my ignorance here) I thought the same thing too, but the dude always looks so surprised to see that pug everywhere he goes, like he gets into the cab and the dog is sitting there smiling at him. Sort of like, "Haha...escaped the clutches of the pug! Damn! There he is again!" Ok, so maybe I wasn't paying attention this time, nevermind ;)

I thought the meds were for allergies, so he's always surprised when the dog's right next to him because he's still breathing normally.

Heh, the fact that you guys are knocking yourselves out trying to explain the Advair dog makes me feel a little bit better about my disproportionate rage for the Hotels.com tape measure experiment.

Asthma, allergies, potato, po-ta-toe, let's call the whole thing off...and just agree that the pug is damn cute!!...who's with me here? :)

Actually, it's asthma...Advair

Don't feel old! Among most people I know, rollerskates=cool, rollerblades=dorky.


This pandering approach is SUCH a turn-off. I'm not part of either audience, but I can't imagine why this appeals. Maybe if they actually tried harder to target specific networks and shows? Well, they would still suck... but now it's like any given commercial break you could get a "white ad" or a "black ad" from McDonald's, which is just annoying. Burger King used to do this too, but I haven't really seen their "white ads/black ads" in a long time.

That guy in ads for Best Buy, Captain Morgan's, Lay's, etc (Zima? Would he shill TWO malt liquor beverages?)--I keep wondering if he'll ever get out of commercials. I'm sure he's making plenty of money as is, but if this many casting agents want him in ads, he could do more. Of course, he could have a horrible voice or personality or something. I first saw him in an old Raisin Bran ad, which I remember because it was the first time I'd ever seen product placement in an ad. He sat up in bed with a huge poster for a skate company (I think Independent but maybe Volcom) for several seconds so the name could sink in. Then he went to eat his Raisin Bran. I didn't notice he was in a McDonald's ad, but I try not to watch those. It's a little weird when a non-celebrity is shilling everything and is so recognizable.

Another entry in the long-lived anti-drug PSA hate--the one where a father is talking about how his daughter took Ecstasy three times and the third time it "killed my daughter! It killed her!"

I know I'm assuring my seat on the Hades Express but it makes me snort because the father's voice is funny and it makes me think of "I've fallen and I can't get up."

I've never seen that one. How does he know how many times she took Ecstasy?

I HATE the one with the international kids taking bubble baths and shit. What's this got to do with burgers?

I must chime in here because my hatred of Patricia Heaton is so strong that I am the tank engine of her hate train. Those granola bars taste like baked ass.

I also hate this ad. The VO doesn't even sound upset that it killed her. Plus, it makes it sound like it's okay to take Ecstasy once or twice, but watch out for that 3rd time!

Is it just me, or does there seem to be too much yelling in ads these days? We have the cellphone-bill-lady, the sky-diving-Jared, and Greg-how-dare-you-sneeze-Brady. All this screaming un-nerves me when I'm trying to relax and veg out in front of the TV.

The thing is, I'm not surprised by this. The whole X-Games kind of thing makes me think people are always trying to do something familiar, but in a new way. It doesn't bug me. However, it does bug me that McDonald's is doing this to make themselves appear cool. Note to McD's: Take whatever you're putting into ads and put it into better, faster (and most of all) hot food. Then I will go there. You needn't advertise to me. Trust me, my heart and stomach know where you are--they feel it--I'll find you. But, you gotta make it worth it. Now Hardee's--that's effective advertising. And they are truthful. The burgers are big and they taste good. (Trust me, there is a difference between high and low quality beef). But, everyone would still think they sucked if they didn't tell people they are using Angus charbroiled hamburgers. I could care less about a bunch of moronic rappers from the hood hitting each other's Big Mac or about a dude so poor he plays poker with french fries. It tells me nothing about the product and it makes me despise you. That is not effective advertising.

Bwah! Poor poker chip-less dude. So, you don't feel for the chap with the tiny umbrella either, then, huh?

French fries as poker chips? Ew. Plus, they're too thick yet narrow to stack well as you consider your bet.


That's why I won't do Atkins again. Four days into my induction, and I was dying for macaroni and cheese. People morphed into giant pasta tangles or small dinner rolls when I talked to them. By day 10, I was ready to kill for a potato chip. Seriously. So on one hand, I can understand why the women go nuts--the lack of carbs makes one go batshit crazy.

I do think the ads suck, though.

Every time I see the commerical for "The Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World.. Ever" I want to smack something. I don't think that was the mood they were going for, but something about the best in the world ever concept just grates on my nerves. I want to smack those people for being so damn cocky.

Dang, you think I need to buy this album to relax a bit?

I have read all the posts, but forgive me if I had a brain fart and missed seeing discussion of this ad.

The Krystal Spicy Chik Booty Smack Dance.

I swear I'm not making this up.

Apparently Krystal has added spicy chicken sandwiches to their menu. Dorky announcer guy says, "Original Chiks love hugs. But Spicy Chiks love a... booty smack?"

Then we see three girls shakin' their thang while a dorky white guy swats them all on the butt, saying, "Smack that booty! Smack that booty! Smack that booty!"

Maybe I'm just not hip with the young crowd these days, but, seriously... WTF?

That's just sad. I don't even know what Krystal is, but I won't be going there.

Krystal's like White Castle, but in the South. Or maybe's it's closer to Rally's. It's been too long.