I got up yesterday morning, bleary-eyed from too much sleep (for once in my life) and flipped on the television to watch the early morning news. I grabbed my coffee and sat down at the kitchen table to simply zone out until I became human. The local news was on and I paid some attention to it as I drank my coffee. Then came the commercials….
The first one was for a local podiatrist. Ick! She had a picture of all sorts of foot ailments right there in front of my eyes at 4:30 in the morning! The advertisement ended with some person’s face on the bottom of a pair of feet thanking the doctor. I nearly lost my coffee! Then I was subjected to a round of car commercials SCREAMING at me to buy their car. I have never heard such horrible Southern accents! Do these guys all go to a school to learn how to talk like that?
I started thinking of all the commercials that really irritate me and the number is great, growing at an exponential rate. There are those for male problems with a couple sitting in bathtubs in the middle of nowhere (Now why would they do that? And where are their clothes?) Or the ones about medicine which list so many side effects you wonder why they are advertising at all – hey if you take this drug for a minor skin ailment you can end up with organ failure! Gee, that makes me want to take that drug! And then, there are the political ads…need I say more? All of them are alike – the guys are hunters, with guns, and a great family – how do we choose? Are they clones? How about the sandwich shop ads with those little kittens? Creeps me out! Or the stupid guy on the roof holding a golf club while eating a hamburger in the middle of a thunderstorm? Why would that make me buy their hamburger? Because they say it’s the smart thing to do? (I don’t get their logic) I could go on but Jean would stop me.
There are some ads that are funny and some that are serious. I like the little gecko because he’s smart and has a dry wit. Or the one where the guys have been to a bachelor party and have a killer whale in the back – I laugh every time because it never gets old. Why can’t advertisers use some intellect when they write their commercials? I realize that I have an off button on my remote but I simply wanted to watch the news! I also know that advertisements are how the stations pay for their airtime. But I also know that after a while those very ads insult me and make me wonder why I got up in the first place. Seriously, do these people really think most of us are that stupid?
So, what do you think of advertisements on television? Are there any that you particularly dislike or even like?
Cheryl, Of course you have an off button, but why would you use it? It's impossible to look away from a Train Wreck. I wish you had gone on; I would never stop you when you are so funny. I like the commercial on ESPN where the guy is leaning is team down the tunnel wearing a business suit. He is the third sting QB and is getting to play due to salmonella. I don't know what he's advertising.
ReplyDeleteHe's selling insurance. I think those commercials with him playing mayhem are hilarious. I also liked the car commercial with the hamsters but it got taken off because of political protests. You can still watch it on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about it being a train wreck. I guess we are so desensitized to what we see and we can't help ourselves. It's jut that ads have gotten so annoying.
I try really hard not to watch any commercials. They drive me crazy! The worst ones are the Sonic commercials. They make me run from the room screaming. Oh and don't get me started on the bobble head guy doing the car commercial from a dealership in H'ville. Yeah, it makes me want to 'come on down and see us' if only to slap him and tell him to stop with the bobble head thing! During the commercial all I can see is his head bobbing up, down and all around. The idiot's gonna be in a neck brace before long! Well hell Cheryl, see what you started! LOL :-D
ReplyDeleteSherry--I know what you mean. The bobble heads make me nervous. Has a commercial ever made you so mad that you refused to buy the product?
ReplyDeleteCheryl-What a bad way to start your day. :-(
ReplyDeleteI love those commercials where the pot hole is a southern girl and she is talking. I think it is cute!
Stephanie--Precious Angel says that pothole is you. As potholes, go it's not a bad one to be.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I've been gone. I promise not to stay away so long again. LOL!
ReplyDeleteCheryl, I try not to watch commericals because they are filled with subliminal and conscious messages that are aimed at getting people to spend money, money and more money. There are a few I like though, the All State guy whose always there with a helping hand, or the new one with the kids who command a hot tub to appear in their living room after the girl studying upstairs appears on their sofa. LOL!
Much hoopla is given for the Superbowl when brand new commercials are aired. Do you know that one commercial, lasting 1 minute can cost up to 1 million dollars? The scary thing is these companies have that much money to fork out on commericals in the first place.
I wonder what kind of commericals BP will have to come up with to rebuild confidence or American support. ;)
The crazy thing is I wanted to go into advertising when I started college. But when I went to Texas Tech to study advertising, I discovered that it is a cut-throat business and the producer of intense stress. I opted to become a starving artist instead. :D
ReplyDeleteSherry - I know the one you're talking about with the bobble head. It drives me crazy too! And the sonic commercials with the two guys or the couple - well, those are not funny and annoy me. And I didn't start it - they did!
ReplyDeleteStephanie - Yeah, especially looking at those feet! Made me sick! Jean, Sherry and Kathy, I can't believe none of you haven't seen that one. Someone should tell this podiatrist to cut out the pictures! I like the pothole commercial too and the one about the Russian sewer pipe talking for his wife.
Kathy, I am guilty of watching the Super Bowl just for the commercials because they're usually funny. I don't follow Pro Sports but I love the commercials - used to love the Clydesdales but since the company was sold they don't make them any more. As for BP with their self-serving commercials - according to the folks on the Gulf, the company is not paying. So why do they do those touchy-feely commercials about fixing the problem?
And Jean, I can't think of a commercial that made me not buy a product but I wouldn't go to that podiatrist! I'm really on her today; made me sick.
Oooh! I love the pothole commercial!
ReplyDeleteNo Cheryl, I haven't seen the podiatrist commercial thank goodness! When I'm watching TV I use commercial time to do something else.....laundry, load dishwasher, etc. You know, all that other fun stuff! :-D
I can't see in the morning or function enough to do that! I have to work up to it!
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