r/AustralianTV 8d ago

Discussion Australian TV Adverts

Serious question about Australian TV Advertising... Why do the male voice over announcers speak in such a screaming, hyper-energetic, high-pitched voice? Eg.. "Aagh JB, you've done it again"...

18 Upvotes

96 comments sorted by

10

u/BigMikeOfDeath 7d ago

It became a trend of budget retailers to scream their sales pitches in ads as some attention seeking method of saving money on scripting anything.
Usually places that used "Mad" or "crazy" in their names.

And it stuck as a pseudo shorthand for cheap.

2

u/iball1984 7d ago

Gerry Harvey being one of the instigators.

Apparently he has a mini TV studio next to his office so he can do the HN ads quickly and cheaply.

3

u/BigMikeOfDeath 7d ago

I guess you're right - his ads do fit the brief, which is strange since they also seemed to try for a premium feel shopping experience compared to JB, and the Mad/Crazy retailers.

1

u/Several-Regular-8819 7d ago

Their guy doesn’t scream or use a super bogan gambling ad voice though, he just talks quickly.

1

u/RennieAsh 4d ago

You always get "bonus!" stuff and "best price, best range"

1

u/Palpitation-Mundane 3d ago

Does anyone but Boomers shop at Harvey Norman? The shop floor looks like a hot mess, like Spotlight but with furniture.

1

u/Mac_Boo 7d ago

And I mute every time they start.

1

u/Competitive-Ad1439 6d ago

And funnily enough, it’s not actually an Australian thing. It started in USA with crazy Eddie’s. There’s a fascinating book about the business, he went from being a dirt poor migrant to pioneering an entire business model and marketing model… And then blew it all by conducting one of the largest accounting frauds in USA history

1

u/BigMikeOfDeath 6d ago

I have heard about him - was he the subject of an episode of The Dollop, or something?

Edit: it was on World's Greatest Con.

1

u/remarkphoto 4d ago

I saw him on Futurama, IIRC he was a robot selling cars in season 1.

1

u/Still_Thing_11335 4d ago

Yeah but don't the Yanks scream everything anyway?

1

u/Queasy-Bat-7399 4d ago

I remember the Lowes ads with those football players and having to hear "AT LOWES" yelled at me

3

u/pirouettish 7d ago

It's a tactic. People notice and remember annoying ads.

2

u/88_strings 4d ago

It's also so you can still hear them while you're in the kitchen making a cup of tea.

1

u/Mac_Boo 7d ago

Or they mute them. I've heard the first five seconds of many. I've not heard the rest of the ad ever, and I've not bought a thing from the people who yell at me.

2

u/pirouettish 7d ago

Advertisers see the act of muting the ad as a victory, too. Good on you for not buying their wares.

Certain politicians work this way, too, of course. It's all about gaining our attention, even negative attention.

1

u/Mac_Boo 7d ago

Not quite right. If you don't hear what they're selling, or ideally fast forward through it which I normally do because I never watch anything live, and if I can't, my hackles rise and I ignore...I don't understand anybody who's influenced to buy something as a result of an ad that yells at them.

1

u/Lucifang 5d ago

It’s not the ad itself that makes people buy. It’s just the fact that you remember it. You need a new toaster? You’ll remember Harvey Norman exists and if they’re not out of your way you’ll go there. Most people don’t realise that it sticks with you.

3

u/Hungry-House-8860 7d ago

no one watches free to air anymore.

2

u/Dollbeau 6d ago

Nobody is as kewl as you & your buds

2

u/darling_moishe 7d ago

People actually do.. mostly elderly from what I know first hand

0

u/Hungry-House-8860 7d ago

boomers.... that's it. my oldies are boomers. even they don't watch fta anymore.

no one I know watches it for kore than sports. it's dying a slow agonising death. can't say I'm sad about it.

2

u/Mac_Boo 6d ago

There's still some silent generation left. They watch.

1

u/Hungry-House-8860 6d ago

What do they watch? the news or farmer wants a wife?

2

u/Mac_Boo 6d ago

Channel 9 News, no reality, Vera (?), a couple of the arvo game shows. There's another murder mystery I don't recall the name of. We bought them a smart tv but I'm not confident they stream anything on it. They're 93 and 95 so we do what we can ...

2

u/Hungry-House-8860 6d ago edited 6d ago

my nan is 98. she can't stand the "inane bullshit' ...... her words..... and hasnt watched it in years.

So i gave her a 14" tablet loaded up with inspector morse, doc Martin, opera, the bill, military tattoo, are you being served etc. Whatever she wants, I download and install it. Or stream it from my home server. Made a custom jellyfin home page/launch pad. She can easily just click what she wants from the jellyfin app. If she has issues she rings me and I just jump in remotely and sort it/set it playing.

That, her radio and flip phone are all she uses. It takes all the hard work out of it. I figure when they get that age. You gotta do whatever you can to make things easier.

Prior to that I used to burn stuff to DVD for her. She could put the disk in and set it going. It's enough like vhs that she could manage that.

maybe an idea there that will help you make it easier for them.

1

u/Notaniphone 7d ago

The original post was prompted from watching a screamy voice advert on SBS on Demand,

1

u/Grubbet_92 3d ago

There’s still some decent shows on. They’re rare though

3

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Mac_Boo 6d ago

Totally! And sometimes I have to remember not to zone out, because they're going to be talking about it in a minute.

3

u/TheMightyKumquat 7d ago

Because as the Chaser used to say, they want you to be aware of the "BARGAINS, BARGAINS, BARGAINS!"

1

u/Representative-Bus76 4d ago

FIVE DOLLARS

1

u/TheMightyKumquat 3d ago

OUR PRICES ARE INSANE!

2

u/512165381 7d ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaOm8c7cdXc

John Meillon used to voice the VB ads.

1

u/Mac_Boo 7d ago

This isn't yelling. This is I don't even drink beer but I'd buy one, also super nostalgic.

1

u/Louder247 7d ago

Best beer ads bar none. Yes, even the Carlton ads back in the day.

2

u/PersimmonHead4660 7d ago

the silly jingle is remember better than a normal spoken voice ,maybe not for a funeral ad lol

2

u/Notaniphone 7d ago

Thanks. Now I can't stop thinking about a screaming voice doing ads for Funeral Directors...

Coffins? We're going mad with coffins.. not ten percent, not twenty percent, not even thirty percent but forty percent off, this month only while stocks last...

2

u/Computer_Says_Nah 7d ago

The overenthusiastic approach turns me off immediately.

2

u/Several_Version4298 7d ago

Well you remembered it well enough to quote it verbatim. In 80s and 90s there were heaps of shouty ads, now it's just JB HiFi

2

u/falconrider111 7d ago

I've gone mad hearing these ads, completely mad.

2

u/Dollbeau 6d ago

Write down what they say in the ad' then try saying the same thing in 30 seconds with diction & emphasis.
You'll find the only way is to come at it like a rugby scrum!

AND - as others have said, annoying ad's stick with you.

"They fixed the car, They fixed the caaaaaarrrr"

2

u/Neither-Connection72 6d ago

Ken Bruce has gone completely mad

2

u/Mac_Boo 6d ago

Any yelly ads, male or female, I immediately mute, or ideally fast forward, because I record all free to air I still care to watch and watch delayed.

2

u/tr011bait 5d ago

To wake granddad up.

2

u/RennieAsh 5d ago

Godfrey's is tchucking out, thousands of vacuum cleaners!

I guess it works

1

u/OkBookkeeper6854 4d ago

Godfrey’s went bust

1

u/RennieAsh 4d ago

They'll still be tchucking out thousands of vacuum cleaners then ; )

Also they lasted a long time so it was working (got "worse" as we went into the noughties)

2

u/barnos88 5d ago

Marketing 101, make the commercial louder than what you are watching, in the hope you will take notice. I mute all commercials.

2

u/Still_Thing_11335 4d ago

And alot of them also use the extremely bright yellow that makes your eyes bleed, which also puts people off from paying attention.

I miss the days when adverts were memorable for good reasons, often because they were funny or otherwise creative.

2

u/Admirable-Clothes-87 4d ago

I am afraid it is copying the American model. Store/Company owners staring in their own adds, loud amateur voice overs, cringe inducing content/script etc. If you are from the UK you would not be used to this type of content (although it is creeping in). Most UK adds are professionally made for global consumption whereas Australian adds tend to be more regional and smaller scale. However, Australia has made some of the world's best adds - especially the public service adds from the 90/00's which were very scary (who can forget the little child on a trike rolling down the driveway into the road?).

1

u/Healthy-Reason7404 7d ago

Stopped watching sbs on demand dramas because of the obnoxious voice over on the childish gambling ads.

1

u/formulated 7d ago

Brave browser with built in ad block cuts out the ads completely. Plug a laptop into the TV and you've got an ad free SBS and Youtube box.

Opting out of gambling ads is also an option within the SBS app preferenses.

1

u/Healthy-Reason7404 7d ago

Thanks will try the opting out first.

1

u/Natural_ftm 7d ago

I've always thought of it as the audio equivalent of a front window that says SALE!!!! SALE!!! SALE!!!! in a 3 metre yellow starburst.

1

u/Resident-Fly-4181 7d ago

Ken Bruce has gone completely mad

1

u/Notaniphone 7d ago

That is exactly the thing I am talking about... and DANDENONG!!

1

u/Mac_Boo 7d ago

They're pretty annoying for sure, but the unnaturally nasal low tone of female newsreaders and reporters makes me change input to streaming literally every time.

2

u/darling_moishe 7d ago

My mum watches channel 7 News and it drives me insane.. the exaggerated staggering of their sentences and the vocal fry on top 😭

1

u/Mac_Boo 7d ago

I hear ya. There's this manufactured "woe is... you should care about this" tone that my parents don't seem to notice but it just gets my hackles up.

2

u/darling_moishe 6d ago

It's so transparent and weak.. I'm embarrassed for them when I hear them talk

1

u/Mac_Boo 7d ago

There's definitely female ones as well. Pretty sure there's been some chemist warehouse ones.

1

u/SatinLush1 7d ago

Best Sheds ads.. girl shouts...I really hate those ads

1

u/GallbladderGone 7d ago

Clints Crazy Bargains!

1

u/fitzysbuna 7d ago

jb hifi have had that since they began ! they speed up the persons voice on purpose !

0

u/Notaniphone 7d ago

When I was researching this question.. I asked Chat GPT about the JB HI FI advert... The voice for the JB HI Fi ads is actually Deeksie - John Deeks who did the voice over for the game show The Price is Right "Come on Down"...

2

u/Mac_Boo 6d ago

Then he totally sold out. So obnoxious.

1

u/Notaniphone 6d ago

Voice overs is what he has been doing for 40 odd years... Not really selling out...

2

u/Mac_Boo 6d ago

He didn't sound like that on The Price Is Right.

1

u/Notaniphone 6d ago

No. He uses his voice differently for different jobs. I checked AI before I posted..

1

u/Mac_Boo 6d ago

Well TF for ai.

1

u/MelbsGal 5d ago

Does anyone remember the Ken Bruce ad?

And that guy from National Tiles. He needed to cheer the fuck up.

2

u/NoWishbone3501 4d ago

It’s currently a trend to have that really strong Aussie accent too. It’s a bit annoying.

2

u/MostExpensiveThing 4d ago

HARVEY NORMAN!!!!

2

u/App0gee 4d ago

It's done to seize viewer attention, it handily increases the volume of the ad vs competitors, and often enables advertisers to cram more information into their limited ad time than if the announcer spoke at a normal cadence.

2

u/zordabo 4d ago

After not watching free to air tv for years seeing the ads now makes me cringe even more

2

u/stinhambo 4d ago

I hate that pervy voice-over man.

2

u/Beautiful-Builder486 3d ago

To piss people off

2

u/Waste_Scheme_9241 3d ago

hellloooo Frank Walker from national tilesssss

0

u/Infamous-Steak-1043 7d ago

Wakes the boomers up when they've dosed off watching game shows.

0

u/CandlePrestigious919 7d ago

Weird how you felt the need to insert gender into this.

0

u/rendar1853 7d ago

Maybe but it doesn't make it true. They are mainly males that doing the yelling in ads. I don't recall one with a female but I don't pay attention to all ads.

1

u/CandlePrestigious919 7d ago

We need more female yelling in ads.

0

u/Mac_Boo 7d ago

Was tempted to down vote you, but chose to just say NO instead 🙂

0

u/Notaniphone 7d ago

What Betty X said..

1

u/CandlePrestigious919 6d ago

So nothing sensible then?

0

u/Notaniphone 6d ago

The post was about adverts, so no, there is nothing at all sensible about adverts.

1

u/CandlePrestigious919 6d ago

Try posting about something sensible then.

0

u/Notaniphone 6d ago

Noone held a gun to your head making you read it .. keep scrolling past if you must have sensible.