Another day, another batch of truly annoying commercials to subject myself to, every time I turn on the radio.
There's a school of thought that argues that it doesn't matter if your commercial is annoying… that annoying can be a positive, since what really matters is that your commercial gets noticed, and annoying gets noticed. But these have got to go…
Accuvue 1 day disposable contact lenses
This one features an overly chipper couple, enthusing about their new 1-day disposable contact lenses. They're "often on the road, and glasses get in the way of working out," yadda, yadda, yadda. I visualize the epitome of the corporate marketing drone. At one point, the guy exclaims, "we're road warriors…" and all I can thing is, "Seriously? Did you really, un-ironically, refer to yourself as a 'road warrior'? What person, in real life, EVER refers to themselves as a road warrior?" And, more to the point, would you ever want to spend time with this person?
Annoyance level: Minor. This one's really just dumb.
Universal Studios — Summer is boring.
This one's almost entertaining in it's stupidity. Vapid blond (I'm visualizing here, since it's radio, but work with me) leads off with the priceless premise that "there's lots to do this summer… but most of it's boring!" Cue monotone backup announcer, who drones on with a list of obviously pointless and boring activities, while Ms. Vapid prattles on about how you could be spending that boring time at Universal Studios.
Now, pardon me for pointing this out, but don't we live in Southern California… one of the world's prime tourist destination? You can't spit in So Cal without hitting a theme park (or tourist, for that matter) and we're supposed to think "Oh yeah! We COULD go to Universal… why didn't we think of that before?!?"
The only way this campaign makes any sense is if it was intended to be ironic. But if that's the case, they forgot to convey that particular note to their voice talent, who sold that whole 'summer is boring' shtick to it's utmost.
Annoyance level: Moderate. Dumb and annoying. (Having said that, this one does cut through Dani's "I didn't even notice" defenses and incenses her no end. The stupid really gets to her and she rates this 'extreme' on the annoyance scale.)
Tecate Light — Bad Habits
This one's a real winner… guy starts off the commercial talking about his bad habit. Every few seconds, his cell phone rings and he must answer it. By the end of the ad, we learn that (surprise!) his bad habit has nothing to do with his cell phone, but is his choice of light beer.
The ad agency here gets points for being both annoying, and obscure. I kept thinking this was some kind of cell phone ad and wondering why they were talking about Tecate. I finally had to sit down and really listen to the whole thing (talk about torture) to figure out the point of it all. And I was left thinking 'Seriously? Misdirection? You've gotta be kidding.'
Annoyance level: High. Stupid and annoying leaves me switching stations each time this one comes on. So much for "annoying gets you noticed."
Hyundai "I appreciate my time"
But for sheer annoyance factor this month, there's this moron and his ads for Hyundai. He's apparently one of those 'power of positive thinking,' 'you can succeed if you only try,' 'failure is your own fault' kind of self-help types, taken to an annoying extreme. (He closes the commercial with — I assume — his trademark, "I appreciate my time." I reiterate… moron.)
But it's the lead-off to this ad that drives me nuts. He starts out in full-on tough love mode by saying that, if you're complaining about the price of gas, you probably drive a car that gets lousy gas mileage. Before he can even launch into his spiel for Hyundai, I'm left thinking "no you moron, at over $4.50 a gallon, I'm complaining about gas prices because they've almost doubled in a matter of months. I'd be complaining if I was riding a motorcycle, let alone your f'ing Hyundai. Will you please shut up and go away now?"
Annoyance level: Terminal. This guy sets my teeth on edge. I can't change the station fast enough.
And how did I forget THIS one? (Update 8/4/08)
"The most interesting man in the world" commercials from Dos Equis. Deep-throated announcer guy details the absurd 'accomplishments' of The Most Interesting Man in the World. Never have I heard a commercial more guaranteed to make me STOP using a product that I actually like.
Annoyance level: Extreme. Pretentious AND annoying. Quite the combination.
There's a school of thought that argues that it doesn't matter if your commercial is annoying… that annoying can be a positive, since what really matters is that your commercial gets noticed, and annoying gets noticed. But these have got to go…
Accuvue 1 day disposable contact lenses
This one features an overly chipper couple, enthusing about their new 1-day disposable contact lenses. They're "often on the road, and glasses get in the way of working out," yadda, yadda, yadda. I visualize the epitome of the corporate marketing drone. At one point, the guy exclaims, "we're road warriors…" and all I can thing is, "Seriously? Did you really, un-ironically, refer to yourself as a 'road warrior'? What person, in real life, EVER refers to themselves as a road warrior?" And, more to the point, would you ever want to spend time with this person?
Annoyance level: Minor. This one's really just dumb.
Universal Studios — Summer is boring.
This one's almost entertaining in it's stupidity. Vapid blond (I'm visualizing here, since it's radio, but work with me) leads off with the priceless premise that "there's lots to do this summer… but most of it's boring!" Cue monotone backup announcer, who drones on with a list of obviously pointless and boring activities, while Ms. Vapid prattles on about how you could be spending that boring time at Universal Studios.
Now, pardon me for pointing this out, but don't we live in Southern California… one of the world's prime tourist destination? You can't spit in So Cal without hitting a theme park (or tourist, for that matter) and we're supposed to think "Oh yeah! We COULD go to Universal… why didn't we think of that before?!?"
The only way this campaign makes any sense is if it was intended to be ironic. But if that's the case, they forgot to convey that particular note to their voice talent, who sold that whole 'summer is boring' shtick to it's utmost.
Annoyance level: Moderate. Dumb and annoying. (Having said that, this one does cut through Dani's "I didn't even notice" defenses and incenses her no end. The stupid really gets to her and she rates this 'extreme' on the annoyance scale.)
Tecate Light — Bad Habits
This one's a real winner… guy starts off the commercial talking about his bad habit. Every few seconds, his cell phone rings and he must answer it. By the end of the ad, we learn that (surprise!) his bad habit has nothing to do with his cell phone, but is his choice of light beer.
The ad agency here gets points for being both annoying, and obscure. I kept thinking this was some kind of cell phone ad and wondering why they were talking about Tecate. I finally had to sit down and really listen to the whole thing (talk about torture) to figure out the point of it all. And I was left thinking 'Seriously? Misdirection? You've gotta be kidding.'
Annoyance level: High. Stupid and annoying leaves me switching stations each time this one comes on. So much for "annoying gets you noticed."
Hyundai "I appreciate my time"
But for sheer annoyance factor this month, there's this moron and his ads for Hyundai. He's apparently one of those 'power of positive thinking,' 'you can succeed if you only try,' 'failure is your own fault' kind of self-help types, taken to an annoying extreme. (He closes the commercial with — I assume — his trademark, "I appreciate my time." I reiterate… moron.)
But it's the lead-off to this ad that drives me nuts. He starts out in full-on tough love mode by saying that, if you're complaining about the price of gas, you probably drive a car that gets lousy gas mileage. Before he can even launch into his spiel for Hyundai, I'm left thinking "no you moron, at over $4.50 a gallon, I'm complaining about gas prices because they've almost doubled in a matter of months. I'd be complaining if I was riding a motorcycle, let alone your f'ing Hyundai. Will you please shut up and go away now?"
Annoyance level: Terminal. This guy sets my teeth on edge. I can't change the station fast enough.
And how did I forget THIS one? (Update 8/4/08)
"The most interesting man in the world" commercials from Dos Equis. Deep-throated announcer guy details the absurd 'accomplishments' of The Most Interesting Man in the World. Never have I heard a commercial more guaranteed to make me STOP using a product that I actually like.
Annoyance level: Extreme. Pretentious AND annoying. Quite the combination.
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