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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Commercial Carousel

I watch a lot of TV. Let's not confuse what I said. I don't watch a lot of quality TV. Most of what I watch is the mind numbing crap that's melting my brain and making me feel like I need to take a shower after the show ends. Oh, and I watch sports too...Minnesota sports...which really means I watch people ATTEMPTING sports.
Anyway, my point is that with watching a lot of TV comes watching a lot of commercials. In general I hate commercials, but every once in a while I can't help but be amused. Like a recent ad campaign by Geico has me chuckling despite myself. Here are my favorites:







Speaking of commercials that make me chuckle, Joe Mauer "singing" is always highly amusing:



But don't go thinking I've gone soft. Plenty of commercials annoy me. Like this Weber grill commercial. And acutally, it's not THAT bad. It's just the song never gets to a hook or refrain or whatever you want to call it. It's like a story that builds to a climax that never happens:



On the flip side, this Garnier Fructis commercial is all climax. (Giggidy.) I feel like the song's refrain is the punchline so you need some sort of build up to it. This commercial just doesn't build:



Actually, in searching for the above ad I found this one which does have some build. I think you'll find it works much nicer:



One of the commercials I hate the most I couldn't find online. It's a Kraft Singles commercials that says "More kids get their calcium from Kraft Singles than any other American cheese." Think about it...using so many syllables to say absolutely nothing.

Oh yeah, I also hate this commercial:



I don't even know where to start with that one.

The moral of this story is that I should really watch less TV...or become an ad executive. Unfortunately, the days of ad execs getting liquored up in their office and slapping secretaries on the ass are over. So that job has lost a lot of it's allure.

8 comments:

  1. We don't watch commercials in our house. I mean, that's what the DVR is for.
    I can't watch these commercials on my work PC so i'll have to watch them later and comment then.
    I'll be back!

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  2. omg that ram ad drives me crazy! I mean, who goes camping, and then gets irritated by the sounds of nightlife in the woods? That's why you GO camping!

    Also, i pretty much love every Mayhem commercial.

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  3. "We don't watch commercials in our house. I mean, that's what the DVR is for."

    Yeah, but I watch a lot of live sports which includes commercials like Joe Mauer singing...or telling me to "pour it on" with about as much enthusiasm as someone going to the dentist for a root canal.

    I also watch a lot of crap TV that's just on for background noise. It's just not in me to actually set up a DVR recording for Storage Wars.

    "omg that ram ad drives me crazy! I mean, who goes camping, and then gets irritated by the sounds of nightlife in the woods? That's why you GO camping!"

    You hit the nail on the head. It's such an archaic view of nature. We're going to mold and change the outdoors to be as convenient for humans as possible. It completely defeats the purpose of camping.

    You may be surprised to hear that most car commercials annoy me, actually.

    The Mayhem commercials can be pretty funny...but I just keep seeing Mayhem as the cop who couldn't cut it on the first season of Law and Order: SVU....did I mention I watch too much crap TV?

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  4. ...which really means I watch people ATTEMPTING sports.

    Ha!

    I get angry at Dairy Queen commercials! I don't know if you have them there but they had this disembodied cartoon mouth who was repulsive and bewildering. Now they are ripping-off Old Spice commercials which makes me hate them for trying.

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  5. wtf is up with dandruff monkey? i don't get it- are they implying that dandruff monkey will keep your head clean of dandruff with constant grooming? The idea of dandruff monkey eating head flakes is disgusting

    i hadn't seen the MN commercial but i enjoyed it

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  6. which really means I watch people ATTEMPTING sports.

    Zing! It's funny cuz it's true.

    ...why does it have to be true?

    I do like those Geico commercials, but it freaks me out that they have three separate ad campaigns running at once, as we've discussed.

    Poor tone deaf Joe Mauer. He sings about as well as he uses his knees. Cracks me up every time.

    That Ram commercial is messed up on several levels. I love that the basic point of it seems to be "buy this car: it has a spot for your bow and arrows!"

    Unfortunately, the days of ad execs getting liquored up in their office and slapping secretaries on the ass are over.

    Man, those were the days...

    Nice title, btw

    I also watch a lot of crap TV that's just on for background noise. It's just not in me to actually set up a DVR recording for Storage Wars.

    Yeah, that and sports is how I end up getting annoyed by commercials. Anything I'm actually watching gets DVRed, but sporting events and background noise while I'm cooking/cleaning/reading/working, like old Simpsons episodes or Pawn Stars don't get recorded.

    @Joan: I don't know if you have them there but they had this disembodied cartoon mouth who was repulsive and bewildering. Now they are ripping-off Old Spice commercials which makes me hate them for trying.

    Yeah, we have the talking mouth. It's stupid. But I have to admit, the old fashioned shaving bunnies in the Old Spice derivative commercial crack me the hell up.

    The DQ commercial that really gets to me is the one they air during lent when the Shrimp dad eats the DQ popcorn shrimp basket and ends up eating his kids. Messed. Up.

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  7. My problem with the DQ lips is that it has teeth...but what are those teeth attached to?

    And I really don't know what's up with the dandruff monkey. I assume the ad writers thought "Everyone thinks monkeys are funny..they're MONKEYS!"

    Oddly enough, this monkey just simply isn't amusing.

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  8. Effing blogger just ate my comment. To sum up, I have a high tolerance for irritation.

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