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The worst commercials in TV history..

There's some tentacle of the Nanny State that wants to get rid of Ronald now...After he went to the trouble to quit smoking! I remember when the Arch Deluxe teaser ads were running ("McDonald's is growing up") that my brother thought they were leading up to the announcement that McDonald's was going to start serving beer.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
I remember when the Arch Deluxe teaser ads were running ("McDonald's is growing up") that my brother thought they were leading up to the announcement that McDonald's was going to start serving beer.

Believe it or not (according to Wikipedia), some European McDonald's do serve beer.
 
Fifth Third Bank is now running THREE spots during just one commercial break! Can you say "overkill"?

Their name is stupid enough. What exactly is a "fifth third" anyway? ::) (Probably the result of a merger, but couldn't they come up with a better name than that?)
 
firepoint525 said:
Fifth Third Bank is now running THREE spots during just one commercial break! Can you say "overkill"?

Their name is stupid enough. What exactly is a "fifth third" anyway? ::) (Probably the result of a merger, but couldn't they come up with a better name than that?)

I always got a laugh out of the name though Midwesterners seem to miss the humor in it. I mean, come on, their logo (5/3) is a fraction! And it's greater than one! It's not even like it's First Second bank - but Fifth Third!?! Wrong order and fairly far down the list. Weird. :D ;D :D

The whole thing is strange, but it sure hasn't been bad for business.... ::)
 
BRNout said:
firepoint525 said:
Fifth Third Bank is now running THREE spots during just one commercial break! Can you say "overkill"?
Their name is stupid enough. What exactly is a "fifth third" anyway? ::) (Probably the result of a merger, but couldn't they come up with a better name than that?)
I always got a laugh out of the name though Midwesterners seem to miss the humor in it. I mean, come on, their logo (5/3) is a fraction! And it's greater than one! It's not even like it's First Second bank - but Fifth Third!?! Wrong order and fairly far down the list. Weird. :D ;D :D
The whole thing is strange, but it sure hasn't been bad for business.... ::)
To run these three spots in just one commercial break, the commercial break has to be at least two-and-a-half minutes in length. Enough for these three idiotic spots, with unrelated commercials between each one of them.
 
Wonder if they did not pay for their advertising, and when they did they got overkill for their trouble. ;D

I'll never forget the station I almost advertised on once. I asked how they accepted payment, and the woman told me, "You have to pay up front if you want to advertise". I went elsewhere, and they accepted my check. Only an idiot does not know that advertising is paid for up front, but a bigger idiot does not know what you mean by, "How do you accept payment?".
 
The Safe-Step Walk-In Tub company is almost as annoying as Fifth Third in their advertising. They sponsor a program (in this case, the local noon newscast) and run an ad during every commercial break, only a slightly different ad each time. It is obvious that they are specifically sponsoring the program. "Call during this program" in one spot, and in the next one, something like "you only have a few minutes left to call." It sort of comes off like being an infomercial. ::) Their spokesman is Charlie Chase (of Crook and Chase fame).
 
azumanga said:
firepoint525 said:
What exactly is a "fifth third" anyway? ::) (Probably the result of a merger, but couldn't they come up with a better name than that?)
Yes, it was a merger between two Cincinnati banks, The Fifth National Bank and The Third National Bank, back in 1908, resulting in The Fifth Third National Bank of Cincinnati. It adopted its present name, Fifth Third Bank, in 1969.
More here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Third_Bank
On the subject of bank mergers, my former bank was the Old & Third National Bank. Yes, that name was the result of a merger. You may not have heard of them, but you may have heard of them by some of their more recent names: Commerce Union, Sovran Bank, Nationsbank, Commercial Bank (I think). This particular bank did not become Bank of America. They became Commercial Bank instead. By that time (1996 or so), I had moved to Nashville. When I was no longer able to use my bank card from my home bank (Nationsbank) at a local Nationsbank branch here in Nashville, I got fed up and changed banks. I've only had to deal with ONE name change since then.
 
Don't know how we got on the subject of bank mergers - but remember that Nation's Bank acquired Bank of America, it wasn't the other way around. The new entity decided to use the B of A name - that's all.

I live in San Francisco, the former home of the original B of A. When it happened, it was touted by Nation's Bank as a "merger of equals,' but the B of A corporate managers were quickly shown the door (given buy outs and early retirement), and the headquarters were moved to the Nation's Bank home in North Carolina (can't remember the city). It was a big deal here in the Bay Area.
 
Lkeller said:
I live in San Francisco, the former home of the original B of A. When it happened, it was touted by Nation's Bank as a "merger of equals,' but the B of A corporate managers were quickly shown the door (given buy outs and early retirement), and the headquarters were moved to the Nation's Bank home in North Carolina (can't remember the city). It was a big deal here in the Bay Area.

That North Carolina city would be Charlotte. Actually that is one big reason why Charlotte is the way it is today with their own subway/Light Rail, pro-sports teams like the NFL Panthers,upscale retail chains like Neiman-Marcus, hub for US Airways, and why that media market is considered a major maket..its all due to banking. There was a time back in the 1980's when Richmond and Charlotte were competing for such stuff but because of Virginia's "independent city" law as well as conservative growth ( Richmond had turned down American Airlines for a hub back in the 80's for example ) and North Carolina being "better for business", the rest they say is history.

Of course North Carolina today has among the highest unemployment rates in the nation and chances are that is due to the result of the banking industry.
 
Hey, LKeller, you want us back on topic? I'll bring us back on topic! ;D After all, it's my fault that we ventured off! :eek:

At any rate, it's worth noting that whenever we have a thread about the worst commercials of all time, it goes on for 20 pages, as this one has. But a comparable thread about the best spots will die after just two pages. Commercials are apparently designed to be annoying! :mad: Let's face it!

My new least favorite spot is the cervical cancer ad that is designed to look like a perfume commercial! ARRRGGHH!! It was actually designed to be annoying!! :mad:
 
firepoint525 said:
Commercials are apparently designed to be annoying! :mad: Let's face it!

Pretty much one could say ALL commercials in general such as the radio ad for Dollar General stores from 1986 which had featured an old MAN talking about....

Tampax Tampons !!!

...well it's your PERIOD !!! VERY VERY sorry about that ;D
 
The old t.v ads where someone is in the grocery store & the only thing on every single shelf is the product they're pushing. Like a whole aisle full of Final Touch. ::)
 
Tim from Springfield said:
Burger King strikes again tonight, almost ruining my enjoyment of CBS Final Four coverage. Their latest ad? (if it hasn't been mentioned here). Their Breakfast Muffin sandwich ad where the King breaks into "McDonald's headquarters" to obtain their secret Egg McMuffin recipe. Hideous as usual.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF86Rb-uFNE

With all of those weird Burger King ads, some even featuring violence and scenes where the "king" gets hit by a car, very surprised there hasn't been much in the way of complaints about them. If there was I haven't heard about it.

I guess its due to so many who are wrapped up with McDonalds like those and trying to force them to give up Ronald McDonald that they either don't know about the Burger Kings ads or they simply don't care. Or perhaps they don't believe a child would want to eat at a Burger King, Carls JR, Jack In The Box, etc...they only want to eat at McDonalds so they go after that one chain instead.
 
Tim from Springfield said:
Just saw an ad for "FreeCreditScore.com." And they also require enrollment in Triple Advantage to get that free score. Does this mean FreeCreditReport.com is "rebranding"? In fact, the guy on the FreeCreditScore.com is the same as that on Free Credit Report--new name, same scam, I guess (link below):

http://www.freecreditscore.com/

Free Credit Report.com has always required enrollment in Triple Advantage, but yes - it looks like they're rebranding. Probably because there were a lot of complaints that the consumer had to spend money to get the "free" service. So I guess they're now making it clear that you can get your credit score free, but getting the actual report costs you $$. Still a bit sleazy if you ask me, but less so than before.

There's also a competitor now - freescore.com, with Ben Stein ("Bueller? Bueller") as spokesperson.
http://www.freescore.com/
 
bk77 said:
Of course North Carolina today has among the highest unemployment rates in the nation and chances are that is due to the result of the banking industry.

As they used to say in Nawth Carolina "Readin' Writin' an' the road to Richmond". ;D
 
I see now that the yogurt commercial has gotten mom outa the way, so that there will be no reason to involve her in future endeavors, seein' as how "we told ya so, but you had to drag mom into the picture". LOL

Man, I did marketing in high school - back in the day when you actually had to work for it.
 


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