RANT - Idiotic Advertisements

Is advertising getting more stupid as each year passes, or am I becoming the grumpy old man I've been threatening to turn into?

It's probably a bit of both, and while getting older and grumpier is natural, there's no excuse for some of the stupidest ads we get on TV.

Short-listed for my award for the brain-deadliest ads of this month are:

1. WaxVac ear wax vacuum device

You've got to applaud their doctor spokesperson, who manages to say these paid-for words without laughing: "Don't use a cotton swab in your ears because it could cause significant damage". And the way their actors scream in pain as they accidentally plunge cotton swabs in their ears and presumably pierce their brains. About as likely as killing yourself through sloppy use of a toothbrush, or lopping off your leg through overly vigorous use of your toenail clipper.

2. Accutech Nano blood sugar test meter

I had planned an entire diatribe on this stupid ad, but have opted for brevity and plagiarism: 
"The Accutech Nano commercial makes having diabetes look cool" tweeted one jokester. 
That a device that checks how close you are to death or organ failure needs a BLOODY JINGLE
beggars belief.

3. Car insurance

It's statistically and commercially impossible for every auto insurance advertiser to be able to undercut their competitors, and yet, that's exactly what they tell us .... Save 15% by switching to us, save $650 or more by switching from your current insurer, ad nauseum.

4. "New" car ads

... that claim this year's model is "all new" when clearly it would be impossible, illogical, and economically suicidal for an automaker to change absolutely every nut, bolt, rivet, and body panel on their "new" car. Right? Yet they all lie the same.

5. Beds

I don't know if it's an annoying feature of our local radio stations and how they're so reliant on the few companies that do use radio advertising, but I guarantee every time I turn on the radio in my car, at least one - sometimes two - of the pre-set stations will be playing a Mancini's Sleep World ad. "Don't listen to those stations" I hear you say. Well, I could go on about the lame selection of indie-rock stations we have among the mix of dried up hippie rubbish, tired old re-tread rawk stations, and heard-it-all-before RnB but that would be blending my rants into coronary territory.