Anyone Else Hate Those Paint-boxed C Schwab Commercials?

[stopbush]

You know, the ones that use footage of real people talking, but the people have been
paint-boxed to look like comic strips? The ones that were apparently done by a first-quarter graphics student?

There's something about the look of those things that make me physically ill.

Anyone else?

[GeorgeGist]

1. The shallowness ...

of the characters fits the paint-box look.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I prefer that the actors be shown with their real faces

Actors who do commercials need to have their faces out where they can be seen-that helps them get more jobs. I'm talking here about the rank and file actors, not stars giving celebrity endorsements (and who would mess up the face of a star for a silly commercial?).

[waiting for hope]

3. On the topic of hating commercials....

what's with the Geico gecko having an English accent? Don't get it - do the British now own our Auto Insurance industry?

[Blue_In_AK]

6. I thought he was Australian...

but still a relevant question.

[Left Is Write]

18. The original gecko commercials...

had him coming out of the shower and answering the phone in a British accent saying, "No, I can't save you money on car insurance! You want Geico, not Gecko!"

I vastly preferred that voice to the current one, which I find grating.

(As to why they would use a British or Australian accent to begin with, apparently research has shown that people are more likely to perk up their ears and listen when an accent other than their own is used. I can't remember where I read that, but it was a couple of years ago in an article about the proliferation of British and Australian accents in American advertisements.)

[Flubadubya]

21. But it's a "Cockney" accent actually...

which is really rather difficult for some American English speakers to understand. While it may grab one's attention, the average American listener may not actually comprehend what the little lizard buggar is saying at all. Oh the irony! :silly: :rofl:

[Left Is Write]

22. I agree. I don't like the accent.

I liked his original British accent better.

[underpants]

4. What's funny is that you can recognize the actors

I don't know their names they are mostly commercial actors but they are recognizable.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. They're creepy. nt

[adriennui]

7. i said the same exact thing to my DH the other night....

especially the one with the woman on a ski gondola using lip gloss and referring to someone named larry. what is the point of this crap? it isn't cute, it isn't witty....it's just annoying beyond belief.

[schmuls]

8. The commercial repels me big time. What's wrong with just a

real face?!?

[FSogol]

9. Yes horrible and I usually like that kind of thing.

The characters are so vapid, they probably didn't want their real faces used.

[EC]

10. hate nt

[greyl]

11. Yes!

Almost as much as I hate commercials with people crunching cereal loudly. :)

[Jack_Dawson]

12. L-O-V-E!

The fact they are so in your head means their ad agency has done their job. You remember the product and the commercial.

[BiggJawn]

13. Not quite.

I was so focussed on what they were trying to do with the Grafix that I totally spaced who was paying for it.

Schwab? Oh, well, not like *I'M* looking for a broker

Do they have to pay the talent as much if they're only using their voice and a wire-frame rendering?

[stopbush]

19. Not really. I started this thread immediately after one of those shitty

ads aired. In fact, I purposefully waited until it ended to see whos ad it was. I usually change channels as soon
as the things start. I has no idea it was Schwab because I never made it through a whole airing before today.

I love my remote control.

So much for the ad having its desired effect.

On edit: I guess you are correct in the fact that we are talking about the ads. Will it encourage any of us to
do biz with Schwab? Not really aimed at us non-investor-class types, are they?

[adriennui]

23. i don't remember what

they're shilling fo.

[FrankBooth]

14. Linklater's Pandora's box

I loved 'Waking Life' - despise these awful, BS commercials.

[burythehatchet]

15. WHAT ABOUT THE DISCOUNT HARRY?

[Neecy]

16. annoying and irksome

Not only is the graphic work simplistic, but the people they highlight are doing such yuppie shit - the guy at the barbeque while his kid is screeching, the skiing chick, the guy sitting there digging into a huge steak...ugh. Yeah, I know *I* do all these things while I'm bitching about my broker. They must think people are really groovin' to such vapid bullshit.

[Left Is Write]

17. Yes, I hate them. I wish they'd just use the people, for crying out loud.

[blondeatlast]

20. Me too; to the point I can't watch. Creepy as hell. nt