"Most Annoying National TV Ad (US)" Topic

Watching football today and one of those obnoxious Verizon ads with the scrawny hipster spokesperson came on, where he randomly approaches some family and starts pestering them about cellphone rates and data packages. And rather than telling this nut to back off (while ushering the kids to safet), instead, the family actually engages the twit. And then I thought "Gawd, I hate this ad." This was then followed by an equally obnoxious Geico ad ("I got more…") and then a Bud Lite medieval ad, and then… well, it's hard to know which one is worse.

So I thought, let's poll TMP!

So what do you find to be the most annoying nationally televised advertisement? (We'll start with the US market, because that's the one I'm in, but our fellows in other regions are certainly welcome to create a companion poll… or just throw in ones you can't stand anyway).

My current picks:

Verizon ads featuring scrawny "metrosexual" hipster spokestwit.
Progressive ads with Flo and friends.
Progressive ads with that stupid talking box.
Geico "I got more" ads.
Sprint with the former-Verizon spokestwit and the robot.
Bud Lite medieval ads. (They were initially funny, now they're just old.)
Aaron Rodgers State Farm ads (ditto.)
Almost any end-of-the-year-holiday-sales-event add for any automobile company. Okay, specifically Toyota (with perky girl).
And Honda (with animated TMNT action figures inexplicably touting the products. )

Add to the list— I know there are plenty to despise out there!

The singing Amazon boxes hands down. A close second are the DNA testing ads. There is something creepy going on with all the efforts at collecting DNA samples.

Pet DNA (Hereditary) testing and most Ads in general – DVRs are a good thing

The Chevy ads with the BIG surprise that the Chevy truck is the best. Come to think of it ALL the Chevy ads are brutal.

I can't stand that Verizon twerp either. I hate all Milennials with stubble. Grow a real beard, dammit, or shave.

I happen to swoon over Jan from Toyota. Someone should tell her she likes me. I look forward to the Christmas season solely because of Jan.
Well, the Budweiser Clydesdales too.

Any of the Liberty Insurance ones. I totaled my car & they wouldn't pay the whole price ads…Geeze you wrecked the car you knucklehead.

Sorry Winston, Lily ( link ) from AT&T > Jan

Warwell, she is indeed a cutie.
But as the great philosopher Vince Gill observed, "if everyone liked the same thing, they would all be hitting on my grandmother."
You can have Lily, with my blessings, and I'll take the lovely Jan.

PBS Beg-a-thons.

Living abroad, I am mercifully ignorant of commercials other than what I see watching the NFL on Gamepass.

Aside from the promos touting the horrid state of American broadcast television (God friended me? Shouldnīt this star Michael Landon and Victor French?), I would have to go with the Budweiser commercials. Not only are they incredibly tiresome, I really have to wonder what they are trying to get at with the slogan For the many not the few. Why not just say "drink it because everyone else does"?

Anything which ends "and I approve this message"

I might catch flak for this, but my vote is for the Microsoft ad showing the challenged boy winning a video game to the cheering of his friends. The first time I saw it, I thought it was wonderful. Same for the second time. And even the third.

But now, every video story you want to watch on a news website is proceeded by this same 30 second ad. Enough is enough already. Gross overplaying of an ad destroys its effectiveness. After grumbling through this ad at least 50 times, I've quit clicking on the stories, even the cute ones about animals!

Father is sweating his butt mowing the grass and his bratty daughter wines because he can't take to her friends. Solution is to borrow money and build a swimming pool.

The Leg, wrist, back Braces ads. Seems nobody is paying attention to the scam that is draining Medicare.

I thought of one more I find particularly stupid:
the guy asking his intendedīs son for her hand. I think itīs from one of those self important diamond companies that try to make people think diamonds are rare.

Progressive twit. Not just a plague on TV but all over my computer News pages. Enough already!

The "I've fallen and I can't get up" ones. You start to think does anyone care about granny.

I unplugged the TV in about 2002. When I want to watch something more recent I buy a DVD. But I do get Petri Wine ads when I play old Sherlock Holmes radio drama.

Ah! Does that wretched bit at the start of a DVD season where they list all the shows I don't want and didn't buy count as a National TV ad? If so, I nominate Universal, which tends to be especially long and obnoxious.

Except for the Superbowl, the odd football game and the Olympics (bits), I'm with Robert on this one: avoiding TV keeps one blissfully ignorant of most of these, so I shall limit my comments to two:

Car ads are the worst. Not sure I've ever seen a good one.

And yes, the promos at the beginning of DVDs are highly exasperating: my Doctor Who vids have what seems like five minutes of silly banter before one can get to the show: first a chirpy message from the BBC warning against piracy, which tries to be funny, in a British sort of way, and fails miserably, and then endless pimping of the new series, which I happen to have no interest in. Most annoying.

The ones I like least are the ones for prescription drugs. "Ask your doctor about Dammitol."

Then they play beautiful videos of people doing fun things with their friends and family while a very quiet voice reads out the side effects: "Side effects may include nausea, anal leakage, dizziness, difficulty speaking or thinking, tinnitus, blurred vision, convulsions, cardiac failure, and death. Use only as prescribed."

I only watch stuff thru a subscription model or YouTube. Ads aren't really an issue for me.

That being said, the worse ad floating around right now in my opinion is the Jameson add with all the different generations of immigrants pouring that toilet water together. The way they did it clearly carries political undertones against assimilation, and beyond that I despise ads that manufacture false profundity. There is nothing deep or special about buying a bottle of Jameson's caskmates, an iPhone may be convenient but will not make your life richer, and you're pretty sad if your identity is defined by your car. Anything that tries to be deep while selling you a widget is low key repulsive to me.

What about the singing pant pockets? Aaaaahhhhhhh!!! Can't turn the channel fast enough.

You aren't alone in hating TV ads:

link

The Progressive Talking Box elicited some rather brutal comments (like that he should be turned into a cat litter box… ;-)

The Trunk Monkey car ads were pretty funny. Especially the Aliens one.
YouTube link

We were at the Cowboy's game yesterday and it was so refreshing not to have to suffer through commercials during timeouts and halftime. I'm so done with car (name a brand) and phone (name a brand) commercials.

I was going to say this was another silly thread here on TMP and then I turned on the TV to a "Slinger" ad.

Aaron Rodgers State Farm ads.

What I'd like to know is how they managed to convince Lee Majors to voiceover his 6 Million Dollar dude in those Honda ads,as well as some of the original v.o. performers of the Ninja Turtles(Barry Gordon,Townshend Coleman,etc.)

Just say Lee Majors in "Killer Fish". Based on that I would say he would do just about anything for a buck.

I'd pretty much say all TV commercials are annoying. Some more than others. Although there are a few very humorous ones that I don't mind. But that is a very few …