I didn't see a thread for this, so forgive me if there is already something out there. This is a thread to discuss commericals that got you to buy or at least think about buying something that you might never have taken a second look at.

Inspired by this Bill Gates article in which he is asked about the Mac vs PC ads. He doesn't give them much credit, but boy howdy, the did their job when it comes to me.

I was anti-Mac for the sake of being anti-Mac because Mac people act so superior when talking about their computers AND they try to convert everybody like it's a religion or something.

So I had a real piece of crap PC that I bought in 2002. All I ever did with it was surf the internet and use it as a word-processor; yet it's been giving me problems for years. That on top of the usual Windows-based problems. So the motherboard finally blew May '06 and I had to get a new computer before I went back to school. Well, those Mac commercials had been playing for a while and they softened me up for my roommate who had a Mac and worked at the Apple store who told me Mac was upgrading their computers. So when they did and I got one And. I. Love. It.

I love my computer, it's awesome and it's pretty and I owe it all to a commercial.

Heh. That's funny. The Mac ads have the complete opposite effect on me. If I didn't already have a PC, I would buy one because Mac guy is so insufferable. And I love PC guy, he's so adorable.

But in the spirit of this thread, I will tell you that back in the mid-90's I went through a period where I would only drink Sprite because Grant Hill was a spokesman.

[tiny voice] I bought a Showtime Rotisserie and Barbecue simply because the informercial made the meat look so delicious. [/tiny voice]

Don't feel bad Eliot. I am also the proud owner of a Showtime Rotisserie. I once bought one of those hunks of metal that are supposed to make meat thaw more quickly. It didn't work. In my defense, I was drunk. Don't drink and order things off TV!

I brought the original Ab Lounge about three years ago. It actually worked and I lost 50 pounds. Then, I folded it up and slid it under the bed just like in the commercial. It's still there and I gained all that weight back. Damn!

I bought the carpet rake. As soon as I saw the commercial. It works, but it's not exactly user-friendly. I make my husband use it so I don't re-open any surgery sites.

Saw it on the tube, bought it on the phone, now you're home alone with a piece of crap.[/Neil Young]

I bought a Clapper for my grandparents when I was a kid because of that old lady in the ad. She looked so angry and then so self-satisfied once she clapped-off the light.

I don't know how many times I've almost bought a Magic Bullet.

I used to buy Reach toothbrushes because of that little cartoon guy with the flip-top head.

Did you have angry grandparents? Did you think buying the Clapper would make them smile? Inquiring minds, Cyb, inquiring minds!

They didn't seem angry, but for all I knew, they were angry late at night when no one else was around, glaring at the lights that had dared to stay on.

By the way, that Clapper stopped working after about two months of regular clapping.

Okay, now I'm TOTALLY cracking up...regular clapping? As opposed to....?

And, just to stay on topic - I am seriously thinking of switching to Sprint because I think Ron Livingston is cute.

My mother in law bought us a Magic Bullet. When she told us, my husband and I about died laughing, because we are 12 years old, and and when you're twelve, that's really, really dirty.

I tittering as I type this (Tittering! Hee!), but anyway, it's actually a pretty decent product. It makes good margaritas.

Before I saw the infomercial, I was a little shocked to hear these two women at my old job talking openly about their Magic Bullets. "It's kind of noisy, but it gets the job done!" I thought it was a little TMI for work.

I was going to say "as opposed to irregular clapping" but I almost typed crapping instead. Whole different product there!

Oh and those Hershey's ads have been making me buy a lot more chocolate lately. That's what I'm blaming it on.

We bought one of those a long time ago, too. It didn't thaw meat very quickly, but it sure did melt that ice cube very well.

I don't know if this thread totally suits. But Lifetime TV is sure telling women to buy a lot of drugs. I watch Blood Ties on Lifetime and, Lord Almighty, do they hit women hard with the drugs. I suppose we do seek medical care more often, but Jeeze Louise is it out of control. In one break, IIRC, there was a commercial for sleep meds, the sleeping one w/ the beaver and Abe; some special site for women approaching menopause; the always present weight loss pills; stomach issue meds--faster than all the others!. Have you had your fiber today?

I purchased Bare Minerals for myself. It ended up not working out. I realized this is because I don't have the Barbara Walters Interview Special soft lights in my house.

I buy Sour Patch Kids even though I don't really like them all that much because of the advertising (during the commerical breaks and within the show) of Kyle XY on ABC Family.

Sometimes I have the urge to buy EVERYTHING I see on television: Hair products, chocolate, make up, cars, the Ipod in all forms, and yes, even the Magic Bullet.

I bought a telezapper. It works.

I have actually ordered the free DVD for the Bowflex Revolution - three times

That stupid commercial for Pepsi Mondo or whatever it is - the one with all the extra caffeine and ginseng - with all the people yawning makes ME yawn reflexively every time.

Damn. There I go again - just from thinking about it!

I freakin' HATE that commercial! I would never buy that crap just because it's so damn annoying. I have to mute the TV and look away because if I catch myself yawning because of it, I get so pissed!

I saw a commercial for Long John Silver's in which they were advertising a jumbo shrimp platter at a low cost. It made me look for restaurants in my area, which didn't produce any good results. Just as well, I suppose. I'm sure I'd be setting myself up for some disappointment at the sizes.

Then technically, it wasn't "doing its job," was it? :)

*Blushes*
Oops, sorry...I tend to get a little carried away sometimes...

One that is working as it should is the latest Red Lobster campaign where they're pushing their "Fresh Fish." It looks so darn yummy, and living in an area where Friday night fish fries are practically law, the thought of nice fresh baked fish is really pulling me in. I keep telling myself (and so does my hubby) that it probably won't meet my expectations, but I can't help it...the commercials are pulling me in!

Red Lobster has, IMO, very effective commercials. I saw one recently highlighting salmon with a highly appealing sauce/side combination, and my immediate reaction was, "When can we go to Red Lobster?"

I'll admit they do, although the food in the commercials doesn't resemble what the restaurants serve, IMO. Since I live on the Texas Gulf Coast, I have more seafood options, but I can see where if you don't have ready access to seafood those commericals would lure you right in.

I'm definitely susceptible to Pantene commercials. Whenever they introduce a new formula, the ads always convince me that I need it, even though the product no longer has the same magical fragrance it did when they first introduced it (remember it? when the bottles had the caps with the gold inserts or whatever you call them?). Anyway, I searched desparately for their "winter" formula when they kept showing those ads with the girl with the gorgeous long black hair that mine doesn't resemble, but of course they don't stock winter protection products in South Texas.

I went searching for that formula 2 winters in a row here in Franklin, VA and never found it. I can't help but think I know why we didn't get it now upon reading your post.

I don't think they sell it at all. I had a hard time finding it in Pennsylvania. In December.

Maybe it's a ploy to get you into the store and buy another one of their products when you can't find the one you want?

I bought the winter Pantene. It made my hair shiny for a while, but then it just made my hair break off.

A friend of mine from work turned me on to the Magic Bullet and it rocks! Of course, we have to be sure to tell everyone that it's the device for mixing drinks and not a sex toy. Hee! We're 12, too!

Here’s an oldie but a goodie—I think it’s probably from the early 80’s and I don’t think they make it anymore. I’m not sure of the name, but I think it was called Vienetta—it was kind of an ice cream cake with some crispy wafers layered throughout. Anyway, the commercial showcased it as a very classy dessert, served with an expensive silver server and eaten out of footed crystal dishes with pretty scalloped spoons. Everyone oohs and ahs over their luscious dessert, and when they’re done all four want seconds, but—horrors!—there’s only one serving left. Whatever will our classy host do?
Anyway, they sure did their job on that one, because I always wanted it. SO. BADLY. Never got it though. And I was so sad about it!

quackerz, they at least made them well into the 90's because my college roommates and I used to buy them. They weren't as good as the commercials made them out to be (and definitely not as classy, but that may have been because we were college girls pretty much eating them out of the container) but they were haute cuisine to us at the time.

Great, now I'm craving Vienetta at 10am!

OMG, Vienetta! We bugged our mom to buy us one for the longest time, and when she finally did we opened the box and it was only like 4" x 4". So everyone in the family got about two bites. Total disappointment.

I remember Vienetta, too. I'm pretty sure that we tried one, as well, and aside from the tiny size, it wasn't any better than an ice-cream cake from the local Baskin-Robbins

I can't belive that I'm posting about this, but Vienetta wasn't an ice cream cake, exactly. No cake, just layers of ice cream with a chocolate ribbon between the the layers. The chocolate got hard and would always make carving the thing a pain in the butt. I liked the Romatica more. It was bigger and had different flavours of ice cream layered together with little chocolate covered toffee balls in between the layers.

And if I wasn't really poor right now, I would be buying one of the new Dell laptops. So many colors to choose from.

Whoa, what a kick it is to encounter people who also wanted badly to try Vienetta after watching those commercials! Though I too am glad that I never got the chance, because it sounds way worse than the commercial presented it to be. Cool.

OTOH, you know those Marie Callender's pot pie commercials? Not only did one of them get me to try out the chicken pot pie, it turned me into a Marie Callender pot pie fan FOR LIFE. OMG. Now I rarely go a week without craving one of those for dinner one night. The crust is flaky and buttery, the chicken is chunky, it comes with plenty of vegetables (though I like to add corn for that extra crunch), and the sauce is so creamy and rich. I never grew up with that kind of home cooking, so that pot pie might taste like heaven to me because of that.

It looks like Viennetta is still made abroad by Walls and/or Unilever. God, I'd forgotten about that for so long. I think I found it disappointingly small for the price, but it tasted OK. I never bought a second one so I guess it wasn't that impressive.

Shades of Ferrero Rocher (or Fancy Feast!). Did they use the same agency, I wonder?

I bought Loreal "Shocking Volume" masacara based on the commercials alone. It was when it first came on the market. I'd been using a expensive mascara that was the same idea (two applicators) and then the Max Factor (I think) XXL masacara. The XXL was TERRIBLE. It clumped and flaked and was just plain awful. But as soon as I saw that commercial with Ashwairya Rai (seriously, the woman could sell me anything. She is so GORGEOUS) I had to try it. I LOVE IT. Its amazing. I get comments on my lashes all the time. I have pretty long eyelashes to begin with but this stuff gets them noticed. Highly recommended.

But do they still make the Romatica? I would love it if they did. As it is, it's hard enough finding Ben & Jerry's in my area. Stupid H.E.B. keeps crushing all of the other ice cream brands out of their freezer section in favor of their crap brand. I've actually started buying ice cream from Schwan's.
I like Marie Callender's pies, but the pot pies are too salty for me. And do Youtube videos count as ads? If so, the MySims previews have really worked. I've got it on pre-order.

*does a spittake* Watercolorset, did you just say H.E.B.? Holy cow, you're from around my neck of the woods! But -- I adore Creamy Creations! It's my favorite ice cream brand by far and my favorite type of ice cream of all time is their cookies & cream ice cream. Nothing -- not Haagen Dazs, not Ben & Jerry, nothing else short of the super-premium stuff they scoop out at Cold Stone can even come close IMO. Oh, and this is totally on-topic because of those H.E.B. Creamy Creations commercials, the most recent of which featured that "talking ice cream man" who eventually got scooped up into that cone. Also -- I suspect my addition of corn cuts down on the saltiness of Marie Callender's pot pies some, because I agree that it is a bit on the salty side, but I don't really mind salty stuff.

See Me (mind if I shorten your name?) I probably am in your neck of the woods. You say the Creamy Creations is good? I'll try a pint then. I've just been really leery of their stuff after trying a vanilla of theirs that tasted like whipped & frozen water. So uncreamy, if you will. Erm..what flavors are good other then the cookies and cream?

What do you think of H.E.B ad with the Cheetah girl? I'll be glad when they get back to just showing what's on sale. And you are lucky you can handle the salt. I can't any more- too much and my ankles swell up like a pregnant Stay Pufft woman. Not fun at all.

I don't mind if you shorten my name at all, Watercolorset (and actually, my preferred nickname is one letter longer than this, but the system wouldn't allow that one last letter). And perhaps it might be some sort of slight variation in formula from H.E.B. distribution center to H.E.B. distribution center, but every single pint I've had of Creamy Creations has been utterly, completely, outrageously good. Of course, it also helps if it comes from a store that looks like it maintains its equipment (I too have had negative experiences with ice cream I know I ordinarily love that has crystallized due to poor equipment maintenance) and if you let it get a little melty before eating it, both of which have happened to me. Another flavor I've found to be extremely good is their Poteet Strawberry one, though that's only available seasonally IIRC.

You know, whenever I see the commercial with the Cheetah Girl, I just try to tune it out, because that kind of thing does not appeal to me at all. I myself would love to get back to those commercials featuring some of the Spurs players (and Coach Popovich), but, well, that's probably due to my specialized region. And I'm terribly sorry to hear about your inability to handle salt; perhaps I'll be in your situation 23 years from now, when I'll be at an age where my mother says everything starts to fall apart. But, as I mentioned before, I did not grow up with that kind of food as "home cooking", so perhaps it could also be due to my lack of exposure to what real, homemade, from scratch pot pie is supposed to taste like. I mean, my only past experiences with pot pie have been with the Swanson variety, so Marie Callender's to me is a huge step up.

I hear you on the Swansons. And about the H.E.B. problems. There is a vast difference between stores where I live. In my town, they have actually had moldy berries still on the shelf. And there's just less of a selection. But if I drive to the store in the next town over? A better selection of fruits and veggies, and lots more to choose from in general.

I have never seen the Spurs commercials. Regional differences again? Because I usually see sort of generic HEB helps me feed my family type ads.

I've hated Old Navy's stupid campy ads for the longest time, and it seems like they're finally switching it up. Their newest ad is for women's jeans, and it actually reminds me that I need jeans and that I should go there! See, ON, we don't need annoying songs and catchphrases - just show me cute, inexpensive clothes.

I'm in HEB land too, but I'm in Austin and have tried Amy's Ice Cream, and therefore any store bought ice cream is now inferior. Sad really.

Sonic commericals usually get me every time. If they advertise a new drink, I have to go try it. As annoying as they are, they totally work on me.

Remember those ads for the maxi pads that absorb all the blue liquid? My college roomie and I received some sample ones in the typical freshman care pack that the school gives out at the bookstore, and set to work. We drunkenly poured a whole red SILO cupful of blue raspberry wop into the pad, and you know what? Absorbed every bit of it. I was and am a believer. That was 12 years ago.

Along those same lines EduardoDinero, I once ruined an entire box of my mother's maxi pads my spraying them with Windex because that's what they seemed to be doing in the commercials. I was only about 5 at the time so I don't think I fully comprehended how expensive and necessary they are, or that the blue liquid in the commercials was for demonstration purposes. My mom was pissed. My dad laughed his ass off. They enjoy telling this story to all of my friends.

Now I'll really show my age:

Long ago, there was an extensively advertised tampon called "Rely" that was new to the market.

Unfortunately, they were the tampons thought to be responsible for "toxic shock syndrome" which no one had ever heard of at the time. At my freshman orientation at college we were given a welcome bag that included a few products including "Rely" tampons. By then, it was all over the news, and Rely tampons were off the market and consumers were warned not to use them.

We turned the tampons into fluffy white bells by getting them wet, and hung them on our Christmas tree!

I'm even older... they used to advertise certain types of perfume as "toilet water", so guess where little espie put a whole bottle of the stuff 'round about 1963? At first my mom was pissed and then she appreciated the humor.