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View Full Version : TV Adds How Stupid do they Think We are?



Andrew Joiner
04-23-2014, 6:27 PM
My latest laughable adds are a normal person in an every day conversation saying to a friend:
"when my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis" or "my moderate to severe depression"

Come on does anyone but a TV add writer advised by the drug makers legal department ever start a sentence with "my moderate to severe"?

Then there's adds touting the latest drug. Say it's xxxamax. You know, ask your doctor about xxxamax. Beautiful people who can now enjoy life because they take xxxamax while the relaxing womans voice in the background says xxxamax side effects may cause anything from death to diarrhea!
If seen some adds that run for awhile then a few months later the lawsuit adds start. If you've ever taken xxxamax you may be entitled to $$$. Maybe the xxxamax adds should have said " moderate to severe"

It's a crazy world.
What's your pet peeve about adds?

Matt Meiser
04-23-2014, 6:36 PM
When I skip too far forward on the DVR and have to rewind.

ken masoumi
04-23-2014, 7:48 PM
The screeching,piercing,chalkboard scraping noise of the violin in this tv commercial is only "cute" the first time but not when you hear it over and over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRXC3qS6t4M

Tim Janssen
04-23-2014, 8:37 PM
My latest laughable adds are a normal person in an every day conversation saying to a friend:
"when my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis" or "my moderate to severe depression"

Come on does anyone but a TV add writer advised by the drug makers legal department ever start a sentence with "my moderate to severe"?

Then there's adds touting the latest drug. Say it's xxxamax. You know, ask your doctor about xxxamax. Beautiful people who can now enjoy life because they take xxxamax while the relaxing womans voice in the background says xxxamax side effects may cause anything from death to diarrhea!
If seen some adds that run for awhile then a few months later the lawsuit adds start. If you've ever taken xxxamax you may be entitled to $$$. Maybe the xxxamax adds should have said " moderate to severe"

It's a crazy world.
What's your pet peeve about adds?

Adds.

Tim

Jessica Pierce-LaRose
04-23-2014, 9:29 PM
When it comes to prescription medication, there's actually a lot of regulation around what they can and can't say in the TV ads, and what may just sound like a dumb turn of phrase to us is actually meeting a legal requirement to define the condition or scope of condition the product is approved for. And then if they say certain things, they're required to mention side effects. The regulation around advertising prescription medicine to the public also pertains to why if you see a an ad for a prescription medication in a magazine, it's 2 plus pages and filled with lots of tiny text.

The rules have changed, I believe originally direct-to-consumer advertising wasn't allowed at all for prescription medication. Originally, if I understand correctly (and I'm going from memory, I'll have to do some research) one way to get around some of the previously-more-onerous requirements around requiring disclaimers and info on side effects was to also not push the purported benefits of the drug either; this lead to some of the Claritin (is that the one I'm thinking of? It was an anti-histamine) commercials on TV and print where it was't always even clear what exactly Claritin was.

It is interesting to see the changes in advertising when a drug goes over-the-counter, (like Rogaine/Minoxodil did in the US) or to compare an OTC drug with it's prescription counterpart, the legal requirements are less strict.

Pat Barry
04-23-2014, 9:47 PM
I love it when they tell me to tell my doctor what is wrong with me and then ask for the medication they are pushing.

Wade Lippman
04-23-2014, 9:47 PM
I always wonder when they make their customers look stupid for humor. Why would I use a product with stupid customers?

David Weaver
04-23-2014, 10:02 PM
I love it when they list the side effects that sound like the precautions from happy fun ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8zOtZlO52k&list=PLRD2jcKdhMDZ7Ktr3dQU-MqtDZdgxBOP5

A lot of the medications for uncomfortable but not critical afflictions seem to end with the statement "and in rare cases, death" when they talk about side effects.

Phil Thien
04-23-2014, 11:31 PM
I think besides the side effects, the drug companies should be forced to admit the efficacy of their products. New studies, for example, indicate many anti-depression drugs only work for those severely depressed, not moderately. But most people on the drugs are "only" moderately depressed.

New studies on MS drugs indicate they pretty much have no long-term benefit.

So there may be significant downsides to a drug, and little to no upside.

Jim Koepke
04-24-2014, 2:46 AM
I explained to my doctor that I felt better on the days I forgot to take my medications. We have since taken a lot of drugs out of my daily routine.

Most of the time a drug ad comes on the side effects seem worse than the ailment and that is missing half of them because the guy is talking faster than most people can listen.

jtk

Larry Edgerton
04-24-2014, 6:05 AM
I find the adds insulting to what little intelligence I have, and the programing is no better. It was annoying us more than anything else so when they went digital [boy did we get screwed there] we just dropped television. Cable offers 746 channels of nothing, with two good ones. Not worth what it costs to me.

Now when I feel like doing something mindless I get on here and argue with you guys! :p

Larry

Chuck Wintle
04-24-2014, 6:18 AM
My latest laughable adds are a normal person in an every day conversation saying to a friend:
"when my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis" or "my moderate to severe depression"

Come on does anyone but a TV add writer advised by the drug makers legal department ever start a sentence with "my moderate to severe"?

Then there's adds touting the latest drug. Say it's xxxamax. You know, ask your doctor about xxxamax. Beautiful people who can now enjoy life because they take xxxamax while the relaxing womans voice in the background says xxxamax side effects may cause anything from death to diarrhea!
If seen some adds that run for awhile then a few months later the lawsuit adds start. If you've ever taken xxxamax you may be entitled to $$$. Maybe the xxxamax adds should have said " moderate to severe"

It's a crazy world.
What's your pet peeve about adds?
The marketing of drugs has really changed in recent history. At one time drug companies could not pitch prescription drugs to potential patients as it done directly to the doctors. Now its directed at consumers who can suggest they be prescribed the medicine from their doctor. I do not agree with this as the average joe can easily imagine a symptom where the drug needs to be consumed and thus suggest its use to the doctor.

Steve Rozmiarek
04-24-2014, 8:55 AM
You know that the doctors are getting some intense pressure from med companies too, and no matter how stupid, these adverts are probably an effective way to get their product mentioned in the docs office for cheaper. I couldn't find anything in the office I was last in that didn't have a medication name on it, from tongue depressor jars to plastic anatomical models, they were all med company marketing freebies. I wonder why meds are so expensive....

David Weaver
04-24-2014, 9:27 AM
Now when I feel like doing something mindless I get on here and argue with you guys! :p

Larry

Now, that's a good plan. It's nearly free and we're just as dumb as TV :) There's never been a better time to dump pay TV and subscribe to something that costs a fraction of the amount per month (and lets you watch videos on demand instead).

Steve Peterson
04-24-2014, 10:05 AM
My pet peeve is when they state something like "many will enter, few will win" or "plus taxes and license" with such a happy voice that they make it sound like it is a good thing.

Steve

Keith Outten
04-24-2014, 11:14 AM
During the MSNBC news show from 10:45am till 11:00am this morning I set my stopwatch and there was a total of 9 minutes and 15 seconds of commercials out of the 15 minute period.
Considering that I pay for cable TV the cost per program minute must be even more expensive than my monthly bill would lead me to believe.

I plan to do some more research during some prime time programing this evening to see if the ratio of programing to commercials is the same. I'm afraid that I will not be pleased with the data I collect.

If I consider the topic of this thread concerning how stupid we are to pay the outrageous fees to watch intellectually insulting and uninformed advertising I am not proud of myself.
.

Brian Elfert
04-24-2014, 11:33 AM
A guy I know is a pharmacist. He said that he did many drug trials during college to pay his bills. They basically put up a bunch of college kids in dorm type facilities for a few days and gave them the drug. He said the drug company had to report any symptoms any of the trial participants reported as a possible side effects of the drug. He said a lot of the college students drank heavily before going to the trials so many of them had headaches, nausea, and other symptoms from what they did before the drug trial. These symptoms still had to be reported as a possible side effect of the drug.

Seems silly to me, but that is what he told me.

Phil Thien
04-24-2014, 11:36 AM
Considering that I pay for cable TV the cost per program minute must be even more expensive than my monthly bill would lead me to believe.


Oh gosh I had never thought of it that way. Ugh.

Brian Elfert
04-24-2014, 11:38 AM
During the MSNBC news show from 10:45am till 11:00am this morning I set my stopwatch and there was a total of 9 minutes and 15 seconds of commercials out of the 15 minute period.
Considering that I pay for cable TV the cost per program minute must be even more expensive than my monthly bill would lead me to believe.


I record every show I watch on my DVR. I never watch any TV "live". A one hour show typically takes about 45 minutes to watch when the commercials are skipped. I figure the show itself is about 42 to 43 minutes figuring that it takes some time to skip through the commercials. That means that a one hour show has about 17 to 18 minutes of commercials.

David Weaver
04-24-2014, 11:41 AM
During the MSNBC news show from 10:45am till 11:00am this morning I set my stopwatch and there was a total of 9 minutes and 15 seconds of commercials out of the 15 minute period.
Considering that I pay for cable TV the cost per program minute must be even more expensive than my monthly bill would lead me to believe.

I plan to do some more research during some prime time programing this evening to see if the ratio of programing to commercials is the same. I'm afraid that I will not be pleased with the data I collect.

If I consider the topic of this thread concerning how stupid we are to pay the outrageous fees to watch intellectually insulting and uninformed advertising I am not proud of myself.
.

Keith, I think you'll find that it makes more sense to browse headlines for 15 minutes, that's what I found (and cancelled all of my expanded cable - the news on any cable network now is so sensationalized and so much editorial type stuff that it's not really news). Of course, the fact that it's mostly commercials will make it even easier to make that decision.

Another thing that has really turned me off from news is that the more it's gotten focused toward national and international, the more "baby dies" stories we get and the less we get that's meaningful to us wherever we are. By "baby dies" story, I mean every time someone leaves a baby in a car and it dies anywhere in the US (or elsewhere sometimes), it becomes a front and center story. It's a headline getter, and if you have small children or grandchildren, it's selected to make you feel absolutely awful and keep you tuned in. It *does* make you feel absolutely awful to get one story like that after another, and , to me, makes my day worse and not better or more informed.

Same thing happens on the internet now, though, too - "recommended" news links are based on whatever generates the most clicks, and it's often awful stuff well beyond the normal this person shot that person kind of stuff. To boot, the topic shown in the link is often only about 50% correct to whatever the actual story is, and then the story probably isn't very accurate, either.

Thomas Jefferson's quote about newspapers applies to all of it.

Mel Fulks
04-24-2014, 11:51 AM
There is an electronic process that speeds up the film to make more time for commercials but does so without changing
sound pitch. Saw something on television about it and they demonstrated by showing the good bye scene from CASSABLANCA. Gives a different feel, but the voices are exactly the same. And ,of course,there are also the practices of
showing shortened versions, and running more commercials toward the 'exciting conclusion'.

Jim Rimmer
04-24-2014, 12:57 PM
I find it hilarious that currently you can see a commercial for the "Low T" drugs followed by the comercial for the lawyer that is suing on your behalf if you have ever used "Low T' drugs. :D

Kev Williams
04-24-2014, 1:51 PM
My peeve is that car companies pay for at least half of all commercial advertising. Keep track-- I'll bet you'll find at LEAST 4 out of every 10 commercials is for a car, or a car dealer. It's no wonder a $7,000 Kia cost's $13,500...

Andrew Joiner
04-24-2014, 2:22 PM
During the MSNBC news show from 10:45am till 11:00am this morning I set my stopwatch and there was a total of 9 minutes and 15 seconds of commercials out of the 15 minute period.

.
Wow, so it's mostly commercials.

Jerry Thompson
04-24-2014, 2:50 PM
I stay calm. My coloring books have no adds in them.

glenn bradley
04-24-2014, 3:28 PM
It's a crazy world.
What's your pet peeve about adds?

I would just modify your title to say "TV - How Stupid do they Think We are?" The advertisements don't specifically insult me however, 98% of television does. When we fell for paying for TV and accepted commercials after we had already paid to watch the shows, that's when they knew they had us :D

Chuck Wintle
04-24-2014, 4:02 PM
Ever notice when the ad starts the volume goes up? This is on purpose to catch the viewers attention. the same commercial twice in a row...not a mistake by done on purpose to reinforce the message. Many TV shows use a concept called product placement..the big bang theory comes to mind when they use DELL laptops such that the brand name cannot be missed. How about the timing for restaurants ads....designed to make you hungry to go out for food. There is so much science behind ads and how best to get the consumer dollar. I don't like the drug companies and their advertising...it should be illegal to market direct to the consumer. Maybe it might be a really good idea to permanently shut off the television...we are all guinea pigs for them.

David Weaver
04-24-2014, 4:20 PM
The biggest loser was the worst show I've ever seen for product placement. They would go into some long verbal dialogue about how great some product was, and then instead of having a box or two or a pack or two of what they were talking about, there would be a mountain of it and they'd have the competitors vouching for it, too. It was disgusting. I have no problem with commercials and commercialism, but when they try to pass them off as general opinions of people without mentioning that they were either compensated or it was required as part of their contract, it's disgusting.

Moses Yoder
04-24-2014, 4:47 PM
I honestly can't remember when I last saw an ad on TV. I did not watch the super bowl the past couple years so it may have been the super bowl party two years ago. We subscribe to Netflix and have a shelf with about 500 DVD's, split between TV shows and movies.

Chuck Wintle
04-24-2014, 5:02 PM
I honestly can't remember when I last saw an ad on TV. I did not watch the super bowl the past couple years so it may have been the super bowl party two years ago. We subscribe to Netflix and have a shelf with about 500 DVD's, split between TV shows and movies.

you are ahead of the pack then...

Jim Matthews
04-24-2014, 8:07 PM
I find it hilarious that currently you can see a commercial for the "Low T" drugs followed by the comercial for the lawyer that is suing on your behalf if you have ever used "Low T' drugs. :D

We must have the same demographic profile, my Yahoo account is over run with this.
I come from a medical products background.

The Pharmacy profit margins depend on rolling new lines, and advertising is how they move patients to ask for more crap they don't really need.
God forbid anyone asking about this stuff would look past the glossy promos to the side effects.

Personally, anything with a longer disclaimer than benefits section gets a pass from me.

Jim Matthews
04-24-2014, 8:09 PM
We turn off broadcast TV when the NHL playoffs end.

This year, we watched the entire season streamed on my XBox.
I pay for that, and am not subjected to additional advertising.

My peeve is paying $15 or more for a movie theater ticket, and getting ads for consumer products prior to the show.
I've actually complained to management and asked for a refund, when the ads ran longer than 7 minutes.

It's abuse of trust, in my opinion.

Keith Outten
04-25-2014, 7:41 AM
Last night a 60 minute prime time program had 17.5 minutes of commercials.

Joe Tilson
04-25-2014, 7:49 AM
We have a hospital ad in our area where an elderly man is climbing a ladder which the rungs of said ladder are turned around backwards and he is leaning to one side painting. Not good!