Another one of these "you might not be able to afford to die" commercials

The "average cost" of a funeral is $7500?  Oh wait, it gets even worse- funerals can cost "up to $30,000."

Thirty thousand dollars?  Who the hell do you think you are, Rameses III?  You hoping for the whole package including embalming with honey and sawdust?  You want to be laid on on a bed of silk and gold-flecked truffles wearing an Armani tux?  Or maybe you want a Lexus instead of a pine box?

As I've posted before in reacting to ads like this, there is ZERO reason for a funeral to cost anywhere NEAR what these commercials claim.  But if you have determined that you deserve some kind of showy display when you die, I guess you'd better buy this insurance.  Because no one in their right mind would go into debt to put someone in the freaking ground.  Spending money is for the living, sorry.

"Donate his body to science" is mentioned in this ad, but then quickly dropped- apparently that's not really an option for David, because Reasons.  Biggest reason, I'm guessing:  there's no money in it for anyone.

 Leave the money you might have selfishly set aside for a ridiculously ornate box no one will ever see after the burial for, oh gee, I don't know, an f--ing college fund for a granchild.  I have to explain this to you? I thought old people were supposed to be smart- Greatest Generation and all that crap?

Line by Line snark on this Match.com ad. Because I'm really tired and don't feel like actually doing anything*

I am not really sure what the Spokeschoad on the Street's first question- it sounds like "how many--- did you meet?" but Idiot Woman Who Doesn't Know How To Say Mind Your Own F--ing Business to Spokeschoad on the Street responds "mostly from dating websites," which isn't an answer to that question.  Does he say "how did you meet guys?"  Because it sure doesn't sound like that at all...

"Tell me about it."  Proper response- "None of your F--ing Business."  Response from someone desperate to be in a commercial- "sure, let me tell you about my online dating history, right here on the street:"  "Mostly just there to hook up."  Um, what's the problem with that?

"Have you tried the Match App?"  "There's a Match APP?"  No, seriously.  That's her response.  She's surprised that Match isn't the only company on the planet that doesn't have an App.  That's the 1990s version of responding to "have you checked out the company's website" with "the company has a WEBSITE?  Holy Crap, I had NO IDEA!"  I have never used Match, eHarmony, or any of these dating sites.  I just ASSUMED that they all had Apps.  Because, you know, 2016.

"Ooooh, this guy wants to chat and have fun and see where it takes us." Yeah, that's SO different from the guys on the other websites, who just want to "hook up."  What does this woman think "chat and have fun and see where it takes us" MEANS?  Does she think it translates into "lets just chat and take it slowly, maybe if it feels right after 100 dates or so we can meet my mom and spend the evening watching 'Old Fashioned' on DVD?"

"How is this different from some other Apps?"  Um, well, with some other Apps, you can find a favorite restaurant.  With others, you can play games involving birds with pissed-off looks on their faces.  With other Apps, you can buy Starbucks coffee.  I don't understand the question.  At all.

"Getting to know what a person is like is 'more mature' than 'here's my face.'"  Well, ok.  Which non-Match.com dating sites go with "here's my face, let's hook up?"  Because it's strongly suggested that's what ALL the non-Match.com sites do.  If that's so, I'll ask again- what's the problem?

"Just joined Match!" Based on a 20-second non-coversation with a Spokeschoad!  Hey, Jordan, I'd leave "mature" out of your dating profile.  Because honesty and all.

Or, I'd just cut the crap and admit that you just want to hook up- you just didn't want to admit it to the Spokeschoad.  That would be more mature than this.

*I spent 12 hours on a train and bus yesterday.  This is as ambitious as I get today.

This doesn't surprise me, BMW*

The caption reads "Wife drops off Stuff," but this plays more like Rich Girlfriend Dumps Rich Boyfriend's stuff.  I don't see these people as married- for one thing, it's pretty clearly implied that they have seperate residences.  The guy is standing in front of Standard Huge House in the Burbs.  If that's THEIR house, why is SHE dropping off HIS stuff?  If she dumped him, wouldn't his stuff already be in their house?

Whereas if they are dating, she has her own place and he's gradually moved some things into it, for convenience-- first a toothbrush, then a change of clothes, etc.- and she's had enough of the arrangement so out he, and the stuff, goes.  That's what seems to be happening here.

Regardless of what's happening, it isn't "complicated." It's needlessly humiliating and cruel.  If he deserves it, his "it's complicated" means "I'm an A-One Jackass and I don't want to talk about it."  At no point does this commercial, obviously played for laughs, come off as at all funny, either- just another episode of Lifestyles Of The Rich And Not At All Famous.  But at least it's short, I'll give it that.

*that BMW owners can be passive-aggressive douchenozzles.  Doesn't surprise me one little bit.

And I don't feel even the slightest bit sorry for the people who fall for this crap.

The radio versions of ads for Community Tax tell listeners to "take down this number or store it in your cell phone," making it very clear that their prospective customer base is so stupid that it needs to be told how to go about jotting down a number they might want to call later on- if they really are that stupid.

This televised version doesn't tell us to write down the number or store it in a cell phone or repeat it over and over again until we can get to a phone or take a sharp instrument and carve it into our arms.  Instead, it attempts to win us over with throbbing buzzwords dashing across the screen  and fast talk which we are ordered to listen to "very closely."  Because the stakes are so high, after all.



And here we have another service offering us the opportunity to duck our responsibilities, this one using a billowing American flag which just screams "it's totally patriotic to shift your tax burden on to the sucker tax payers."  Diane C. breathlessly informs us that her $13,500 tax debt was settled for only $400.  Even if Diane C. is being sincere, that means that this bubbleheaded freeloader just handed us a bill for $13,100 or a larger debt.  Gee, thanks Diane C.- pardon me if I don't exactly share your enthusiasm beating the system.

Of course, I don't believe any of this, despite the flag and the insistence that I have "Rights" which include not paying my taxes.  Not even the bizarrely fascistic symbol placed over the flag after Diane C makes her last attempt to sell us on this scam wins me over (it looks like a traffic cop holding a pair of scales with his legs as he makes a Nazi salute, what the hell?)

I'm still trying to catch up with Owen myself, GE.....

It's bad enough that there is now an entire series of GE commercial storylines built around this weird doofus with too much gel in his hair.  But I wish they'd stick to their own lame script- does Owen have the authority to hire people, or not?  The first ad suggests that he doesn't, the second that he does.

Plus, what does Owen say to either job-hunter that convinces them they really, really want to work for GE?  He doesn't say what his salary, benefits package, health insurance or hours are.  He just spews his usual "we are changing the world" bs.  Why is this attractive to anyone?  Personally, I'd rather get in on the brain-drone thing; that looks like it would be an instant money maker.  General Electric?  Last time I checked, doofus Owen was talking about writing code to help machines "talk to eachother."  Boooorrring.

So is Owen hiring now?  Can we get that straight before we create any more of these ads, please?

I have problems, too. First, what the hell is this?

(Why does this ad start with Jerry saying "Hi," and then letting the illustrator tell us his story, as if he isn't there?  Why isn't it "I have some troubles?"  Meh, whatever...)

Jerry has an online business.  But, Jerry has problems.  He has a Lack of Money, and some Troubles.

But then Jerry located these people who are Experts at Marketing, Web Utilization, and basically Getting Things Done.

Problem solved.  Jerry now has lots of money.

Ok, I'm totally lost.  I have absolutely no idea what service this commercial is trying to sell- I mean, I could assume that it's a Quick Cash At High Interest deal, because Jerry's "problems" seem to center around money (there's no mention of distribution or marketing issues, and there's cartoon pictures of gold coins, so....) On the other hand, this video was found by typing "getting rich on real estate."  Real Estate is not mentioned anywhere in the ad.  Is the solution that Jerry is in the wrong business, and really just needs to hire this "team" which is remember made up of people who are Experts at Doing Things who will steer him away from that business and on to where the real money is- flipping houses?

I guess I'll never know, because I sure as hell am not about to click the link.  So- good luck, Jerry, with your troubles, whatever they are, and your team of Experts, whatever they do.

Because life without DirectTV is just stupid and backward and wrong, I guess

So....the suburban jackass who lives next door and who KNOWS that the kid who visited his son comes from a family with vastly different values just let him watch DirectTV and use the features it provides....and it didn't even occur to him that in doing so he might be exposing him to things that violate the traditions of the kid's family?

Because "settling" for homemade clothes and from-scratch cooking and (oh horrors) life without DirectTV is just weird and stupid, gee it's sad that your kid has to come over to our house to be exposed to lightning-fast video games and hour after hour of brain-numbing stupid on TV, when he's stuck at home he's forced to do lame non-digital stuff like make his own hat and work in the garden like a sad loser, right?

In real life, I'd like the Settler Dad to tell douchenozzle "I don't give a damn about your weird values because they're weird" Dad "hey, you know what?  We are raising our kids differently from yours.  Our kids read instead of watch endless tv.  They work puzzles and play outside rather than spend hour after hour with violent video games.  Because we have different values.  Instead of contaminating our kid with your 'superior' DirectTV-provided lifestyle, maybe you could show some respect for ours?"  What if Settler Dad and Family were Amish?  Would they still be "weird" and "backward" and stupid?

Personally?  I don't think "Settler Dad's" kids are missing all that much.  But that's not really the point, is it?  Neighbor Dad?  You're a jackass and have no business snarking on anyone's values.  You certainly have no businessness undermining those values.  If you can't be respectful of the "inferior" non-DirectTV world, at least mind your own f--ing business.

There are about half a dozen of these "Settler" ads out there now, running pretty much nonstop.  So I'm sure I'll be snarking on other versions in the future, but this "your son really loves sneaking off to do stuff you don't approve of over at my house" crap really set me off.   I think I'll calm down by reading the YouTube posters amuse themselves by repeating lines from the commercial.  That will restore my faith in humanity.