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October 25, 2020 10:21 am  #1


Why Would They Put On A Radio Spot That's Completely Incomprehensible?

There's been a lot of complaining here over the years about bad radio spots (many from yours truly.) Most have centered on being irritating - like the grain farmers or Tom of Tom's Place (and that new one from Metrolinx that begins with an out of tune violin assaulting your eardrums) - or running way too often - such as Spence Diamonds.

But up until now, there have been few that are simply incomprehensible. Still, a new one that's running in high rotation meets that criterion and I can't for the life of me understand how it ever got approved by the advertiser for air. It's the one for a bank (RBC? BMO? Still not sure.) 

It begins with a supposed phone answering machine for a family, singing some kind of inane song. The problem is you can't understand a single word they say in this jingle, which lasts about :15 secs., or half of the entire spot. I've heard it at least 10 times in the past few days, and I cannot understand a single word they're saying - and I've even tried while wearing headphones. The announcer at the end is clear, but by then, I've stopped paying attention.

Why would they put a commercial on the radio that has such a terrible mix you can't hear a word they're saying? Am I the only one who's heard this thing and have no idea what the jingle singers are going on about? Very bizarre.

 

October 25, 2020 11:12 am  #2


Re: Why Would They Put On A Radio Spot That's Completely Incomprehensible?

My guess would be people intimately familiar with the production just don't notice when words are mumbled or misread.  At the session, everyone has a script in front of them.  They know what to expect.

It's probably exacerbated by my getting older and losing some hearing, but I sometimes will hear actors "mumble" a single line on a tv show.  Thanks to closed captioning, I can find out what they were supposed to say.  Lo and behold, from then on, it sounds perfect.

I guess it's probably related to the "mondegreen" effect in popular music:  "X'cuse me, while I kiss this guy" 

 

Last edited by Peter the K (October 25, 2020 11:13 am)