This Probably Won't Make Sense to Non-Americans

"Can you hear me now?"

<gunshot>

<gasping for air> "goood..." <collapses>

I really want to fucking kill that guy.

Don't know what you're referring to. Checked CNN and MSNBC in case you're referring to a recent headline, nothing caught my eye... ?

It's this friggin' Verizon wireless commercial. I kinda thought it was a national thing, they advertised all over the NBA Finals and such. I think Jay Leno's even made fun of them. Like the modern version of Where's the Beef except much more annoying.

You do own a television, don't you?

Ah....

No, I don't watch a lot of TV with commercials. Pretty much only HBO High Def lately, or DVDs.....

Yeah, that guy's pretty annoying. He's even showing up in their other commercials for breif "cameos"

Funny how I know this even though I watch an incredibly small amount of commercials (thanks Tivo!)

Well he's even showing up in NBC's coverage of the NBA. Like during the halftime show they'll say "brought to you by Verizon" and he'll walk across the screen and do the frickin' slogan right there.

The worst part is Verizon's cellular coverage in the Philly suburbs is an atrocity, and they show the guy out in the middle of cornfields getting a perfect signal. So the answer to "can you hear me now" is an emphatic "no" around here.

I've even heard sportscasters scrambling to use "can you hear me now" in their home run calls. Sigh. This whole advertising thing has gotten way out of hand. Pretty soon we're going to start having kids born with corporate logos branded into their skin somehow.

LOL. I totally agree. What's even more annoying is the later adverts that have people 'recognising' him and giving him the peace/victory sign. (that Verizon have decided to co-opt as their own...grrr...) That is just so false. I am sure that if anyone recognised him sitting next to them on a long bus journey, continually spouting "Can you hear me now? Goood.", peace is the last thing they'd offer him. A mouthful of fist is far more likely.

you need tivo

Yeah, that whole "peace sign" thing ticked me off too. It's just stupid. But then again, so is the name Verizon. One of those stupid internet-new-age-sounding names.

Can anyone say Compuglobalhypermeganet?

But then again, so is the name Verizon. One of those stupid internet-new-age-sounding names.

Yeah, they want you to forget that it's just Bell Telephone Redux.

"Shhh... It's still a monopoly!"

(Similar to Saturn cars... "Shh... It's still GM!")

Goddamn right I need TiVo. Or Replay. Or something. But unfortunately my "toy budget" is maxed out right now after buying my Roland V-Drums. Another fine mess this BBS has gotten me into.

You know, if I wasn't on IRC that night back in 1999 when I learned about Hugo's mp3mobile, I'd probably have spent a lot less money on all these geeky toys.. You people are terrible for me... You encourage my bad habits...

I'm not an alcoholic! Alcoholics go to meetings!

I noticed the maytag guys are showing up in cameos in car commercials now, since they epitomize reliability now...

Calvin

Ha, I saw that as well! And don't forget the Taco Bell dog in the new Geico commercial.

And it's doubly sad that I know this... argh!

Yeah, Verizon is quite reliable. Within 5 minutes you're almost guaranteed to lose your signal.

The personnel offices of employers around the country around are saying they are being inundated with people that were laid off from Verizon. They say the candidates are of exceptional quality with one minor problem. All them keep asking, "Can you hire me now?"

More like:

"Can you hear me now?"
"Hello? Hello?"
"Call lost?!? [censored]!"

Verizon has shitty-at-best-reception down here. I had it since it was still Primeco, almost 5 years, and the service just keeps getting worse and worse. I just canceled it this past week.