There are so many big things going on the world that are irritating, it is very sad that there have to be small irritating things, as well. But there are, and many of them fall under the category of “TV Ads”.

I thought I’d tell you the ones that irritate me the most, the ones which convince me never to buy the products they tout. And I already know that this listing will be incomplete. Otherwise, it would be a book, not a post.

And, I am not listing them in any specific order of irritatedness. Just random. They are all over the top irritable.

What about the juvenile band that plays on the Kars for Kids ad? I think I have seen those pre-teens for the past ten years. They must be all out of college, married with children, driving SUVs for now. I turn the sound off. Even forgotten the tune by now.

And what about those ads of the animal protection groups – the ASCPA and the Humane Society – that drone on and one with pictures of emaciated dogs, scenes photographed by cameramen who clearly have no sympathy for the posing canines. Again, the sound goes off, and sometimes even the TV.

But it’s not only the dying dogs that get to me. It’s also the sick children, who populate the 90 second ads for Shriners Hospital and St. Jude’s, some smiling and singing like good little children and others clinging to a crying parent, while the other parent sings the praises of the hospital. I understand that both of these hospitals treat very sick children without charge, and I am sure they do a very good job. And although I don’t know about Shriners (I have never looked), I know that St. Jude’s is a fundraising machine, and has more money than it will ever need. Don’t believe me? Google it.

When those ads show on CNN, I switch to MSNBC. When they appear on MSNBC, I switch to CNN.

And then there are those ads that just do not seem to work as assumed. Take the new PNC Bank ads that tout PNC as perfectly boring, claiming that people want a boring bank. The fact is that no one wants a boring bank, as I expect PNC will find out one day. But if their ads were simply boring, perhaps that would be okay. But the ads are considerably worse than boring, and the fellow they pay to talk about how boring befits the best bank is not only boring, but looks like he would rather be somewhere else, somewhere more interesting.

And then there’s Botox. I watched a new Botox ad today, probably the third or fourth that I have seen. They are before and after ads, and as I watch each of them, it seems to me that the “before” picture is better than the “after” message. that Botox makes people look worse. Do the Botox people know that I (and the other I’s) feel this way? How could they not?

Then, there are the “screamer” ads, ads that are intended to catch your attention because they have an unpleasant, loud, rude person at the center. Like the insurance company that produces the ads that star Mayhem, the disheveled rascal that puts everyone he sees in trouble. Real trouble. Or they Kayak ads. I know Kayak has something to do with travel arrangements, I just don’t know exactly what. I don’t know exactly what because I turn off the ads as soon as the lady involved goes ballistic. I don’t need to put up with that.

Then, there’s Fisher Investments, which tries to portray itself as different from other financial advisory firms because they do better when their clients do better. It’s hard to believe that when the people that pretend they are Fisher employees are so swarmy, isn’t it? (By the way, my computer doesn’t think that swarmy is a word. It likes smarmy better, but I sort of like swarmy, because that’s what those actors are. Let’s make it a word.) By the way, I have looked up Fisher Investments. If they do such a wonderful job, guess what? They’re customers don’t know it.

And then of course, there is no longer just one commercial. Usually, six or seven of them are banded together, and go on and on. And most of the time, one of those six or seven has a much greater volume. Impossible to listen to. You run to the remote to turn the volume down, only to have to turn it up 30 seconds later. What is the purpose of that, I ask? It never used to happen.

I am going to stop soon. I know this is getting long. I just want to add one category: pharmaceuticals. I wish all of them would disappear. They are equally bad, I think. The only exceptions to my general feelings about pharma ads are the ads for Skyrizi. This is not because their ads are better. I can’t even tell you what the ads look like. It’s also not because I have a disease (or know I have a disease) that Skyrizi is meant to treat; I can’t even tell you what those diseases are. It’s just that I have decided to like Skyrizi. Pure and simple. That is it.

So, what’s this all about? One thing I realize is that I remember the bad ads more than those that don’t offend me. So maybe this is all a trick of the advertising world. Want to sell your product? Create an annoying ad. That way people will remember it. And when it’s time to buy something, maybe we, without knowing, head right to them. Fool me once…… Fool me twice…..