I would like to express my love for the Dell commercial in which the hapless dad and the kids, in stocking masks, kidnap the guy from the computer store and force him to fix their computer. Now, wait, I don't love that part. What I love is the super-cute Dell rep they show on the phone while extolling the virtues of Dell customer service! Can I kidnap him and make him, um, "fix my computer"?

I actually see the resemblance between Laurence Fishburne and Samuel L. Jackson. But that's a different topic entirely.

On a similar note, I love the "Chappelle's Show" commercials with "Samuel Jackson" beer.

"Can you stop shouting?"
"NO I CAN'T, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW I TALK!"

I have not seen those, but they sound hilarious!

I didn't mind that one, and I actually liked the little happy jingle for the "Have You Had Your Break Today?" campaign.

Bloody hell. Now you've gone and ruined the Poland Spring song for me. Heh.

Not enjoying the Tampax Pearl commercial with the boat.

Girl and her boy are out having a nice date, boat springs a leak. Boy goes for tape, she uses a tampon to plug the leak... they continue to have nice date... (with water logged tampon on floor between them...)

Who carries a whole box of tampons with them to begin with?

Anyone remember the CBS commercials from the '80s in which a TV show would be advertised, but before the clips they'd zoom in on an entire wall with the show name written over and over, but one of the names was in yellow to draw attention to that one? I saw one on a soap opera clip I was watching, and I quite liked it. It would kind of look like this:

DALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLAS
DALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLAS
DALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLASDALLAS

And the other bit they had was for Falcon Crest. I'm assuming they did commercials for all their CBS shows like that.

I was watching an old MST3K episode on tape last night, and a commercial for a brand of crackers that I don't think is on the market any more came on. The tagline said the cracker was "irresitible and less fatable." This was probably from 8 years ago or so (I didn't tape it) so I don't remember it at all, but - wow. That is Grammar Abuse of the First Degree. No wonder they never sold.

One commercial I do like is one for HP's photo printers. I don't usually like commercials unless they're funny, but this one is just nice to look at. It's showing pictures of ordinary things, but it's all divided up like it's a collection of photos, and they play the Cure's "Pictures of You", and taken together it's almost like a music video for the song. I don't think it makes me want the product, but I do like watching the commercial.

There are many, many jokes I could say about the Tampax commercial, but we pretty much beat that one into the ground this month. Watching "DOOL" as much as I do, I've been exposed to countless hygiene and diaper commercials. They don't exactly cater to my demographic with those shows.
The commercials for "Win a date with Tad Hamilton" are super-gay. Maybe it's reading so much stuff from Omar G. , but..it seems when Topher Grace and PrettyBoy whip off their shirts it's so Hoyay! it's not funny. Topher is quite a pretty li'l dude, I'm sure he has a bigger following with the guys than the ladies.

And Josh Duhamel is a li'l dude, if you get my drift. But that's for a completely different thread.

Latest evidence Hollywood hates me: the ads for You Got Served. Steve Harvey is involved. That kid from Sister, Sister is involved. I swear to God, sun visors are involved. Then there's some nonsense about believing in yourself or your crew or some shit. Somebody actually says, "You got served." And Li'l "Lockjaw" Youinnahoodnawbaybee Kim is involved.

Hollywood, why?

Even though the discussion of McDonald's "We're for grownups! Really!" ads was some time ago, they made me think of an ad from when I was almost too young to understand it.

There was a woman in her own living room who into the camera and said, "When I was a kid, I liked to drink those sticky-sweet colas." Then she smiled ruefully and added, "I also thought someday I'd marry a tall, dark and handsome man who'd take me dancing every night."

Then an average-looking (for television, so that means model-with-glasses) guy slid into frame next to her and said, "We're staying in again?"

She nodded, and said, "We're staying in again," and they kissed.

Canada Dry (I think it was), for when your tastes grow up.

Does anyone else remember this commercial?

Ginger. And Mary Ann.

I mean, look at how many clothes they packed for just an afternoon.

I remember! I thought it was sweet. I liked the way she said "We're staying in again," as if it was something she was really looking forward to.

It's been for-EV-er since I've seen a Canada Dry commercial of any sort, though.

They've shown the new Mitsubishi commercial 4 times on CBS in the last 15 minutes (the one with the guy in the car who appears to be singing along ot the radio but is actually reciting his grocery list).

Here's a question: Are these repeated showings of commercials done intentionally? I always assumed it was a glitch, but I've seen this happen enough times lately that I suspect it isn't.

Yes, it's intentional.


I don't think you're reading into it. Both my gay roommate and one of my gay friends instantly decided to see this movie based on that scene.

I'm catching up with the forums, slowly but surely...that and we just got cable back (we moved after New Years) and I hadn't seen it... (sorry :P)

A weird new commercial is showing locally here in NYC. It starts out with all these people revewing (opening night-like) something that was "better than they thought" and "fascinating!"

Is it for an exciting new off-Broadway play? No! A preview movie audience? No! Hold on to your hats, gents...it's for JURY DUTY!

Then Regis Filbin pops in and says something like, "Jury duty. It's not what you thought!"

Any other locals seen this?

Okay, since the boat saving tampon commercial was brought a few posts earlier, I might as well ask about this one.

A woman. Jogging. Voiceover. A woman saying that using your tampon doesn't have to be a painful experience. Inserting of a muted groan of pain from aforementioned jogging woman. My family. Heads collectively exploding from all the improper links forming in our heads because of all the inferences.

Not to mention the fact that a substantial amount of the males (myself not included) in the room all turned towards the single female unfortunate enough to be in that that room, at that time, with that commercial shown on that channel.

And to top it all off, she changed the channel to CNN and Anderson Cooper was discussing the "symbolism" of the 'football through a tire Levitra ad', effectively turning the gender tables.

Aren't commercials fun?

The first time I saw the most recent Sam Waterston ad shilling for whatever broker service it's for, I thought he was saying "Marilyn Schwab." And I thought "Marilyn Scwab? I didn't know Schwab was a woman!" Then I figured out he was slurring Merrill *and* Scwab.

Edited because it's Schwab, not Lynch. But thanks, TheCustomofLife.

Maybe he was saying the three l's separately. Merril-l-Lynch. I know; it doesn't make sense to me either.

Okay the show Royal Canadian Air Farce has made my Friday night (okay i was a lil late to post this). Luba Goy was playing an "ad critic" and made good snarky comments on all of the commercials we at TWoP love to hate. Of course the best was comments on the forever craptactic Celine dion perfume plug. I'm sure some of you TWoPers saw the episode....right?? When the clip comes online at airfarce.com i'll post it =)

Safe Auto Insurance with their "minimum coverage for minimum budgets has a commercial that has jumped from radio to TV. A couple is celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and Wife opens her gift from Husband. "A leather thong!" Insert vomit reactions from family "Should I try it on?" "No!" Husband opens his. A leather thong. I don't need to see this, TV commercial makers.

Saw this crazy commercial/promo twice today on NBC: it's with Elway(former quarterback for Denver broncos) and Jon Bon Jovi.

I finally saw this ad, and LOVE it! Really well done. It had been so long since I read this post that I was assuming it was a Nike ad, actually.

I must say I don't remember ever seeing a Campbell's ad like that, but I do remember one for Great American Soups featuring some housewife doing a broadway number on soup cans and her husband saying something like "Must you make a big production of EVERYTHING?" at the end.


I'm sure the criminals are much more interesting there than in Tallahassee, Florida. :-)

The latest commercial I am disliking are the ones with Whoopi Goldberg shilling Weight Watchers or is it Jenny Craig? Either way, when she mentions ..."if I can be a big loser..." I tell the tv, "You show is, honey"!! LOL.

I don't know what it is about Whoopi Goldberg, but she looks like she never has taken a bath. She is so scuzzy looking. Maybe it is because she has had that same look since the 1980's. Yuck.

I saw those ads in TV Guide. If it's the same thing she's advertising on TV, it's Slim-Fast.

Has anyone else seen the commercial with the five guys in the truck, and the middle guy in the back starts singing along to Shania Twain's "Man, I feel like a Woman?" Husband and I laughed our asses off at the expressions on his friend's faces. However, for the life of me, I can't remember what car company it's for.

A recent comic about our favorite topic.

I saw a promo on Comedy Central last night showing a representative CC viewer - I'm not sure if it's the one mentioned earlier. It shows a guy, trying to be a photographer, making every error possible. My husband is a photographer, and we both found it really funny (I suppose I should be offended since I too, watch CC when The Daily Show is on, but anyway...) especially at the end, when the clueless dolt walks into a darkroom in use, and the guy processing the film just says "Dude!" I guess you have to see it, but it's really funny.

That's one of about 3 I've seen so far, cal331, and it makes me laugh, too. I think CC ran a similar campaign awhile ago...or else I'm conflating it with the two other ad campaigns for products that hailed their customers as cheap and obnoxious.

I'm already tired of the Dr. Pepper Bridezilla ad that I saw for the first time a few hours ago. This is the problem with one channel for a long time in one day--seeing the same ads over and over and over every hour.

Lots of folks hate specific commercials, but how about entire ad campaigns? I've got a big hate on for Carl's Jr and their "Don't bother me" series of the last 5 or 6 years. Let me count the ways:

* "Don't bother me. I'm eating" introduced us to the concept that people who eat CJ's grease-bombs are inconsiderate, self-absorbed jerks. I stopped buying CJ when this campain launched.
* "If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face". Yeah that's what I want at the drive-through, a burger that covers me and my car in gloppy, greasy crud. Because I want to need a shower after eating lunch, darn it! Except not.
* "The six dollar burger" which doesn't actually cost six dollars but they named it that anyway. And the commercials feature even more jerks doing annoying things to promote this dumb idea.
* "Without us some guys would starve" introduced us to the notion that CJ's male customers are stupid, stupid, stupid. Way to push your product there.
* "Some guys don't do 49 cent Tuesdays". Apparently the promise of being stupid and inconsiderate weren't a big enough draw, so now you're a cheap sumbitch if you don't eat CJ's food. Buy our burgers, they cost more!
* The icing on the cake is the guy who has done the voiceovers for all of the above. The whole "snotty and annoying" attitude ticks me off. I just want to rip his tongue out and strangle him with it.

It all makes me wonder if someone at that ad agency is getting pay-offs from Jack In The Box. Mmmm...Jack. Now there's an ad campaign that I like.

What? Why? This is just .. laughable. They might as well say, "Jury duty. It's not just for dinner anymore" or some other slogan that makes just as much sense. You know what? This is an instance where the "You gotta" thing might actually work.

Yeah, I don't get that. Especially marathons, they just show the same ones over and over. I mean, you've got an audience tuning in for hours and hours. Expose them to new and different commercials. By the fifth or sixth time seeing the same commercial, they're done. You've made them aware of the product, and continually showing the same commercial isn't going to make them more likely to buy it.

I hate that one Hardee's commercial where the cashier was like, now all we serve are burgers, so I don't have to rack my brain trying to remember how much our chicken sandwich is, or how much the salads are. Was this chick beyond remedial? People are supposed to buy the new Hardee's line of burgers so the cashier will be allowed to get even DUMBER? That commercial gets my HATE.

RE: Diet Coke w/ Lime...I'm not surprised it turned up in the Allston Shaws. Boston -- especially that part of Boston -- and Cambridge are both huge test markets for new products because of the demographics: gazillions of students, plus a fair sampling of affluent, busy, 2-career couples/families, most aged 18-49. In other words, the people most likely to pounce on new products and hop on the bandwagon when a food fad or "new, improved" product is introduced. College towns and Yuppie enclaves are great for word-of-mouth marketing, too. It's also the reason that Boston is an early screening city when movies are being rolled out ("now playing in select cities..."), and why you can find lots of high tech gagetry in the stores fairly early in their marketing cycle (tons of "early adopters").

The much-loathed "Lovin' It" ads for McD's are starting to seriously grate on me, and I wasn't too pleased to discover that there's not only a "boy band" version playing on the radio, there's also a country version! Aiiieee, there's no escape!

I have an almost irrational love for the Advair Pug (squeeee! so cute!) but like others, find the demanding, slightly menacing "Go" voiceover seriously creepy. I usually hit the mute button and enjoy the pug.

I'm now also heartily sick of the other Dr. Pepper ad E! is alternating with Bridezilla, where "Jen" moves in with "Steve" and commences changing everything in his apartment while he slouches on the couch.

Also, could someone please stick some pins in the MSN butterfly?

Big Foot's "you ain't got no camera," though, never gets old.

Speaking of menacing, does anyone else find skywriting sort of creepy? There's at least one ad for a car where the model (XL 7?) appears in the sky behind the car and I find it sort of menacing.

I just saw a funny diet Dr Pepper commercial.

Two guys grilling, you hear a woman shout out the window, "C heck to see if the tofu hot dogs are done."

Guys look at each other, one guy ask, "Are they supposed to be grey?"

One guy taste one, other guy ask, "Is it done?"

Guy replies, "I hope not"

Saw the commercial a couple of hours ago. And it's Chevy advertisng their new truck the Colorado.

I know the John Stamos ads were discussed, but I don't think this part was-
When the little old lady tells him he looks like her third husband, I really wish he would've asked her how many husbands she has had. Then she could've batted her eyes and said "Two".
Or whatever the numbers were. Would've been funnier that way.

Just saw Lassie doing The Matrix bullet time move on a cougar.
TOO FUNNY

Has anyone seen the Cingular ad with the gal talking about how she wanted to keep her phone number because "It's famous!" And then we see "867-5309" across the "wall" with her dancing along to the chorus.

Okay...in reality, if you had that number, wouldn't you be trying to get rid of it? From what I've heard, anyone who's had that number in the past 20 or so years has gotten crank calls--even to this day.

Just needed to nitpick.

ETA: Dear "Friends" promo dept.: MAKE. IT. STOP.

How stupid. The cashiers don't have to know how much anything costs - the register has a button for each item. Also? There's a giant menu behind them, with all the items and prices. Morons.

I think that old lady slow-dancing with John Stamos is the "Shotgun!" granny from the Capri Sun ads. I saw them both back to back once and at the time, decided they were one and the same.

Miss Pandora,, I think that every time I see that ad, word for word!

The entire series of diet Dr. Pepper ads were shown throughout the Golden Globes tonight. I'm already sick of the whole lot. Also caught Lassie going kung-fu on a panther. That at least was entertaining.

I finally saw that ad for the Thug Life record. Good Lord. I'm betting a white guy wrote the copy, it tries waaay too hard to be ghetto. And the poor announcer who had to read it, he's taking it so seriously. If there was ever anything ripe for parody, this is it. The same people are also responsible for the dance compilation Fired Up! that is being played relentlessly on my cable system. I find myself strangely tempted by this even though I'm not a big fan of dance music. The electronica beats must be taking over my mind.

We know that you'll like that-able! was the rest of the tagline. The product was called Munchables or Crunchables... so playing on the whole "able" ending thing.

Yes, I am a dork. Thanks for asking.

Question for you all: Where can I find downloads of commercials? My cousin was cast in a Dr. Pepper ad awhile ago and it didn't run right away. I think he might be in one of the new ones....anyone anyone? Bueller?

I just heard it confirmed that TV ads, have increased in numbers over the years. In 3 hours of prime time, they show 52 minutes of commercials. I swear they showed 29 minutes in the one hour show I was taping the other day, as when I watched skipping the ads, barely took over 30 minutes for the content of the show to be watched. And if by chance I do watch more then one show on a station, they repeat and repeat the same ads. Rolling Rock beer was one I got repeats of and in the same slot of time I swear two different versions of the dang Rolling Rock. One of the Love, Love, Love, Sex, Sex, Sex, and then the guy moving into his girlfriends apt. Hated them both.

One of the good things about being forced to watch the Golden Globes (damn annoying awards shows!) is that I finally saw a couple ads much-touted here yet have never crossed my radar: the stalking kitty and the dog replacing a sandwich with a cat (Pepsi?).

I haven't heard the "I'm Lovin' it" radio horror, but my current most-hated-version on TV is a "mom" singing about her "kids." I don't understand how that one is supposed to appeal at any level. But the target audience is apparently snowy white and middle-aged.

On the new Sloppy Joe's commercial who is the guy who comes to the door at the end? I recognize Joe Theisman, Joe Frazier and Joe Piscopo but not that guy.

New Stalking Kitty Ad!!!

I just caught the tail end of it yesterday (no pun intended). A black and white cat is chasing an ostrich, to some sort of classical instrumental music (not the menacing "Big Cat Diary" soundtrack). More details as they become available.