Bizarre motel room

We went to Zing #2's orientation last week and stayed at a Travelodge. We'd been at Travelodge's before, so we knew what we were getting into.

But we didn't count on *cue creepy theremin music* --- the bear room.

The bedspreads, the lampshades, even the pictures on the wall all featured the Travelodge bear.

This is not my picture, but it's either the same place or one just like it.

Ewwww. I aint never seen a travelodge bear themed room before. That's scary.

Also, looks totally diffeent to the bear we have in the UK travelodge...

Here's ours:

he appears in the adverts, and is featured on the little card thingy they leave in your room with details of breakfast and wifi and so on:



He doesn't appear in the logo or anywhere else in the rooms.

Perhaps putting logos on everything is to help deter theft.

Next time bring some bear trap stencils and Sharpies.

I was just about to say that, sexobon: any discount motel is going to have a big problem with theft. The chain's logo itself isn't really going to be a deterrant; I used to know a guy who prided himself on having a collection of towels each from different hotels. But giant teddy bears? No one's going to steal that.

....except for Giant Teddy fans!

I haven't seen any bear-related stuff in the Travelodges I've stayed in ... ?

The little card things youhang on the door have a little pic of the bear from the ads, and the one that tells you about the wifi has a picture of the bear in bed using his laptop :p

According to wiki:

The Sleepy Bear Den is a room that is decorated in Sleepy Bear material. Each room consists of lampshades, comforters, curtains, and posters themed after Sleepy Bear. Travelodge used to give out free toy plush "sleepy bears" to any guest staying in the Sleepy Bear Den. Extras included a VCR in which children's movies could be rented in the lobby. Several Travelodge properties are doing away with the Sleepy Bear den, citing high costs in maintaining a single type of room that is not consistent with the others. Current Sleepy Bear dens are disappearing during renovations, and are being converted back to a standard room.

Pete Zicato;743303 wrote:

But we didn't count on *cue creepy theremin music* --- the bear room.

Ugh, looks like you scored the sleepy bear den. I haven't even watched those Chuckie movies, but that's the first thing I thought of. As soon as you drift off to sleep the bear's evil glinty eyes pop open and, well, you know what happens after that.

My car is quite comfortable.

DanaC;743314 wrote:

The little card things youhang on the door have a little pic of the bear from the ads, and the one that tells you about the wifi has a picture of the bear in bed using his laptop :p

I've never managed to get the wifi to work, have you? And it costs a fortune - better to websurf for 30p on my phone network ...

Yep, I got the wifi working. Kind of had to really, as I stay in Tavelodges when I am on research trips, so I need the connection. Works out at something like £20 for the week, or £30 for a month. When I went for ten days I got the £30 package to make sure I had connection throughout.

It can be a little tricky. I sometimes had to try a few times to get connected. But once it's on it's a decent speed. I'm pretty sure you're not suposed to download torrents on there but I downloaded a few movies and US tv shows to watch *grins*

Threatening us with bears seems to be the new vogue. There's this one, the Fox's biz-quit one, and the ultimately sinister Birds-Eye bear.
They all speak as if they are involved in the underworld. No, seriously, watch them. It's not me stereotyping because of an accent.

Rrrraven;743351 wrote:

As soon as you drift off to sleep the bear's evil glinty eyes pop open and, well, you know what happens after that.

We are SO on the same wavelength!
Bears don't worry me all that much, but I know where you are coming from. They don't have real eyes...
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... so they (or their minions) come to seek out your eyes with their blunt paws during the witching hour.

Forget tinfoil headgear - wear your sunglasses to bed.

Har! Glad you posted them. I was only thinking the other day about this new trend for unsettling mascots in our adverts. was gonna post a bunch. How bout those damn monkeys for the Jammie dodger biscuit ads as well? Not bears, but bloody weird.

[YOUTUBE]LyU5uxpfyhk[/YOUTUBE]

The Radisson Valley Forge has a Jungle Room, but I don't think they mean it the same way ...

What, no pedobear references?

In Japan, no one would even comment about that room. Except maybe "Kawaiiiiiiiiii!" or "Why isn't it Hello Kitty?"

Sundae;743431 wrote:

... so they (or their minions) come to seek out your eyes with their blunt paws during the witching hour.

Forget tinfoil headgear - wear your sunglasses to bed.

Good god, what was I thinking...watching these before climbing into bed. The bears may not have real eyes but what stops that creepy Mr Sleep from enlisting the help of that pointy beaked pigeon from pecking my eyes out as soon as I drift off. And why is there a wood chipper in this advertisement? Seems like an awful lot of mixed messages here.

Gives new meaning to "I wear my sun glasses at night".

Here is worse, I think.

Our 2D animated bears have dingleberry problems with toilet paper.

This may be the most alarming thing you have ever seen in your lifetime. Warning, you cannot un-see.

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:lol2:

I swear I just saw this commercial and was like WTF? That's just creepy.

"...so the bear wiped his ass with the rabbit."

Oh, and what about those Steak and Shake commercials with the talking hat? I have to say, if I carried a gun, and if I ate at Steak and Shake, and Doofus Dude's hat started moving its jaw like that, I'd shoot him in the face. The hat, not Doofus Dave. Though it would have the same effect for Doofus Dave, I think.

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Dana, the Jammy Dodger advert didn't seem all that dodgy to me.
First rule of advertising - everyone loves monkeys.
After all they are influencing customer choice in a supermarket and only to a woman already considering biscuits. And they are reasonably realistic, and sound Oriental. Chinese monkeys are not threatening. CHINA monkeys on the other hand belong in the same category as clown dolls.

Re the Charmin (Cushelle?) advert "Enjoy the go" is a hideous tagline.
I'd prefer Have A Nice Shit.

Steak and Shake..... OMG
Make those silver bullets Infi, with a side order of Holy Water.
You can tell the hat is diabolical because it suggests a Happy Hour without alcohol.

Undertoad wrote:

Here is worse, I think.

Our 2D animated bears have dingleberry problems with toilet paper.

This may be the most alarming thing you have ever seen in your lifetime. Warning, you cannot un-see.

Notice how she keeps ostentatiously calling him "son?" This is a legitimate problem in my and many other households, especially with the boys. I hate the cartoon style and the stupid tagline as much as the next person, but I ain't gonna lie... the feature that they're promoting is one that would make me choose their product (if I didn't already use it.)

They have a unique marketing problem. The problem they solve cannot possibly be described in detail by human beings on national television.

Just like condom ads! Which, incidentally, would solve the problem at a much earlier stage as well.

I dunno, I think we've had some good ones.
Of course, I'm not their target market, having only very rarely been laissez faire about contraception. And embarrassed about those occasions.

I can't find a link, but they had two adverts with identical dialogue between male and female teenagers (16 is the legal age here).

It went something like this:
So, last night? Did you?
Yes
Did you use a condom?
No
I can't believe it, what are you going to do?

That's completely paraphrased, but you can see how the same words can be interpreted very differently for each conversation. The girl is in tears, the boy is celebrating, until his mates start shaking their heads.