Most commercials suck. DVR and Tivo have proven to be our answer to this and it’s simply so awesome that I am loosing hobbies because I watch too much tv without interruption. But with the World Series (Congrats Yanks!) and live baseball in general, I had to watch alot of commercials. Live sports doesn’t work with DVR and if you ever do watch baseball recorded, you end up fast forwarding through it and loosing all the tension that builds when you watch it live. But I digress. Lots of commercials and nearly all suck. Joe Buck sucks too. But a few were good, some were better. Here’s a breakdown.
American Express – This commercial is annoying, because the cello playing (Bach) while you’re watching a baseball game makes you feel stupid. But like in all sports, they repeat commercials a million times, and this became the anomaly. The more you watch this commercial, the more you get familiar with the faces, so much so that their expressions begin to become so familiar, so comical, that you can almost name them like you would pets. I just watched it again on youtube and have to say, it’s really nicely done. I sure hope it wasn’t expensive to make because the simplicity would add to the enjoyment. Anyway, here it is. Keep a lookout for the red bag at the beginning (That’s how I feel when I’m at work).
Direct TV – Their annoying commercials of old movie scenes that suddenly go off script and tell you about the benefits of their service culminated with the Chris Farley Tommy Boy shtick that, I think, upset alot of people, or at least creeped them out. But during the World Series, they showed the old Ed Begley Jr. and John Michael Higgins (Best In Show, Fired Up!) running a cable company ads. These are all funny and easier to watch than those other ones (that also looked really expensive (I obviously like my commercials to look cheap)), and there’s some good lines. I posted one below as an example, but they should all be checked out. Also, check out Ed’s IMDB page because he somehow found time to be in every single movie ever made though I can only really remember She-Devil. And I remember it all too well. Here’s some more. ’We’re gonna youthenize America!
Dodge Ram – I caught this about halfway through. This commercial will not repeat well, nor will it work unless it’s between two very light, funny commercials (like Bud Light and that G1 Google phone with Cat Stevens playing). But it got me thinking about poetry and imagery and how powerful it could potentially be, A) If it’s done right, and B) If it’s not shilling a car. Though I must say I sorta thought I could use a car with what seemed like so much personality and purpose after watching this commercial. Then I got to thinking how cool it would be to have a poetry renaissance in this day and age via the advertising world or something. But it’s not likely. As I said before, you do need two light commercials to bookend this one. ’I will not downshift’ -that line makes me raise one eyebrow in confusion. Click on the link (I couldn’t embed it because I suck).
Least Favoirte: Droid. Nothing worse than new electronics falling out of the sky to blow our minds. That’s just dating your product before it even hits the ground. What the Droid is saying in that commercial is that on my planet, I became obsolete and was shot out into space as space debris only to land on your planet like when you humans throw your apple cores out the car window. But seriously, it’s just too out there for a phone (it’s not a PSP we’re talking about), and like any gadget, it’s gonna eventually annoy you. Even my iPhone (what, really? You couldn’t tell?) annoys me, though I think it’s the best phone I’ve ever had. Ok, I think that’s about it for now. If you want to watch it, use the link. I don’t want that embedded on my site. Hope you enjoyed.
