c4countdown

What TV adverts really annoy you and why? And also which adverts do you like? Either past or present.

One that I think is really shit and annoying is the Curanail thing and the slogan is "It's better to have Curanail then criminails." It doesn't even make fucking sense. How the fuck does it get on the TV with such shit branding as that. Makes me want to rip all my hair out or something.

One advert that I like for completely stupid reasons is the Funky Pigeon one. I just love the voice of "funkypigeon.com". Awesome.

I don't see many adverts these days, but one I've noticed from watching stuff on itvplayer recently is that Colgate one where they stop some 'random' woman in a shopping centre and magically scan her teeth and there's this really retarded graphic and it's just so astonishingly bad. Genuinely worse than some of the shit you see on the Apprentice.

Michael Wallace wrote:I don't see many adverts these days, but one I've noticed from watching stuff on itvplayer recently is that Colgate one where they stop some 'random' woman in a shopping centre and magically scan her teeth and there's this really retarded graphic and it's just so astonishingly bad. Genuinely worse than some of the shit you see on the Apprentice.

I agree. When has your dentist ever done this??? Anyway, in real life, what are the chances of her going back the next day unless they are giving her a wad of cash? Trust me, as a market researcher I know this just wouldn't happen (and it's why I don't do consumer work!)

The ad I like at the moment is the Aldi one with the old dear who doesn't like tea. Shame the shop is so crap!

Compare the sodding Meerkat makes me want to rip my own eyeballs out. I don't care if it's an inventive marketing strategy, I want to destroy 'Aleksandr the Meerkat' and his unbelievably irritating faux-Russian accent, not to mention the word 'Simples'. Why do people like it?! Go Compare is similarly rage-inducing, I can't appreciate Funky Pigeon due to its blatant ripping off of Moon Pig, and confused.com drives me up the wall as well. Can't believe it's not even 10am and I'm already surfing a wave of vitriol, but there you go.

The current batch of Halifax ads (the 'radio station' ones) are dreadful. I particularly loathe the one with the two women where one's speaking into the mic and the other one's fading the music up and down. Why can't the stupid cow operate her own fader instead of looking at her friend (in what appears to be a state of nervous excitement, though god knows why) each time she wants it done for her? Then at the end the bloke brings her a cup of tea and, as she picks it up, the handle comes off the mug and tea goes everywhere. What's that meant to convey? Invest your money in the Halifax - we can't even afford decent tea mugs? Give me strength.

Then there's the latest Barclaycard 'contactless technology' one. These were slightly annoying when they started, in that they tell you next to nothing about the product and for some reason they cast particularly gormless looking blokes in them, but the concept is still quite neat - an entire city linked together by (initially) a giant water slide, and now a roller coaster in the current one. But what really gets my goat is when the bloke in the roller coaster is whizzing past an apartment block and looks through a window - to see a bare lady standing up in the bath, shaving her legs. Does he look even faintly embarrassed? Does she get angry and grab a towel to cover herself with before phoning the police? No - he smiles at her in a roguish sort of way... and she smiles back! What on earth is the message of that supposed to be - and what the FUCK does it have to do with contactless payment cards?

I find almost all adverts annoying. If I'm watching TV by myself, I put it on mute for the adverts.

I'm angry just reading this thread.

Adam Gillard wrote:I find almost all adverts annoying.

My subjective opinion (though I could probably put together some facts to support it) is that the 1970s and 80s were a golden period for imaginative, witty and memorable TV ads while most of today's are feeble in comparison, although I suspect what's happened is that, in terms of production values at least, things are more evenly balanced now - there were some great ads around when I was growing up but there were some shit ones too.

However, there are still occasionally some really good TV commercials. The Google Chrome 'It Gets Better' ad is astonishing, brave, uplifting and just absolutely fucking brilliant. One ad like this makes up for a hundred naff ones.

Ryan Taylor wrote:"Belly's gonna get ya" for Reebok. That left an impression on me as a kid.

Me too

Jon O'Neill wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:"Belly's gonna get ya" for Reebok. That left an impression on me as a kid.

Me too

At the next Co event I'm going to dress up as a massive belly and chase you around the room.

Jon O'Neill wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:"Belly's gonna get ya" for Reebok. That left an impression on me as a kid.

Me too

At the next Co event I'm going to chase you around the room.

The adverts I hate the most- by miles- are the Go Compare ones. Well, the ones without Jimmy Carr in, at any rate.

I watched a film I had taped from the tv years ago on VHS last night, something I haven't done in ages, and it was weird seeing all the old ads on it. It's weird as well to see how tame the dangerous driving ads were then compared to now. My least favourite ads at the mo are the maltesers when one of them says "naughty" and the other says "only X amount of calories of naughtiness". Please tell me even people on strict diets don't talk like that.
My favourite ads were actually on the radio. One for a van rental company that went, Person 1, "Who's the person to see for the best deals in van rental?" Person 2, "Dunno, who?" Person 1 "That's right, O'Donoghues".
The other was for chapstick. It was a rip off of Ferrero Roche and the ambassador's reception. The ambassador is going around welcoming all the guests in their native language and kissing them on the cheek. When he says "Cead mile failte" (the Irish welcome) a guy in a thick Dublin accent says, "Jaysus ambassador, your lips are tearing the face off me".

Ryan Taylor wrote:One advert that I like for completely stupid reasons is the Funky Pigeon one.

I've always assumed that the Funky Pigeon adverts must be made by the kids of whoever owns the company, as I can't possibly imagine that a professional ad agency would let something so cheap and tacky looking out of their doors. They're almost like anti-adverts.

All these ads with cats in them at the moment! What is it with cats? And I can't remember what most are for except one is for Friskies Go Cat. There's another one for some shit make of car and another with some cats as heavies/mobsters or some such like (no idea what it's for). They all give the impression to me that they're for cat food!

I'd never seen the Funky Pigeon ads so I just had a look on YouTube and I have to agree with Jim. Horrendous!

There's a Right Guard one at the moment (both as a standalone advert and a 'Breakfast on 4' ident) where the striker sends his shot over the bar into the crowd. The guy (with/without BO depending on whether it's before/after) catches the ball, and everyone is going fucking nuts around him, like it's the best thing that's happened ever. However, it's a light-blue striker who misfires, and the ball's clearly gone into the light-blue section of the crowd. Not sure why, but it really, really irritates me.

Phil Reynolds wrote:The current batch of Halifax ads (the 'radio station' ones) are dreadful. I particularly loathe the one with the two women where one's speaking into the mic and the other one's fading the music up and down. Why can't the stupid cow operate her own fader instead of looking at her friend (in what appears to be a state of nervous excitement, though god knows why) each time she wants it done for her? Then at the end the bloke brings her a cup of tea and, as she picks it up, the handle comes off the mug and tea goes everywhere. What's that meant to convey? Invest your money in the Halifax - we can't even afford decent tea mugs? Give me strength.

I was thinking about moving my Bank Account to Halifax because they do a £5 per month Reward account. But I didn't want them to think that I was signing up because of their awful, awful adverts.

I don't like the Harvester advert. I think it starts well and I enjoy the feel and sound of the advert and the timing for the first 30 seconds but then this bitch goes and opens her mouth and at the point she says "hold the corn on the cob, ok" I think she just ruins the previous 30 seconds.

Ryan Taylor wrote:I don't like the Harvester advert. I think it starts well and I enjoy the feel and sound of the advert and the timing for the first 30 seconds but then this bitch goes and opens her mouth and at the point she says "hold the corn on the cob, ok" I think she just ruins the previous 30 seconds.

Haha, that's awful. What's the point in doing the whole musique concrete shit if you then basically shove a bit of (bad) rapping in the middle?

Until I switched on the subtitles I thought she was giving them ' common' food and that she was some rude snob.

Michael Wallace wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:I don't like the Harvester advert. I think it starts well and I enjoy the feel and sound of the advert and the timing for the first 30 seconds but then this bitch goes and opens her mouth and at the point she says "hold the corn on the cob, ok" I think she just ruins the previous 30 seconds.

Haha, that's awful. What's the point in doing the whole musique concrete shit if you then basically shove a bit of (bad) rapping in the middle?

Most of the words fitted in quite well. But yeah that woman stands out like a sore thumb. Awful.

Jon O'Neill wrote:Most of the words fitted in quite well. But yeah that woman stands out like a sore thumb. Awful.

Defo, but they could have (e.g.) had it cutting between several waiters for each line of the order or something? That would work better (in my head, at least).

Ryan Taylor wrote:I don't like the Harvester advert. I think it starts well and I enjoy the feel and sound of the advert and the timing for the first 30 seconds but then this bitch goes and opens her mouth and at the point she says "hold the corn on the cob, ok" I think she just ruins the previous 30 seconds.

Agreed, I don't like that ad at all. Another doing my head in is for some hair product where the guy keeps saying if he wants to be this, he can, if he wants to be that, he can and all these different things that if he wants to be, he can. If I want to punch him in the face, can I?

Jon Corby wrote:There's a Right Guard one at the moment (both as a standalone advert and a 'Breakfast on 4' ident) where the striker sends his shot over the bar into the crowd. The guy (with/without BO depending on whether it's before/after) catches the ball, and everyone is going fucking nuts around him, like it's the best thing that's happened ever. However, it's a light-blue striker who misfires, and the ball's clearly gone into the light-blue section of the crowd. Not sure why, but it really, really irritates me.

Maybe they're the away crowd and their team's home strip is light blue.

It may be the light blue section but could you see a single football shirt? Even at Halesowen Town, half the crowd is wearing the club's strip (well, the shirt at least). The whole scenario is rubbish. I've never seen a whole stand leap up because someone caught a ball.

I find I get more annoyed than I ought to by all the ads that present white males as incompetent buffoons. How often do you see a family with a couple of savvy kids and a calm, assured mother all being tolerant of the idiot father? Or any time two people are playing a game, the white man always loses. I find I'm always re-running them in my mind with sexes reversed (commercial suicide), or everyone black (borderline illegal).

David Williams wrote:I find I get more annoyed than I ought to by all the ads that present white males as incompetent buffoons. How often do you see a family with a couple of savvy kids and a calm, assured mother all being tolerant of the idiot father? Or any time two people are playing a game, the white man always loses. I find I'm always re-running them in my mind with sexes reversed (commercial suicide), or everyone black (borderline illegal).

Yeah, really sucks being a white man, eh?

David Williams wrote:I find I get more annoyed than I ought to by all the ads that present white males as incompetent buffoons. How often do you see a family with a couple of savvy kids and a calm, assured mother all being tolerant of the idiot father? Or any time two people are playing a game, the white man always loses. I find I'm always re-running them in my mind with sexes reversed (commercial suicide), or everyone black (borderline illegal).

I tend to agree with you David. I often think that there would be an outcry if they cast a woman in some of those roles.

Come on, you two must be able to figure out the real reason for that. They need a figure of fun because that's funny, and it has to be constructed such that no one is going to think they're mocking the group as a whole. Given the general easy ride of white men in society, they're an easy choice.

the advert a few years ago where the man is making chicken fajitas whilst his 'girlfriend' treats him like a buffoon, really grinds my gears !

Charlie Reams wrote:Come on, you two must be able to figure out the real reason for that. They need a figure of fun because that's funny, and it has to be constructed such that no one is going to think they're mocking the group as a whole. Given the general easy ride of white men in society, they're an easy choice.

Of course I know the reason. I did say I get more annoyed than I ought to, but it still annoys me, and it doesn't make it right.

^ This

Just because you understand the reason for it doesn't mean you have to agree with it.

What isn't 'right'? What are you 'disagreeing' with? Because the only thing I can see that isn't right is the fact the world is full of prejudiced people, which surely goes without saying.

Ryan Taylor wrote:but then this bitch goes and opens her mouth

I think she's really cute and I like her bit of the advert

Michael Wallace wrote:What isn't 'right'? What are you 'disagreeing' with? Because the only thing I can see that isn't right is the fact the world is full of prejudiced people, which surely goes without saying.

You seem to be saying that as we know that the world is full of prejudiced people, that's it. Them actually acting on their prejudices is irrelevant. There's a negative stereotype being regularly applied to a particular section of society here. The fact that it's white males, who've had a pretty free ride in the scheme of things, is neither here nor there. If the set-up was a couple of savvy mixed race kids and a calm, assured white mother all being tolerant of the idiot black father there'd be outrage.

I'm a bit surprised at the line you're taking on this. Something along the lines of "Get a life" was more what I was expecting. I only said I found it annoying, though I do think it's insidious and this stereotype of "white dad" is beginning to stick.

David Williams wrote:I do think it's insidious and this stereotype of "white dad" is beginning to stick.

It is?

David Williams wrote:There's a negative stereotype being regularly applied to a particular section of society here.

No, there isn't. The whole point of choosing a white male is to make sure that people don't take it as a comment on that group as a whole. Would you say that these adverts are also stereotyping people without Down Syndrome? No, you wouldn't even think of it. Same applies.

Charlie Reams wrote:

David Williams wrote:There's a negative stereotype being regularly applied to a particular section of society here.

No, there isn't. The whole point of choosing a white male is to make sure that people don't take it as a comment on that group as a whole. Would you say that these adverts are also stereotyping people without Down Syndrome? No, you wouldn't even think of it. Same applies.

You don't really need me to explain the difference in this context, do you? Just tried Googling variations on "stupid dad" and there's a lot of people out there that agree with me. Not the sort of people I particularly want to be associated with, of course.

David Williams wrote: Just tried Googling variations on "stupid dad" and there's a lot of people out there that agree with me.

I'm clearly out of my depth with this level of discussion.

My dad is white and stupid so I don't see the problem.

Mark James wrote:My dad is white and stupid.

And Irish?

Just seen Hugh Laurie doing a L'oreal advert. That just seems so weird.

Matt Morrison wrote:Just seen Hugh Laurie doing a L'oreal advert. That just seems so weird.

Does it annoy you?