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The worst commercials in TV history..
- Thread starter mleach
- Start date
Some of the pharmaceutical ads are just awful! First of all, we have those Cialis ads where the middle aged couple takes a look at each other and suddenly the kitchen furnishings flip over into some tropical paradise. Every time I see that, I pray that SNL will spoof it! So absurd! Not to mention the four-hour erection part.....
Then we have the depression med ads, which are so lame that they tempt you to join their pool of customers. The stilted acting and the dorky props (like a wind-up doll version of the actress). Really lame.
And, all those ads that are far too long (90+ seconds) with over half the time spent with a v/o about 'side effects' and warnings clipping along at record speed. There's this one ad for a depression med (I can't recall the product) that consisted of line drawn figures and the lines were tiny words that were revealed as the ad focused in on them. That ad was BRUTALLY boring!
Yep. drug ads definitely rank up there in the category of "worst".
Then we have the depression med ads, which are so lame that they tempt you to join their pool of customers. The stilted acting and the dorky props (like a wind-up doll version of the actress). Really lame.
And, all those ads that are far too long (90+ seconds) with over half the time spent with a v/o about 'side effects' and warnings clipping along at record speed. There's this one ad for a depression med (I can't recall the product) that consisted of line drawn figures and the lines were tiny words that were revealed as the ad focused in on them. That ad was BRUTALLY boring!
Yep. drug ads definitely rank up there in the category of "worst".
Sounds about as bad as "When I say Hillshire, you say Farm...Go Meat!"
Edit: If we wanna go back a few years, how about Geritol and "My wife...I think I'll keep her."?
N
nightfly61
Guest
"Hi, I'm Earl Schide...I'll paint ANY car, ANY color for only $99.95"
and
"Hi...THIS is Rick Case...Need a cycle?"
and
The current ads with the vikings doing gross & stupid things mixed into modern society. Can't recall what it's for. Close to as bad as the Geico Cavemen-and the idea to turn it into a t.v show!
and
"Hi...THIS is Rick Case...Need a cycle?"
and
The current ads with the vikings doing gross & stupid things mixed into modern society. Can't recall what it's for. Close to as bad as the Geico Cavemen-and the idea to turn it into a t.v show!
nightfly61 said:
That's Earl Scheib, and I'm old enough to remember when it only cost $39.95 - "no ups, no extras," ...whatever that meant. I bought a used car with a Scheib paint job once. It wasn't bad, actually.
BRNout said:
There was also a similar ad for Chantix, a drug that helps smokers stop smoking -- one ad features a woman singing the praises for the drug; I swear that ad is two minutes long, with 90 seconds spent on side effects and warnings, including warnings about depression and suicide.
There was another ad recently for a birth control drug that featured a Buzby Berkeley-style musical number with the ladies singing "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday..."; talk about a potential earworm. This was followed by a follow-up ad featuring young women seeing that same commercial and talking about it -- how tacky can you get?
S
searadiofreak
Guest
The drugs ads are required to include this information. Similar to when you see a magazine ad and a page or two of small print disclaimers. Don't blame the drug makers for this, blame federal regulations. In the end, probably a good thing to protect the public from well-intentioned, but flawed drugs. There have been quite a few of those in the past decade, and those are just the ones approved.
searadiofreak said:
But if many prescription drugs are still dangerous to some, why did the FDA allow prescription drug ads in the papers, magazines and TV, if they are required to include a litany of disclaimers and warnings? If a person is sick, they're better off getting advice from their doctor, instead of seeing an ad on TV and telling their doctor that they want the drug on TV. Most allergy medicines have it easy -- many of them only have a brief disclaimer, for a nosebleed or sore throat.
I remember back in the day that the only place to see prescription ads on TV was on Lifetime, during the Sunday "Lifetime Medical Television" block for physicians -- and even then they had to have a separate program for all the disclaimers for drugs that were advertised, just like the print ads (which then were limited to the trade magazines).
I just witnessed this work of art for the first time within the last 10 minutes during Fox's coverage of the Bears-Cowboys game: the new "Breakfast at BK" ad--song, flute and all. On YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCF3z-a1G9M
IMO, some of the ads I've been seeing during NFL and college broadcasts so far this season (and to some extent even during March Madness coverage last season) have seemed, to me, that if a similar ad had been created 10-15 or so years ago, it would have most likely been used as a Super Bowl ad (including the forementioned Breakfast at BK ad). What do you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCF3z-a1G9M
IMO, some of the ads I've been seeing during NFL and college broadcasts so far this season (and to some extent even during March Madness coverage last season) have seemed, to me, that if a similar ad had been created 10-15 or so years ago, it would have most likely been used as a Super Bowl ad (including the forementioned Breakfast at BK ad). What do you think?
Also another ad from today's NFL broadcasting easily makes the worst list for me: the Miller Lite ad with the guy wearing what appeared to be women's red underwear in a bar (after a gorgeous female bartender gave him a beer).
azumanga said:
Antidepressants that are really psychotropic depressants which warn that their product might make you depressed enough to contemplate killing yourself - the market is flooded with them, starting with Prozac. Do any of those disclaimers add that the drug will permanently alter a person's total brain chemisty?
Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Chantix - every last one of them. And now a new one that I forgot: Pristique - so refreshing sounding!
Five words: Lifetime - Television To Create Depressed Women
...kinda like Anacin here and Anadin there ;-) ...azumanga said:
So many drugs made in Canada and purchased from Canada, except forbidden for consumers to pay less because the FDA didn't approve them for consumers to buy without the huge markup in America.
Must be an inconvenient part of NAFTA that we got shoved at us. It was a wonderful thing in early-mid 1990s, so long as it did not really benefit Americans.
Must be an inconvenient part of NAFTA that we got shoved at us. It was a wonderful thing in early-mid 1990s, so long as it did not really benefit Americans.
>>What exactly is a "fifth third" anyway? Roll Eyes (Probably the result of a merger,
Yes it is, as I understand it, but if you aren't listening closely it almost sounds like they're
saying "Pittsburgh Bank". Wikipedia entry: "Fifth Third's unusual name is the result of the June 1, 1908 merger of two banks, The Fifth National Bank and The Third National Bank, to become The Fifth Third National Bank of Cincinnati."
Then there was the merger of two steakhouses that gave us the name "Ruth's Chris"
Yes it is, as I understand it, but if you aren't listening closely it almost sounds like they're
saying "Pittsburgh Bank". Wikipedia entry: "Fifth Third's unusual name is the result of the June 1, 1908 merger of two banks, The Fifth National Bank and The Third National Bank, to become The Fifth Third National Bank of Cincinnati."
Then there was the merger of two steakhouses that gave us the name "Ruth's Chris"
Tim from Springfield said:
To add further, all of the latest variations of the "Breakfast at BK" ads STINK to high heaven, IMO. Seems like a new one every week so far this NFL season. Next time I ever have a fast-food breakfast, I'll just go see Ronald and Co.
Tim from Springfield said:To add further, all of the latest variations of the "Breakfast at BK" ads STINK to high heaven, IMO. Seems like a new one every week so far this NFL season. Next time I ever have a fast-food breakfast, I'll just go see Ronald and Co.
I believe those Breakfast @ BK ads are also regional as in some ads are made for some parts of the US. The one BK ad I had seen on local Denver TV showed a heavy set bearded guy ( think Kevin James in the movie "Grown Ups" ) saying "..this daddy wants breakfast at BK..WOOF ! " then he starts smoking a cigar. Same ad shows a shirtless young guy with black tribal tattoos up and down his arms and with a cigarette behind his ear and some guy jumping from a second story window to join in the parade. Meanwhile in West Virginia my sister-in-law swears that in the BK ad she had seen a guy actually dipping skoal while half the other guys all sported shaved heads and goatees.
Shaved heads, goatees, cigars, skoal, tattoos, being shirtless, cigarettes behind the ears, jumping from windows..what does any of this have to with the breakfast menu at Burger King?
Tim from Springfield said:Tim from Springfield said:
To add further, all of the latest variations of the "Breakfast at BK" ads STINK to high heaven, IMO. Seems like a new one every week so far this NFL season. Next time I ever have a fast-food breakfast, I'll just go see Ronald and Co.
Burger King has the WORST marketing department of any major corporation on Earth! Their ad campaigns are just awful. Honestly, they seem like they are designed by a bunch of 14 year old deliquents who are forced to prepare BK ad campaigns as punishment for whatever vandalism they did at school. ;D
Honestly, the creepy king, the fighting chicken, etc. are not appetizing in the least. Then again, nor is BK's food. None of it entices me into going to a Burger King for lunch. McD's kicks their a**es in every way - from the ads to the food. So, for the category of worst overall series of ad campaigns, BK wins in a landslide.
On the other hand, all those Taco Bell ads for the XXL Chalupa that I saw during the Bears-Panthers game yesterday had me eager to try one. So, that's where we went for lunch and it was very tasty indeed. See, that's an example of a great ad - as it generated sales rather than ridicule.