Which TV commercials do you hate?
Posted
Jan 26 2009, 12:02 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
We've gotten to the point that we can't stand most TV ads. We're inclined not to buy something if it's heavily promoted in commercials.
Sure, all ads present pumped-up claims of one sort or another, and many are pretty transparent: Guys who drink a certain brand of beer won't suddenly magnetize bikini-clad babes or be put in charge of Coach Brian Billick's private cooler. A face cream won't keep you looking 30-something until you croak from old age. Other ads target the gullible.
Some ads tick us off more than others, for a multitude of reasons. Here is the list of ads we really dislike, and a few others mentioned by other bloggers (no political ads are included, and we never, never watch infomercials, so they won't show up here).
- Male enhancement. We hate the cheesy grins on the couple.
- NutriSystem. If many people really do spend more than $12 a day on food, no wonder so many have mountains of debt.
- Any vehicle commercial insisting that 21 miles per gallon equals fuel economy.
- Ads with that annoying woman who lectures that the oil companies are good stewards of the environment and our financial well-being.
- Any commercial that says company such-and-such can make your huge tax or credit card debt shrink to pennies on the dollar or go away.
- Ads for Obama commemorative coins. These are so prevalent that the U.S. Mint issued a statement saying, "These items are not official United States Mint products." One coin dealer told ConsumerMan at MSNBC that they're "overpriced trinkets."
We found more inspiration at a fun site called Awful Commercials.
- The blanket you can wear. The ad isn't particularly misleading but the product is silly. Imagine actually showing up at a sporting event in one of those. People in the ad do. Awful Commercials lists other possible uses for this product, including "suicide cult start-up attire," graduation gown and bride's maid gown.
- The commercials that "tell us that coal is delicious and children should freebase it for healthy bones and posture." OK, so the editor at Awful Commercials exaggerates a bit.
Stephen J. Dubner at Freaknomics complained about closet-organizer ads in which "the owners of those closets always seem to possess exactly three pairs of (identical and very clean) pants or skirts but not a single accordion, hockey stick, papier-mache dragon, or any of the other stuff that actually lives in closets."
As an aside, beware acai berry ads with celebrity endorsements. The Better Business Bureau issued this warning: "Many businesses across the country are using the same selling model for their acai products: They lure customers in with celebrity endorsements and free trial offers, and then lock them in by making it extremely difficult to cancel the automatic delivery of more acai products every month."
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