Annoying Ads
Nov. 28th, 2008 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreI could post about stampedes at Wal-Mart where workers are trampled to death and pregnant women are knocked down and doors are broken off the hinges and shoppers refuse to leave because standing in line overnight is more important than pregnant women (but what was she doing in line anyway?) being injured and dead bodies (Now with pictures!) but that would get depressing. (Not to mention, I suspect cliche at this point, as I've seen it about 50 times today. Like Twilight posts. Note that that doesn't really stop me.) Instead, how about annoying ads?
Anyway, I don't watch TV a lot* and do most of my viewing via DVD, so I don't see that many commercials. I do, however, hear plenty of ads on the raidio when I'm driving. There are two in particular that annoy me.
One is for pizza delivery and is a scenario where a young couple has been incredibly busy for months and they haven't been able to hang out with their friends. The husband** promises her a night out with their friends. She's incredibly excited about getting out of the house and going somewhere to socialize and not being in the house. He drives her around for a bit then takes her back to the house. She, naturally, is all "WTF? I thought we were going somewhere fun!" and he says that it will be fun because *pizza delivery place* caters entire party fixings, ad their friends came over so the great night out is a great night in. All cheer, isn't he the most considerate husband ever?
Do I need to explain the epic fail there? The whole point was a night out of the house, where you don't have to worry about schedule and cleanup and whatnot, right? Except it's at the house, meaning she doesn't get the change of scenery she wanted, one of them will have to clean up, and if she gets tired, she can't retire until everyone else leaves. She has to either kick them out, or hope they notice and leave on their own.
The other is less rant inducing, but then, the ad is more straightforward. It's for window replacements and touchups or somesuch. The gist is that they're selling their services for cheap and emphasizing that that's ok, because as soon as the neighbors see what a great job they did on your windows, the neighbors will want the same and automatically come in flocks. Ok, fine, nothing really annoying yet. Except that in the ad, it says "anyone smart enough..." and "if you're smart enough...," implying that obviously, anyone who doesn't take advantage is an idiot. Implication that my intellect is determined by whether or not I take advantage of your sale doesn't really win me over. This is just this one, but it's a trend I've noticed the last couple of years.
Anyway, those are mine. What ads and commercials annoy you?
*Yes, the Disney Channel addiction runs strong, but aside from my recent addiction to The Wizards of Waverly Place (I actually like one!) and finding the Emperor's New Groove spinoff surprisingly watchable, I'm not sure most of that could be called "watching" so much as "boggling and wincing and suppressing rants as i wait for certain characters to show up." Sadly (or not), even American Dragon cannot hold me. Only the one episode I've seen has been from season 2, and it's too dull to hold my attention without the overwrought teenaged angst to mock.
**My prudishness jumps to this assumption.
Anyway, I don't watch TV a lot* and do most of my viewing via DVD, so I don't see that many commercials. I do, however, hear plenty of ads on the raidio when I'm driving. There are two in particular that annoy me.
One is for pizza delivery and is a scenario where a young couple has been incredibly busy for months and they haven't been able to hang out with their friends. The husband** promises her a night out with their friends. She's incredibly excited about getting out of the house and going somewhere to socialize and not being in the house. He drives her around for a bit then takes her back to the house. She, naturally, is all "WTF? I thought we were going somewhere fun!" and he says that it will be fun because *pizza delivery place* caters entire party fixings, ad their friends came over so the great night out is a great night in. All cheer, isn't he the most considerate husband ever?
Do I need to explain the epic fail there? The whole point was a night out of the house, where you don't have to worry about schedule and cleanup and whatnot, right? Except it's at the house, meaning she doesn't get the change of scenery she wanted, one of them will have to clean up, and if she gets tired, she can't retire until everyone else leaves. She has to either kick them out, or hope they notice and leave on their own.
The other is less rant inducing, but then, the ad is more straightforward. It's for window replacements and touchups or somesuch. The gist is that they're selling their services for cheap and emphasizing that that's ok, because as soon as the neighbors see what a great job they did on your windows, the neighbors will want the same and automatically come in flocks. Ok, fine, nothing really annoying yet. Except that in the ad, it says "anyone smart enough..." and "if you're smart enough...," implying that obviously, anyone who doesn't take advantage is an idiot. Implication that my intellect is determined by whether or not I take advantage of your sale doesn't really win me over. This is just this one, but it's a trend I've noticed the last couple of years.
Anyway, those are mine. What ads and commercials annoy you?
*Yes, the Disney Channel addiction runs strong, but aside from my recent addiction to The Wizards of Waverly Place (I actually like one!) and finding the Emperor's New Groove spinoff surprisingly watchable, I'm not sure most of that could be called "watching" so much as "boggling and wincing and suppressing rants as i wait for certain characters to show up." Sadly (or not), even American Dragon cannot hold me. Only the one episode I've seen has been from season 2, and it's too dull to hold my attention without the overwrought teenaged angst to mock.
**My prudishness jumps to this assumption.
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no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 10:17 pm (UTC)In general, ads that annoy me are those for beauty products where it's shown that, if you use this or that product, cute guys will fall all over you. As if only the cute guys would notice that your looks have now improved and all other kinds of guys are blind to it.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 10:28 pm (UTC)Yes, beauty product ones are...not my favorite thing. I try to forget they exist.
Honestly, though, why is insulting your potential customers such a popular marketting gimmick?
no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 11:06 pm (UTC)They probably don't think of it as an insult per se, just trying to convince the customers that they lack something important in their life, and they can fix it by buying certain products. Unfortunately, neither do they remember that customers are, more often that not, intelligent enough to know that there's no single product that can work magic, let alone instant magic. (This is about beauty products and the like - I've no words for the cooking oil case)
no subject
Date: 2008-11-28 11:22 pm (UTC)It's like this one country song where the narrator is talking about how, now that his ex is marrying someone else, he realized why she wasn't happy with him. We're supposed to see it as her not communicating her problems and his deciding to try to do better, but it actually casts all blame on her, with his saying that he wouldn't have made her miserable anymore if he'd known, and it's her fault for never crying in front of him, and now he can see "all the signs."