The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum / These New Spots Are Worse Than Spence!

**Posted by RadioActive** October 28, 2024 6:32 am

There’s a lot of reasons to hate the Spence Diamonds spots (and Fiona!) but at least they vary over the campaign so you’re not hearing the same ones over and over. They’re still awful, but at least there’s that.

Now a new culprit is polluting the airwaves. I believe it’s from Enbridge (or is it Enercare? I can’t tell the difference between them anymore.) It’s the one where a woman blathers on about “Craig” who likes 71 Fahrenheit, even though he doesn’t know exactly what Fahrenheit is.

A second spot that never stops running involves some dumbbell named “Maya,” who is also obsessed with temperatures. I’m not entirely sure what this is selling, beyond controlling the heat in the winter, but the fact it airs non-stop almost every break on every station makes me hot under the collar. And I don’t even have to touch the thermostat.

If you haven’t heard this horror, you will. I can only hope it’s a short campaign. It’s kind of like COVID – you’re probably going to catch it eventually and it’s bound to make you sick. Unfortunately there’s no immunity and if you listen long enough, you’ll get it over and over and over.

**Posted by RadioActive** October 28, 2024 6:44 am

By the way, a runner up to this horrible spot is the one from Shopify, where a female announcer gleefully tells listeners the commercial is short 6 secs. and then proceeds to hum an irritating tune to fill up the time. That one sends me straight to a channel change.

**Posted by Jody Thornton** October 28, 2024 7:17 am

The Sunwing "Flynancial" advisor spot is running on 680, but I've also heard the adbove two (Intended to correct the spelling of "above" just prior to this, and then I thought, "Wait, there's a pun lurking in there somewhere ). I actually like the sound of the voice artists in these. I wonder who they? But the spots themselves are nauseating.

**Posted by Walter** October 28, 2024 8:27 am

RadioActive wrote:
There’s a lot of reasons to hate the Spence Diamonds spots (and Fiona!) but at least they vary over the campaign so you’re not hearing the same ones over and over. They’re still awful, but at least there’s that.

Now a new culprit is polluting the airwaves. I believe it’s from Enbridge (or is it Enercare? I can’t tell the difference between them anymore.) It’s the one where a woman blathers on about “Craig” who likes 71 Fahrenheit, even though he doesn’t know exactly what Fahrenheit is.

A second spot that never stops running involves some dumbbell named “Maya,” who is also obsessed with temperatures. I’m not entirely sure what this is selling, beyond controlling the heat in the winter, but the fact it airs non-stop almost every break on every station makes me hot under the collar. And I don’t even have to touch the thermostat.

If you haven’t heard this horror, you will. I can only hope it’s a short campaign. It’s kind of like COVID – you’re probably going to catch it eventually and it’s bound to make you sick. Unfortunately there’s no immunity and if you listen long enough, you’ll get it over and over and over.

Glad somebody else hates 'Maya, oh, MAYY-AA!' as much as I do. The ongoing moronic soap opera involving Fiona, 1-800-GOT JUNK's Sarah, and those other 2 twits are still the worst ads ever, but they do get some competition from time to time.

**Posted by Binson Echorec** October 28, 2024 8:41 am

Jody Thornton wrote:
The Sunwing "Flynancial" advisor spot is running on 680, but I've also heard the adbove two (Intended to correct the spelling of "above" just prior to this, and then I thought, "Wait, there's a pun lurking in there somewhere ). I actually like the sound of the voice artists in these. I wonder who they? But the spots themselves are nauseating.

On TV, the Sunwing Flynancial advisor is played by the same woman who was half of the hipster couple in the Leon's spots from a couple years back: "Lay-onze". I imagine she would voice the radio spots as well, assuming they actually recorded radio spots and didn't just rip the tv audio.

**Posted by betaylored** October 28, 2024 3:29 pm

That's a nay-ya on the Maya spot, the minute you hear the faux friendly female influencer character with the Auto-Tune fuzziness in her voice it's an immediate Tune-Out.

One spot I think is pretty good is one for windows where the female narrator talks about how the company in question only replaced the windows in her home that most urgently needed replacing and that she'll be using their service again down the road to replace the other windows. The voice actor has an easy on the ears delivery and sounds like a human being who had a good experience and is just passing the info along as if to a neighbour. Low key and effective.

Last edited by betaylored (October 28, 2024 3:52 pm)

**Posted by RadioActive** October 29, 2024 7:02 am

Finally! There's actually, a new radio commercial done with a great sense of humour and it doesn't make you tune out. It's a wonderful self-satirical spot from Pizzaville, celebrating 40 years of its "It was a rainy day in Pizzaville" campaign.

The overly earnest script begins not with the usual voice (provided, I believe, by Brian George) but with a stentorian announcer paying tribute to the ads, asking questions like "What's really behind the 'Free Sex Free Sex' phone number?" And why a guy with a British accent has been the spokesman all these years for a product that's Italian?

It's pretty funny and it doesn't grate on you - at least not yet. And it doesn't run every 10 minutes. The one thing I wish they'd address in a future spot is whether there's ever been a sunny day in Pizzaville, where it always seems to be raining.

A rare example of a radio campaign that's well done. I'm actually looking forward to hear what they do next. The other guys could take a lesson.

**Posted by mic'em** October 29, 2024 7:08 am

A TV series of commercials I don't mind is the Adulting ones for I think an insurance company. The newest one features Morgan Reilly or at least a look alike. Silly but clever at the same time.

**Posted by Binson Echorec** October 29, 2024 10:12 am

mic'em wrote:
A TV series of commercials I don't mind is the Adulting ones for I think an insurance company. The newest one features Morgan Reilly or at least a look alike. Silly but clever at the same time.

Sonnet Insurance. I like the spots too. The pitchwoman is fantastic.

Last edited by Binson Echorec (October 29, 2024 10:13 am)

**Posted by Radiowiz** October 29, 2024 11:47 am

Be thankful Shelby is sticking with You Tube and not radio.
The guy makes great entertaining You Tube videos, but I'd hate to constantly hear his voice on the radio!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gMjr2DhmelE

Last edited by Radiowiz (October 29, 2024 11:48 am)

**Posted by 67GreenRambler** October 29, 2024 12:57 pm

Worth noting former airtime stalwarts Christine Magee and Shelly Alexanian are back. Thankfully without the effort to generate excitement using high pitch voicing.

**Posted by newsguy1** October 29, 2024 2:07 pm

Since we're talking about those horrible thermostat ads, can anyone tell me what the announcer is saying, "You might not think about your (and I swear he says 8 track) but it is thinking of you."
I know he's not saying 8 track... but what??
Oh and I also grit my teeth again at that BelAir direct ad where a little kid tries to sneak out of the house, only to be caught by his father.
The kid sounds like he's about 8 years old. What is a child doing trying to sneak out of the house at 3 am?
Also he tells his father, "you're dreaming, go back to sleep." Huh?
If you're dreaming you ARE asleep. What dunce of a copy writer came up with that?
As for Fiona, and Sarah etc I'm still waiting for Michael to come out, and admit why he never tells Sarah he loves her and wants to marry her.
He always gets annoyed whenever Callum says, "so you're proposing to Sarah?" and he angrily says "no."
Yeah because he's gay.
But then gayness does not exist in the Spence world where they are constantly talking about HIM buying a ring for HER or how HE can show how much he loves HER.
I wonder if LGBTQ people have noticed this?

**Posted by MJ Vancouver** October 29, 2024 2:08 pm

Binson Echorec wrote:
Jody Thornton wrote:
The Sunwing "Flynancial" advisor spot is running on 680, but I've also heard the adbove two (Intended to correct the spelling of "above" just prior to this, and then I thought, "Wait, there's a pun lurking in there somewhere ). I actually like the sound of the voice artists in these. I wonder who they? But the spots themselves are nauseating.
On TV, the Sunwing Flynancial advisor is played by the same woman who was half of the hipster couple in the Leon's spots from a couple years back: "Lay-onze". I imagine she would voice the radio spots as well, assuming they actually recorded radio spots and didn't just rip the tv audio.

She has appeared in quite a few commercials. She’s also in the two Schneider’s Hot Dog commercials from this past summer alongside Blue Jays announcer Buck Martinez. Earlier she was in a Downy commercial that aired both in Canada and the US.

**Posted by RadioActive** October 29, 2024 2:13 pm

newsguy1 wrote:
Since we're talking about those horrible thermostat ads, can anyone tell me what the announcer is saying, "You might not think about your (and I swear he says 8 track) but it is thinking of you."
I know he's not saying 8 track... but what??

The word (although it's not really a word) you're not hearing right is HVAC. It stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.

**Posted by newsguy1** October 29, 2024 3:14 pm

How boring, I like 8 track better.
I still have my old 8 track player from my Honda Civic. It looks like an art deco ornament and I keep it on a book shelf in my bedroom.

**Posted by RadioActive** October 29, 2024 3:46 pm

If Craig in the commercial doesn't understand Fahrenheit, he probably won't know what an 8-track is...

(I still have one, inherited from my late father, who apparently was a Billie Holiday fan.)

**Posted by rawkgurl** October 29, 2024 4:01 pm

RadioActive wrote:
By the way, a runner up to this horrible spot is the one from Shopify, where a female announcer gleefully tells listeners the commercial is short 6 secs. and then proceeds to hum an irritating tune to fill up the time. That one sends me straight to a channel change.

Thanks for the compliment.

**Posted by RadioActive** October 29, 2024 4:05 pm

I only wish they sold 20 secs. spots, like the copy says!

**Posted by RadioActive** October 29, 2024 7:25 pm

rawkgurl wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
By the way, a runner up to this horrible spot is the one from Shopify, where a female announcer gleefully tells listeners the commercial is short 6 secs. and then proceeds to hum an irritating tune to fill up the time. That one sends me straight to a channel change.
Thanks for the compliment.

Was that you? I thought it sounded like you!

The read was good but the script was dumb. Not your fault. Hope they paid a lot for your time and that the session was at least six seconds shorter than you expected!