Irritating Commercials | Of Modern Proportions

It’s odd how often I end up writing about commercials, because A) No one watches commercials anymore, and B) Just in general, WHO CARES? but I can’t help but find them fascinating. I think what intrigues me about the medium of television advertising is that often the true effectiveness of a commercial has absolutely no connection to how good it is, or at least how much I personally like it. Sometimes it seems like an inverse relationship. It’s the reason I title these posts “Irritating Commercials” and not “Terrible Commercials.” If I hate a commercial it usually just means that it was directed towards a different demographic.

Of course, knowing all that won’t stop me from complaining about them.

Luvs Diapers

Nope. No, this should definitely not exist. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that there are people out there who think this is funny. Probably a lot of them. But we should not be encouraging said people. I mean, seriously, what we have here appears to be a depiction of three babies gleefully and explosively defecating into their diapers. In some sort of sick contest. Set to Tag Team’s classic and terrible 1993 novelty rap hit “Whoomp! (There It Is)“. All depicted in a style of animation that brings to mind, for me at least, 1990s breakfast cereal commercials. Nope.

I don’t have a kid, so I am definitely not in the target demographic for this ad. But is this what appeals to you after you have a baby and get totally sleep-deprived and spend all your time watching bright, loud, children’s programming? I can’t believe that. I won’t. I’m sticking with my original thesis that this should not exist.

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Considering that I watch almost all of my television on either DVD or DVR, it would seem like I shouldn’t have much to complain about in the realm of commercials. But I’ve been seeing quite a few of them lately, most likely due to all of the live sporting events I’ve been watching (March Madness, MLB Opening Day, etc.). And I find a lot of them to be irritating, for various reasons. Below, a few examples.

Buffalo Wild Wings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNEdaJrobFU

Both Johanna and I have been annoyed by this Buffalo Wild Wings campaign since it first started airing. I can’t comment on its effectiveness; it doesn’t seem particularly good or bad at getting its message across. And while the idea of a bartender pressing a button that sends a message to an undercover agent at a nationally televised sporting event telling him to do whatever it takes to prolong the game for the sake of a few people at one particular Buffalo Wild Wings is, quite obviously, ridiculous, I’m generally willing to suspend disbelief when it comes to advertising.

The real issue here is the motivation of the patrons. A bunch of people wearing generic “New York” and “Boston” jerseys go to BW3 to share tables with each other and watch the game. They care enough about their “teams” to dress up and go somewhere special to watch the game. But when it comes down to it, they all know that it’s not winning that matters, it’s spending quality time with mixed groups of sports fans in a large room surrounded by chicken wings and big televisions. Send it into overtime!

Taco Bell

OK, this one is obvious. There is absolutely no Taco Bell anywhere on Earth where two young, attractive, and friendly women like Denise and her redheaded friend are taking your order. I don’t expect complete realism in my commercial casting, but this is just insulting.

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