Why do advertisers use the sound of an alarm clock screeching in their ads?

[myrna minx]

I don't want to hear the sound of my alarm clock ever, so why do advertisers think it's cute to use that sound in their television ads? I cringe when I hear that noise. Am I the only one who thinks this is strange?

[soleft]

1. Well, advertisers also use Carrot Top in commercials

Guess negative attention is better than none.

[myrna minx]

3. LOL. n/t

[Left Is Write]

9. Yes - that was always a head-scratcher.

You use Carrot Top in your commercials to make me WANT your product? Crazy.

[TommyO]

2. Even worse, sirens in radio ads

Where the heck do they think most of us listen to radio, clearly they don't think it's in our cars!

[myrna minx]

4. I never thought of that! That is very bad decision making. n/t

[southernleftylady]

6. I was just about to come here and post this.. exactly thats a horrible thing to do nt

[Blue State Blues]

8. In the car, the first thing I do when I hear a siren

is turn off the radio. I turn it off so I can figure out where the ambulance/fire engine/police car is -- just like I learned to do in driver's ed (of course, that was back in the years of horseless carriages, so we turned off the victrola).

So every time I hear an ad with a siren, end up I turning off the radio before I find out who is offering blowout deals on mattresses, small appliances or offering legal representation. I always thought the "hey, we'll use a siren to get attention" was the stupidest ad technique ever.

[Left Is Write]

11. I agree, and I also hate that.

Sirens should never, ever be used in radio ads.

[Critters2]

13. Absolutely. The single most stupid sound you can put in an ad

And they do it all the time!! There ought to be a law!

[Ramsey]

5. Or those really loud obnxious fast-talking announcers

Really, any company that uses those obnoxious speed-talking announcers will never get my business, they are SOOOOOOOOOO annoying.

My absolute pet peeve is that the TV ads are twice the volume of the programming, so that whenever the ads come on, you are deafened, even if you have the volume set appropriately to watch the program.

[myrna minx]

7. Mattress blowout ads always have those fast talking announcers.

Ohhhh the decibel changes are maddening. I've actually been startled by the jump in decibels from programming to ads. :grr:

[Left Is Write]

10. I want to get one of those TVs with the self-moderating volume.

That'd be great.

[LostInAnomie]

12. There is no more disagreeable noise than the sound of an alarm clock.

It triggers a Pavlovian anger response in me every time I hear it. There is this one song on this CD I own that by all accounts is a great song but in two parts of it there is an alarm clock sound, and I refuse to listen to it.

[smirkymonkey]

14. I hate the sound of an alarm clock.

Two other noises that drive me insane, particularly when they are used in movies, are telephones ringing non-stop and babies crying non-stop.

[Kat45]

15. I hate the ads with the sound of a phone ringing.

There's one commercial with a phone ring that sounds just like the one on my phone, and whenever it comes on, I start to get up to answer the phone. That really pisses me off.