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Advertising symbols and spokespersons that you don't like

There are a few (well maybe quite a few) advertising spokespersons that really annoy me. Those damn Charmin bears, for example. Not enough that we have to suffer bears being pink and bright blue, but we are to buy into the idea that bears use toilet paper too? No wonder the occasional grizzly dope slaps the hell out of a human every now and then. I would too.

Then there is Ronald McDonald. Aside from the fact that clowns are inherently creepy, this one is dehumanized to the point of being a perpetually happy child molester. At least that's how he comes off to me. I can just see when the cameras stop rolling, that perpetual smile drops and he slumps down in a wooden chair in some dive, as he drags on a cigarette held in one hand and grasps a beer in the other.

Then there is the anorexic blonde pantsuit woman who prances around and tells us how much people want "energy from all sources." Translation, "We're not really an oil company, we're a diversified energy provider." Yeah, okay. I'm not buying it. You're actually the face that George Bush and his oil field friends have decided to slap up to provide cover for the fact that they don't want the kind of regulation that might have prevented what we are seeing in the Gulf of Mexico right now. Aside from that, you'd probably call the cops on me if I walked through your neighborhood.

Ford may be making good cars these days, but it's too late. I did have a bad Ford experience with an Escort once, but I was willing to give them another chance until Bill Ford started appearing in the company's advertisements with the slogan "No limits." That tore it. It was just the wrong message for this ecologically aware conservationist and environmental activist. It was counter to everything I know to be true, and I haven't been able to look at a that ford blue oval since without wanting to throw up a little.

The Geico gecko is alright, even though I know he's there in leu of anything of substance the company has to offer. The Aflac duck though, has got to go. The same with those animated kids with the giant heads that dance around for Pop Tarts or whatever they're selling. If I have to eat fast food, I prefer Burger King, but they can keep "the king" character. See the objections to Ronald McDonald above (but with even a creepier, college boy rapist sort of vibe). Didn't really care for the ole "Oven Mitt" character either. The Pillsbury dough boy was okay, as long as his only line was to laugh when poked in his tummy. Let's face it, he's not Ian Mckellen. No dialogue works best for him.

Billy Mays always worked best with the sound off. Actually I choreographed a dance once using Billy's gestures as the primary source of material. The Windex crows always remind me of the Car Talk guys, Tom and Ray. Do you think they do the voiceovers? And who can forget the Dos Equis guy. That's probably who Dick Cheney is in his dreams.

Who drives you nuts? Perhaps you're more laid back than I am about advertising hucksters.

Tags: Advertising, commercials, television

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Replies to This Discussion

Flo the Progressive insurance girl drives me nuts. Who go to an insurance store to buy insurance anyway? I also do not like the new E*Trade baby. He just doesn't seem as real as the original.
He is also a peeping Tom..


I can't wait for the little green lizard to move on, I'm sick of him.
Ms Farquar
The west coast isn't to local.

Is Cal still around?
The "Can you hear me now?" guy. I just want to speed dial that smirk off his face.
the anorexic blonde pantsuit woman

I wanna strangle that flkajs;ldkfoqi34putrq34iortlk - she looks like either Helen Hunt or Laura Linney, both of whom bring credibility to their work as actresses, whatever their political persuasion may be.

Geico used to drive me nuts - when they had the commercial with the squirrels clapping over having created a car accident. I never understood that commercial - auto insurance creating a commercial where the actors applaud an industry expense. And I don't like the cave man commercials - I mean, really - when are they gonna leave the poor guy alone? NEVER . . . and I can really identify with that . . .

McDs and Coke had a commercial featuring fist bump fireworks . . . I think I did a post around here on that. That pissed me off so much I wrote to the FCC - twice. It first appeared on the same day Dr. George Tiller was shot - May 31, 2009. The way the commercial incorporated the 'fist bump fireworks' led me to the conclusion this advertising alliance was applauding that murder, before it even hit the news.

I know sounds crazy. OF course it does. It sounds crazy because it IS crazy . . .

I could explain, but never mind.

Won't you all just accept that we should lynch some advertising executives on general principles alone, and take my word for it ? Trust me . . .

hehe!
You miss those dayz . . . and to think they were only a year ago . . . hmm

I was in a computer class several years ago, and something that struck me as interesting at the time was a claim made that research has shown sometimes a computer is more effective at producing effective marketing campaigns than people are . . .

and I think they must call it Hal . . .
You sure about that? Because I'm not - not at all. I think maybe HAL just got a little bit louder . . .
Oh yeah, I must have blocked the Swiffer spots from my mind. Really bad.
I like the Progressive girl, she's spunky.
Some commercials are good. I like this one because the first dog looks just like our dog Beau.

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