Well, this one's out of context of the thread a bit, as it's not a commercial (instead a more creative form of advertisement), and I don't think it's bad. On the contrary, I think it's halarious. But since we're talking about ads:

http://www.atomichttp.com/?p=44

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

"A long time ago, yet somehow in the future"

... and it's entirely between the ears.

Wallet.

[minirant] "Diets" don't work. "Diet drugs" don't work. It's not about losing weight and stopping. It's about the permanent lifestyle change: eat less, move more. [/minirant]

Of course, the trick is in motivating oneself long enough to let the mortar dry on that life change. I haven't learned how to do that yet.

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New! It combines the power of science with the gentleness of your mother's best intentions!
A new miracle technique, we apply homeopathic methods to achieve scientific efficaciousness
for dilutions WAY beyond Avogadro's Limit. It's New! It's Fresh!
It's Placebo^[tm] Brand Power Drink! *[Use as directed. May increase kidney function.]

Man, I'm glad I finished my drink ten minutes ago.

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New! It combines the power of science with the gentleness of your mother's best intentions!
A new miracle technique, we apply homeopathic methods to achieve scientific efficaciousness
for dilutions WAY beyond Avogadro's Limit. It's New! It's Fresh!
It's Placebo^[tm] Brand Power Drink! *[Use as directed. May increase kidney function.]

Any Ambulance Attorney Ad.

Another is the ads for change counting machines in supermarkets and such. "Convert your change into CASH!" Huh?


And most of them charge 8-10% for the privledge.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Kevin Curgis (sp?) is the local Ambu-chaser around here. All his commercials start with his back to the camera, then he turns around and walks forward as the camera tracks back. His meanacing, constipated facial expression screams "I'll fight for you! And when we lose, I'll fight you for absurd fees!"

Granted, I can't say anything one way or the other about him. Never met him. Never used him. Never plan to use him. But his commercials hardly fill me with the confidence I'd be looking for in an attourney.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

"A long time ago, yet somehow in the future"

Anytime I see a Q-Ray commercial I get angry

Pete

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PJE

There's so much I don't know about astrophysics. I wish I had read that book by that wheelchair guy.

Commercials for medicines I am to young to need.

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Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"The only way to explore the universe is to go and look." - Brian Cox
Well, the best way to find out is to go there and, find out. - Raven's Cry
'Evolution and science are one thing, but you don’t mess with Yoko Ono. Everybody knows that. ' - 386sx

Then there's this latest offering from Dell



in which they assure you that their expert auto mechanics will build you a better computer.

The only thing Dell didn't do was dig up Robert Palmer to croon a tune in the foreground.

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

Given the limited resolution of the picture, I hate to tell you what the person bending over appears to be doing.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Which reminds me...

The Pepto Bismol Shuffle... a sort of chorus line where various characters mimic the disorders. "Upset stomach, indigestion, (sumpthin sumpthin), diarrhea..."

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Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity.
Isaac Asimov

Some things are best left to the imagination.

I guess I could go with higher-resolution MPEGs and screen grabs, but I don't think the current subject matter deserves it.

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

Ah, the original "Ickey" shuffle!

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A person's name, or a mark representing it, as signed personally or by deputy, as in subscribing a letter or other document.

There are three types of commercials that make me want to throw the remote into the TV:

1) Any of those "as-seen-on-TV" commercials that that make humanity look like a bunch of dumbclucks who deserve to die;

2) Infomercials, 'nuff said;

and 3) Any ad that tries to guilt-trip you into doing something. That's not the way you reach people.

- Maha "ad'ing 2 and 2 together" Vailo

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When you get down to it, Science answers how. Religion answers why. - hippietrekx

You make me think of prescription medicine commercials...
Which makes me think of the song by Lazy Boy: "Underwear goes inside the pants"

Speaking of bad commercials, I had to comment to my g/f about a Cadillac commercial that was on last night during...well...I'd rather forget about the game...but anyway, the narrator/driver told a nice little story about a fly, who saw a bunch of other flies so he went to join them. Turned out it was a fly strip. Then a line that basically said, "Don't be a conformist, buy our car!"

I had two problems with that:
1) Media is mass-marketing. That's basically saying, "Don't be a conformist, EVERYBODY buy our car! Wich equals, "Don't be a conformist, conform to us!"
2) It's a frigg'n Cadillac...like I'm not buying a Cadillac because I want to be a sheep, and not because I don't have $35k to spend on a sedan....

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

"A long time ago, yet somehow in the future"

Originally Posted by Larry Jacks
I really can't complain, though. She once said, "Whatever makes you happy" so I went and bought an airplane. She says she'll never say that again.

Man, I'm glad I finished my drink ten minutes ago.

Yeah, I'm lucky. Some guys would catch a bad case of AIDS (aviation induced divorce syndrome) if they pulled that stunt. I figured I had one shot so it might as well be a good one.

The ones that tell you absolutely nothing about anything. A generic short film or music video with a logo at the end. They might as well say "Place product here."

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Commercials that pretend to be Public Service Anouncements. Like that "Save the Greenbacks" one. There will be a time and place when all environmental problems are under control and humor like that will be acceptable, but now is not that time.

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Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"The only way to explore the universe is to go and look." - Brian Cox
Well, the best way to find out is to go there and, find out. - Raven's Cry
'Evolution and science are one thing, but you don’t mess with Yoko Ono. Everybody knows that. ' - 386sx

Those truck commercials (Ford? Chevy? Not-effective-brand-placement? Bingo!) where they do stupid stuff to show how tough the truck is.

"For all those times you accidently fall off a 2,000 ft cliff while towing an aircraftcarrier, landing in molten pit of lava."

Like the ones with Mike Rowe (he's the only reason I don't absolutely detest those commercials). They had one last night where a train was chained to a chasis, with a pole inbetween. The train drove off, straining then eventually breaking the chain, without the casis ever so much as flexing. You know, for the days when you need to strip your truck down the the chasis, and use it to anchor a freight train. Happens to me at least once a week....

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.

"A long time ago, yet somehow in the future"

The Marine Corps commercials where a sword-wilding guy is running through a videogame-like labyrinth of giant monsters, only to turn into a Marine in dress uniform. Yeah, cause our country really needs defending against Dragons and giant lava men.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort