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The worst commercials in TV history..

Lkeller said:
Of course, Cal was a radio DJ and host of his own county-western TV show (1950s and early 60s), so he knew what he was doing. And it worked. I no longer live in an area with a Worthington dealership, but if I'm not mistaken, Cal is still advertising on TV, though he's slowed down a lot, being in his late 80s and all.
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Cal and his dog Spot were escorted out of my town by the AG some years ago.

But we have had someone similar for many years - Tex Earnhardt. I have no idea why they call him 'Tex' because he was born in Mexico but his typical commercial features him sitting astride a large bull and ending every commercial with his trademark "This ain't no bull!".

Other commercials had his sons Hal and Jim Babe doing much the same thing.

Guy spoke at my son's 5th grade graduation some years ago. His commercials were better. ::)
 
Tim from Springfield said:
I was about ready to log off after submitting my initial reply--then the current Toyotathon campaign ad appeared (where customers at a Toyota dealer go into a panic and rush to get their hands on new Toyotas), which I can't stand either:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgoLsocif-I
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And now Toyota strikes again with another candidate for my "Worst Commercials in TV History" list--their latest chapter in their "Great Moments in Tailgating" campaign, shown during tonight's Sunday Night Football halftime show, featuring the bare-chested guys. This ad isn't on YouTube yet, but here's the general "Great Moments in Tailgating" website sponsored by NBC and Toyota:

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/32818441

This makes three Toyota commercials nominated for this worst commercial feat by me: last fall's "Saved by Zero" campaign, the latest Toyotathon ad I posted about earlier today, and the latest installment in "Great Moments in Tailgating." Makes me wonder this: if he was still with us today (and hadn't passed away late in June), what would have been next, perhaps during the Super Bowl--a Toyota commercial featuring Billy Mays?
 
Tim from Springfield said:
He very much reminds me of a Billy Mays wannabe, obnoxiousness and all.
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Speaking of Billy Mays, my son was watching "Lucha Libre" last night when lo and behold, here comes Billy Mays with his voice overdubbed by some gringo speaking espanol! It wouldn't have been funny except for the poor overdubbing! :D
 
It's hard to pin down the overall worst commercial, but anything with Billy Mays is terrible. Though it's sad he died, I'm glad that he won't be making any new commercials & infomercials. Vince Offer is just as annoying. At least he doesn't have the voice that Billy Mays had.
 
Dave said:
It's hard to pin down the overall worst commercial, but anything with Billy Mays is terrible. Though it's sad he died, I'm glad that he won't be making any new commercials & infomercials. Vince Offer is just as annoying. At least he doesn't have the voice that Billy Mays had.
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But then again, IMO it won't take long for the next Billy Mays to be found--there's Vince Offer and whoever the guy is that plays "Jimmy Football" on those Bud Light commercials that are prevalent on any NFL broadcast this season. Both are very good candidates to be the "next Billy Mays."
 
landtuna said:
Any ad relating to personal hygiene.....especially Pepto-Bismol.
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I think those "pink hotline" ads of theirs are stupid. OTOH, they've had a few good ones over the years. One of my faves turns a stereotype on its head. A Mexican gentleman is seen on a New York street, and addresses the camera. Something like: "Un día en los Estados Unidos, y me dió diarrea. ¡Gracias a Dios que hay Pepto-Bismol!" ("One day in the United States, and I got diarrhea. Thank goodness for Pepto-Bismol!") ;D
 
Going waaaaaay back...
When Bufferin first hit the shelves, they had this awful commercial featuring a drawing of a guy's head with three boxes in it to graphically show you what really happened in your head during your headache. I believe one box had a hammer pounding, with another showing something being squeezed to death and the third had something to do with electricity.

That commercial was shown ALL THE TIME and, of course, gave me a headache every time.
 
desertv said:
Ads so bad that they were good....two words..."Fred Rated" ;D
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Yeah, I actually miss those...they were so bad they were funny, which, I'm sure, was by design...although I must say that hot chick Shadoe Stevens had with him on those spots was always worth watching! ;D
 
Lkeller said:
I no longer live in an area with a Worthington dealership, but if I'm not mistaken, Cal is still advertising on TV, though he's slowed down a lot, being in his late 80s and all.
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Mercifully, the one Worthington dealership in Sacramento is gone, but while "Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal" wuz here, his spots were on the indie TV stations (I don't remember seeing them on the network affiliates), and one I remember was ol' Cal running past a row of cars with a tiger on a leash jumping from hood to hood (wonder how many hoods that tiger dented and what that did to the resale value of those cars?).
 
rickradio said:
desertv said:
Ads so bad that they were good....two words..."Fred Rated" ;D
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Yeah, I actually miss those...they were so bad they were funny, which, I'm sure, was by design...although I must say that hot chick Shadoe Stevens had with him on those spots was always worth watching! ;D
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We didn't get Fred Rated in the Bay Area, but for a short time, Shadoe's alter-ego here was "Boyd Wise" - a sleazy huckster selling Oldsmobiles for Lloyd Wise Oldsmobile in Oakland. They were "The Wise Guys" naturally. He substituted cars for electronics, and taped them on the car lot, but they were otherwise carbon copies of the Federated ads.

Very funny though...doesn't belong in this category.

BTW - 'the Wise Guys' expired a couple of years before Oldsmobile. Their last not-so-wise decision - trying to sell those hot new cars from Korea - Daewoo. We all know how that went.
 
"Mom, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure honey".
"Do you ******?"

"Barbara you up...BARBARA...YOU UP???

"I'd like to take a few moments to talk to you about...diahrea".

Beau Rick's hair salon with the grim faced people in wrinkly clothes getting their hair cut.
 
The long-running ad campaign for Secret deodorant "Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman", especially the ads where the guy wanted to use the stuff, but his wife won't allow him to, because "it's for women". Also, Comtrex cold medicine-circa late '70s-early '80s-where the husband's side of the medicine chest had so many different remedies while the wife's had only the Comtrex, which led me to thinking, did the wife want her hubby to suffer longer? To me, that's reverse sexism.
 


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