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John's Blog

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day....Teach him to use the internet and he won't bother you for weeks!

Monday, October 23, 2006

Advertising Rant



So many commercials today have me scratching my head and wondering, "what were they thinking?" Although after viewing this old ad for the Chrysler Cordoba, it reminds me that sometimes those fond memories of old commercials might not be founded in reality. But who among us doesn't get a warm, fuzzy feeling when hearing the words "rich corinthian leather"?

Most of the current batch of TV ads usually sparks a debate in our household over their intent and effectiveness. Inevitably, a commercial will bug one of us and not the other. The wife hates the new Geico commercial with the caveman going through the airport, and thinks it doesn't work. Myself, I've been a huge fan of the caveman series, and I just can't get enough. But I'm not a big Gecko fan.

She also HATES the commercial with the dancing scissors that run around cutting up credit cards. This could be from the ugly imagery of the attacking scissors, or the unpleasant thought of cutting up credit cards, I'm not sure which. The ones that really set her off recently are the ones for VW, where they have a guy playing a guitar. She didn't recognize Slash or Nigel and thought they were stupid. But now there's a third one with a guy plugged into a Beetle convertible and I don't have a clue who the heck he is. Suddenly, I see things her way.

But a few more that get under my skin include: ANY that include the Travelocity gnome or the BK "King", the Old Navy commercials where people are flying ("get your fash-on"), and the equally obnoxious (but less repetitive) follow-ups to the Head-On commercials featuring endorsements. And a disturbing trend I've noticed on the radio are the ads that just repeat the same short message over and over again, in the style of "Head On; apply directly to the forehead..." which can't be a good sign.

Now that the cooler weather is here, the Lexus "December To Remember" campaign can't be too far behind. These obnoxious ads feature people who fail to select a more traditional Christmas gift and decide to buy a $40,000 vehicle instead. The year I do that, there will no doubt be a "foreclosure to remember" as well. And the ads feature a piece of classically styled music (now ruined for me) that causes a battle for the remote to hit the mute button.

Speaking of car ads, after viewing this Toyota one, I'm sure glad I opted for a Honda instead since I'm not sure I could handle the maintenance on this model.
|| JM, 8:06 AM

4 Comments:

I'm glad I don't watch T.V. that often. I do hate those Head On! commercials, even the ones that acknowledge how annoying they are.
Blogger Frederick, at 10:04 AM  
Wait, there's a Lexus that ONLY costs $40K? Where can I sign up??

I'm with you though, those ads are obscenely obnoxious. Gimme a break.

I'm a fan of the original "Cave Man" ads -- mainly the one where the commercial producer tries to smooth things over with an expensive dinner. But the one with cave guy in the airport really didn't do anything for me.
Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:12 PM  
So I guess the wife's instincts were correct, but I still like it. Maybe it's a woman thing...us "cavemen" have to stick together perhaps?
Blogger JM, at 11:21 PM  
I love those cavement commercial; and I'm definitely female...keep trying! :)-tk
Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:52 PM  

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