I have mentioned the ad on the board before but it is worth pointing out again since it is now featured in almost every commercial break on major stations.
It's the Bel Air direct insurance ad where an announcer says "sneaking out shouldn't be easy."Then we heart a man's voice say, "is that you kiddo?"
Then a little boy's voice asnwers, no dad you are just dreaming, go back to sleep."
Huh?  if someone is dreaming they are asleep.
Then the father says "Nice try, go back to your room."
OK, so apparently the father catches his very young son trying to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night.
And he find it amusing.
The kid sounds like he's 10 years old.
WTF is going on here?
The point of the ad is that getting Bel Air insurance is easy.
Still, what has getting insurance got to do with a little boy trying to sneak out in the middle of the night?
Not to mention the nonsensical script.
The other ad that perplexes me is the one where an announcer tells an employee not to sound so excited about their product and suggests the man tone things down.
What? so an employee is supposed to sound unexcited about the product he's selling?
When the man is sufficiently calm about the product, the announcer says, approvingly, "nailed it."
And, of course, why on earth is it necessary for that deep gravelly voiced announcer to bellow deafeningly about the "Wowza products" at Food Basics.
Have you ever heard a person use the term wowza in real life?
let alone feel the need to bellow and scream about the products?
I could go on, and RA has already mentioned many more intolerable ads, including the latest utterly bizarre offering from Spence in which Fiona has come back from a tour of diamond producing countries, like Angola and Botswana, both of which have suffered years of bloody violence and wars. "Lovely people!"

Last edited by newsguy1 (September 22, 2024 3:52 pm)

RadioActive wrote:

and please don't get me started on the live hits from Tom's Place

Those are awful. It's been pointed out here before that at least he's supporting local radio, and that's indeed something - but the trade-off with that is putting a non-broadcast professional on the airwaves to ramble on for what feels like an hour at a time. (Not sure how long it is in actuality? 2 minutes? 3 minutes?)    Talking about his gym club workouts. Talking about his last physicals. Talking about the galas he's attended. Zero of that interests me.

Worse is when he opts to break into song and the man simply can't carry a tune - painful.

And even worse, over the last few weeks poor Tom has seemed to have developed quite the stutter beginning his segments. There's always a "G-g-g-good morning, John" for the 1010 throws. Whether nerves or being on the line too long with anticipation, I don't think he has the self-awareness to listen to his spots or have a speech therapist coach him on some enunciation or nerve-calming habits. Just terrible.

I actually think I'd take those repetitive, produced commercials all day in 30-second bites than the rambling Tom, but it's definitely a tough call.

I give Tom a break because I think he's done a great job building such a quality clothing shop and tailoring business.
I don't believe he has much more formal education than grade 10 and has really made himself into a successful man.
He knows clothing.  He's not an intellectual.
 

At night, I listen to a lot of American radio. They're full of ads for getting out of paying your debts, lowering your golf score and losing weight with a magic pill.

Some ads are so annoying that I just have to shut the radio off until I think they might be over. Kars 4 Kids, California Psychics, Better Help, Medi-share.

During my almost 60 year career in broadcasting, I've worked with a few writers who treated the listener with respect and wrote amazing radio commercials. Bill McDonald was the first. we met at CHUM when I was Production Manager. Bill and I were partners in a creative company for several years before Chuck Blore beckoned him to Los Angeles and superstardom. Bill also wrote the CHUM documentaries The Story of The Beatles, The Elvis Presley Story and The Evolution of Rock. Then there's Terry O'Reilly, formerly of Pirate Radio & Television (in the Canadian Advertising Hall of Fame). Larry MacInnis (Al Paladini) and Mike Occomore. I'm sure there are a lot more out there who really care about what they write, but these are 4 I've loved working with. Bill, Terry, Larry and Mike are writers who care very much that advertising doesn't 'suck'.  Ad agencies usually give radio to their junior writers and sadly, radio stations aren't paying writers very well today. And as the old saying goes, '"you get what you pay for".

Last edited by Doug Thompson (September 23, 2024 10:09 am)

The last really good radio ads to me were the earlier Alpine Credits.
They got a bit stale toward the end but the earlier ones were really funny and well, voiced.
I don't think there is anything like them right now, and of course the new ones are mediocre and unimaginative.  How many times have you heard an ad where the pitch is that they are "superheroes."  Yawn.

 

Last edited by newsguy1 (September 23, 2024 11:25 am)

You'll soon have to not only hear those 1-800-GOT JUNK ads, you'll have to listen to the guy who started the company. 

New Dragon Brian Scudamore doesn't think you need a degree to become a successful entrepreneur

I'd like to add to the dishonorable mention category: the ad where the woman is super stressed out about finding four dollars to get some deal at McDonald's?

And I do not like the LOV, Lexus of Vaughan spots, the world does not need another acronym, acronyms are a LSMFT as my dad used to say when aggravated.

Last edited by betaylored (September 25, 2024 7:25 pm)