The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » The New Most Annoying Spot On Radio

RadioActive · July 1, 2019 1:24 pm

It seems like every few months, there’s a candidate named here for most annoying pitch on commercial radio. But this one may just take the cake for irritation and the “I can’t change the station fast enough” bragging rights.

Unlike say, a “Tom’s Place” spot, which also ranks high on my list for dial spinning, you don’t even get the grace period of an intro. It just comes on with a guy screaming his head off, before launching into a seemingly joyous “Whoo Hoo!” yell. If you happen to be listening to this on headphones, it’s a thousand times worse. But it’s hard on the ears no matter where you are.

I can see what the people at the ad agency who came up with this monstrosity were thinking – grab their attention and the product will sell itself. Except there’s just one problem. This 30 seconds of absolute ugliness is so annoying, so aggravating that – though I’ve heard that agonizing yell many times over the last few weeks – I still have no idea what they’re advertising, because I’m long gone before the message comes on.

So on the level that it gets you to notice it, I guess it works. But as for selling whatever it is, well, if I were paying for this thing I’d be yelling as well - about how ineffective it is.

Let’s hope this campaign – whatever it is – doesn’t last long. I already get enough people yelling at me at home or at work. I don’t need it on the radio, too.

Radiowiz · July 1, 2019 2:17 pm

Living proof that talk radio can run ANY ad in any fashion and you'll still be there anyway.
That's the beauty of talk radio. They've got'cha no matter what!

RadioActive · July 1, 2019 2:39 pm

Actually there's a danger in running that kind of spot. Once I leave the station that's playing it, I often don't come back - sometimes for hours. So there's a chance they're chasing away listeners. That's what happened in my case.

betaylored · July 2, 2019 1:06 am

Haven't heard that shouty spot yet RA, I'll be flipping the dial if I hear it though.

I'd like to nominate an ad that's recently started airing as runner-up for the worst radio ad currently on rotation. I heard it today. I think it's for IKEA's new delivery service. It centers around a voicemail message a woman is leaving a guy, something about not needing to date (use) him any longer for his truck. The voicemail message is a fail, whether due to direction or delivery.

Add the as appealing as eating pickled raw herring sing song lilt of the Swedish IKEA chap, and it's a dial, not game changer. Darwin the IKEA monkey could have delivered a better spot.

Last edited by betaylored (July 2, 2019 2:58 am)

RadioActive · July 2, 2019 7:27 am

Then there's the 1-800-GotJunk spot, in which a woman laughs hysterically for no good reason as they take her crap away. Why is she going into hysterics? No one knows but by the end of the commercial she sounds completely unhinged. As irritating as that one is, at least I admit knowing what they're selling, so I suppose in that sense, it works.

the original hank · July 2, 2019 1:49 pm

i realize you're looking for a "radio spot" but i think this tv spot is worth mentioning. i'm referring to the one where the young women is walking around wearing bulky headphones while humming and singing to whatever it is she's playing. she's doing this at the checkout counter, in an elevator (with others), etc.. using an annoying, rude, and self-serving character to market banking products... who knew? i wonder what would happen if someone pulled a stunt like that when applying for a loan (at a branch of said bank)? wait a minute, i was a loans officer while waiting to start my broadcasting career (too many years ago), so I know the answer.... denied!!!!!

Last edited by the original hank (July 2, 2019 1:50 pm)

betaylored · July 3, 2019 10:22 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Then there's the 1-800-GotJunk spot, in which a woman laughs hysterically for no good reason as they take her crap away. Why is she going into hysterics? No one knows but by the end of the commercial she sounds completely unhinged. As irritating as that one is, at least I admit knowing what they're selling, so I suppose in that sense, it works.

Yes!!! The laughing all the way through makes her sound idiotic, instead of giddy with relief which I suspect was the underlying thought behind having her continue to laugh.

What do you want to bet both the IKEA and Got Junk spots were done by the same team, with the same director. Different voice actors, but same tone deaf kind of read.

The whole idea is to 'serve the script' but both the ads threw the otherwise perfectly fine copy, and the unfortunate voice actors under the proverbial bus.

Last edited by betaylored (July 3, 2019 10:24 pm)

the original hank · July 3, 2019 11:46 pm

RadioActive wrote:
Then there's the 1-800-GotJunk spot, in which a woman laughs hysterically for no good reason as they take her crap away. Why is she going into hysterics? No one knows but by the end of the commercial she sounds completely unhinged. As irritating as that one is, at least I admit knowing what they're selling, so I suppose in that sense, it works.

perhaps she's a hoarder hiding her tears through laughter? or perhaps she cleaned out the diy workshop of her cheating husband who is headed to the airport for a "business trip" to nunavit? or perhaps i've got to quit drinking and typing?

RadioActive · August 4, 2019 6:01 pm

Well, we have a new candidate on the radio and fortunately, it won't be on much more than a month. But that's more than enough.

The spot in question involves someone singing about back to school supplies to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. And singing it so badly that the only thing I want to buy is earplugs.

I'm not entirely sure who's behind this horror - it's either Staples or Amazon. But I don't know because I'm gone before I hear the name. Assault is against the law. Shouldn't this kind of audio assault be, too? It's not only irritating - it's ear-itating.

betaylored · August 5, 2019 6:23 am

RadioActive wrote:
Well, we have a new candidate on the radio and fortunately, it won't be on much more than a month. But that's more than enough.

The spot in question involves someone singing about back to school supplies to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. It's not only irritating - it's ear-itating.

That Auld Lang Syne spot gives me the ole ad whine RA 😒

ig · August 5, 2019 9:21 am

What amazes me about the 1-800-GotJunk spot is the shitty job the producer did.. At one point the got junk person sounds surprised.. bordering on shock.. "So we helped you out???" or something along those lines. IMHO (Not H) the read is completely wrong and was missed.

RadioActive wrote:
Then there's the 1-800-GotJunk spot, in which a woman laughs hysterically for no good reason as they take her crap away. Why is she going into hysterics? No one knows but by the end of the commercial she sounds completely unhinged. As irritating as that one is, at least I admit knowing what they're selling, so I suppose in that sense, it works.

betaylored · August 5, 2019 4:19 pm

ig wrote:
What amazes me about the 1-800-GotJunk spot is the shitty job the producer did.. At one point the got junk person sounds surprised.. bordering on shock.. "So we helped you out???" or something along those lines. IMHO (Not H) the read is completely wrong and was missed.

RadioActive wrote:
Then there's the 1-800-GotJunk spot, in which a woman laughs hysterically for no good reason as they take her crap away. Why is she going into hysterics? No one knows but by the end of the commercial she sounds completely unhinged. As irritating as that one is, at least I admit knowing what they're selling, so I suppose in that sense, it works.

that's the GotJunk spot with the two women supposedly having a conversation right? Do you think the ad was recorded in two stages, separately with each female voice actor, and then clumsily put together, hence the "So we helped you out?" lack of natural phrasing?

I hear two parter ads that sound nonsensical on a regular basis, and one has to wonder how much is bad voice work vs crummy production. Lipstick meet pig. ;)

I'm also loathing the Telus ad, where the 'voice actor' is auditioning for the job...it sounds disjointed too.

potentiometer · August 5, 2019 5:13 pm

The Auld Lane Syne commercial immediately annoyed me as well. My first impression was that the singing went on waaaaaayyyy too long: 10 sex max would have been belabouring it. But to the point of this thread: why is ANY commercial annoying? With the industry dying one would think that every effort would be made to avoid tune out. Why doesn't anyone have the balls to say to Shelly Alex, "You stink out loud!" Yes, you may lose the account, but you may save tens of thousands of listeners. I know I, for one, would have been eternally grateful. How does this drek get approved through each level of the process? And these are NATIONAL commercials!

RadioActive · August 7, 2019 8:39 am

It's not really annoying, just troubling. I heard my first "Let's Go To The Ex" spot on Wednesday. Anyone who's grown up anywhere near Toronto knows what that means - the end of summer is nigh.

I swear that if Albert Einstein was still with us, he could prove beyond a scientific doubt that time speeds up in the summer. Wasn't it just May two days ago?

Anyway, just noting that this annual commercial fills me with melancholy every year as I contemplate another winter ahead. Every year, I call it my "Abraham, Martin & John" summer - I just looked around and it was gone.

Media Observer · August 7, 2019 2:56 pm

RadioActive wrote:
It's not really annoying, just troubling. I heard my first "Let's Go To The Ex" spot on Wednesday. Anyone who's grown up anywhere near Toronto knows what that means - the end of summer is nigh.

I swear that if Albert Einstein was still with us, he could prove beyond a scientific doubt that time speeds up in the summer. Wasn't it just May two days ago?

Anyway, just noting that this annual commercial fills me with melancholy every year as I contemplate another winter ahead. Every year, I call it my "Abraham, Martin & John" summer - I just looked around and it was gone.

Heard the ads myself in recent days. Although decades away from a classroom, I too still have the same reaction now as back then.

RadioActive · August 7, 2019 3:27 pm

Funny how that feeling is one of the few things in life that never really fades.

mace · August 8, 2019 8:10 am

One ad that I loved was the Staples Back To School where the announcer screams "THEY'RE GOING BACK" with Andy Williams singing The Most Wonderful Time of The Year in the background. The parents are skipping down the aisle tossing school supplies in a shopping cart while the two preteen children walk along behind as if they were headed for a prison execution chamber. When I hear Most Wonderful Time now, I think of Back To School more than I do Christmas.

tvguy · August 8, 2019 8:28 am

Any Rogers spot with that horrible jingle at the end, that is incomprehensible unless you have closed captioning on (woman sings) you can do mo-oo-oooo-re. (really! - that's what came up on the CC setting)

Who chose that one? Horrible.