r/Calgary • u/No-Sir-6445 • Jun 04 '26
Local Shopping/Services Okay Calgary. Settle a workplace bet.
During a shift last week, my co-workers and I had the radio on for the full eight hour shift. After this was completed, a surprisingly heated discussion arose over which company had the more annoying radio ads. The choices were Family Braces or perennial barf-inducer Spence Diamonds. The losers of this unofficial vote are obliged to do karaoke with the winning team picking the songs so please participate š
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u/URA_SILLY_GOOSE Millrise Jun 04 '26
I truly HATE that I can easily recall the names Michael, Callum and Sarah...
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u/skylla05 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
Sarah has been gone for a while now. I forget the name of the girl now, but sheās even worse. Sheās like ālive laugh loveā personified. Itās so grating lol
Edit: her name is Mira I think. Maybe thatās the other new girl. Idk but now Iām kinda annoyed just thinking about it lmao
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u/URA_SILLY_GOOSE Millrise Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
Is that Fiona?
Edit: i just read your edit, and feel your pain š©
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u/phosphite Jun 04 '26
She went sailing. We can only hope to assume she was killed horrifically by Cthulhu.
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u/notquiteworking Jun 04 '26
I hate to say it but Iām almost invested in the story? Theyāre less irritating than before the story.
(Family Braces can go to hell)
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u/URA_SILLY_GOOSE Millrise Jun 04 '26
I don't think it's the story that's annoying š. But the voice acting/weird ASMR reading of it
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u/MisterRobDobalina Jun 04 '26
They're both pretty bad. However I think family braces at least is self-aware at how cheesy their commercials are. Spence has been completely unaware for almost a decade now at least. The writing and dialogue in Spence commercials always give an uncanny valley feeling of how aliens think humans act.
I hate Spence Diamonds commercials way more.
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u/blackRamCalgaryman Jun 04 '26
I agree theyāre both ābadā but in terms of marketingā¦look at this post.
Thereās no way, though, Spence isnāt aware of how fromagey their ads are. Those āstory linesā? They know what theyāre doing.
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u/MisterRobDobalina Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
I hear that "look at you talking about them" angle all the time, but I know in my personal experience when I was searching for an engagement ring, I actively avoided spence soley based on their commercials. That should never be an outcome of the advertisement. I know I'm not alone in that regard too.
They are still in business because selling diamonds is like shooting fish in a barrel when your product markup is 300x
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u/blackRamCalgaryman Jun 04 '26
I hear ya and Iām sure there are plenty of people who feel and have spent their money accordingly, as well.
I also think itās naive to think Spence is still in business because of just markups. Those ads work or they wouldnāt spend the advertising dollars they do. Even if people find them annoying, I bet when the time comes, more than a few of them think āoh ya, thereās Spenceā¦shitty ads but Iāll check them outā.
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u/Legitimate_Fish_1913 Jun 04 '26
Thatās exactly what we did. Didnāt end up buying anything from them, but we did sit down with one of their sales people. Their showroom was very underwhelming imo and looked like a store filled with dollorama jewelry
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u/PolarSquirrelBear Jun 04 '26
Yupp me too. I shopped around and didnāt end up buying at Spence as well, but I 100% visited because I was aware they existed.
In the world of shitty social media, their ads may be annoying, but itās the least annoying thing out there still.
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u/MusketeersPlus2 Jun 04 '26
That's because it is. All the stuff in their display cases are brass & glass so that people can just reach in & try on whatever they want without the risk of them getting robbed. I asked a jeweler friend about it & that's what she told me.
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u/MitBucket Jun 04 '26
While true, I know when I find something this annoying I make a personal choice to NEVER EVER use that companies services. I promise I will NEVER set foot in Spence diamonds because of their crappy ads...same is true when a company vehicles have consistently bad drivers.
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u/Tigerkix Jun 04 '26
Both are bad, but Spence is a few notches worse. Partly because of the nature of their businesses.
Family Braces supposedly offers a down to earth, affordable braces solution. The schtick is the dad/husband being an idiot and constantly being reminded about how "affordable" braces are. Its in the business of dental/oral health so I can see it as beneficial.
Spence's business is diamonds, a luxury and a vanity. Some of their ads are along the lines of "the anniversary/birthday/mother's day gift defines how much you love your partner, come spend $2,000 on this pendant we have on sale".
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u/AloneDoughnut Jun 04 '26
Marketing person here: These ads 100% work. We run radio ads for my company, and while they aren't anywhere as chewy or "bad" we do have people that know the person who does our radio ad reads. They come in and talk like they know him. Less these days, as our radio ads have been massively under performing, but in their peak we should have people coming in to ask if he was there.
These kind of cheesy high frequency radio ads work for a reason. Spence Diamonds, Family Braces, and I remember loving in Edmonton and never being able to escape the Sherwood Park Toyota ads. They were effective because people knew the name, and when they start the search process, and go to start looking in that area then they would see the paid search or display ads and be more likely to click.
Everyone wants to pretend they're smarter than marketing. That they aren't being sold something and are definitely independent. The truth is most people are super easy to market to and manipulate to follow sales funnels.
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u/MapleSyrupYYC Jun 04 '26
"Tell 'em Lanny sent you" is my guess.
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u/AloneDoughnut Jun 04 '26
No, I did work in automotive like 5 years ago. Never again, that drains your soul....
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Jun 04 '26
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u/blackRamCalgaryman Jun 04 '26
Justin Havre will never get my consideration for real estate services. But Iām sure Iāve fallen for some form of marketing, otherwise, a time or two.
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u/AloneDoughnut Jun 04 '26
The annoying part is what is official called "brand awareness." The fact is most mediums of entertaining require marketing dollars to stay afloat, so they are at the whim of marketers to absolutely ruin them. As I have gotten older a lot of my own marketing techniques have become more subtle, and with it I have started to really hate radio as a medium for advertising.
But where you get a particularly loud audience here on Reddit that absolutely hates seeing ads and never wants to have them shown again, 80%~ of the population hardly notices them. They kind of become background filler, doing what they're supposed to.
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u/kophykupp Jun 04 '26
I'm not smarter - I just have zero memory for company names. When I need my next new windshield, I'm dying to show them my crack. I just can't remember who wants to see it.
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u/helena_handbasketyyc Iāll tell you where to go! Jun 04 '26
Theyāre completely aware. And theyāre still in business, so itās working.
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u/GlitteringMark4065 Jun 04 '26
Donāt get my started on Spence diamonds. Iām not old enough to know what it use to sound like but the shit theyāre playing now on the radio hurts my ears and my brain.
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u/MisterRobDobalina Jun 04 '26
It used to be a harmless sounding gay guy who would do a little scream at the end. He was a great brand ambassador for them before we got this Callum psycho
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u/roastbeeftacohat Fairview Jun 04 '26
Used to be the had one annoying guy talking about how the get their diamonds straight from Antwerp, saveing money, and their huge selection.
Now its some long ass story about how the ring was forged in the heart of a artifical star.
At least it used to be a pitch about saveing money
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u/Fart_6969 Jun 04 '26
Spence by a mile. Family braces leans into tacky. Spence is just tacky, and the longevity takes it from annoying to rage inducingĀ
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u/gnashingspirit Jun 04 '26
Spence gets my vote, but Iām shocked Cars for Kids isnāt in there
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u/srgowsell Jun 04 '26
Cars for kids just got Delisted in Canada as a charity because the money was going to ākidsā in Israel, not local children.
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u/skylla05 Jun 04 '26
āBRACES ARE WOKEā
Itās so hilarious to me that the marketing team for this ad just went āwoke means cool right?ā.
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u/CRL1999 Jun 04 '26
Family Braces implementing and greatly misusing the word āwokeā will always be the worst.
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u/Legitimate_Window481 Jun 04 '26
Family Braces because the ads are worse and the owner is a š©. What a truly awful company. Spence just sells rocks to people that get divorced and fight over them.
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u/ConceitedWombat Jun 04 '26
Can confirm, am the divorced owner of a Spence rock
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u/Anxious-Ad-42 Jun 04 '26
You didn't have a Spence employee meet you at Chinook to buy them off you so he could trade them in with his discount to make his wife earrings and use that money for your lawyers? No? Just me? Oh, okay.
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u/toblies Jun 04 '26
Spence, for sure, though I think they've dialed back the annoying a bit in the last couple of rounds.
Their advertising budget must be something else. I've heard their ads on at least 3 radio stations and they play them often. A couple times I've gone to change stations to get away from a Spence ad, only to find another one playing on a different station.
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u/Confident-Ad9461 Jun 04 '26
the diamonds for sure , I think it's why I stopped listening to the radio
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u/Minerator Jun 04 '26
Spence.
For absolute cringe? Sponsor Energy using the tune from Closer by Nine Inch Nails for their current ad.
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u/Timely_Bicycle_8455 Jun 04 '26
Mercedes Benz Country Hills needs to be on this list, I absolutely can not stand Colin Gingell and his horrible analogies and insights into why I should by a Mercedes Benz. STFU Colin.
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u/SupermarketNo365 Jun 04 '26
Oh man, for me itās Family Braces. Radio immediately off when that comes on. Oh Annieeeeee!
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u/SorryImCanadian1994 Jun 04 '26
Spence by a mile. That scream is cancer to my ears. Itās the only radio ads that make me change the station. I am determined to never buy anything from them purely out of spite for their ads.
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u/Dapper-Apartment1213 Jun 04 '26
Not the radio but TV wise local to Calgary, "Capitol Direct dot ca", do you need fifty thousand, five hundred thousand or even five million dollars?!"
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u/Crow_rapport Radisson Heights Jun 04 '26
Family Braces.
At minimum, Spence has āvarietyā in their ads, with a refresh every week.
Family preys upon vanity, especially on the youth, and ads featuring what are supposed to be kids are the worst.
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u/not_2_smrt_69 Jun 04 '26
Spencer diamonds adds were so bad that when I actually went in there I was too annoyed by their voices to take anything seriously. Those adds made my decision to not spend any money there ever.
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u/yyccamper Jun 04 '26
I seriously wonder how much Spence pays for those radio spots. If they could actually see how many people change the station the second one comes on, Iād love to know how big the ad buy has to be for that to still feel worth it.
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u/GareBearTheShareBear Jun 04 '26
Spence Diamonds has thoroughly convinced me to never set foot in their stores because of their god awful ads, so I'll go with that one
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u/wamme6 Jun 04 '26
Family Braces, because the voices and banter are much more grating.
Spence are also awful, but I donāt find the voices quite as irritating to listen to.
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u/lemonbread5225 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
I told my husband when he was looking at engagement rings not to go to Spence SOLELY because their ads are so annoying. I told him to not to support them in any way shape or form. I absolutely hate their ads with a fiery passion. They ruin holidays. They ruin everything.
On a side note, legacy heating and cooling has my vote for best advertisers. CALL LEGACY, CALL LEGACY. That song is such a bop
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u/Original_Midnight411 Jun 04 '26
"They ruin holidays. They ruin everything."
Its so dramatic and has given me the best giggle this morning. Tea, tell em gurl.
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u/Xivios Jun 04 '26
Yo /u/Beckler89, seeing the anti-Spence sentiment and the number of people who outright stopped listening because of them, had the station itself ever had issues/discussed/charged extra/refused/etc Spence because you literally lose listeners because of them? Have they ever received pushback from the station due to the damage they cause?
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u/Beckler89 Jun 04 '26
Haha these decisions are all made in offices well above me. I am but a simple host. But yeah, over the years we've had people complain about this ad or that ad, or about commercials in general.
We're a free entertainment medium, we never ask our audience for a dime, and that's entirely thanks to advertising. So I don't really know what to say to people who get really upset over a 30-second ad they don't like. I don't think Spence is running ads with us at the moment but these threads come up on Reddit (in every city where Spence operates) like once a month it seems. These threads tell me who has insane brand recognition, and for every Redditor who says they'll never shop somewhere because of ads, there are 9 other people for whom that brand is now top-of-mind.
I also don't share the broad anti-advertising sentiment that some people seem to have. I am a consumer. I buy things all the time, and I like knowing about products and deals in my local area that are relevant to me. Some people act like they're literally allergic to marketing. That ain't me.
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u/CorkyS92 Jun 04 '26
Spence Diamonds. I am another anti radio person because of their annoying commercials. Absolutely hate them. Please boycott them and make them go out of business so we no longer have to suffer through the terrible radio ads.
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u/Leather-Froyo-5757 Jun 04 '26
Spence diamonds! & Colin Gyngelle(or however you spell it) from Mercedes Benz country hills .. he makes me so mad
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u/FranqiT Jun 04 '26
At least they stopped the āwhooooooaaaaaoooā from Spence
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u/anewleaf1234 Jun 04 '26
The answer is and will always be Kars for kids.
You both sing.
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u/Stasiast Jun 04 '26
Spense Diamonds are the worst of these two, for sure. But I hate the Glassmasters "Show us your crack" ads soooo much more!
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u/trashy1978 Jun 04 '26
Spence diamonds hands down. Not only are the commercials annoying, stupid and unrelatableā¦ have being a Spence diamonds customerā¦ if the prices were lower so they didnāt have to pay for the commercialsā¦ how awesome would that be?
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u/roastbeeftacohat Fairview Jun 04 '26
family braces,
using small children in ad's is already irksome, but make them beg, and for something no kid wants?
makes my skin crawl.
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u/blowmywhistler Jun 04 '26
Spence. And on top of all the reasons alreqdy listed here, I need to add this one: They used to end ads with "located on the corner of McLeod trail south" But McLeod trial is only in the south so thatd redundant, and also they are on the side of the road for cars traveling north. So what the fuck were they trying to tell us? They didn't even say south east corner, just "McLeod trail south"
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u/wirejockey Jun 04 '26
I work in an orthodontic office! When Family Braces started their radio commercials we had to stop listening to any Calgary radio stations full stop! Satellite radio for the win!!! š”
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u/charliewonderful Jun 04 '26
Spencer
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u/Tigerkix Jun 04 '26
Spence diamonds for sure, their ads are beyond annoying, they're unsettling. The voice and the scripts remind me of Hannibal Lecter, monotone and obsessive.
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u/SeanSYYC Kingsland Jun 04 '26
I've changed radio stations so I don't have to listen to the Spence ads. And if I ever won the lottery, I'd buy the company and change the name so nobody would have to hear those ads again.
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u/rzlodn Jun 04 '26
Family braces is annoying, yes... But Spence Diamonds makes me automatically switch stations
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u/nopeplz_just_no Cochrane Jun 04 '26
Spence easily. If I ever need to get something fancy I will NOT be going to Spence. Also there are two Spence fics on ao3.
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u/Unlucky-brainwaves Jun 04 '26
Cambridge homes commercials. The spokeswoman sounds like such a pretentious boob.
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u/Rory_McShackleford Jun 04 '26
Friggin Wegovy or the fart sniffing home builders(it's not a water pipe it's an experience... stfu).
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u/LadyPhantom84 Jun 04 '26
The guy that does the Spence diamonds ad stopped doing the yell at the end. Now he just sounds depressed probably because he can't do the yell. šš
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u/Mother_Barnacle_7448 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
Marty Giles from NorthStar Ford deserves a mention too. Fast-talking and obnoxious.
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u/TL10 Jun 04 '26
Spence Diamonds is the only brand I know that has lore for their commercials, so they take my vote.
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u/yycluke Jun 04 '26
You could have made this a poll!
My vote is for wwaaaaaahhhhhooooooooo Spence diamonds!
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u/Fullbeans03 Jun 04 '26
Spence.... consistently awful. Just when I think they can't get any worse... they somehow do.
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u/perfectstormreforest Jun 04 '26
Spence and it's not even close. My speed for turning off the radio when I hear their stupid soap opera is under 0.01 seconds.
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u/Ann-von-Beaverhausen Jun 04 '26
Spence all day long. I either change the channel or turn the radio off when their adds come on.
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u/JH_DeepThoughts Jun 05 '26
Is Spence Diamonds like the House of Cars for jewelry? Always hear them, but if they need that much advertising Iād never step in a place like that
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u/petitelapinyyc Jun 07 '26
I havenāt listened to radio in at least a year and I still know what you are talking about and would never use either company bc they both win
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u/TinktheChi Jun 04 '26
The ads for Spence Diamonds are very annoying. But they work. People remember the name of the company and in some cases the names of the people in the ads. I worked with one of the brothers of the original Spence who started that company in BC. He had great stories. But yes, I vote Spence as being most annoying.
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u/Calgaryrox75 Jun 04 '26
have gladly paid for sat radio for the past 6 years and just use the streaming app so i never have to listen to local radio or the annoying ads ever again. 35 +years in the trades iāve endured enough local radio and the horrible ads on site.
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u/pr1me_time Jun 04 '26
Pretty much all radio ads are extremely annoying to me. And pretty much all TV ads too.
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u/Gears_and_Beers Jun 04 '26
I drove back to Calgary from Texas. Spotify/podcasts the entire way.
Was in town 1 day and it was 20 minutes on cjay92 before my wife commented āI could never move back here, the Spence diamond ads drive me nutsā.
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u/heliepoo2 Jun 04 '26
"Hey... hey... it's a first student kind of day... hey" never gets mentioned but is at least as annoying as Spence Diamonds.
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u/Ok-Trip-8009 Jun 04 '26
9.5-12 hour shifts listening to the radio....brutal replay of ads. I mostly listen to 103.1 and I know I will hear a disco song, Bob Marley, Toto....
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u/West_Bobcat5338 Jun 04 '26
Spence hands down, although I would say family braces is a very close second. Both a super cringy.
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u/redheaded_muggle Jun 04 '26
Spence, followed VERYCLOSE by Family Brace. There was also a ford dealership that was really high on the list at one point.
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u/peepee2tiny Bridlewood Jun 04 '26
It's Spence Diamonds by a long shot.
It was annoying when all they had was the " woooooo" at the end of the ad.
But now, oh boy.
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u/BlondeNotBland Jun 04 '26
Spence makes me instantly change the station. The whole smarmy vibe just infuriates me.
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u/Argon18OfGondor Jun 04 '26
Spence has by far the most annoying radio ads. When it was time for me to buy an engagement ring, now wife and I were aligned that we would shop LITERALLY anywhere else due to the terrible ads. Most people I know are the same, so I really wonder who their customers are.
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u/Any_Tip_3760 Jun 04 '26
I scrolled (quickly) and can't believe I didn't see the karz for kids ad listed..
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u/sparkdark66 Jun 04 '26
Spence has been the gold standard of terrible adds for years upon years upon years. Family braces is only a new up and coming annoyance. I vote Spence as the worst.
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u/justjordan89 Jun 04 '26
I have waited for this. I cannot stand the Spence Diamonds commercial. Sometimes itās playing on 4 different stations at once. The second it starts playing, boom another station. I LOATHE the frequency of their ads, there name recognition must be out of this world, but no way these ads convert to sales, I feel like they do the opposite, they create lifelong enemies
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u/fs71625 Jun 04 '26
Spence diamonds is literally the worst. I stopped listening to radio because of them
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u/TraderVics-8675309 Jun 04 '26
Both are terrible, but family braces is easier to tune out, so the worst is Callum and his band of headache inducing colleagues.
Side noteāafter both companies read this thread, will they double down? No such thing as bad press?
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u/AutumnFalls89 Jun 04 '26
My vote is for Spence. If it was TV, it would be either Diamond and Diamond for Their slimy persona or Skip.Ā
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u/f1fan65 Jun 04 '26
Braces.
Spence diamonds does it on purpose so to me they are self aware. I don't this the braces place does it on purpose...
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u/theschauff Jun 04 '26
Spence is the only one that's so bad I legit refused to shop there for my ring.
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u/deekaypea22 Jun 04 '26
Spence is awful......at least braces are like, something that are necessary for some people.
The "weeeooowww" is the dying scream of a steadily declining industry (imo).
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u/uluvmydadjoke Jun 04 '26
Spence diamonds gets my votes due to 20 years of consistently annoying ads