Some Commercials Bug Me

And I suspect that many others feel the same way.  It may pay the bills for media companies, but it seems at times that the number of minutes of ads per hour are approaching the number of minutes per hour devoted to content.  How much more enjoyable is watching movies or shows on HBO or Showtime or Netflix or Amazon, all without commercial interruptions, then on basic cable with ad overload.  Certainly some commercials are well done; they tend to find their way to content like the Super Bowl, but most are inane.

Case in point, a recent ad for FIOS featuring Rashida Jones.  While I use this ad as an example, many others make no sense as well.  In this particular ad, Jones is sitting in a friend's kitchen with a third friend talking about her date the night before.  Fine so far.  Just then, her cell phone rings and she asks permission to take it on her tablet and needing to use her friend's WIFI.  Why?  The call is on your cell, don't you want privacy.  Fine switch it to Facetime or Skype or some other video app.  But does her date know that she is turning his call from audio to video?  And why ask for permission to use her WIFI if you are able to connect instantly to the now video call?  You must have already had permission to access WIFI as it most likely needed a passcode prior to get online.  And if it was an open WIFI, it meant that her friend didn't care who used their WIFI.  The results of pushing the call from cell to WIFI are disastrous as buffering prevented the whole conversation from being heard.  And the friends decide that he must be a psycho.  Why?  Was Jones describing her date prior as being disastrous?  Probably not as she was willing to talk to him; a bad date would have most likely resulted in that call being ignored.  So point for the ad is this, unbelievable premise, unlikely scenario, nonsensical outcome.  Would any likely buyer of FIOS experience this type of problem with their current WIFI provider; no.  I'm left clueless who would switch providers as a result of this ad. Most may simply ignore it as unwatchable; others, like me, annoyed each time it airs.    If you haven't seen it, here it is:



FYI, my wife just saw a commercial for a Technical College.  It had a spelling error.  Not a good sign.  Are there other ads that simply make no sense to you.  Let me know.  If advertising is to work, shouldn't it entertain or inform or aspire.  But when it doesn't, it annoys.