invaderzim
Super Member
It has been a long week; I almost googled the name to see who you were referring to when it finally sunk in.
Commercials You Hate
- Thread starter Shominy
- Start date
It has been a long week; I almost googled the name to see who you were referring to when it finally sunk in.
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
Hitting the post, talking up to the music without intruding on it. Pegging the VU meters gets you a lecture from the station engineer or manager or both. I prefer to not talk too much over the music intros, respect the music I play.
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Thanks for the kinds words, James!
There is an explanation for why commercials are worse than ever.
When I got into the voice-over business in 1989, cable TV had just gotten a foothold. I missed the "Golden Age" of my profession, when you only had a handful of broadcast networks that EVERYBODY watched, and if you voiced 2 nationally-viewed commercials, you could buy a house from the residuals and pay cash. But cable TV introduced dozens, then hundreds of new stations, and the effectiveness of any one commercial was highly diluted compared to when you KNEW you'd get eyeballs on any given spot in the past.
THEN the VCR was introduced, along with the concept of "time-shifting," meaning you watch your shows WHEN you want to watch them and you fast forward through the commercials. A bit clunky with the controls on a VCR, but it effectively enabled you to watch show and NOT watch TV commercials. Time-shifting when into high gear with the advent of TiVo and the DVRs everyone has now.
Bottom line is, the effectiveness of a high-budget, well-written and well-made TV commercial has drastically declined. Meaning companies won't spend the bucks to make them GOOD anymore. Also, the Millennial generation is VERY sensitive about feeling like they are "being sold to." They tune out anything that smacks of that. And a voice that sounds very smooth and articulate - like I can do - is actually a BAD THING. They would much rather hear from someone who does NOT sound like a professional. "Emily from Accounting" or "Liam from the graphics department" or better yet, "Joe from down the street" is who they want to hear from.
(I make no judgement that this is a bad thing by the way, it's just bad for me and my career!)
Now you'd THINK that radio advertising would still be going strong, since there's no DVR type tech for radios, right? Yeah, but there's this thing called "streaming" and only older folks listen to radio very much anymore. And besides, there has been so much consolidation of ownership in radio the past few decades, and as a result, enormous cost-cutting, that now MOST of the spots I hear on the radio are voiced by a person on staff who is paid peanuts (and is often shockingly bad, as with our local news radio station here in Chicago).
Now I have adapted somewhat. I am on the roster of a major music-streaming company (can't say anything more), and if you have a free account with them, you might even have heard me there. I was making a ton of money with them through sheer volume for several years. But now, they've hired ON-STAFF voice talent to crank out spots even cheaper than I did (and the rates I was accepting were already very low by my historical standards already!). And my work with them has plummeted 80%. I just hope my business can be viable another decade or so before I can retire.
So in a nutshell, commercials suck more than ever because the budgets to make them good aren't there, due to 2 factors: 1) they are nowhere near as effective as they used to be, and 2) a younger generation who actively dislikes anything that seems "polished" or "professional" because that means they are being sold to.
I'm a first-pressing, virgin vinyl talent... in an MP3 market.
www.tomtest.com (EDIT, because I mis-typed my own name in the url!)
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IPADave
Turning a whiter shade of pale.
I listened to a DJ who did that yesterday on my drive home. She was playing "Soul Sacrifice" by Santana as a Woodstock tribute. She talked for 30 seconds while the song played. Admittedly, it's almost a 7 minute song, but I getting saying STFU.
-Dave
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Thank you, Tom. I think you've answered a question that nobody remembered to ask. Even I with 12 years in the biz learned much.
I watched the first one and a half seconds of a commercial today at CNN which started with the heading "WE SPEAK FUTURE".
I do not know what the commercial was about, maybe a sort of investment bank. It makes me angry and sad to see again and again that especially commercials got such a power, such a sustainable impact to undermine and therefore destroy our languages.
I do not know what the commercial was about, maybe a sort of investment bank. It makes me angry and sad to see again and again that especially commercials got such a power, such a sustainable impact to undermine and therefore destroy our languages.
In the same vein- "You got this." It is so ubiquitous anymore.
ALL Liberty Mutual commercials except for the 2 with Zoltar in them.
Some commercials are funny such as the recent AT&T ad where the guys singing are standing still. The announcer says "Boy bands without dancing are just okay." I busted a guy! However, humor in advertising can be overdone.
I can't tell you how many commercials I've seen that were so funny that I have no idea what the product(s) and/or service(s) being advertised were. In some cases, I new what product or service was being pushed, but not which brand.
Even with enough humor in an ad to make it enjoyable, but not enough to obliterate the product, if they're selling something that I don't like, need, want, etc, I am not going to buy it.
I can't tell you how many commercials I've seen that were so funny that I have no idea what the product(s) and/or service(s) being advertised were. In some cases, I new what product or service was being pushed, but not which brand.
Even with enough humor in an ad to make it enjoyable, but not enough to obliterate the product, if they're selling something that I don't like, need, want, etc, I am not going to buy it.
Ronald1973
8-trackin', Hank, Sr. man
I often get the chance while taking surveys to review commercials and give my opinions. I have been known to write "did Jethro Bodine write this? It certainly looks like something a 6th grader would come up with!"
Commercials I hate, any that promote gambling in a way that suggests ordinary people look forward to participating, (maybe as soon as they get home from work, and before doing anything else), and are so much happier when gambling than when they are not. 
- patently ridiculous.
- patently ridiculous.
infullview
Super Member
Biggest pet peeve these days is the Lexus commercial with the female overdub that's supposed to sound like a rich, entitled, high-born, snooty, English woman extolling the virtues of a status symbol car for people who know they've "arrived".
infullview
Super Member
Have you ever seen the 1990 movie "Crazy People" with Dudley Moore? "Buy a car, get a blow job"
At least Ferrari has something to crow about. They are not a re-badged Toyota.
Kind of like Cadillac and Chevy. But in both cases it is a little more than just a rebadge
infullview
Super Member
Agree with this sentiment. In particular, I hate the new commercial that has a finger with John Goodman's head grafted on it hawking a "free" gaming site. There's no such thing.Commercials I hate, any that promote gambling in a way that suggests ordinary people look forward to participating, (maybe as soon as they get home from work, and before doing anything else), and are so much happier when gambling than when they are not.
infullview
Super Member
I have to admit I also like the them, as well as some of the Lincoln adds, but they do message "hey! we are so entitled. Screw you if you can't afford one of these!"Kind of like Cadillac and Chevy. But in both cases it is a little more than just a rebadge
