Tues/Weds Open Thread

A friend of mine and I were having a discussion earlier tonight about what we thought were the most annoying commercials in recent memory. The first one that came into my mind was the awful “Viva Viagra” commercials, like this one:

And then there are the other ED commercials that show older couples outside overlooking a beautiful sunset while each sitting in their own personal bathtub, holding hands and glasses of wine. WTH? How many people do you know have bathtubs in their backyards? I guess it’s better than a quick screenshot of them busting open the door of their bedroom and slamming it shut. LOL.

And don’t get me started on all the awful “feminine products” commercials. Argh! No matter how old a woman gets, it’s still embarassing to be sitting next to her s/o when those commericals come on.

On the other hand, there are some commercials out there I enjoy. Some of the original GEICO ads with the cavemen in it were cute, and then there is this Fed Ex commercial, which I can identify with so well:

This Budweiser commerical from this year’s Super Bowl was absolutely adorable:

How about ya’ll? Any commercials out there that you enjoy? Or can absolutely do without? Some of us out there don’t have TiVo, so we have to endure!

Oh – by the way, I guess I should say “Happy Birthday, Bill Clinton.” He was born on this date in 1946.

23 Responses to "Tues/Weds Open Thread"

NC Cop says:

August 19, 2008 at 10:10 pm

I love the ones from FreeCreditReport.com, where it has the guy singing about how he got screwed into bad credit. The band is hilarious and I love the songs.
Severian says:

August 19, 2008 at 10:34 pm

Aaaah! I hate those NC Cop. That smarmy weasel and that song stick in my head for hours!

I saw one recently that was cute, this old couple wander into the kitchen in the morning and give each other a quick kiss, both looking adoringly at each other. They smile, and she’s got this huge mouth full of teeth, and he’s got these tiny narrow little teeth. They both stop smiling, and then the product, which is a label maker, is being used to label two glasses with false teeth in them “His” and “Hers.”
Great White Rat says:

August 19, 2008 at 11:41 pm

I’m with NC….the FreeCreditReport lyrics are witty and the scenarios funny. The FedEx one is a winner too, even if it is an all-too-familiar scenario

Never cared for the Geico spots – the Caveman, the celebrity interpreters, or even the ones with the lizard.

Meanwhile, in other news, have you seen this?

The latest LA Times/Bloomberg poll, which had Obama up by 15 points last time, now has the race in a statistical dead heat.

Could be that as more and more of Obama’s non-ideas – like an energy plan that emphasizes tire inflation – become public knowledge, more and more voters are shaking their heads and deciding he’s not ready for prime time. It’s the same principle we saw at work in the Democrat primary season, when Hillary swept most of the late contests. The difference is that she ran out of time and states, while McCain has more time and no early caucus states locked in against him.
Roy Lofquist says:

August 20, 2008 at 12:15 am

Those “Free Credit Report” commercials are great. They are also a great con. You have to give them a credit card number to “confirm your identity”. Nowhere do they tell you that you have to affirmatively opt out within 30 days to avoid a monthly fee of $15.95. Getting information about how you can opt out is just like trying to cancel an AT&T long distance account. You play that “Press 5 to get account services” game and you get to press various digits for over an hour before you realize that you ain’t never going to get to the place that lets you cancel.

I’ve been pro-business my whole life – going on 65 years – but there are seriously dishonest and immoral con artists right there in prime time.
MissJean says:

August 20, 2008 at 12:16 am

I like the ad by the Foundation for a Better Life that has the budding baseball player who wants to be the greatest hittere of all time. He misses a few, then the music swell and you THINK he’s going to hit it…

It’s my Dad’s favorite ad.
Trish says:

August 20, 2008 at 12:43 am

I liked the Geico cavemen, too, at least the early ones.
Budweiser commercials are nearly always good. It’s a pity their beer isn’t as good as their ads.

Do you remember those awful, “This is the face of ED” commercials? I hope they paid those actors a lot of money, because those ads still embarrass me–and I’m a woman. Feminine products, too–how many of them show this big red spot? I mean–that’s too much. When I was growing up they couldn’t even say that a feminine product was “absorbent” for fear it would embarrass someone, and now look at them. I mean, no, don’t.

AT&T has had a couple of really funny ads promoting their satellite tv service versus cable. The first one is a takeoff on soap operas, and the second shows a guy switching back and forth among four different shows while his roommate tries to wrest the remote away from him.
Severian says:

August 20, 2008 at 8:11 am

I also loved the Snickers British commercial that got everyone so bent out of shape. The one where this wimpy guy is “speed walking” down the sidewalk, swishing his hips back and forth, and suddenly this huge pickup truck smashes over a house and into the street. Mr. T is in the back, with a Gatling gun that shoots Snickers bars, and starts pelting the guy with candy bars while shouting at him to run like a man! Snickers, Get Some Nuts! he screams at the end. Heh.
Marsha says:

August 20, 2008 at 8:49 am

Since I haven’t seen the ad in a while, the name escapes me. The theme of male frequent urniation, showing 4 guys in an older mustang, pulling a portajohn.

Everyone looks delighted.
Lorica says:

August 20, 2008 at 9:39 am

My Brother makes commercials for a local TV station, has for 20 years now, so I tend to tune them out or mute them. I still like the GEICO commercials with the gecko. He reminds me of a game I use to play on my old 3DO machine called Gex.

The commercials I really disliked were the old EF Hutton commercials. Yeah right, everyone is just going to stop doing everything because you mentioned your broker worked for EF Hutton. I mean seriously, if they were going to waste their time listening to what you, why wouldn’t they just have their own EF Hutton broker.

Also, I loved those John Houseman commercials for Paul Masson, we will sell no wine before it’s time. Or I just thought the world of John Houseman, loved him on the old Paperchase TV show. – Lorica
Lorica says:

August 20, 2008 at 9:57 am

I would also like to say. Thank God for tropical storm Fay. This one storm is going to dump so much rain on the south that it should alleviate the drought conditions that they had last year. Hopefully there will be another one before the season is over with. – Lorica
Lorica says:

August 20, 2008 at 9:59 am

And lastly, for now. Anyone see that Drudge story about Mac being 5 points above BO?? I continue to hope and pray that John doesn’t screw it up. Please ohhh Lord. – Lorica
forest hunter says:

August 20, 2008 at 11:50 am

In the Fed X ditty at the end Ted who looks a bit like Al Franken but reminds me of a certain candidate, who’s experience should be filed under *AKA ………*

……and ~~Ted~~ Oblahblah, you just keep thinkin’ everyone’s out to get you.
Lorica says:

August 20, 2008 at 12:52 pm

Ok I am really wondering if BO is actually going to be the nominee now that he is polling below McCain. I have believed for sometime that Hillary is going to be the nominee. So with that I have to wonder in a moment of magnanimity is she won’t pick BO as her Veep. What do you all think?? – Lorica
Great White Rat says:

August 20, 2008 at 1:11 pm

Lorica, I think there would be hell to pay if there were a revolt at the convention and He Whose Middle Name Must Not Be Mentioned did not get the nomination. The Dems will not come out of Denver with a unified party in any case – the PUMAs will settle for nothing less than Hillary on the ticket – but it would be a complete mess if HWMNMNBM isn’t nominated.

The Kossacks and MoveOn extremists would go ballistic. My guess is that they’d spend the next two months disrupting Hillary’s campaign rallies and showing themselves to be the repulsive totalitarians they are. The most likely Democrat response would be to throw them as many bones as possible once the new session of Congress convenes, hoping to get them to back off. Forget any new oil exploration, for example. It will be a chaotic election season.

Come to think of it, that scenario rather appeals to me…
Lorica says:

August 20, 2008 at 2:47 pm

Honestly GWR, Where would these people go if Hillary did get the nomination. Do you believe they would vote for McCain?? All that would happen is their justification for voting. It would go from voting for a Dem to voting against a Rep. They might upset certain minorities, but with BO as the Veep pick, just how upset would they be come November?? Also, BO opened this up by asking for both MI and FL to be fully seated, both of which Hillary won. Which completely leaves this in the hands of the Super-Delegates. How many of the Supers, looking at all of these gaffes, looking at all the new polling, wouldn’t change their vote to Hillary?? I believe there is a ton of “buyers remorse” out there, and that is part of the reason BO is doing so badly in the polls. It makes one wonder. – Lorica
NC Cop says:

August 20, 2008 at 8:12 pm

Just curious. Has anyone claimed that Bush is stirring up the Russians so it can help McCain’s campaign yet??

I figure that one is coming.

Russia Threatens Military Response if U.S., Poland Follow Through With Missile Defense Deal

The United States and Poland signed a deal Wednesday to place a U.S. missile defense base just 115 miles from Russia — a move followed swiftly by a new warning from Moscow of a possible military response.

Does anyone see a Cuban Missile Crisis compromise coming on this one? Like, if the U.S. gets rid of the ABM system in Poland, they will withdraw from Georgia??

No matter. The only thing people should be concerned with is that Russia is back. It was only a matter of time.
Great White Rat says:

August 20, 2008 at 9:25 pm

Where would these people go if Hillary did get the nomination. Do you believe they would vote for McCain??

Of course not. But they’d still throw tantrums at every opportunity, and Hillary – not McCain – would be the target, since she would have “stolen” the nomination of the party they “bought and paid for”.

Some of them might sit out the presidential race and focus on the House and Senate, trying to drive it further left.

What absolutely will NOT occur to these self-absorbed elitists is that what brought down their candidate is their ideology.
Steve Skubinna says:

August 20, 2008 at 11:21 pm

No matter how old a woman gets, it’s still embarrassing to be sitting next to her s/o when those commercials come on.

So you and Lorica watch much TV together?

The one I hate most right now is really a format, where the hip, smart person pushing the new and improved humiliates the stodgy, not-too-bright Mr. Old and Boring Stuff. The typical Mac commercials for instance. The current incarnation is the Vonage one, where smug sassy cute chick eventually pushes the hapless phone company guy off the screen.

Now I hate my local phone company, but I will never in a million years get Vonage, because I despise that kind of commercial. Any time you have to sell your product by making fun of the competition I figure you haven’t enough confidence in what you’re doing.
Great White Rat says:

August 21, 2008 at 9:20 am

NC Cop asks:

Has anyone claimed that Bush is stirring up the Russians so it can help McCain’s campaign yet??

Actually, yes. Take a short dive into the left blogosphere sewers and you’ll find some gems, like this bit of nonsense:

Meanwhile Bush is conveniently meeting with Putin at the Olympics in Beijing and lets it be known that if Georgia attacks Ossetia, the US will not “mind” — Wink Wink — an aggressive response from Russia.

So the tinfoil hats are claiming that Bush and McCain instigated the entire Georgia crisis to help the GOP campaign.

But then, doesn’t this mean that McCain also scripted Obama’s pusillanimous, wimpy response – and the backtracking that followed?

Impressive…don’t you want a president who can control the minds of his opponents?
Lorica says:

August 21, 2008 at 11:54 am

GWR, they will hold their noses and vote Hillary. Like I said, their justification is the only thing that is going to change. They will go from voting for BO, to voting against Mac. But they will still vote. Look at how many people said they would not vote for Mac if the was the nominee, alot of people have repented. Granted if he does get in the presidency the MSM will do everything in their power to manipulate him, and most likely he will be manipulated by their stories about him. It is going to be a hard fought battle to keep this guy going any further left than he already is. But there is hope. Anyway, back to earth. These people on the left will vote for Hillary, I don’t care what they say now, they will. – Lorica
Lorica says:

August 21, 2008 at 11:55 am

So you and Lorica watch much TV together?

Yes but I like to eat cheetos while doing so. – Lorica
Stephen says:

August 21, 2008 at 1:57 pm

I think the FedEx commercial is still brilliant. I still laugh at it.
Great White Rat says:

August 21, 2008 at 4:12 pm

GWR, they will hold their noses and vote Hillary.

Lorica, most will, yes, I agree. Some won’t. But I fully expect that before they do, they will put on an exhibition of juvenile proportions that would shame your average two-year old. That is the display I’d be looking forward to seeing.

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