The worst commercials in TV history..

[firepoint525]

The Progressive insurance commercials with the woman
who works in a Staples-like store that sells insurance plans
in packages (literally). Pardon the possible sexism, but I
can't even stand to look at her!

My wife can't stand those commercials either or anything Geico..

The GEICO ads don't make sense because they are running several unrelated ad campaigns at once: the gecko, the caveman, etc. I wish they would at least axe the caveman! : I remember calling them once for a quote, and the customer service person there telling me, "we're (meaning themselves, GEICO) twice as much!" So call them (and others) for quotes periodically, but don't expect to change anything, especially if your current company is already giving you great rates and service.

 

[azumanga]

I remember calling them once for a quote, and the customer service person there telling me, "we're (meaning themselves, GEICO) twice as much!"

"15 minutes could cost you 15% or more on car insurance."

 

[rwells2265]

The Progressive insurance commercials with the woman
who works in a Staples-like store that sells insurance plans
in packages (literally). Pardon the possible sexism, but I
can't even stand to look at her!

If there's any sexism to be pardoned, it's in the commercial where the (clearly whipped) guy is wearing that "European Shoulder Bag."

Sexist attitudes are rampant in many TV commercials, and it's not against women.

--Russell

 

[Stanislav]

The Progressive insurance commercials with the woman
who works in a Staples-like store that sells insurance plans
in packages (literally). Pardon the possible sexism, but I
can't even stand to look at her!

My wife can't stand those commercials either or anything Geico..

The GEICO ads don't make sense because they are running several unrelated ad campaigns at once: the gecko, the caveman, etc. I wish they would at least axe the caveman! : I remember calling them once for a quote, and the customer service person there telling me, "we're (meaning themselves, GEICO) twice as much!" So call them (and others) for quotes periodically, but don't expect to change anything, especially if your current company is already giving you great rates and service.

The new spot with Elmer Fudd is cute, though. That's Billy West, BTW, doing a quite good Elmer, very close to Arthur Q. Bryan's original.

 

[vchimpanzee]

ANY of the Alltel commercials with Chad & the sales guys. I loathe them all enough to tune out & not come back.
Also, I can't remember the product but I think it was a kids lactaid type shake commercial with the mother & the very young daughter in the store. Mother asks "how about roast beef?" child answers "I fon't like roast beef"...mom says "how about chicken"...reply..."I don't think I like chicken"

YOU'LL EAT WHAT IS PUT ON YOUR PLATE OR YOU WILL STARVE!!!

I loved the Chad commercials, dating back to when "Can you hear me now?" guy hit on Catherine Zeta-Jones. They don't run here any more. We had full-page newspaper ads where Chad and the real "Can you hear me now" guy were together.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The Progressive insurance commercials with the woman
who works in a Staples-like store that sells insurance plans
in packages (literally). Pardon the possible sexism, but I
can't even stand to look at her!

My wife can't stand those commercials either or anything Geico..

I actually switched to GEICO because of their great ads. I was going with one of several companies that could get me better rates, though GEICO didn't do much for me until the woman suggested my car was so old I shouldn't even cover it. I don't think my newer car is covered either. It's just the liability insurance required by law.

 

[LKellerIII]

The Progressive insurance commercials with the woman
who works in a Staples-like store that sells insurance plans
in packages (literally). Pardon the possible sexism, but I
can't even stand to look at her!

My wife can't stand those commercials either or anything Geico..

I actually switched to GEICO because of their great ads. I was going with one of several companies that could get me better rates, though GEICO didn't do much for me until the woman suggested my car was so old I shouldn't even cover it. I don't think my newer car is covered either. It's just the liability insurance required by law.

Yeah - I like the Geico ads too...can't believe they're entered for consideration in the "Worst" category. I like the Gecko with the British accent. Their ads work, too - I actually called Geico to compare rates, but my current auto insurance carrier won...they were considerably cheaper than Geico...21st Century.

 

[firepoint525]

A couple of broad categories of commercials that I absolutely detest: anything involving "boys" who remove their baseball caps to be revealed as girls. That has been done to death!

And the "baby Bob" effect: babies that appear to be "singing," "dancing," or "talking." There was even one (a Pepsi commercial, I think) where a baby appeared to be "flirting" with Cindy Crawford! :

 

[bpatrick]

Add the Mucinex commercials with the computer-animated
green gremlin(s) that are supposed to represent mucus in
one's sinuses. The whole concept is appalling enough, but
the gremlins get on my nerves with their gravelly voices.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Add the Mucinex commercials with the computer-animated
green gremlin(s) that are supposed to represent mucus in
one's sinuses. The whole concept is appalling enough, but
the gremlins get on my nerves with their gravelly voices.

"Those aren't gremlins...They're BOOGERS!!!"

 

[nightfly61]

And the "baby Bob" effect: babies that appear to be "singing," "dancing," or "talking." There was even one (a Pepsi commercial, I think) where a baby appeared to be "flirting" with Cindy Crawford!

Especially the one where the baby pukes on himself. Nothing like watching that while eating.

Did I mention the commercial for the nose hair trimmer, where they cut the nose hair, then dump it out on the table? THAT's reaaaally sickening.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Surprised nobody's mentioned the Sales Genie commercials that made fun of people from China and India.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

I used to think that the circa-late '70s/early '80s Oil of Olay commercials were some of the worst, IMO--mainly because as a young child the Oil of Olay label design used to scare me (mainly the small circle drawing of the woman applying lotion to her face). This 1979 Oil of Olay ad on YouTube had some rather creepy background music, IMO--I probably would have freaked out a few seconds into the ad as a young boy watching this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF9spKKR01U&feature=related

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Apparently this commercial has been around for about a year by now, but last night during Fox's NFL playoff coverage I saw the Subway commercial (with the 1812 overture) illustrating the button-popping consequences of not starting the New Year's diet off right with Subway sandwiches. I understand the point, but can't stand the ad. Why couldn't Jared had been used to illustrate a similar point instead--rather than examples of people losing their buttons in a public restaurant?

Anyway, the ad is on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsZFsZw5jtU

 

[nightfly61]

Anything that starts out with..."If you...or someone you know..."

 

[David67]

K-tel's Pure Power record commercial from 1977(with England Dan and John Ford Coley,Kiss,The Sylvers,Alice Cooper and others). I don't think it gets any more cheesy or crappy than this! ;D

 

[LKellerIII]

K-tel's Pure Power record commercial from 1977(with England Dan and John Ford Coley,Kiss,The Sylvers,Alice Cooper and others). I don't think it gets any more cheesy or crappy than this! ;D

You mean...this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkU1teKNjwQ

Yes, extremely cheesy and crappy.

 

[firepoint525]

K-tel's Pure Power record commercial from 1977(with England Dan and John Ford Coley,Kiss,The Sylvers,Alice Cooper and others). I don't think it gets any more cheesy or crappy than this! ;D

You mean...this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkU1teKNjwQ
Yes, extremely cheesy and crappy.

I have that record! And several others like it! I picked mine up at a consignment shop in the late '80s, at a time when these songs weren't being played on the radio anymore, and I didn't think that they would ever be back. I've now had these records longer than the original owner(s) had them! And I have those Pure Power records, too! Guilty pleasures! (Of course, they had to be advertised on TV so they could make that "as shown on TV" claim on the records!)

 

[azumanga]

Some of these bad ads are for prescription drugs -- one of the most-recent is for a prescription drug to stop smoking (forgot the brand), which features "Lisa" taking about how the drug worked for her. This was a 2-minute ad, though 90 seconds of it was disclaimers -- Lisa would talk about her experiences, then an announcer would drone about the side effects and warnings as Lisa just sits there. By the time he finishes, Lisa would say that the drug worked for her, and the annoncer would say "see your doctor to see if so-and-so is right for you." (The full-page newspaper ad version, also featuring Lisa, is 20% ad copy and 80% disclaimers.)

I swear, with more and more drugs coming on the market that could hurt you as well as help you, they'll need to buy infomercial time just to make room for the disclaimers.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Some of these bad ads are for prescription drugs -- one of the most-recent is for a prescription drug to stop smoking (forgot the brand), which features "Lisa" taking about how the drug worked for her. This was a 2-minute ad, though 90 seconds of it was disclaimers -- Lisa would talk about her experiences, then an announcer would drone about the side effects and warnings as Lisa just sits there. By the time he finishes, Lisa would say that the drug worked for her, and the annoncer would say "see your doctor to see if so-and-so is right for you." (The full-page newspaper ad version, also featuring Lisa, is 20% ad copy and 80% disclaimers.)

If the commercial you're talking about is for Chantix, those are some SCAAAARRRYYY side effects! (anger, mood swings, depression, thoughts of suicide...I don't smoke, but you might be better off smokin' than takin' that stuff!!!) Along the same line, isn't there some sort of pill that women who may become pregnant aren't even supposed to touch for fear of "a certain specific birth defect"?