Dry/annoying commercials killing TSL

[davideduardo]

Ah yes, those bayonet base incandescent tower beacon bulbs. One in the top half of the beacon, and one lower. One has to climb above the beacon, loosen that giant wingnut, swing the top half of the beacon over carefully, so you don't break the lens. Then, with nothing to hold onto, lean down over the edge of the beacon housing twisting the bad bulb out of the socket. Eight out of ten times the glass envelope breaks off, leaving the stuck bayonet base in the socket. Following that moment of dissapointment, you get to spend the next fifteen to thirty minutes trying to deform/twist the bulb base out of the socket with a pair of needle nose pliers and penetrating oil. The wind is usually blowing hard, and sideways snow is always a bonus. Generally I'd replace both bulbs at the same time, even if one was blown out. When you own your stations, you do what it takes to save a few hundred dollars.

I always tested bulbs for 100 hours in the shop before using them. It's really frustrating to have to climb again when a bulb has infant mortality.

I built my own beacons with help from a shop that normally maintained refrigeration and ventilation equipment for stores and warehouses. Two bulbs on a bar, with a circuit that never totally turned either one off, but alternated between them. It met the local aviation authority requirements, and I got over 5 years of bulb life off of them.

Always double check the tool belt before climbing, too. Nothing like going up a few hundred feet and finding that the screwdriver or wrench that opens the lens is missing.

 

[blackgold]

How about the "Kars for Kids" jingle? 1-877-Kars-For-Kids! That's an annoyance if ever there was one.

 

[crainbebo]

I see something similar every so often. Usually at the registers, or at gas pumps. Those are short-lived as well.

Ah, GSTV. I see it at the Shell and Love's gas stations here. As soon as you pull down on the pump, it starts blabbing with commercials (the same ones on TV, like Progressive), stupid news from Cheddar, and WX forecasts. Jeez louise let me pump my gas!
I was at Fred Meyer in Yakima yesterday filling up to go back to E'burg. They have an annoying voice that asks you if you want some extra benefit to your fuel. NO!

Commercials that kill TSL? Every time I hear 'LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY PRESENTS...LIMU EMU!' Au-to-ma-tic button push. I hardly watch TV anymore, I got sick of that da*ned emu, and I still have to hear the emu and its stupid human mustached sidekick on the radio. Arrrghhh.
The other one? That da*ned hot tub commercial that begins with an alarm sound effect while the high-energy announcer yells "be advised!!" Be advised that I am changing your channel immediately and I don't want a hot tub, end of the story.
Also, ANY and ALL COVID-19 PSAs.

 

[crainbebo]

I've solved that problem by carrying a roll of Gorilla Tape(tm) around in my vehicles. A 4" long piece of tape vertically across the gas pump speaker solves that annoyance. So far, all the pumps at my local WaWa have been physically muted, as they all have a piece of tape over the speakers. As soon as the spots start, the tape comes out.

Seriously. Clever idea.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Every time I hear 'LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY PRESENTS...LIMU EMU!' Au-to-ma-tic button push. I hardly watch TV anymore, I got sick of that da*ned emu,

C'mon, Crain. Don't hate on the poor emu

 

[joebtsflk1]

C'mon, Crain. Don't hate on the poor emu

He's not hating the emu. He's hating horrible creative efforts. Absurdity and "funny" works once or twice, but after that it just becomes annoying.

 

[Mikey Radio]

My post was meant in jest, intended to inject a bit of humor into this particular discussion thread. Apologies; carry on..

 

[crainbebo]

Emus in real life = cute.
Emus in commercials = annoying.
Combine that with the Liberty x4 jingle and you have one annoying and awful commercial. A 2nd-grader could come up with a better jingle for Liberty Mutual. In fact, the last time I could tolerate a Liberty Mutual commercial was years ago when they were still using 'Human' by the Human League for their commercials. As soon as they went to the next campaign, known for the girl who named her car 'Braaaadddd', the mute button went on overdrive and I never looked back.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Emus in real life = cute.
Emus in commercials = annoying.
Combine that with the Liberty x4 jingle and you have one annoying and awful commercial. A 2nd-grader could come up with a better jingle for Liberty Mutual. In fact, the last time I could tolerate a Liberty Mutual commercial was years ago when they were still using 'Human' by the Human League for their commercials. As soon as they went to the next campaign, known for the girl who named her car 'Braaaadddd', the mute button went on overdrive and I never looked back.

I've chosen to summarize your thoughts in haiku form (5/7/5 syllables):

Crain finds emus cute
He just don't like Liberty
Their commercials stink

 

[crainbebo]

Accurate. The ads have stunk for years. From the time the stupid Brad girl started up, to now. I hate that mustached sidekick guy. In fact, my whole family hates their commercials now.

 

[Kelly A]

The agency who do the Progressive spots; Arnold Worldwide, are geniuses. Their writers are top notch, and come up with some really funny and clever lines for the Progressive spots. They've managed to turn Flo (Stephanie Courtney), and the supporting characters into media icons.
You can see Liberty Mutual and State Farm trying hard to catch up, but in my opinion, fall flat. That, and Progressive doesn't run the Flo spots into the ground like the Imu and Jake spots.

 

[Mikey Radio]

The agency who do the Progressive spots; Arnold Worldwide, are geniuses. Their writers are top notch, and come up with some really funny and clever lines for the Progressive spots. They've managed to turn Flo (Stephanie Courtney), and the supporting characters into media icons.
You can see Liberty Mutual and State Farm trying hard to catch up, but in my opinion, fall flat. That, and Progressive doesn't run the Flo spots into the ground like the Imu and Jake spots.

I once saw how much people like Flo and "Jake from State Farm" and others (Paul the Verizon guy, for instance) make, and was pretty shocked at how well they do financially. Then again, if these companies expect to lock them in, have them sign a non-compete and stick with the same ad campaign (for years, in the case of Flo), it takes $$. Especially considering how much a company can benefit financially from a successful and well-run ad campaign.

From a creativity standpoint, Geico's no slouch at times, either. The gecko was ok, but some of their spots have been really catchy and/or creative (the ones featuring well known people, including "voice of God" voiceover guy Don LaFontaine who's voice is recognized immediately from the amount of movie trailers he did) and one more recent favorite, the "clogging problem" spot.

 

[davideduardo]

Accurate. The ads have stunk for years. From the time the stupid Brad girl started up, to now. I hate that mustached sidekick guy. In fact, my whole family hates their commercials now.

Any ad that is based on humor is potentially a double edged sword.

In my home, Flo is the cause for an instant mute or channel change. The emu can be lightly amusing or dreadful, depending on each spot.

Insurance sales are based on "disaster and death" so they all try to stay away from that or to humorize it like the "bad things happen" ads.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Insurance sales are based on "disaster and death" so they all try to stay away from that or to humorize it like the "bad things happen" ads.

One company that's had a fun and interesting take on the "bad things happen" theme is Farmers Insurance and their "Hall of Claims" campaign.

 

[wadio]

I just spent an hour or so bending over our patio and courtyard low-voltage lamps to change bulbs and put anti-locking gunk on the lens cover threading. After it was over, I realized I felt more tired than when I'd climb the quarter wave towers of my 660 AM in Quito to change the bulbs!

Of course, that was 50 years ago!

... and the towers did not have a video to watch under the beacons.

I replaced my landscape lights with LED bulbs several years ago. Highly recommend. Now I've found other ways to hunt my back! 😟

 

[seatownmedia]

How about the "Kars for Kids" jingle? 1-877-Kars-For-Kids! That's an annoyance if ever there was one.

The worst. Instant tuneout. But important to remember tuneout spots are not necessarily ineffective!

 

[davideduardo]

I replaced my landscape lights with LED bulbs several years ago. Highly recommend. Now I've found other ways to hunt my back! 😟

Unfortunately, in this climate with the 120° and over summer days, ground level temperatures can be as high as 150° and those "lifetime° LED bulbs last 4 to 6 years at best.

 

[oldradiotapes]

I replaced my landscape lights with LED bulbs several years ago. Highly recommend. Now I've found other ways to hunt my back!

Try racing motocross for six years without a back brace! (Anybody wanna know how I found that out?) For some strange reason it didn't catch up to me until about five years after my last run.

 

[jimbo]

The gas pump ones are painful. By the time I get done filling my tank, I've usually had my ears assaulted with a few bits of outdated weather forecasting or sports scores, bookended by commercial spots that I don't watch.

The gas pumps have a mute button. The exact button varies but start punching them and eventually you get the right one.

Here’s How to Mute Those Annoying Gas Station Video Ads

https://youtu.be/c5E7VHc0JVg

www.reviewgeek.com

 

[boombox4]

Emus in real life = cute.
Emus in commercials = annoying.
Combine that with the Liberty x4 jingle and you have one annoying and awful commercial. A 2nd-grader could come up with a better jingle for Liberty Mutual.

The fact you hate it shows that it is effective: it's stuck in your memory, isn't it.

I think the Liberty radio commercials are indeed effective. The Liberty, Liberty, Liberty jingle is sharp. I don't watch TV, so I've only seen the emu on a few YT commercials, if and when it shows up.