Foo - What's up with advertising for things you can't get? Read on.

You notice some stuff they advertise and pay millions to market on tv you just CAN'T get?

For example.

They are tons of Sonic commercials here in Massachusetts. But if you've been around here long enough or have taken a glance at their website. There are NO Sonics in Massachusetts. NONE! Why couldn't they just concentrate their advertising money and effort in states where the restaurant actually exists? LOL.

Also, my friend told me you can't get Geico in Massachusetts. Someone should verify that. I don't know if it's true or not.

I find this stuff incredibly stupid.

Yeah, they advertise Sonic her around DC all the time. I come to find out there's not one w/in 3 1/2 hours of DC.

That said, I see their commercials and get all pumped up about their delicious looking food. I then stop at a Sonic in Tennessee and GRAVELY dissappointed by the crappy food. I'm still bitter about that. What a letdown...

You can't leave comments on the Sonic site, but I wanna ask em "why you stupid *******?"

Are they commercials on TNT/USA/ESPN and other network cable channels or are these your local abc/nbc/cbs/fox affiliates? When I first saw this thread I thought of the weird corporate giant commercials like ones that make plastic parts or aerospace makers. "Hello Boeing, ill take 3 leer jets please. Put it on my credit card."

They're national commercials. Those companies obviously don't pay your LOCAL TV stations to run ads. Unless, perhaps, they have a plan to open a store in your area.

Not all commercials you see are made by/run by/geared for your local market. The networks sell ads for nationwide broadcasts. So I guess they do waste some money but it's probably easier to do the national ads vs buying time/ads from each local market where they have stores.

You're right about Geico in MA. Perhaps they'd like people to start asking for it there, though I still think it's easier to run ads nationally rather than each market EXCEPT MA. Who knows why they haven't licensed any agents under MA law.

I always thought it was interesting to see commercials for things like General Electric gas turbines and Haliburton on TV. I suppose it must be mostly PR, but I wonder if it really serves as a first point-of-contact for any purchasing agents, as opposed to trade shows or requests for bids, etc in million dollar purchases like would be involved in the things I see.

Then there's commercials for utilities, like Portland General Electric. It's not like you really have a choice in that case. Then again, electric companies can always use a little positive PR around the time they raise they're rates.

Sonic is mediocre at best. What I love around here is things advertised AFTER they happen. At 10PM there will be a commercial on the radio for something that was at 10AM that morning, or the day before, etc.

Another pet peeve - heard this on Clear Channel and left-wing radio stations alike - is playing TWO sound tracks at once! Hey! Let's listen to the news, and a few commercials, at the same time! OR, one commercial, and some talk show! Yay!

Sonic is sheer novelty and convenience.

Utility commercials peeve me. I already pay the monopolies enough as it is, without having to pay for them to try to improve my opinion of them. Just isn't going to happen!

Why do they have ads telling men to be better fathers? Did a deadbeat dad ever change his ways after he saw a PSA? Somebody wasted a lot of money on these ads. Why don't they just send the cash to some single moms, or pay for investigators and lawyers to force dads to pay for their kids' support?

Have you seen the GE commercials?

Hi, I'd like to purchase a GE CT7-8 jet engine please, oh and two heavy water nuclear fussion reactors. I would also like to purchase four nuclear power cells for my seawolf class submarine. I also need 9 warheads.

I see ads for some chemical company called Archer Daniels Something or Other:
"We don't make the damn food. We make the toxins they put in the damn food."

Try living in Canada! We get your crappy commercials for things we can't buy - yeah Sonic. I thought Sonic was a video game character!?! We also have to deal with broadcasts of Celine Dion. My god! We sent her out of the country for a reason, you don't think we want her entering our living rooms do you!

Of course the only time the excusively play Canadian comemrcials is during the Superbowl...doh!

lol, my favorite are the phillip morris commercials...

"Hello, we make an addictive product that eventually kills you. Although we'd love to have you addicted and eventually dying from our product, federal regulations require us to pay for prevention programs to keep your children from using our addictive and killing products--and thus eventually dying themselves. Did we mention that we're a great company for following this order, even though we are forced to. Have a nice day."

Sometimes I'm looking around on the net for information for this and that .... and I get to places where there are ads for GE locomotive engines, "you might be considering one of these, give us a call" yeah sure.

It's amazingly easy to get on the "right" mailing lists, and get all kinds of spiffy info sent in the mail and magazine sub's that are something like $600 a year if you subscribe out of the blue, but get on the right lists and you get 'em for free. Just one warning though, just say NO to NASA Tech Briefs! And if they call you on the phone, unplug the thing, quick!

What does PHillip Morris make?

I've aten at a Sonic's once and I have no idea what people rave about. The food was about the lowest on the totem pole of the fast food chain in my honest opinion. You could buy yourself a 8 lb Franks Hambruger, jar of pickels, mayonnaise, ketchup and some whole wheat bread and have yourself a burger that teasts 10 times better. Heck you could have 32 of them all for the price of 2 or 3 meals at Sonics .

When I read this i thought we were talking about those damned infomercials.

No, we talking about commercials for stuff you can't buy.

Like Sonic food in MA and etc., and Geico in MA, and Aerospace Jets and Nuclear Energy Cells Whatever.

It's far cheaper for Sonic to pay the "National" rate than to divide itself up among several markets and pay the "Local Market" rate on 3,000 markets that are near their locations. Also, if Sonic decides to ever open a restaurant in your area, they've already had massive exposure and many people may think: "Man I've seen the commercials for those for a long time, FINALLY they are opening one around here. I've been wanting to try that!"

Then BAM. 1,000 new customers, no new advertising.

What does PHillip Morris make?

...

marlboros I think, and some other cigarette brands

they got pwned by the govt and have to run these commercials promoting stop smoking awareness

Oh well, its not like anybody pays any attention to those advertisements :p

Sonic is sheer novelty and convenience.
*blink*
They hold the record as the ONLY people who can screw up cheddar peppers (half of the orders I've gotten have been frozen on the inside), but those are pretty good when they're made right. And their frozen stuff isn't like homemade ice cream or frozen custard but it's not bad.


Utility commercials peeve me. I already pay the monopolies enough as it is, without having to pay for them to try to improve my opinion of them. Just isn't going to happen!
I had never thought of that before. Wow, that makes me mad.

SBC and Qwest are (thumbs down)

I see ads for Khol's and Dick's Sporting Goods without one anywhere near me.

Sonic used to be good. It was also the local hangout in high school in my hometown. They've overblown the menu and can't keep up.

they advertise so that when you take a trip and see a sonic, you'll consider going. chances are you'll see one in your life time.

i hate national ads, they make all the regions of the country seem alike. i honestly can't tell where i'm at when i travel sometimes. everything is exactly the same. the same food joints, the same department stores, the same retailers, the same everything.

Let's take this in a slightly different direction....

How many of you get news and weather from places that are days away. I know Americans have to deal with this too because of some of the national "super channels". Here in cunuckaland, many places get American TV on cable. Cool. Thanks to our neighbours for this service. But some of us, here in Saskatchewan (say it like you mean it!!) we get news and weather from Detroit and from the Twin Cities. I know it has something to do with the Satellite footprint the Cable company gets, but that is whacked!

Here I am watching desperate housewives or the OC and the next thing I know there is a severe thunderstorm in Greektown, Detroit. Who cares! Times like that I just go out and get some Sonic burgers....no wait a minute, can't do that either.

These are interesting posts to me...I spent a brief time in the radio industry.

Here in So Cal, we get ads for things we actually have, because:

1. It's a huge market, in both numbers and physical size.

2. No one can afford to leave town.

By the way...if you are a burger fan and come to So Cal, I recommend In-N-Out.

I recommend In-N-Out.

As do we all, little droogie, as do we all.

Hahahaha.

OK, I don't know what a droogie is, but you got me!

Let's take this in a slightly different direction....

How many of you get news and weather from places that are days away. I know Americans have to deal with this too because of some of the national "super channels". Here in cunuckaland, many places get American TV on cable. Cool. Thanks to our neighbours for this service. But some of us, here in Saskatchewan (say it like you mean it!!) we get news and weather from Detroit and from the Twin Cities. I know it has something to do with the Satellite footprint the Cable company gets, but that is whacked!

Here I am watching desperate housewives or the OC and the next thing I know there is a severe thunderstorm in Greektown, Detroit. Who cares! Times like that I just go out and get some Sonic burgers....no wait a minute, can't do that either.


Yes I mean WTF Why is the local on the 8's the weather in cali? I mean c'mon. The local on the 8's used to show the weather for today and tonight for my town and the 6 day. All i got was the weather for boston right now. Its messed up.

You're right about Geico in MA. Perhaps they'd like people to start asking for it there, though I still think it's easier to run ads nationally rather than each market EXCEPT MA. Who knows why they haven't licensed any agents under MA law.

I used to work for GEICO. The reason they don't write auto in MA (and NJ) is 1) because there are WAY too many claims per capita for those states to make it look even marginally appealing to the bottom line, and 2) both of those states make it extremely hard for companies to write business. So between the massive amount of claims you're going to have and the pain in the butt it takes to get licensed, it just isn't worth it.

I work for a different (larger) company now, and they still don't write in MA. To appease the state of NJ, they basically had to start a seperate company under a main corporation.

Hahahaha. OK, I don't know what a droogie is, but you got me!

I refer you to "A Clockwork Orange."

Fantastic book by Anthony Burgess, OR a great movie directed by Stanley Kubrick. Either will suffice, though I'll recommend the book.

We have Sonic here, but I hate how everything tastes like it's fried in the same oil. Tater tot taste on everything....



I refer you to "A Clockwork Orange."

Fantastic book by Anthony Burgess, OR a great movie directed by Stanley Kubrick. Either will suffice, though I'll recommend the book.

Motion seconded!

I used to work for GEICO. The reason they don't write auto in MA (and NJ) is 1) because there are WAY too many claims per capita for those states to make it look even marginally appealing to the bottom line, and 2) both of those states make it extremely hard for companies to write business. So between the massive amount of claims you're going to have and the pain in the butt it takes to get licensed, it just isn't worth it.

I work for a different (larger) company now, and they still don't write in MA. To appease the state of NJ, they basically had to start a seperate company under a main corporation.

I've seen GEICO commercials for years, and just recently they have returned to the N.J. insurance market.
I vividly remember when GEICO left New Jersey. I was a new driver covered under my father's policy, and when some legislation was introduced which might have cost GEICO a fraction of a percent of profit, they pulled chocks, leaving thousands without insurance. Many had to go into a pool of unfortunates, hoping for another company to pick them up. Those who were out of state for one reason or another, and therefore didn't receive notification by mail, were unaware that they had been cast adrift. This created legal or financial problems for those people.

Knowing GEICO's ethics as I do, it really irks me that this company is back selling policies in my state, and in a high pressure, "undercut the competition 'til we get a toehold in the market" way. I don't expect GEICO to remain in N.J., building goodwill and writing policies. I think they will leave again, claiming the cost of doing business here is too high. After playing cutthroat marketing games to steal customers, they will fold their tents again, and head on to the next carnival, leaving drivers high and dry a second time.
They simply aren't worth my trouble, even at a drastically lower rate.

So if a product or service is advertised in your area but not offered there, perhaps there is a calculated reason behind the advertising.

So if a product or service is advertised in your area but not offered there, perhaps there is a calculated reason behind the advertising.
We get loads of ads for day cruise gambling boats in SC, and some for online betting companies and betting phone services, all are illegal in SC. Only the state, bingo, and farmers can gamble.

Stanley Kubrick is the greastest director ever.