"They miss you."

[Thomas Veil]

Is anybody else getting a little sick of those dumb sleep-aid ads that show a guy being -- well, haunted, for lack of a better word -- by Abe Lincoln, a woodchuck, and a guy in a deep-sea diving suit?

"Your dreams -- they miss you."

Enough already. It wasn't even as funny as the Geico cavemen when it started, and the sequels have lost whatever marginal cuteness the ads originally had. Give it a rest.

Besides, I'm sure you thought, as I did when those commercials first started airing, that if this is what the guy's been dreaming about, he's got much bigger problems than just insomnia...

 

[PlaceofDis]

never understood those ads to be honest. i first saw them on posters and such, so i was at a total loss.

seems like wasted money imo.

 

[SamIchi]

Eh, I don't really have an opinion about those commercials. There are other commercials way more annoying. Like all those damn cell phone ringtone commercials and the stupid ass "trivia" questions to win a prize, "just text blah blah to blah blah blah". It's like the damned flash ads of the net have made it to TV.

 

[leekohler]

Worst ad campaign ever. Whoever came up with that should be shot. I don't even remember what they were about. Just that the annoying "They Miss You" things were up everywhere with pictures of Abe Lincoln and such. What the hell?

 

[Lyle]

I agree that that series of commercials has just about run its course, but there are two little details that I did find kinda humorous:

1. For the commercial that takes place at a bus stop, at one point you can see that the little woodchuck is holding a Blackberry.
2. The guy in the deep-sea diving uniform never says anything, he just quietly shuffles around in the background.

 

[steamboat26]

Never seen them- and from your description, i hope i never will

 

[mattscott306]

Yeah, they're annoying, but I have only seen the original set of ads, not anything else.


The add that really gets me is the one about some sort of pregnancy testing, it says something like "The most advanced technology you'll ever pee on"

I mean... what the crap?

 

[Lyle]

The add that really gets me is the one about some sort of pregnancy testing, it says something like "The most advanced technology you'll ever pee on..."

Unless I just missed it, the original release of that commercial didn't come out and say that -- you just saw the little wand (or whatever it's called) being held under a stream of, umm, fluid, and were supposed to connect the dots yourself. I remember turning to my wife and asking her if she had just seen what I had.

 

[Sun Baked]

If dead people and animals haunted me while I was awake, I doubt I'd be talking about sleep aids.

Heck, I'd probably be drinking my way to a Jim Beam commercial or a testing out a rubber room.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I haven't seen them either, thankfully.

But here's the funny/ironic part: Taking these sleep aids (I assume they're pushing Lunesta or Ambien) results in sleep without dreams. It's more like getting conked on the head with a mallet than real sleep. If it's woodchucks and men in diving suits you want to see, then LSD is probably the better prescription.

 

[Lyle]

If it's woodchucks and men in diving suits you want to see, then LSD is probably the better prescription.

That's one seriously progressive doctor you've got that will prescribe LSD for you.

I don't remember all the details, but my dreams last night included a conversation with Kevin Costner, crawling through a series of subterranean passageways underneath Wembley Stadium, and a talking owl who screeched the word "Onigurama" at me. Top that.

 

[IJ Reilly]

That's one seriously progressive doctor you've got that will prescribe LSD for you.

I don't remember all the details, but my dreams last night included a conversation with Kevin Costner, crawling through a series of subterranean passageways underneath Wembley Stadium, and a talking owl who screeched the word "Onigurama" at me. Top that.

I was going to suggest a visit to Dr. Tim, but after reading about your dreams, I think you must be Dr. Tim.

 

[Lyle]

I was going to suggest a visit to Dr. Tim, but after reading about your dreams, I think you must be Dr. Tim.

 

[Silencio]

I too don't understand it. Who dreams of beavers, anyway, unless that's just a rather rude metaphor for... uh, something else.

Funny thing about Lincoln, though: one of the final episodes of The Sopranos had a couple of Lincoln references in it, including a shot of this commercial. At some point in the episode, Anthony Jr. is talking to his therapist, who was being played by... the exact same guy that played Lincoln in the commercial!

 

[2nyRiggz]

I've seen it and it does suck but I think its the norm now to make commercials that make no sense.

Starburst and skittles ones are crazy but always make me laugh.



Bless

 

[adrianblaine]

I actually always thought they were funny. I never remember my dreams, ever, so maybe I'm just fascinated with the idea of dreaming of "weird" things.

I'm not certain as to why they chose who they did for his dreams, but you can tell they are marketing this to people suffering from sleep deprivation.

One thing I've always appreciated about Apple advertising campaigns is that they never make just one commercial. They make at least 5 different ones so there is some variety. The commercials that drive me nuts the most are the companies that make 1 commercial and run it over and over and over again for 6 straight months...

 

[devilot]

... (I assume they're pushing Lunesta...

You assume incorrectly. Lunesta ads have that stupid glowing butterfly. If I'm in an irate mood when I see the ad, I just imagine thrashing about in my bed to get that GIANT glowing butterfly off of me. I mean seriously, how freaky would that be?!

But er... those Lunesta ads sound awfully appealing... "~7-8 hours of restful sleep" *soothing music*.

 

[Turkish]

You may hate the ads, but we're in here talking about their products.

They ads succeeded.

 

[kwood]

You may hate the ads, but we're in here talking about their products.

They ads succeeded.

So very true...

I actually like he commercials. I think they are hilarious and I have no reason why.

I too don't understand it. Who dreams of beavers, anyway, unless that's just a rather rude metaphor for... uh, something else.

And what is wrong with dreaming about beavers? Got something against Canadians?

 

[IJ Reilly]

You assume incorrectly. Lunesta ads have that stupid glowing butterfly. If I'm in an irate mood when I see the ad, I just imagine thrashing about in my bed to get that GIANT glowing butterfly off of me. I mean seriously, how freaky would that be?!

But er... those Lunesta ads sound awfully appealing... "~7-8 hours of restful sleep" *soothing music*.

If not Lunesta, then Ambien? I'm familiar with both of these drugs. They result in "restful" sleep only compared to the alternatives, the non-prescription antihistamine sleep aids, which produce grogginess but often no sleep, and of course cursed insomnia. Taking them really is more like falling into a coma for six hours than real sleep.

Anyway, about the ads (which I still haven't witnessed): More than 30 years ago an art professor in college commented that surrealist art had begun to go mainstream, in the form of TV ads. That was a long time ago, but now the process seems almost complete -- virtually every TV ad is surreal.

 

[adrianblaine]

This is a good video done by the advertiser describing why they chose to make their commercials like this. And it is for Rozerem.

http://www.businesspov.com/article/47

And here is the YouTube video of the actual commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdpOIaGnzvA

 

[IJ Reilly]

Thanks. That is weird.

 

[cycocelica]

You may hate the ads, but we're in here talking about their products.

They ads succeeded.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[mariahlullaby]

I liked those ads.

And I hated the Gieco cavemen ones -- THOSE made no sense to me. And weren't that funny.

 

[zach]

I haven't seen them either, thankfully.

But here's the funny/ironic part: Taking these sleep aids (I assume they're pushing Lunesta or Ambien) results in sleep without dreams. It's more like getting conked on the head with a mallet than real sleep. If it's woodchucks and men in diving suits you want to see, then LSD is probably the better prescription.

nah, they're pushing rozerem (which hits melatonin receptors)... it actually works pretty damn well. i've used rozerem, ambien and lunesta and while rozerem doesnt actually knock you out quite so fast, the quality of sleep is WAY higher.. complete with dreams and all.