Worst/Best Radio Ads

Basq

smaoifs wrote: »

That's the most bizarre ad. "Andy where's the bag of ice cubes?"........let me think, the oven maybe?!

Ha...

.. I'd throw an oul haggis at the bitch if she kept shouting at me asking stupid questions like that!

extopia

The worst ad I can ever remember was a few years back, where if you filled up at a Texaco station, you could "Get this handy football for free."

Handy football? Come on, now!

jasonb

A couple of comments I have to make...

If an ad HAS to say 'Terms and Conditions apply', then they should say it, why they then feel the need to describe half of those terms and conditions is beyond me! Can't they just say 'Terms and conditions apply' and leave it at that?

The two ads about food poisoning, and how the Irish never complain ( we always say 'yep, everything's fine' to the waiters ) are good in that it's a common enough problem in Ireland ( people not complaining when they've every right too ). However, in both ads the person is clearly manic and paranoid and not someone you'd trust, so they're hardly the ideal candidate to get their message across! What are they telling us, only annoying paranoind maniacs complain?

The ads about Eircom Phonewatch that had the guy in jail who'd been caught after trying to break into a house covered by Eircom phonewatch. Personally, I'd rather not buy a alarm that's recommended to me by a criminal.

Any ad for Halifax. The whole 'Beat the Bankers' idea, and then at the end of the ad you find out that Halifax are the BANK of Scotland.

Any ad where people keep on using their names - 'Hi Mary!' 'Hi John, how are you?' 'I'm fine Mary, but I'd love a cup of tea' 'Ok John, I'll make you a cup of tea'. 'Ah thanks Mary, you're a star'... etc. etc.

Ads that mention 'in these challenging times', 'with people tightening their belts' etc. etc. Yes, we've less money, so we're not going to spend it on whatever you're selling!

That'll do me for the moment, I feel a lot better after that rant...

J.

P.S. On TV ads, look at the small print on the screen! For example, for Mascara - 'eye lashes enhanced in post production', or most shampoo ads - '74% of 129 women agree', what's that, 95.46 women? Did you have to cut someone in half? Were their legs not convinced by the shampoo?

tbh

jasonb wrote: »

P.S. On TV ads, look at the small print on the screen! For example, for Mascara - 'eye lashes enhanced in post production', or most shampoo ads - '74% of 129 women agree', what's that, 95.46 women? Did you have to cut someone in half?

these statements make me laugh. The advertisers are saying: "see this product we are showing you? well, it's not as good as we're making it look".

edit: there's also those ones "45% of women agreed" - so.......55% didn't?

Pgibson

mick_irl wrote: »

The 14 days thing just grates me....just say god damn fortnight!

What's a "fortnight" ?

.

jasonb

Exactly! It's getting closer and closer to The Simpsons advertising. 'I used this conditioner and my hair's gorgeous' ( * hair extensions used ).

To be fair, the ads are actually funnier if you read the small print and ignore the ads...

J.

tbh

Pgibson wrote: »

What's a "fortnight" ?

.

valid point. Most people in the US have never heard of the term fortnight.

jasonb

tbh wrote: »

these statements make me laugh. The advertisers are saying: "see this product we are showing you? well, it's not as good as we're making it look".

edit: there's also those ones "45% of women agreed" - so.......55% didn't?

This reminds me of an Ad my Wife pointed out to me. It was about some Hair Dye I think. The advert said the following

'95% of Red readers ( Red is a woman's magazine ) said they'd recommend this hair dye to their friends. The other 5% probably don't have friends.'

WTF? They're taking the piss out of their own readers, who apparently took the time to respond to a poll?

J.

jasonb

And don't get me started on those 'Seven Signs of Aging' or 'Five Signs of Irritable Bowel Syndrome' etc. etc. Who sits in meetings and decides on these things? The same people that decided that the water in sanitary products' ads should be blue?

Are 'Denial' and 'Unwilling to accept the enevitable' two of the seven signs?

J.

jor el

jasonb wrote: »

Are 'Denial' and 'Unwilling to accept the enevitable' two of the seven signs?

J.

I have decided, that you are either a legend, or Tommy Tiernan.

I find the most annoying thing in the "Terms and conditions apply" style crap you hear on all the ads, is the term "is a trading name of", or "X Ltd trading as Y.com" and so on. Why can't they just use their own name? Are they trying to hide something? It looks very dodgy, to me anyway, when they want to trade under a name that isn't the company name.

The best one is nononsense.ie, which is a trading name of Ryanair Car Insurance, which is in turn a trading name of FBD. I know it's popular for companies, particularly insurance companies, to use quirky names that people can remember, but why the hell would FBD, an insurance company we've all heard of, want to use a different name? What's wrong with fbd.ie? I'd rather use that, than a website recommended by a man who deliberately broke his own leg.

Wertz

I think the whole "trading in the name of" thing is to do with branding and brand recognition. Perhaps some companies seeking to target new markets or new sections of that market wish to re-brand to appeal to that subset...
Why they feel the need to tell us at chipmunk speed on a 20 second radio ad however is beyond me...surely in the event of you showing an interest in the product and investigating it further, you will happen across this information on who the comapny's parent actually is....and for many people it doesn't really matter who they are once the price is right...

jasonb

jor el wrote: »

I have decided, that you are either a legend, or Tommy Tiernan.

Thanks! Unfortunately I'm not Tommy Tiernan, but I'll take the legend tag! I have my poor wife driven mad with analysing ads or making comments on them, hence my sudden brain dump in this thread once I found it!

There are so many ads to take the piss out off, you'd really wonder how happy people who work in advertising must be. That said, some of the good ads ( Rabo Direct on the radio can be quite good ), really stand out because they are good.

Back to my rant, I saw an ad on the TV this evening for 'RevitaLift Face Cream'. The small print? 'Until you're ready for a permanent lift, use RevitaLift'. These ads used to be about 'natural products in harmony with your body etc. etc.'. Now they're about 'you'll soon give in & get a face lift, but until then we'll make money off you'.

Believe me, I have years of repressed feelings about terrible ads, I'm trying my best not to just let loose on this thread and probably get my first ever ban...

J.

brettmirl

Pgibson wrote: »

What's a "fortnight" ?

.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnight

brettmirl

tbh wrote: »

valid point. Most people in the US have never heard of the term fortnight.

Valid point?

I'm talking about an ad on Irish radio, voiced by Tom Dunne, for an Irish magazine!

Anyways, as I said, it's just the way he says it is what annoys me.
There are plenty of other ways they could say it. Fortnight was just one example!

FlutterinBantam

jasonb wrote: »

And don't get me started on those 'Seven Signs of Aging' or 'Five Signs of Irritable Bowel Syndrome' etc. etc. Who sits in meetings and decides on these things? The same people that decided that the water in sanitary products' ads should be blue?

Are 'Denial' and 'Unwilling to accept the enevitable' two of the seven signs?

J.

Well if it was water coloured you wouldn't be able to see it, would you.

Would you prefer red:cool:

jasonb

Why not red? At least then you might not have some young girls wondering if they're different cos it's blue on the ads. I just think it's funny that you just know there was a meeting at some stage to decide what colour the water would be, and all the ads had that colour water from then on!

I remember years ago having a conversation with a female friend of mine and we reckoned that ads for sanitary products where a couple of years behind ads for nappies. In other words, in a few years they'd be picking up women, placing them on a sanitary towel and then lifting them off to show how clean and dry the towel is, just like how they used to do it with babies and nappies.

Of course, that didn't happen, but I find it so funny how ridiculous ads for sanitary products are. 'Have a happy period' is a recent slogan. Seriously? I know a lot of women, some find it tough, some find it ok, none of them find it happy! And they don't go rollerblading while wearing white jeans either. Even the phrase 'feminine hygiene' in supermarkets is a joke, it's like they want to advertise what they're selling, without actually breaking some weird taboo of naming it...

Anyhow, getting off topic here in another one of my rants. To get back on topic, as well as most of the Rabo Direct ads, the Mr. T ones for Snickers are good, and so are the Lotto ones. Heard a terrible one this morning where a mother is trying to decide on a name for their newborn and the father is too interested in which Volkswagen to buy, so he suggests Scirocco for a name, which she agrees with...

J.

Sundy

That volkswagen and the Garmen satnav ads are the two worst on the radio. I change station when i hear them as

dh0661

I see that "wan" from cost-cutter is back :mad: - real head wrecking turn off.

The plumber who is all go go go -- some other guy replies who do I call call call

P.S.
Some really really bad ones on our local Radio Kerry - Supervalu Killorglin is one that springs to mind

brettmirl

dh0661 wrote: »

I see that "wan" from cost-cutter is back :mad: - real head wrecking turn off.

That would be Deidre O'Kane.

dh0661 wrote: »

P.S.
Some really really bad ones on our local Radio Kerry - Supervalu Killorglin is one that springs to mind

Would I be right in guessing that the store manager voices the ad himself?

cml387

>If an ad HAS to say 'Terms and Conditions apply', then they should say >it, why they then feel the need to describe half of those terms and >conditions is beyond me! Can't they just say 'Terms and conditions apply' >and leave it at that?

You may remember one of Sean Moncrieff's Rabo ad series once had a sign-off which went something like

"Terms and conditions apply, but no shnakey - bakey ones"

This ad was the subject of a (rejected) complaint to the Broadcasting complaints commssion.
http://www.bcc.ie/decisions_details/July%202008/215%2008%20pdouglas%20rte%20advert%20jul08.doc

Incidentally, a good site to browse if you're in need of a laugh.

GhostInTheRuins

cml387 wrote: »

>If an ad HAS to say 'Terms and Conditions apply', then they should say >it, why they then feel the need to describe half of those terms and >conditions is beyond me! Can't they just say 'Terms and conditions apply' >and leave it at that?

You may remember one of Sean Moncrieff's Rabo ad series once had a sign-off which went something like

"Terms and conditions apply, but no shnakey - bakey ones"

This ad was the subject of a (rejected) complaint to the Broadcasting complaints commssion.
http://www.bcc.ie/decisions_details/July%202008/215%2008%20pdouglas%20rte%20advert%20jul08.doc

Incidentally, a good site to browse if you're in need of a laugh.

Interesting, I didn't know you could look at the complaints that people made.

Ciaran B

I'm sure it's been mentioned but that ad with the 2 Scottish idiots banging on abouts bags of ice hidden under boxes of ice-creams. Man alive, hangings too good for 'em.

jor el

That bloody Euro2 Christmas ad is back. "I'll inflate you", what the hell does that mean anyway? 6 weeks of this crap ahead now... :mad:

Bard

"Have you ever heard of 'Facebook', says Old Mr. Brennan?"

Nice to see them keeping up with the times, eh?

cml387

jor el wrote: »

That bloody Euro2 Christmas ad is back. "I'll inflate you", what the hell does that mean anyway? 6 weeks of this crap ahead now... :mad:

Sign of the times when pound shops (alright 2Euro shops) are advertising.

Green Giant

jor el wrote: »

That bloody Euro2 Christmas ad is back. "I'll inflate you", what the hell does that mean anyway? 6 weeks of this crap ahead now... :mad:

As this thread proves, there have been millions of crap radio ads over time. This is possibly the most annoying one of all time. And I include ads with kids' voices when I say that. It is actually condescending to the Irish radio audience to believe that such crap might actually induce us to shop in Euro2. As for the two gombeens in the ad itself, the fact that this is even mooted as a possible scenario, however unlikely and exagerrated, is horrific.

Tallspoon

Listen to the Topaz ads ... they talk to us like we have learning difficulties. The TV ads also look like they are aimed at Five year olds...no offence intended to any five year olds obviously .:mad:

Quint

Not sure if it was mentioned before (probably was) but the one that i really hate is just before 11am on today fm:

It's almost 11 o'clock. Time to *insert advertiser here*

Sometimes it's "It's almost 11 o'clock. Time to book a hotel with Moran hotels"
Oh yes, I always book a hotel with moran hotels at 11 o'clock, thanks for reminding me. Why don't they just play an ordinary ad? I hate it so much that the second I hear the "It's almo...." I've changed station.

Green Giant

Or the 'creid e no na creid' Irish-language ads that are always on straight after the end of Ray Darcy's show - bloody hell

mobius42

Sundy wrote: »

That volkswagen and the Garmen satnav ads are the two worst on the radio. I change station when i hear them as

QFT.
That garmin ad drives me into a blind rage every time I hear it!:mad:

Quint

"With lane assist" - **** OFF!

Bard

Green Giant wrote: »

Or the 'creid e no na creid' Irish-language ads that are always on straight after the end of Ray Darcy's show - bloody hell

Those ads are fairly easy-listening in fairness... what is it you dislike about them?

LordSutch

That bloody 'Brennans Bread' advert on the Radio, I swear I nearly 'Machine Gunned' the Radio this morning after hearing that feckin stupid old fart waffling on about 'Old Mr Brennan' and his dirty auld mauldy bread
(in that really stupid Dublineese accent of his) God I hate that Advert with a vengence & it does my head in too, & it comes on so quickly without any warning :eek: so I have to make a mad dash to hit the 'Off Button'.
I nearly crashed the car the other day when that D**k head & his stupid bread came on - Says he

Rant over - Says he .................

jor el

Bard wrote: »

Those ads are fairly easy-listening in fairness... what is it you dislike about them?

They're not annoying at all. I have no idea what they're about though. Keep meaning to ask Fix it Friday, who is Jessica DeBurca, and what are those ads about?

Quint

Camelot wrote: »

That bloody 'Brennans Bread' advert on the Radio, I swear I nearly 'Machine Gunned' the Radio this morning after hearing that feckin stupid old fart waffling on about 'Old Mr Brennan' and his dirty auld mauldy bread
(in that really stupid Dublineese accent of his) God I hate that Advert with a vengence & it does my head in too, & it comes on so quickly without any warning :eek: so I have to make a mad dash to hit the 'Off Button'.
I nearly crashed the car the other day when that D**k head & his stupid bread came on - Says he

Rant over - Says he .................

Sorry, but Old Mr. Brennan is a legend, leave him alone:mad:

Fozzie Bear

Quint wrote: »

Sorry, but Old Mr. Brennan is a legend, leave him alone:mad:

Sorry Old Mr Brennan is a Cnut and I'd like to kick his false teeth in.

"Says he, says I" Jesus!

Nightwish

The bloody garmin ad!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I want to stab her!

FlutterinBantam

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Sorry Old Mr Brennan is a Cnut and I'd like to kick his false teeth in.

"Says he, says I" Jesus!

:eek:

How would he eat his sammitches??

catratbat

Just heard all those Dolmio ads with their stupid, offensive, false Italian accents. I buy Roma on principle now.
Is that Andrea Corr making pig-****e of an already bland 'No Frontiers' on the Quin Direct ad? Just a pretty face dear... and yeah! Effin Garman ...:mad::mad::mad:


I feel better now...

Fozzie Bear

That bloody ad for Benelin or some such flu/cough/scour curing type liquid.

The one where its a radio traffic report."And now it over to the traffic" cue some silly bint giving the traffic report for the "Biffey" and other areas all mispronounced because of her "cold". Christ she sounds like she has no tongue or has been partially labotimised, not a case of the sniffles. Arrrrggggghhhhh these people must be wiped from the face of the earth.

catratbat

The ads that use south county dublin brats to sell crap... JEZUZ... it's like they don't want us buy whatever rubbish it is... Oh yeah, the AA ad with the vile snotrag in the backseat with a voice so irritating even his parents have learnt to completely block his whinge out...

Who are the ad execs whose world vision is so bleeding narrow that they felt ' Yes, the people of Ireland will love this little condescending tyke and his south county vowels aha ha ha ...'

Grrrr

Feeling great now...

Heckler

As its best worst I'll just say that i'm no fan of eddie hobbs but he was asked to do the ad "I'm the biggest whinger in Ireland" . He said he didn 't have the time to do it but if they parodied him and gave money to the jack and jill foundation everytime the ad was played then fair enough, they had his blessing. Good man Eddie.

dennistuam

any ad with a mobile phone ringing in it is bad

barry t bag super with trains

jor el

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Sorry Old Mr Brennan is a Cnut and I'd like to kick his false teeth in.

Old Mr Brennan is grand, but then, old Mr Brennen has never been in any of those ads. The other baxtered that keeps harping on about old Mr Brennan and his anecdotes is however, a complete see you next Tuesday.

catratbat wrote: »

Is that Andrea Corr making pig-****e of an already bland 'No Frontiers' on the Quin Direct ad?

Mary Black I think.

dennistuam wrote:

barry t bag super with trains

Are those just random letters, or is there more to it? Please don't tell me you like that fucking Barrys tea ad.

Fozzie Bear

dennistuam wrote: »

barry t bag super with trains

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!! That ad is the King, Queen, Dark Prince, Supreme Overlord, vomit inducing, twee, sh1te, granny bashing, kiddy fiddling, spunk rag, donkey molesting w@nk of all adverts. I fúcking HATE that bloody advert. Only a matter of time before its back on the radio again and ruining my yule tide spirit.

brettmirl

Euro-Cycle!!! Euro-Baby!!!

'nuff said.

Wertz

mick_irl wrote: »

Euro-Cycle!!! Euro-Baby!!!

'nuff said.

Christ yes, I've often meant to bring that one up but I only hear it on LMFM...
For anyone that really really hates the Harvey Norman ads (which I don't really mind) this is like the HN ads on helium with a remix by scooter. Even the name of their stupid shop annoys me...

fricatus

Nightwish wrote: »

The bloody garmin ad!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I want to stab her!

+1

No relevance to Ireland anyway - if I was driving a Buick around Houston I might identify with it, but there's a whole host of reasons why lane assist wouldn't work here - at least not until we start following international best practice in our motorway design (signage, rest areas, etc.)

Tallspoon

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!! That ad is the King, Queen, Dark Prince, Supreme Overlord, vomit inducing, twee, sh1te, granny bashing, kiddy fiddling, spunk rag, donkey molesting w@nk of all adverts. I fúcking HATE that bloody advert. Only a matter of time before its back on the radio again and ruining my yule tide spirit.

+1

Check out the ad for Fox's biscwits featuring Vinnie the panda... It's The Bomb!
(its on youtube)

swingking

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

That bloody ad for Benelin or some such flu/cough/scour curing type liquid.

The one where its a radio traffic report."And now it over to the traffic" cue some silly bint giving the traffic report for the "Biffey" and other areas all mispronounced because of her "cold". Christ she sounds like she has no tongue or has been partially labotimised, not a case of the sniffles. Arrrrggggghhhhh these people must be wiped from the face of the earth.

I can't listen to that ad. I have to turn my radio off the second I hear that. The radio stations should realise that having gobsh!tes on the radio advertisements is going to ruin their listener figures. Who in there right mind wants to listen to a fcking irritating person on the radio making them want to turn it off.