Commercials

I studied advertising and communications in college, and one thing I remember learning is that the main purpose of advertising is to sell the product. A no-brainer, right? But I know we can all name commercials that hands-down, 100% guarantee we will NOT buy something--even if it was an item we might have considered. Don't even get me started on the Clairol Herbal Essence "Totally Organic Experience" commercials. Yes, I have a sense of humor. No, I'm not a prude. But it is a Totally Embarassing Experience when your 9-year-old daughter walks into a room and asks why that lady on TV is making such strange noises. (She's 21 now, a kid with body piercings and tattoos and even she thinks it's gross). Not to mention when one of my sons is in the room! I have always refused to buy that product precisely because of the commercial. I haven't seen them in a while, though, so that's good.
A recent one is for some car. Now, talk about not selling a product: I find this commercial so annoying (although not quite as offensive as the above) I can never remember the name of the car! It's the one where the woman walks into an elevator full of men and starts taking her clothes off. Rrriiiiiigght. She looks half-nekkid by the time the doors open. What you see when she steps off the elevator is that she's wearing sporty clothes for riding a bike--the commercial ends with her hopping in the car. Damn, you want to sell me a car, tell me about the car. I know sex sells, but stupid sexiness just annoys me.
Another commercial that drives me bonkers is the Jell-O pudding commercial with the kid dancing with the cow. I like the kid and the cow--it's the background jingle I can't stand. Will someone please tell me what the HECK they are saying??? Oh...and I'm pretty sure Jell-O pudding doesn't really wiggle. (I still like it, I just hate the commercial.)
I could go on forever...
I actually do like some commercials, although I have trouble remembering product names. There's one for some kind of monster cookie shake (for DQ, maybe?) where a monster is making a special cake for his girlfriend. "Gertrude," who has about 12 eyes, turns to look at him and he ducks because he's shy. I think this is funny and cute, in its way.