Aspects of ads that irk you

[smarteyeball]

Let's face it, most Ads on TV are annoying. Yet every now and then there is one that contains a complete logic fail that you can't help but pick on and leaves you vexed every time you see it.

There's currently an overall bland and banal cleaning product AD where the guy is initially standing next to a Top Fuel drag car painted like the product. He then starts blah blahing about how the product has "Turbo Power". The whole ad is about the wondrous "Turbo power". That's the point of the ad - "Turbo Power".

But the total logic fail and the especially irritating point for me is that the drag car clearly has a supercharger - not a turbo. In an ad about "Turbo Power" - either use a prop with an actual turbo in it, or don't use one at all. It may be a pedantic observation, but it irks me every time I see it.

Or,

Those funeral/life insurance ads that have "Couples or friends" in them when they are clearly neither actual couples or friends. They are wooden and scripted actors who're absolutely irritating to the point I find myself actually disagreeing with every line, every time. They say "I did this or I did that" and I say "No, you didn't. You're an actor. A bad one. And you are just lying; stop lying". Pointless of course, but it does make me feel better.

Who else has a particular ad/ads that just gets under their skin?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Ads with a high pitched male voice screaming at you.

Ads with rapid fire speech delivery, trying to jam as much as possible in the time allotted for the ad.

The same ad showing more than once in the same commercial break.

The same ad being shown during every commercial break during a movie.

Any ad with, "But wait!"

Ads with phony stereotypical announcers' voices, male and female.

Overly sincere sounding lawyer ads.

Ads promoting beating out the IRS.

30-60 minute infomercials that have, maybe, 5-10 minutes of content that gets repeated over and over.

Mass medical tort ads.

Lawyer ads promising to fight for you.

Lawyers promising to get you off for DUI.

 

[BrightBlessings]

Former sports people who who end up on telly as shills for the gambling industry, lawers and flogging hair replacement lotions or hair plugs (we seem to have a plethora of follicly challenged sportsmen in this country, must be the air) and sometimes breakfast cereal products that usually has less goodness than the box it comes in.

 

[BugMeister]

Former sports people who who end up on telly as shills for the gambling industry, lawers and flogging hair replacement lotions or hair plugs (we seem to have a plethora of follicly challenged sportsmen in this country, must be the air) and sometimes breakfast cereal products that usually has less goodness than the box it comes in.

- ha, ha..:roflmao:

 

[Lava King]

Ads with a high pitched male voice screaming at you.

Ads with rapid fire speech delivery, trying to jam as much as possible in the time allotted for the ad.

The same ad showing more than once in the same commercial break.

The same ad being shown during every commercial break during a movie.

Any ad with, "But wait!"

Ads with phony stereotypical announcers' voices, male and female.

Overly sincere sounding lawyer ads.

Ads promoting beating out the IRS.

30-60 minute infomercials that have, maybe, 5-10 minutes of content that gets repeated over and over.

Mass medical tort ads.

Lawyer ads promising to fight for you.

Lawyers promising to get you off for DUI.

Some years ago I worked at a local radio station, mostly as a "babysitter" for the antique automated equipment, but I did have to record a 30 second weather spot (played on the hour and half-hour) and occasionally had to record an ad that needed to be on the air before the "voice talent" could record it.


The first time that I recorded an ad I used a normal tone of voice. Upon playback, it sounded horrible and lifeless. Recorded it again with the stereotypical "fake enthusiasm" and it sounded "better" in that it was what you expected to come out of your radio.


My favorite, though, was when the program director called one Saturday night at about 9pm and said "let's hear your Robin Leach (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous) impression. I gave him a really bad Robin Leach to which he said "good enough, pull the current cart (tape cartridge) for (name withheld) and re-record it with that voice." I thought that certainly the "voice talent" would re-do it later on but no, it ran every day for two weeks with my bad impression.


So, strangely enough, we expect the stereotypes and if we get something different, it just doesn't ring true.

 

[ThrashZone]

Too many to really list,
They should all most likely go to animated because the actors and actresses are really bad
Not that the theme is worth anything but at least they could have some thing worth paying for air time ?
Cheers.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Forgot to mention the Cox TV commercials with that obnoxious Paul character. If I had a choice, I would dump Cox in a heartbeat just because of those unbelievably annoying commercials. Same for the obsessive moron in the Toyota commercials.

There are a lot of actually good commercials out there that I enjoy. It's such a shame a few cheesy ones are there to spoil things. One bright spot: a frequently aired cheesy local furniture company that had an annoying, high pitched, rapid fire male announcer first got the volume reduced by FCC mandate, then, recently, they replaced the jerk with a much more pleasant sounding female voice and allowed her to speak at a normal speed.

 

[BugMeister]

- animations that treat us as idiots, and portray us as such..


- blasted cartoon characters fixing cartoon boilers..


- unbelievably enthusiastic rubbish..!!


- absolute nonsense, kill the meerkat!!


- ads extolling the "virtues" of alcohol..

- sheesh, there's just so much idiocy..

 

[smarteyeball]

So, strangely enough, we expect the stereotypes and if we get something different, it just doesn't ring true.

This is true. We're conditioned to expect it. Even though an ad may be ridiculously annoying, it does give the product more validity.

And whilst there are some clever ads, it saddens me that such creative talent is literally wasted. I fully understand why advertising exists and all the machinations that go into it - I just wish that it didn't.



I also resent the fact that some of the most ludicrous taglines stick with you for a very long time afterwards. Taking up space in the brain that could be used for something else. Most of the time you've long forgotten the product/company, but that catch - that hook...

"Is your hair too tired to party?"

Through ads, my TV has asked some particularly asinine questions over the years, but that line is in my Top Ten of "beyond ludicrous". It's permanently etched upon my brain.

- sheesh, there's just so much idiocy..

That there is. That there is...

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

So, strangely enough, we expect the stereotypes and if we get something different, it just doesn't ring true.

This is true. We're conditioned to expect it. Even though an ad may be ridiculously annoying, it does give the product more validity...

I must be weird, then, because the quickest way to turn me off on a product is using stereotypical commercials. Something new and fresh, as long as it isn't overdone, is far more likely to favorably get my attention.

 

[Britton30]

Not in any kind of order, ads I don't like at all.

"It's new, and improved." So, the former one was old and useless? This usually only means a new package. But...

"New package, same great BS inside".


Ads for kitchen gadgets that promise to "replace a drawer full of these.."

All kitchen gadget ads.

Ads for feminine hygiene products of any kind.

Ads for male hygiene products of any kind. New to this genre is a shield and guard. It protects a guy if he takes a shot to the groin and pees himself, at the same time.

Talking, walking, singing candy or food.

The Pillsbury Dough boy.

A local car dealer who is just annoying if he speaks. He does. A lot.

Ads for diarrhea meds.

 

[Lava King]

Not in any kind of order, ads I don't like at all.

"It's new, and improved." So, the former one was old and useless? This usually only means a new package. But...

"New package, same great BS inside".


Ads for kitchen gadgets that promise to "replace a drawer full of these.."

All kitchen gadget ads.

Ads for feminine hygiene products of any kind.

Ads for male hygiene products of any kind. New to this genre is a shield and guard. It protects a guy if he takes a shot to the groin and pees himself, at the same time.

Talking, walking, singing candy or food.

The Pillsbury Dough boy.

A local car dealer who is just annoying if he speaks. He does. A lot.

Ads for diarrhea meds.

How about the endless onslaught of pharmaceutical ads?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...How about the endless onslaught of pharmaceutical ads?

Annoying but ignorable.

 

[smarteyeball]

I must be weird, then, because the quickest way to turn me off on a product is using stereotypical commercials. Something new and fresh, as long as it isn't overdone, is far more likely to favorably get my attention.

To me I think it's more that stereotypical equates to a certain level of "quality/professionalism" as opposed to "budget" ads that don't instil you with a confidence in the company. It's part of the "conditioning".

By and large, unless I was planning to buy a product anyway, I sometimes go out of my way to not buy a product because of an ad.

As for new and fresh - they can become stale very, very quickly. Worse is that if "popular", they milk an idea for all it's worth. A 2-3 ad campaign suddenly has another 3-6 subsequent ads in the same style created. Especially mascot/"character" campaigns.

 

[Fantail]

Over 10 years ago I gave cable/satellite tv the boot. This thread confirms people are way too attached to media. People have time to watch some pos phony reality - game show they have time to use for something more important in their lives. Get something done that doesn't expose you to these ads for gods sakes. Seems some people would rather willingly be brainwashed by the media telling them what they should pay attention to. Oh but they don't want to hear that. And the 'powers that be' certainly want your attention for advertising space.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I must be weird, then, because the quickest way to turn me off on a product is using stereotypical commercials. Something new and fresh, as long as it isn't overdone, is far more likely to favorably get my attention.

To me I think it's more that stereotypical equates to a certain level of "quality/professionalism" as opposed to "budget" ads that don't instil you with a confidence in the company. It's part of the "conditioning"...

For me, a poorly done low budget ad will instill a lack of trust in a company (it suggests they are unprofessional and/or cheap). However, commercials I enjoy or, at least, not be offended or annoyed by, will not necessarily make me want to buy the product or service; they are merely entertaining and/or informative. The product has to stand on its own merits. For example, I enjoy the most of the Progressive, Farmers, and Geico commercials and love the beautiful, deep, resonant voice of the actor who narrates the Allstate commercials. Does that mean I'm going to run out and buy their insurance? No way, José! I wouldn't trust any of those companies any farther than I can spit upwind in a stiff breeze.

...By and large, unless I was planning to buy a product anyway, I sometimes go out of my way to not buy a product because of an ad...

The same here. Even if I would have used a product otherwise, an obnoxious commercial will often cause me to boycott the company with the commercial. I also let the company know that I am boycotting them because of their offensive commercial; otherwise, how will they know that their commercials are offensive? True, I'm only one small voice but, if enough small voices sound off, companies are far more likely to pay attention.

 

[Britton30]

For me, a poorly done low budget ad will instill a lack of trust in a company (it suggests they are unprofessional and/or cheap). However, commercials I enjoy or, at least, not be offended or annoyed by, will not necessarily make me want to buy the product or service; they are merely entertaining and/or informative. The product has to stand on its own merits. For example, I enjoy the most of the Progressive, Farmers, and Geico commercials and love the beautiful, deep, resonant voice of the actor who narrates the Allstate commercials. Does that mean I'm going to run out and buy their insurance? No way, José! I wouldn't trust any of those companies any farther than I can spit upwind in a stiff breeze.

Me too, I like Flo although many don't. Farmers and Geico seem to have gone out of their way to make several version of their ads, not repeating too often. The gecko, Cave Man, 15 minutes themes, etc.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Flo had to grow on me. The concept of seeing insurance as boxes in a physical store was a bit far fetched. Flo was able to pull it off and make it work. Shortly after Progressive started the store ads, Allstate tried the same thing. It went over like a lead balloon. I love Geico's lizard; the cave men, nowhere near as much.

 

[whs]

I don't have that problem. 10 years ago I stopped watching TV in the US - because of the ads. Most are an insult to my intelligence. Have 3 TVs to give away for free, but nobody wants them because they are not flatscreen.

In Europe I have at least 50 channels without ads - and I only pay about $20 per month. There I watch TV. I also have channels from a dozen countries including the US. The American channels have few ads in Europe and I think a lot more sophisticated ads.

 

[BugMeister]

- UK TV is currently besieged by a huge number of gambling ads
- be it the National Lottery, Scratch-cards, Bingo or whatever..
- it only started a few years ago, now it's getting worse..

- I notice they only ever portray winners..
- never a mention of the countless thousands of losers..

- I find that very annoying..
- in fact, it's a bit disturbing..:shock: