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March 27, 2006
That Not So Fresh Feeling
And other commercials I have seen and loathed
What is up with modern day advertisers? I remember the days when Darren on Bewitched would struggle to come up with the perfect advertising campaign (and Samantha would try to help him out by wiggling her nose, but would inevitably just make the whole situation worse by turning the client into a turtle or something, etc., etc.).
Nowadays, we're assaulted with a never-ending barrage of yuck. These aren't commercials that make me want to buy something. Instead, they repulse me. For example:
(1) Foot Fungus. Actually, I'm pretty sure the commercial isn't trying to sell foot fungus, but rather something to cure foot fungus, but it's hard to focus on that when cartoon bugs are crawling up under a toenail. EWWWWW! I don't like feet under the best of circumstances, but add in some nasty animated fungus, and it just makes me want to barf.
(2) Victoria's Secret. First of all, the commercials are really sort of porny. Soft porn, yes, but still. And second, do you really think seeing Tyra Banks prancing around in a few slips of lycra and lace will make me want to go out and buy that lingerie so that I can stuff my baby stretched body into it and see just how un-Tyra-like I am? No thanks.
(3) Exterminators. There was a commercial on a few years ago, where a rather serious woman said, "I didn't think we had a bug problem. But then I stepped on a cockroach in the middle of the night, and the next day I called Nuclear Pest Control." Gah! I still get the heeby-jeebies just thinking about that. Thanks to that little gem, I can't get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom without turning on every single light in the bedroom.
(4) Rooms To Go. Who was the brain trust who decided to rewrite the already annoying Tomorrow song from Annie, by substituting in the lyrics: "Tomorrow! Tomorrow! Rooms To Go will deliver it tomorrow!" Every time that commercial comes on, I dive for the remote, trying to hit the mute button before it sticks in my head for the rest of the day. And, every time, I’m just a few seconds too late.
So, what commercials make you want to drive a sharp pencil into your eye?
Posted by Whitney at 8:44 AM | Comments (11)
Comments
The Burger King commercials really creep me out. There's one where a man wakes up to find the "Burger King" (who is wearing an immoveable rubber mask) in his bed. I think there might be one where the BK is also looking in the window. These don't scream "go eat our food." They scream "stalker" to me. It raises all kinds of revulsion responses in me. Thank goodness for remotes! =)
Posted by: Kelley at March 27, 2006 11:03 AM
Empire Carpet commercials... the phone number gets stuck in my head..
Posted by: laurenjharwood ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.literarychicks.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 27, 2006 11:09 AM
Anything for a product I don't want to explain to my kids. Science Boy has already asked about Viagra, feminine freshness, what a tampon is and why does it need to hold a gallon of water, and various venereal disease remedies. Really, do we need these commercials during PRIME TIME?????
Posted by: Alesia Holliday at March 27, 2006 11:33 AM
What is it with razors now requiring a minimum of like 12 blades. Soon men will just rub a shoe box full of razor blades across their face.
Why do women have orgasms from washing their hair? What the heck is in that shampoo?
Why can't pizza just be pizza anymore? Why must the crust be stuffed, popped or otherwise mutilated?
These are the things that keep me up at night.
Posted by: Eileen at March 27, 2006 11:34 AM
First and foremost, those creepy VW commercials with the weird, yet somewhat menacing, guy with the fake German accent prancing around and destroying cars.
Then there's the creepy talking baby from Quizno's and just the sound of the Snuggle bear's makes me want to go out and buy a shotgun.
Eileen
Posted by: Eileen at March 27, 2006 12:28 PM
Eileen--
I second the VW commercials! God bless the fast-forward feature on TiVo!
Also, Whitney, thanks for getting "Tomorrow" stuck in my head. My lab mate in grad school used to sing that to torture me. And now you will carry on her legacy...
Posted by: Beth at March 27, 2006 2:54 PM
First of all, kudos to Whitney for coining the term "porny." I hope to use it muchly in the future...
I'm with Kelley on the Burger King creeped-out King guy. Yargh. As if the BK "new" french fries which might not even be made of actual potatoes wasn't bad enough, that freakin' King will keep me off Whoppers forever.
Well, the burgers. Not the candy.
But what annoys me are the Kidz Bop commercials. You know the ones? Where they advertise kids singing pop hits which (I hope) they don't understand. There are few things more disturbing than overhearing your seven-year-old singing, "If I was invisible... I could WATCH YOU IN YOUR ROOM" (emphasis mine) I really don't need Kidz Bop teaching my children about the fine art of stalking, thankyouverymuch.
Posted by: Lani at March 27, 2006 7:18 PM
I agree with everyone on those commercials! Also, the Slim Jim commercials, that moth guy is sorta creepy...I love slimjims, but the commercials seem to promote pain :(
Posted by: TeresaH at March 28, 2006 9:19 AM
Those new Arby's commercials are kinda creepy, with Joan Rivers and Hulk Hogan. *shivers*
But I love all things Trunk Monkey. Makes me laugh everytime I see it.
Posted by: Hope at March 28, 2006 3:18 PM
Burger King--eewww! Too creepy--that whole plastic face thing gives me the heebie-jeebies! What about the Ducolax commercials? "doesn't make you go, just makes it EASIER to go!" That's just wrong! LOL! And the cartoon woman is sitting in the big blue chair, stroking it lovingly--can we just say "eeww"?!! But I love how they have brought back the whole "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" commercials with the parents from "Everybody Loves Raymond"! Next thing you know they will be singing "plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is"!
Posted by: Sheri at March 28, 2006 8:58 PM
My favorite commercial over here (sorry, I know I've mentioned this previously) is the one shown on primetime TV featuring dancing, cartoon condoms.
Really, I go make tea and whatnot during the shows and come back just for the commercial break :-)
Posted by: Michelle C at March 29, 2006 8:23 AM
