Adverts that irritate and entertain

[Alexia]

I may have mentioned this, but Dulcolax / Senokot adverts make me giggle when they go on about "gentle, natural relief."

Why can't they just say you'll have a big satisfying dump?

[Sput]

I've noticed makeup adverts using music that's obviously meant to sound LIKE a particular song, but isn't. It's more like a bad impression of a song.

Is Dove currently so strapped for cash that they can't afford to license ELO's Mr Blue Sky? It's weird. Another advert did exactly the same thing with a Regina spektor song a few years ago.

[Gavin Scott]

Is Dove currently so strapped for cash that they can't afford to license ELO's Mr Blue Sky? It's weird.

Spotted that too. The first two chords sound like ELO and then it goes slightly different.

Its not good.

What the feck is with the Dell ad which only talks about those ugly plastic covers?

Surely the point is to wax on about the machine's capabilities, and THEN talk about the accessories?

[Nick Harvey]

Is Dove currently so strapped for cash that they can't afford to license ELO's Mr Blue Sky?

That's always been the case for both television and radio commercials. Save money by using a cheap Chinese copy of the original to avoid the repeat fees.

[Alexia]

Was it the ELO copy that was used in the recent BMW advert with the fountains? Cos it sure as hell didn't sound like it (unless my MP3 copy has been hideously overprocessed somewhere in its life... time to search for the vinyl version methinks)

http://youtu.be/O2Q8b1GJpyQ

EDIT: Sounds like it's been dropped a few keys. WHY?!

[Sput]

no no, that's not what I mean.

What they've done is take a few of the musical hallmarks from the song and sellotape them together, no words. So those very distinctive initial chords are emulated, then you've got the rhythm of the bridge, and so on. It's not the song, or a cover of the song, or even an edited version. It's been recorded specially into a new track and formulated to sound *like* it without ever being it.

EDIT: FOUND IT!

[eoin]

The Lucozade ad with the band singing Buck Rogers.

Irritating because it's the most unimaginative ad I've seen in a long time, particularly from such a big brand. The 30-second version is particularly pointless. It might have seemed like a good idea at the time to have a band rolling down a hill but the resulting ad is pretty poor. It smacks of a desparation from a bunch of people with a vague sense that they should be using social media and appealing to young people but not quite knowing how. Get a young band to cover an upbeat song, have them consume the product and then stick a tagline on it. And the tagline at the end is simply the word YES emblazoned across the screen, which serves to underline just how unsophisticated the whole thing is.

[marksi]

In the same vein as the Dove commercial, there is another one which uses a piece of music which sounds like, but is not, "Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil. I've forgotten what the product is.

[Alexia]

Buck Rogers.

Which is in itself an old, outdated and uncool song, even for hip indie rockers. I remember it first time round (literally - as Feeder were from Newport) and it lasted the usual 6 months. Why ressurect it now I've no idea.

[WillPS]

That Microsoft ad I previously complained about is back. Well, the American version at least is. Even less reasons to upgrade are given, other than they're pretty. In fact, all the computers seem to be switched off so it's a pretty poor advert for Windows 7.

[jsm]

This is the nation I call home.