Least appetizing food ads?

[Sloth]

The new, ultra-annoying commercial for Burger King's breakfast bowls may have succeeded in getting my attention (flute solo!). However it failed miserably in making the dish look attractive. Did they just sweep every food scrap off the floor and put it in a bowl? Sure looks that way.

The Ci Ci Pizza ads aren't much better.

What commercial triggers your gag reflex?

[Faraway11]

There is a gas station near my house that had big posters in their store promoting their "2 Hot Dogs for 2 Dollars" promo. The headline on the poster was "So Nice You'll Taste It Twice." Officially, the dumbest marketing I've ever seen.

[cosmogrrl]

The Panda Express ads. Talking pandas and bad looking food. It looks processed and slimey. And the colors are, well, unfood like. And the pandas are beyond annoying.

[buttertart]

It seems to be impossible to photograph melted cheese appealingly, pizza and "Italian food" ads always feature what looks like a pullulating wound or worse.

[mnosyne]

Thanks for the vocab lesson: I though 'pullulating' meant something entirely different!

[mattstolz]

the new one i cant figure out is the Digiornos ads for pizza and cookie boxes. mostly just grosses out the health nut in me. do we really need to make it MORE easy to have a bunch of unhealthy foods at the same time??

[mamachef]

Not televised, but a print ad for Raley's deli did it to me yesterday; inspired a shudder about something I'd have ordinarily not even glanced at. After this post though, the topic was on my mind. The pic was of a "Raley's Deli Breakfast Bowl." It involves "eggs," yukon gold potatoes, breakfast meat, salsa, cheese, etc. The description is fine, but the pic? The eggs are little.......I don't even know what to call them. They look like soft, yellow lincoln logs chopped in half. The melted "cheese" has a patina akin to nasty old oily leather. I can't think of anything that would destroy my admittedly small breakfast appetite faster than being presented with one of these items. And hey, I'm no WASP, but the sounds of smacking, crunching, chewing and dripping in the CJr. commercials? Dis-gus-ting in the extreme. That person would be excused from my table immediately - in the unlikely event they'd be invited in the first place. : )

[TheFoodEater]

the ads for buitoni products on hulu drive me nuts.

"italian masterpiece" is not how i would describe these barely edible raviolis. every time i see those ads i want to vomit in my mouth.

[mattstolz]

those do one thing very nicely though:

they always make me wanna pull out my pasta machine and make myself some GOOD ravioli. just because every time i hear "Shrimp and Lobster Ravioli" i immediately think of a awesome version of it i make. and then want to make it again.

[daydream]

The Philly Cream Cheese ad - WHY would I put that stuff in spaghetti sauce? WHY?

My father once said the Chili's baby back ribs commercial, with the fake steam trailing off the side, looks like they 'put a lit cigarette behind the plate'. Now every time I see their ads, I can't stop thinking of that statement (and laughing!).

McDonald's commercials. There's something patronizing about a few of them. Like the one about the lady who wants to think for herself on a date, so out of rebellion she gets a McChicken and a parfait. Um, what?

We all know Olive Garden is vile, but I HAVE to cackle at their names. Conan recently made fun of them in a sketch, and it was so spot on!

I think what makes these chain commercials so vile is the lack of produce and the emphasis on size and creaminess. Fresh fruits and vegetables are so beautiful. Even when places like Outback or whatever show a salad or some steamed carrots on TV, they just DON'T look right. And steaks don't look properly seared, just MASSIVE, usually with a mountain of mashed potatoes and an oil drum of gravy poured over the top. Everything on TV is about the most food at the lowest cost, when really, healthy eating can be just as economical!

[mattstolz]

just saw a ad that makes me think of this thread every time i see it.

the newest heineken commercian where the guy is at the large party. its not even a unappetizing thing... that song the girl is singing in the background is just so freaking annoying that it makes me just wanna grab bottles of heineken and smash them on my ears so i dont have to hear it anymore

[linguafood]

that's probably the best use for heineken anyway.

[mattstolz]

the new philidelphia cooking cream ads gross me out. they lady is cooking what looks like a perfectly fresh healthy meal then she just takes a big spoonful cold of philidelphia flavored goop and slops it down into the pan. she then starts to stir it in and it still doesnt melt into the food very well. gross.

oh, and anything that melissa d'arabian tells me to make with a johnsonville sausage i can pretty much guarantee i will never want to try.

[sommrluv]

I just saw that commercial! The only think I could think to myself...aluminum pan, no oil, and cold cheese...can you say burnt mess?

[KayceeK]

Gotta agree - print or TV - any philadelphia cream cheese ad grosses me out.

[mattstolz]

yeah... even though i KNOW i love the taste of phili cream cheese, and that i have some awesome recipes with it (cheesecake ice cream anyone??) the commercials do NOT make it seem appealing. especially this one. GLOP! no thanks.

[KayceeK]

Now I see those ads everywhere too. They've even managed to permeate the walls of my facebook account somehow!? bahhh. I think the actress's appeal has faded over the years too, but I may just be being cruel now.

[jcmods]

Holy cow crap! Just saw the ad for Taco Bell Quad Steak Burrittos. Lounge singer actually emotes "Looks like a hunk of cow!" Not the hunk I normally associate with food I guess. Woof!

[occula]

Some specifics have been mentioned, but anything that tries to make eating a big gloppy mess of a burger or nachos or something - sexy. Um, yuck. I don't care how sexy the person eating the mess is - messy food and smacky food-mouths aren't sexy to me at all.

[burgeoningfoodie]

There are so many here I can't recall if I've said it or not, but if you get Hardee's commercials (which are owned by Carl's Jr.) when the burger hits the floor and just makes this horrible sound.. blech. While some Jimmy Dean commercials with the sun are cute, others are annoying beyond belief.. like when they play super heroes (I think that is Jimmy Dean) or the one with the Leprechaun coming out of the door.

[globocity]

Most of these responses refer to television ads. But the ones that I have found repulsive, as strange as this seems, are two print ads forlocal San Diego restaurants.

I can't claim that this will make sense to anyone.

The first gross-out ad was a photograph of a chef inserting a whole fish , seemingly right out of the ocean, into his mouth. This was for an upscale La Jolla California cuisine restaurant.
The second, for a popular downtown breakfast spot, featured a woman with a WAFFLE ON HER HEAD.

It eludes me how these ads are supposed to stir up the consumer's appetites when the only affect it had on me was to avoid going there.

[goodhealthgourmet]

those Jimmy Dean commercials with the superheroes aren't necessarily stomach-churning, just RIDICULOUS.

[smkit]

Those "land of beef" ads in (I think) Bon Appetit are really unappetizing. They create landscapes with meat mountains and gravy rivers. It just looks nasty to me. It was a long ad campaign with several different landscapes in many issues -- all equally unappealing.

[Violatp]

I've been hating those Chunky soup commercials where they pour a can of the stuff over "minute rice" or "instant mashed potatoes."

It looks so disgusting and so far off what, say, goulash over real mashed potatoes, would be. Blech.

[coney with everything]

OMG, the very idea that a can of soup poured over rice is a MEAL is disgusting.

[LauraGrace]

Oh yes. Disgusting. I pity the actors who had to work up looks of anticipation and delight for something resembling -- in the kindest terms -- pig swill.

[dd992emo]

Currently visiting the Norfolk area and today I saw a billboard ad for Prime Rib at WaWa, which is a regional gas station/convenience store. Just doesn't sound too appetizing to me...

[jcmods]

I just checked to see if the prime rib was a hoagie or one of their meals in a bowl. Its actually both, and neither one is getting good reviews. Could not find a photo of the billboard but other pictures are less than appealing. Too bad, I used to love Wawa when I was living in Philly area.

[john redcorn]

The new BK burger that has jalapeno chunks and cheddar cheese inside the patty. I dont know how these commercials made it on air. Disgusting looking glow in the dark green and yellow objects inside a patty.

[small h]

Of all the examples on this thread, yours is the only one that made me rewind the DVR, because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Bleah.

[goodhealthgourmet]

i heard about that burger here on CH before i saw the ad, but the mention on the Chains board gave no indication of just how gnarly it would look...i couldn't change the channel fast enough.

[mnosyne]

Another ad that grossed me out was the KFC bowls with chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, bisquits, gravy and god knows what other carbos/sugars. All comfort food, I admit, but seen together: scary! The calorie count has to be enormous.

[CookieLee]

Here's KFC description: "Freshly prepared with layers of your KFC favorites - a generous serving of our creamy mashed potatoes, sweet kernel corn, bite size pieces of all-white meat crispy chicken, topped with our homestyle gravy and 3-cheese blend."

The 'Mashed Potato with Gravy Famous Bowl' has 690 calories 270 of those from fat, 31 grams of fat, 55mgs of cholesterol, 26 grams of carbohydrates, and 27 grams of protein. The 'Rice with Gravy' version has 770 calories (230 from fat), 25 grams of fat, 55mgs of cholesterol, 107 grams of carbs, 30 grams of protein.

I'd call that enormous.

[mnosyne]

All that's missing are pancakes!

[daydream]

As comedian Jim Gaffigan said, the KFC bowl has a layer of mashed potatoes, a layer of corn, and a layer of cigarette butts - 'delicious!' ;D

[mangorita]

I refer to KFC bowls as "slop bowls".

not.appealing.at.all.

[mimolette]

I hate all of McDonald's commercials because that jingle is about as irritating as they come. That and the dance beat in the 6 flags great adventure commercials. I find them so repulsive I wish I could forget about ever hearing them completely. Maybe if they are shown side by side they could cancel each other out?

[mucho gordo]

It's their slogan, too. How many people, with a modicum of intelligence, would say, "I'm lovin' it"?

[brooklynkoshereater]

Those Paris Hilton Carl's burgers ads turned me vegan for months.

[goodhealthgourmet]

agree with sommrluv on Hidden Valley Ranch - truly gag-worthy.

as are the Red Lobster ads...there was one on last night that was so disgusting i had to change the channel.

[mcf]

Ooh, ick, yes to Red Lobster, especially since the memory of having set foot in one in the 1970s still gives me the willies, bleccch... Ranch dressing not so much, since using it as dip is the way I got so many raw veggies into my child while she was very young. OTOH, a giant coating of dressing is very, very unappealing. I never see commercials any more, for the most part, thanks to TiVO.

[goodhealthgourmet]

i'd be able to avoid commercials altogether if not for NFL & NBA games and the evening news because i DVR everything else...unfortunately the programs i *do* watch live tend to be pretty heavy on the family-focused or hungry single guy food ads we're discussing in this thread. ick, ick, ick.

[mcf]

We TiVO those, too, and just make very sure not to turn on news or talk to anyone watching.
Saves a lot of time, just starting out less than an hour late.

[sommrluv]

I'm surprised I haven't seen it! (Hope I didn't miss it)

Hidden Valley Ranch. ESPECIALLY the commercials with the kids at the fair, dipping carrots into giant bowls of ranch dressing, pumping ranch dressing in giant mounds overtop of cauliflower.

It literally makes me gag every time. Just the sheer amount of dressing the people are eating. Puke.

[howlin]

i hate that new mcds wrap commercial where it shows a close up of buddies adams apple .the whole thing has made me to never go there again

[buttertart]

I can't think of a single one that's truly appetizing or appealing. It's a shame that humor seems to have gone out of advertising in general ("Where's the beef" seems corny now, but at the time was very fun - not that the ads emphasized the food as such).

[im_nomad]

Now that I've seen that "look into my uvula" Dairy Queen ad numerous times, I'm adding that one to the list.

[Isolda]

I can't remember seeing a food ad I did like, to be honest. There's always some gross out feature, whether it's seeing a half eaten plate of food, or some long string of melted cheese going into someone's mouth, or a gloppy bland sauce. Even as a child, I was seriously grossed out by a commercial for a cake mix that showed people pressing their forks onto plates covered with cake crumbs and then pulling now-encrusted forks away as a demonstration of the cake's moistness. Gummy, saliva-laden forks. Blecch.

[laststandchili]

Dominos recent ads where the have secreted focus groups to a field of tomatos, or a dominos kitchen bother me.

The focus group folks talk about how processed and artificial their pizza tastes, then--Surprise-- the walls come down to reveal the field of tomatos they use to make their sauce.

Swell, but the finished product still tastes like butt, and wasn't that the point?

[chefdaddyo]

I'm glad the McRib promo is over. Close-ups of people ( grungy, unshaven ) lip-smacking thier fingers made me want to hurl. really disgusting. P.S. never ate one!

[Bob W]

After being bombarded with McRib ads, I finally tried one and guess what? It was disgusting.

[daydream]

Ack, the McRib commercials are the WORST!

[jmckee]

Always have been. "We talkin' CHAWMP."

[ediblover]

I think most of the comments/feelings are more about the advertiser than the actual product. Meaning, if a place you liked had the same picture, most would think highly of the product. I say that because the pictures we see of the "food" aren't what they're serving/selling. There are a lot of people behind the scenes, from the artist to the advertising exec, that work on making an appealing visual of the product.

[linguafood]

And they fail epically, as far as I'm concerned, with regard to making anything look appetizing in the aforementioned food hells.

[Sloth]

I must admit that occasionally McD's or Wendy's put out ads that make me think "That looks alright." For a couple of weeks I had an urge to get a McD's double cheeseburger because of the commercial. Luckily for my arteries there are no McD's in my convenience zone.

[im_nomad]

I admit that one grabbed me last night, and was actually kind of a cute commercial. The one where they show a group of people, and then flash back to when they were kids, or a young family, etc. Not so much focusing on the food really, although it was shown.

[linguafood]

OMG, where to begin? I find most commercials for chain restaurants to be the biggest incentive not to ever set foot in there.... Chili's? Applebee's? Everyhing is either covered in cheese glop or glistens as if it's painted with syrup. Utterly, horribly disgusting. I can't fathom anyone looking at those and thinking, mmm-mm, I'ma get me some of that crap. Gross.

[noodlepoodle]

I agree Linguafood. The ads for TGIF too are particularly disgusting.
Also, the breakfast ads by Dunkin Donuts. Who wants to start the day off with an egg white flatbread. You can actually taste the stale shortening in their donuts. Their chocolate donuts with their fake chocolate flavoring I find especially vile.

I don't know who Red Lobster thinks they're kidding with their ads of giant plates of sizzzling colossal shrimp and lobster.

[mucho gordo]

I see you've been to Red Lobster and know that what you see is not what you get. What happened to truth in advertising??? There is a law.

[GibsonGirl55]

Speaking of truth in advertising: It sickens me to see McDonald's ads featuring whole foods as if the work crew is actually in the kitchen cracking eggs for breakfast meals and cutting up apples for the oatmeal they are now touting. If you never saw an apple or an egg and figured going to McDonald's to see what either looked like, you'd be out of luck. The same can be said for their calorie-laden, sugary fruit smoothies.

[10foot5]

I don't know how they do things now, but my first job was at a McDonalds in Ohio in the 80's and we cracked fresh eggs to make Egg McMuffins.

Now, the reconstituted onions for the burgers were disgusting and would leave a chemical smell on me that would take days to wash off, but the eggs were certainly real.

[mangorita]

The grossest ad I've ever seen from Dunkins was a large poster print ad in their stores for the Pancake-coated Sausage ball things they had this past fall. The poster was an extreme closeup of one of the sausage balls cut in half and it was glistening with grease and you could see all the little gristly meat bits. yum yum. *gag*

[buttertart]

Boy, you're right. I was ill at the time they were being advertised and they looked horrifying.

[josquared]

Actually, this may be more "truth in advertising" to be honest.

Saw a Tim Horton's ad where they boasted they were baking up more bagels and selling them for a bargain price. But the bagel they showed looked SOOOO unappetizing...it made me actually crave a "bagel" from Einstein Bros/Noah's by comparison

[al b. darned]

After a weekend of football I have come to despise the new Pepsi commercials.

And those idiotic commercials for MGD 64 where there is a guy working off the extra calories from his 95 cal Michelob ULTRA.. Oh Puh-leeeze!

[goodhealthgourmet]

i have a new one to add to my list...the new Hershey's commercial with the "chocolate" landscape and the boy & girl figures made out of chocolate dancing and bouncing around in it. it all looks like waxy, rubbery nastiness...which is actually about right for Hershey's, but it still turns my stomach.

[mtngirlnv]

I just saw an ad with a swimming pool filled with caramel and guys swimming in it. Why this is a good ad for a candy bar is beyond me.

[linguafood]

Hmm. I don't know. Kinda depends on the guys, I think '-)

[gaffk]

I don't know . . . would good looking guys swimming in caramel really make you want . . .a candy bar?

[linguafood]

Nope.

[Cachetes]

But isn't that the point of much advertising (says this armchair advertiser)? Sell sex, and hope that the person subliminally associates the product with it?

[linguafood]

My mind is way too simple-structured to subliminally be influenced by hidden messages. Guys swimming in caramel? Bring 'em on, I say. But hold the candy bars, please.

[Cachetes]

You are a purist!

[mamachef]

I hate this commercial, but I love caramel soooo much that I find it easy to blow right by the guys bobbing around in my food and develop a craving for a candy bar. :)
If the guys were better-looking, it might help a bit.....

[burgeoningfoodie]

I don't remember exactly the guys in the commercial, but I wanna say outta shape and hairy come to mind.

[luvarugula]

goodhealthgourmet...I agree with you about the Hershey's and the "swimming in caramel" ad. Nobody wants to see human bodies dipped in chocolate or caramel. It's pretty gross.
The worst one I've seen lately is for Snicker's, where a woman at a focus group is questioning two sharks, and discussing "which one tasted more peanutty". Are we serious? Who came up with this? What part of this commercial makes you want to buy a Snickers? Don't watch if you're scared of sharks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e0Gsn...

[gaffk]

I actually like that Snicker's commercial (and I'm not alone: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/774128 ). Hasn't swayed me to try the new Peanut Butter Snickers, but I do find it amusing.

[mattstolz]

i actually think that commercial is hilarious! makes me laugh every time

[mnosyne]

I think this is an example of "I don't care what you say about me as long as you keep talking about me!".

[al b. darned]

I find the Burger King creepy beyond words. And I refuse to darken Subway's door until they dump Jared and issue a public apology for ever inflicting him on us.

[mdepsmom]

While this isn't a food "ad," the photos that accompany the recipes in every Penzey's catalog are so completely unappetizing -- everything has an orange glow, whether or not it should.

[mucho gordo]

When I posted earlier in this thread I forgot to mention that McD's slogan, "I'm lovin' it", annoys the hell out of me. It evokes an image of the type of clientele they cater to, just like Carl's Jr. I don't think educated people talk that way.

[mamachef]

That phrase has entered the pop consciousness so heavily that even my educated self came out with it. And I admit, it was to my chagrin.

[burgeoningfoodie]

I dislike Outbacks as it must be offensive to Australians and the country's cuisine. I dislike hardee's (which may be the same as Carl Jr. elswhere). Any Denny's or IHOP commercial.

[coney with everything]

+100 for IHOP's whipped topping and canned pie filling-covered breakfast abominations. Those ads should be used as diet aids, a la Clockwork Orange.

[al b. darned]

No adult should be allowed to say, "Rooty tooty fresh and fruity" in public place.

[jmckee]

Outback. for some reason, their food looks really lousy in their commercials.

I'll second Olive Garden. There's nothing at all Italian about some of that overly topped gloppy stuff.

[CindyJ]

This one is for a restaurant, rather than food per se. It's the one for Friendly's where the tone-deaf mom is driving a car full of obnoxious-looking teens. I absolutely cannot look at or listen to that commercial.

[gaffk]

Just saw a Pappa John's ad (really? In Philly?) that was touting his meat lovers pizza. The crust looked worse than anything I've seen in school lunches and I couldn't even discern the meat. It looked like garbage on a pre-fab crust.

We all looked at each other and asked, "where are the food photographers, who could make even Mickey D's look good?" Why do all food commercials now make us run the other way? The photography used to leave me craving what I knew was bad food; now, even if it's good, I look the other way.

[SDGourmand]

Another bad print ad is the ones where they make the steak look like the grand canyon. I hate those.

[mnosyne]

Yes, you expect to see teeny-tiny climbers planting pitons in the meat!

[dave_c]

Least appealing is the Hidden Valley ranch dressing commercial where people are drowning their veggies in ranch dressing.

[coney with everything]

Did you notice the Sandra Lee "broccoli pie" in one of those ads?
http://foodnetworkhumor.com/2010/10/l...

[sommrluv]

ooops, I missed your post. Totally agree.

[Faraway11]

Ugh... That hidden valley commercial is AWFUL!!!

We have one for a local chain called Round Table Pizza that appears to be drizzling mayonnaise on a pizza as well. Disgusting.

[im_nomad]

The Campbell's (I think) soup ads with the huge splashes coming up from the bowls. Reminds me of something completely opposite to eating :|

[LJS]

I totally agree. I have to look away...worse, I feel this urge to run and get a cloth and some hot sudsy water so I can do a mop up...too long a mom, I guess...

[MC Slim JB]

Given my general experience of national casual-dining and fast-food chains, there's almost nothing any of them can do to make their food appear appetizing to me.

A local restaurant review show in Boston called the Phantom Gourmet runs restaurant ads that look made by the same people making the show, which is notorious for giving rave reviews to undeserving restaurants that just happen to buy ads. The ads feature the same cut-rate, overlit, flat-looking videography as the show, and rarely make food look less than disgusting.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[Georgia Sommers]

Actually, the one that gets me is right here on Chow. The turkey covered in bacon strips looks absolutely awful to me. I love turkey, love bacon, but that photo gives me the heebs!

oh wait, that's not really an ad, is it?

[Niblet]

I've thought the same thing -- it looks like an armadillo.

[mamachef]

It looks like a bionic brown pillbug. Not appetizing in the least.

[SDGourmand]

Arbys has the worst print ads.. They make their roast beef sandwich look so awful.. Olive Garden ads are terrible as well..

[mucho gordo]

My wife calls it the "green meat" place.

[goodhealthgourmet]

+1 for Olive garden - every one of their commercials turns my stomach...and i have to agree on Carl's Jr as well, i find the slurping & chewing noises in all their ads nauseating.

[FrankD]

Well, there are a series of dog food ads for Pedigree which feature extremely loud sounds of dogs gnawing and chewing the various products. I can't tell you how much these sounds turn my stomach, especially as they all seem to appear during the dinner hour. I know in some cultures loud sounds of mastication are considered a compliment to the cook, but I'm a WASP, dammit, and I don't like it, from humans or animals.

[im_nomad]

Yeah, I'm a dog owner and I hate those things.

[LauraGrace]

"I'm a WASP, dammit, and I don't like it"

This is my new life motto, FrankD! :)

[Parrotgal]

I have to agree; I just despise ads that have gulping, chewing, smacking, swallowing sounds. If I heard those quietly in person they would irritate me; magnified on TV just makes me scream for the mute button.

[Marge]

Seriously? You're disgusted by animals eating like...well...animals?? That's actually quite hilarious to me! The most un-appetizing food ads for me are the vile looking offerings from Olive Garden and the various soft porn chocolate eating ads--I can't recall who the ads are for because I change the channel as soon as I see a female mouth prepare to perform a sexual act on a piece of chocolate...

[burgeoningfoodie]

I was under the impression we were only discussing food that we would eat..

[noodlepoodle]

If another Beggin Strip commercial comes on, I swear I will throw a shoe at my tv. I can't press the mute button fast enough. Spare us.

[mucho gordo]

You can't possibly be a dog lover and say that.

[noodlepoodle]

Mucho Gordo, I do love dogs. That commercial is so wretchedly loud and annoying, I would think dogs would run for cover when they heard it.

[mucho gordo]

I'm sorry. You could be right about that. I'm deaf and can't hear how loud it is. Closed captions, if any, have no volume.

[mnosyne]

Most food ads on TV show the food so close up as to be seeing it on the molecular level! This looks disgusting (to me at least). Do you ever hold your food up next to your eye to examine it? My next "favorite" is the Red Lobster ad where the individual items look enormous until you see a fork tine nearby and you realize that those giant rock lobsters are miniscule.

[mucho gordo]

What you see on your plate bears little resemblance to what you see in the commercial. Been there.

[SherBel]

Only in Canada, I think....but McCain's (They also own Ore-Ida) makes a putrid product called "Pizza Pops", (which is actually a rip-off of an yummy old Manitoba -made product, but that's a different story.)

Anyhow. These are pastry pockets containing a tomato sauce/grease laden filling. For years, the ad campaign featured teenagers putting these things on a flat surface, and smacking them, thus sending jets of boiling filling into the faces of hapless buddies. Oh, so funny, yes? Because no teen would ever get a wee bit wasted and think that that was just a fun thing to do, right? Oddly, they didn't include the screams or the ER visits in the ads, but you know, they have budgets!

Eventually they killed those ads.....then they had one where a teenage girl was so enraptured by the vision of her pizza pop baking, that she had her nose practically glued to the oven door. When she stood up, her face appeared to be adorned with at least second degree burns. Another winner!

So teenagers with facial scarring seemed to be a theme....you've gotta wonder who wrote those ads. And why they were ever approved.

[chickenbruiser]

a classic
loved those ads!!! but I never tried a pizza pop

[LJS]

When I saw the title of the discussion thread (today...I am just a bit behind on my CH check-ins!) I immediately thought "Pizza Pops"...so glad you got there before me, SherBel as your rant pretty much says it all!

[Sherri]

Any ad with children whose table manners suggest they were raised by wolves. Grasping a spoon like an axe and talking with a full mouth are complete turn-offs for me. So much so that the only one I vaguely remember is the "Mikey likes it" commercial for ???????????

[CapreseStacy]

Life cereal. Hey Mikey, he likes it!

[mucho gordo]

I agree about talking with a mouthful but please don't judge me by the inelegant way I grasp the tableware. Certain physical limitations prevent me from hold on to flat handled implements.

[occula]

And anything where it's supposed to be cute for a child to have messy food smeared all over them. Yuck! What's the appeal?

[MacTAC]

Yes! Can't stand that.

[mucho gordo]

Carl's Jr, by far. Absolutely disgusting. Obviously low class slobs are their targeted group.

[araknd]

+1 for Carl's Jr. I HAVE to change the channel when one comes on.

[goodhealthgourmet]

+2. the slurping and smacking noises, the inevitable glob of mayo or sauce that squirts out and makes a mess...ugh! NASTY.

[ed1066]

+3. The visuals are absolutely nauseating. And if that doesn't get me, the grating voice of the announcer will...

[pine time]

100% agree. Commercials for barbarians. We refuse to eat there, even if it's the only place around for miles.

[daydream]

Paris Hilton was one of their spokespersons.

I think that's all I have to say!

[arashall]

Olive Garden, doesn't even look good on TV. Everything looks pale and undercooked.

[coney with everything]

+1

The sauces look gloppy...completely illmaking

[Cachetes]

When I saw the title to the thread, this was my first thought also. Everything is, as you say, white or pale. No appeal at all.

[mcf]

My first thought, too. The more they show me their food, the harder it is not to retch.

[StewieBoy]

Sort of like the food itself.

[mcf]

I've never been tempted to get close enough to know that. ;-) The closeups of the food are the most retchworthy.

[daydream]

You just won the thread!