Tag Archives: insurance

The Most Stupid TV Commercials; Nationwide and Microsoft

Posted on by

For weeks now, Microsoft has been running TV commercials, generally promoting the PC. The commercial usually starts with an individual, usually has a young, sort of geeky looking person, out to buy a new laptop.

He or she (they have multiple actors) could be a young lady or guy, who starts out describing what kind of a laptop he or she wants and then the voice-over tells him or her that “if he or she finds that kind of laptop under $1,500…, then he or she can keep it”.

Now, the thing is this; it implies as though all the laptops for sale anywhere are more than $1,500 and that, if he or she’s lucky enough to find one under that amount, then he or she can keep it. And then, to make it even sillier, at the end of the commercial, when he or she has found the laptop she or he wanted, then he or she’s given a stack of bills, as though it’s a reward for finding a laptop under $1,500.

So, my question is; does that mean that there are no PC laptops under $1,500, and if I found one under that amount, then I can keep it, and that you’d reward me? Really a stupid commercial.

The second TV commercial that aggravates me, because it’s really stupid, and they keep running it over and over, it’s by Nationwide. The commercial starts with a woman (a black woman) who talks like she’s running diarrhea. She doesn’t talk like she’s scripted, which may be a good thing, as an indication that Nationwide uses real people, not actors, who say what they really feel about their auto insurance.

Now, this lady goes on, explaining and slowly stating that; “Nationwide has a forgiveness program…, which means, if you have an accident, then Nationwide will forgive you… they will not raise your premium based on your first accident…, because Nationwide….

Didn’t she just say that Nationwide has a forgiveness program at the beginning? Why does she have to repeat and explain her silly-line?

Geico and Safe Auto have some of the coolest, eye-and-ear-catching phrases, TV commercials. Microsoft and Nationwide should may be look up to them and may be, learn from them.