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MONDAY RADIO COMMERCIAL SMACKDOWN: Guess The Mystery Advertiser

The following is not a parody of bad radio advertising. It’s the beginning of a real radio commercial airing in Los Angeles.

So that’s what separates the advertiser from all the other businesses in the world.

Their customers look for great value without compromising quality. (This advertiser bravely goes against the tide of businesses that promise “poor quality at rip-off prices.”)

They offer their customers “the quality” they’ve “come to expect.” (What businesses don’t offer their customers the quality they’ve come to expect?)

Forget about identifying the advertiser. What about narrowing it down to, say, fewer than 100 product or service categories?

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Jim Walsh February 27, 2012, 10:02 am

    Geez…that could be anything from Weapons of Mass Destruction to Henorrhoid cream (apologies to Bill Maher)…

  • Curt Herberg February 27, 2012, 10:06 am

    From the “bad-ad” generator…?

  • Chris Mead February 27, 2012, 11:45 am

    I say a grocery store…or sex shop! lol

  • Biff February 27, 2012, 12:26 pm

    I’ll take a guess… car dealership?

  • Jim February 27, 2012, 1:11 pm

    Someday I will share with you the spot that the announcer states that, “everytime he comes into XXXXX YYYYYYY, they ask him to make another radio commericial!” Then he chuckles and muses, that while he “loves their great food,” he also loves “their great atmosphere!” Granted, the name of the type of food is in the name of the place, but really? Could we be just a little more descriptive and distinctive? “Honey, let’s go out for food tonight!” “Sure, as long as it has great atmosphere!”

  • Neal Angell March 6, 2012, 10:41 pm

    Dan, I think the 12 seconds of audio you provided actually goes well beyond that spot’s “mental tune-out point” for the average listener. 🙂

    I’m always telling clients to stop promising the things their customers already expect. “Knowledgeable sales associates.” I EXPECT to deal with knowledgeable sales associates. “Fully trained technicians.” I EXPECT that you have fully trained technicians. And, of course, the always popular “Great customer service.” I EXPECT to receive great customer service! 30 or 60 seconds goes fast. Stop wasting those precious selling seconds offering the expected…instead, surprise me with the UNEXPECTED. Stop making the exact same promises all your competitors can make…make a promise that’s unique to YOU. NOW you’ve got my attention…and perhaps, my business.

  • Jack Newberry May 21, 2012, 6:29 am

    I agree that the ad stinks loudly. HOWVER… As a 24 year small-market scarred dad of four, I worked many moonlight type mini-careers to feed the hungry at home… I have worked at major department stores where cashiers didn’t admit to any English beyond “break time” or “hi”… No, not Hispanic, noooo, not kidding!
    I once worked for a service manager in an auto dealership who convinced a man that the broken engine in his (3,300 from mile new) luxury car came from a snowy day in the south causing engine condensation… Anyone who had visited these businesses in a market just shy of 65,000 would attest that these obvious statements are important…
    Just sayin’… find an eloquent way to make these claims, but don’t ignore their efectiveness.

  • Chris Pollard May 22, 2012, 8:28 am

    I really liked the tone. Was that 1kHz? Sounded a little lower then 1k. 937kHz perhaps? Anyway, best part of the whole clip.

    They should have aired it like that … and bleeped the sponsor name through the whole thing. Then run a station contest to see if anybody could guess the sponsor. 🙂