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December 11, 2024 6:51 pm  #1


Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

This is the time of year I'm glad that Christmas has a definite date. That means after around Dec. 24th or so, we'll never have to hear those annoying Indigo commercials, in which Santa Claus asks a woman whom I presume is CEO Heather Reisman about what books to give for Xmas. 

The spot, if you haven't heard it - and I find it impossible to believe you haven't in you've turned on any Toronto radio station in the past month - starts with the Santa character saying "Ho-Ho-Holy Moley!"

It's not that it's as annoying as the Spence spots. It's just that it airs in every single break on every single station non-stop ad nauseam. It's impossible to escape it and it gets really annoying really fast. (In fact, I just heard it again as I was typing this.) 

Hopefully, it will stop once the stores close on Christmas Eve. Only wish we could say that about the Spence ads!

And by the way, congrats to the agency responsible for this spot for finding a way to make St. Nick incredibly irritating. That's quite a feat!

 

December 11, 2024 7:54 pm  #2


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

I used to hate those stupid Canadian tire ads that help you spend like Santa but save like Scrooge.
They ran for years and I always thought they made no sense because at the end of a Christmas Carol Scrooge is converted to a kind and generous benefactor, so there is no more miserly Scrooge.
Now I am driven up the wall by the Wal Mart Christmas ads that feature for no apparent reason a plump Asian guy playing an elf.
When the other guy guy dresses like a Christmas tree and scares the middle aged white couple the Asian guy elf admonishes him "That's a bit much."
That's apparently supposed to be amusing.
It's just kind of weird.
There's a couple more ads with these two characters and they are just strange and awkward.



 

Last edited by newsguy1 (December 11, 2024 7:55 pm)

 

December 11, 2024 8:17 pm  #3


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

newsguy1 wrote:

I used to hate those stupid Canadian tire ads that help you spend like Santa but save like Scrooge.
They ran for years and I always thought they made no sense because at the end of a Christmas Carol Scrooge is converted to a kind and generous benefactor, so there is no more miserly Scrooge.
Now I am driven up the wall by the Wal Mart Christmas ads that feature for no apparent reason a plump Asian guy playing an elf.
When the other guy guy dresses like a Christmas tree and scares the middle aged white couple the Asian guy elf admonishes him "That's a bit much."
That's apparently supposed to be amusing.
It's just kind of weird.
There's a couple more ads with these two characters and they are just strange and awkward.



 

And why does every home cleaning ad these days feature a single young black man obsessing over the spotlessness of his upper-middle class home or condo?  Is that really their target market?
 

 

December 11, 2024 8:44 pm  #4


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Interestingly I used to work in news with the guy who is in one of those commercials, the one where he is cleaning his oven top and he says something like it looks like I worked all day on this, but I didn't.
I can't remember his name but when I worked with him he talked about wanting to be an actor, and not a journalist.
He did not stay long.  so I guess he was right.

 

 

December 12, 2024 7:48 am  #5


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Up here in the north, the Sudbury Wolves hockey team commercials for upcoming games has a guy that I think is trying to do a Steve Austin [ the wrestler ] impersonation as he always starts the spot with Helllllllll Yeahhhhhhhhhh. This guys voice is , to me, so irritating to listen to , I immediately hit the preset button. He could be a nice person, I just find those ad's difficult to hear. 

 

December 12, 2024 9:54 am  #6


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Walter wrote:

newsguy1 wrote:

I used to hate those stupid Canadian tire ads that help you spend like Santa but save like Scrooge.
They ran for years and I always thought they made no sense because at the end of a Christmas Carol Scrooge is converted to a kind and generous benefactor, so there is no more miserly Scrooge.
Now I am driven up the wall by the Wal Mart Christmas ads that feature for no apparent reason a plump Asian guy playing an elf.
When the other guy guy dresses like a Christmas tree and scares the middle aged white couple the Asian guy elf admonishes him "That's a bit much."
That's apparently supposed to be amusing.
It's just kind of weird.
There's a couple more ads with these two characters and they are just strange and awkward.



 

And why does every home cleaning ad these days feature a single young black man obsessing over the spotlessness of his upper-middle class home or condo?  Is that really their target market?
 

And the answer, surprisingly, is: yes.

https://www.quad.com/insights/leaving-the-nest-as-generation-z-comes-of-age-household-care-brands-see-a-golden-opportunity-for-growth

 

December 12, 2024 10:07 am  #7


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Not quite in the 'Spence' category of irritation, but I change the station as soon as that travel health insurance ad comes on with the geeky-sounding guy talking about being on a beach sipping a 'Pini Colada'.  It's PINA Colada.  This ad has run annually at the start of winter travel season for several years.  You'd think somebody might have fixed it by now, but no.

 

December 12, 2024 11:11 am  #8


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Funny, I don't think I have heard this ad on either Toronto or K/W radio.  Indigo has four locations in our area so they likely are on air here too. 

 

December 12, 2024 11:31 am  #9


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

I am not kidding when I say it's on every single break on the stations I listen to. It's not the ad that's so annoying, it's the frequency. Can't wait for Dec. 25th! (Unless, God forbid, they do a Boxing Day version!)

     Thread Starter
 

December 12, 2024 12:42 pm  #10


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Yes, that ad is now on every ten minutes or so on 1010 and am 640 at least.  And yes the makers seem to not be interested in recutting it with the proper pronunciation for pina colada.  PEENEE colada? is it meant to be a deliberate joke?
And by the way the ad I believe is for Goose travel.
I'd never heard of it before this ad.
Maybe the reader has had too much Grey Goose Vodka
 

Last edited by newsguy1 (December 12, 2024 12:43 pm)

 

December 12, 2024 5:31 pm  #11


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Sidebar: As an antidote to these ho-ho-horrible radio ads, and I agree wholeheartedly, the Indigo ad is an overplayed pain in the tocas, I regularly pop over to YouTube to check out all the Christmas tv commercials from John Lewis and the other major stores in Britain and Ireland that are famous for their tug-at-the-heartstrings feel good ads. And I really get a kick from rewatching those terrific 60's, 70's and 80's holiday ads featuring so many iconic brands: Coke, the Energizer Bunny, the animated ad featuring Santa on the Norelco electric shaver sliding through the snow, Bell and AT&T long distance phone calls...

https://youtu.be/_zCsFvVg0UY?si=HN1HJJKNjfZ6Hnyu

https://youtu.be/2Hu3EwP_jPg?si=Gxtp_FVuIWFO0t_G

Last edited by betaylored (December 12, 2024 6:09 pm)

 

December 13, 2024 12:18 pm  #12


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

BowmanvilleBob wrote:

Walter wrote:

newsguy1 wrote:

I used to hate those stupid Canadian tire ads that help you spend like Santa but save like Scrooge.
They ran for years and I always thought they made no sense because at the end of a Christmas Carol Scrooge is converted to a kind and generous benefactor, so there is no more miserly Scrooge.
Now I am driven up the wall by the Wal Mart Christmas ads that feature for no apparent reason a plump Asian guy playing an elf.
When the other guy guy dresses like a Christmas tree and scares the middle aged white couple the Asian guy elf admonishes him "That's a bit much."
That's apparently supposed to be amusing.
It's just kind of weird.
There's a couple more ads with these two characters and they are just strange and awkward.



 

And why does every home cleaning ad these days feature a single young black man obsessing over the spotlessness of his upper-middle class home or condo?  Is that really their target market?
 

And the answer, surprisingly, is: yes.

https://www.quad.com/insights/leaving-the-nest-as-generation-z-comes-of-age-household-care-brands-see-a-golden-opportunity-for-growth

After reading this article, as a baby boomer, I now know that I would have absolutely nothing in common with a gen Z person. On the bright side, since this group is extremely concerned about Climate Change, perhaps they can commence purchasing some of the many unsold EVs that our current Federal Government is trying to convince us to buy, and failing miserably.

 

December 13, 2024 12:31 pm  #13


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

And now there's another irritant that's bugging me every time I hear it - which is too often. 

"Tim Horton's donuts and coffee are the original collab." 

Collab?

Is that an actual word?

Sounds strange in the context of a radio spot. 

     Thread Starter
 

December 13, 2024 1:22 pm  #14


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

I hate that ad too.
It was probably written by some Gen Z 20 something type.
Collab is a word used by Internet influencers -- another term I hate.
Influencers try to "collaborate" with other influencers or trades people, in hopes they will get something for free.
For instance you might be an influencer and want to get a photographer for your wedding.
You might contact a photographer and ask for free wedding pictures in exchange for "exposure" for the photog.
In other words it's a new form of begging and freeloading.
There's an influencer from Toronto who posts to Youtube and she hates this sort of thing.
Her name is Charlotte Dobre and she made up a little song to use on such freebie seekers.
"It costs so much because it takes me fucking hours..."
Anyway back to the Tim's commercial.
I doubt if many Gen Z types would be watching conventional TV and see it, so most people would have no idea what "collab" means.
As for "original collab..."


 

 

December 13, 2024 1:42 pm  #15


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

There's nothing less effective than a corporation trying to sound cool and contemporary in their ads. It sounds phony and it never works.

Would the people this is aimed at even be listening to the radio?

     Thread Starter
 

December 13, 2024 5:50 pm  #16


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Poor old 'Ho-ho holey moley' Santa should be asking Heather Reisman for an oxygen mask.  The poor old wheezing geezer doesn't sound like he'll make it to Christmas eve.

 

December 18, 2024 8:24 am  #17


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

Walter wrote:

Not quite in the 'Spence' category of irritation, but I change the station as soon as that travel health insurance ad comes on with the geeky-sounding guy talking about being on a beach sipping a 'Pini Colada'.  It's PINA Colada.  This ad has run annually at the start of winter travel season for several years.  You'd think somebody might have fixed it by now, but no.

Your long suffering appears to be at an end! They've replaced this spot with a brand new one in which the announcer actually says it properly. It's enough to drive you to drink - and not just a "Pini Colada."

     Thread Starter
 

December 18, 2024 9:05 am  #18


Re: Ho-Ho-Holy Moley...Stop It Already!

RadioActive wrote:

Walter wrote:

Not quite in the 'Spence' category of irritation, but I change the station as soon as that travel health insurance ad comes on with the geeky-sounding guy talking about being on a beach sipping a 'Pini Colada'.  It's PINA Colada.  This ad has run annually at the start of winter travel season for several years.  You'd think somebody might have fixed it by now, but no.

Your long suffering appears to be at an end! They've replaced this spot with a brand new one in which the announcer actually says it properly. It's enough to drive you to drink - and not just a "Pini Colada."

Yes, I've heard it several times.  The exact same copy, but a less dorky voice.  I still think it sounds too much like Pini Colada, but it's an improvement.  Christmas miracles really do happen sometimes.