Best Commercial Yet!

You all know how I study commercials. Marketing is what I majored in college. I missed my opportunity to have a career in marketing, to my ever lasting life long regret.  However, I do study commercials. 

Yes, I'm one of those weird people who actually look at commercials. Most commercial are stupid and childish and insulting to our intelligence. But, every now and then one comes along that is truly brilliant. Here is one such commercial.  

I LOVE THIS COMMERCIAL!

Why? Because it doesn't have all the usual cliches. The Stupid Dad. The Smart Mouth Kid. The lies. This commercial is excellent. Know why?  Because I will always remember it is a Progressive Insurance company commercial. And it IS FUNNY!  

Thank you Progressive Insurance! Actually a commercial without Flo. Good for you!

New Favorite Commercials

As a marketing major in college, I take particular interest in commercials. 

There are many types of commercials (rather obvious comment but I had to make it). Most commercials annoy me. Of course most of those annoying commercials are meant to annoy. They want you to remember them.  I do and I make sure I don't buy their product.  That's my little way of getting back.

I hear a lot of commercials because I have the TV on as background "wallpaper" while I'm pounding away at my computer keyboard as I am doing now. I tuned out most of those annoying commercials either in my mind of the really annoying commercials I hit the mute button on my TV remote control.

This morning I heard a new commercial that is immediately one of my favorites.  It's a GEICO commercial.  Some of the GEICO commercials are just plain stupid but I find this one rather clever. Made me laugh out loud. This is a commercial we can all identify with, driving and traffic and frustration. "Hey! We're all got places to go!"  Yes, indeed we are. (smile)

What do you think? Am I off or what?

"Big man with the horn."

Yes, I know, I have a weird sense of humor. That's what makes me SO interesting.

Favorite Commercial

As some of my regular followers might know, I follow commercials. Yes, I am a frustrated marketing guy.  

In college, I majored in marketing.  If I had a little more courage, I would have quit my secure banking job and went into marketing after I completed my four year, GI Bill funded, nighttime (after working at the bank) college course.  But alas I didn't, so I am reduced to monitoring commercials (and ads in magazines and highway billboards) and passing judgement. 

So what do I think of commercials and magazine ads?  Most of them are terrible. Atrocious. Magazines have too many ads and TV commercials are often reduced to stupid white men and crying babies. Not much original. 

But every now and then one comes along that is almost near perfect. In fact, this E*Trade commercial I've lead this post with is perfect in my opinion.  

Hey, everyone can identify with what a horrible experience "Flying the friendly skies" is now.  You consider yourself lucky if  you're not dragged off the plane, bloodied and unconscious if you dare not to give up your seat (that you paid for) to an airline employee who needs to bump you so THEY can make their next flight. "Screw you" the airlines all too often seem to say by their actions.

And who hasn't flown a flight with the crying, whining baby (who flies for FREE by the way) to accompany you on your hours long flight?  And if you're really lucky, you'll have someone recline their seat in front of you to further cramps your already limited leg room.  And how about the freckle faced red headed kid kicking his tray on the back of your seat?  Ah yes, we've ALL been there. 

Full disclosure here, I have stock in E*Trade.  I've had it for years (21 to be exact).  I've lost a lot of money in my decades long holding of E*Trade stock. Just the last year or so I've come up even. 

I've never liked E*Trade's commercials.  The last several years their commercials have been nothing but exercises in vanity for the actor Kevin Spacey.  I like Kevin Spacey as an actor but man Kevin, your E*Trade commercials were awful.  I'm glad someone at E*Trade finally wised up and dumped that ad agency.  Go feed your ego somewhere else Kevin, along with Matthew McConaughey, who HAS to be the most self-involved vain actor in commercials these days.  I literally cannot watch his commercials, he's so full of himself.  You're not all that Matthew.  Really, get a life.

Thus it was a very pleasant surprise to see this latest E*Trade commercial that is succinct, to the point and one that actually causes you to remember the product advertised.  And isn't that the purpose of a commercial after all? To make you want to buy the product? 

How many commercials have you seen that you don't even know what is advertised?  I've seen plenty, too many. But this one is good. Almost as good as that Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" commercial.  

New Favorite Commercial

Yep, I'm one of those weirdos who checks out all the commercials.  Most TV produced commercials are Gawd Awful and at best, bland. But every now and then one comes along that I find thoroughly enjoyable. The latest Peyton Manning commercial is one such commercial.  

I like the music ("Sunday Morning" by Lionel Ritchie).  I like Peyton, who is a natural for commercials, unlike his younger brother is isn't.

But what I really like about this commercial is the ginger boy actor who plays the checkout clerk.  He's perfect!  Now this is one commercial that they can play over and over again because it just makes me feel good to see it.

Hey folks, these days with the impending disaster of a Trump presidency, I need something to make me feel good.

Thanks ginger boy and thank you Peyton Manning for making me smile.

"Pure Power"

In college I majored in marketing. I loved that major. Unfortunately I did not pursue a career in marketing. But that doesn't men that I don't know good marketing when I see it.


I am one of those rare people who study commercials.  I have several main complaints about TV commercials:

• Commercials that feature the "dumb white man"as the central "funny" clueless consumer
• Commercials that feature actors that are too pretty and too skinny for the general public to identify with
• Commercials that feature a wailing singer strumming a guitar singing about "life" 
• Commercials that are just loud
• Commercials that offer a "guarantee" 

And this is just a short list. Most commercials are ineffective and annoying.  Very few are informative and enjoyable.

The commercials we used to be ffed

However, every now and then on of these ad agencies "gets it" and makes a commercial that is not only innovative and pleasurable but breaks stereotypes.  One such commercial is the latest from Allstate Insurance which features the black female comedian Leslie Jones from "Saturday Night Live."  I have never seen Leslie Jones before but I have to tell you this is ONE EFFECTIVE commercial because not only is it enjoyable to watch, it is effective because now I will remember the company that the commercial is advertising - Allstate Insurance.  

Very good folks, very good.

Good Commercials - Bad Commercials

I hate commercials.  Ads and commercials are the ban of my life. 

I've cancelled magazine subscriptions because of the obscene overload of ads (Vanity Fair). 

I DVR almost all of my TV shows so I can fast forward through commercials. 

Every year there is one commercials that particularly grates on me.  A commercial that make my blood boil because of the phoniness of it.  One such commercial is the one at the beginning of this blog.  It is a commercial for Ameriprise Financial.  

The first time I heard it, with the Rod McKuen voiced singer, I hated it.  

Then I looked at the images of the commercial.  All phony crapola.  

I looked up the name of the singer (on my Shazam app on my trusty iPhone) and came up with someone I never heard of: "Jake Reese."  

I did a little more research and not surprisingly I find that "Jake Reese" is a phony.  His real name is  "Jaap Reesma" and he is from The Netherlands.  Not that there is anything wrong with being Dutch and having that unusual name but come one, "Jake Reese"?  He's phony and he sings a phony song.

"I've been a poor man, I've been a king."  Oh no you haven't. I revile everything about this man, his music and the images in the commercial.  Every time the commercial comes on I lunge for my remote control to press the mute button or fast forward. 

I CANNOT STAND THIS COMMERCIAL.

Now, recently another financial company, Chase Bank started to run a commercial.  Now this commercial I love.  I LOVE THIS COMMERCIAL.

Check it out.  Watching and listening to this commercial makes you feel good and there is nothing phony about it.  To me the message in this commercial is going all the way for your daughter.  The music background is perfect. 

"What a Man."  Indeed, what a man and what a commercial. There is more quality acting and more said in this one minute commercial than many two hour movies.  


Can I hear an "Amen"?

The Best Commercial . . . Ever (so far)

Folks, this has to be the best commercial ever. Or at least so far.  Most commercials are annoying or just plain stupid.  But I have to say this one is inspired.  I LOVE IT!

Every time I watch it and literally LAUGH OUT LOUD.  Especially when the girl says "Why don't we just get in the running car?" and the guy says "Are you crazy? Let's hide behind the chainsaws."  

You know me how I like to puncture pomposity and stupidity.  This commercial, which runs just a little over a minute, totally skewers all those dumb ass, money making teen slasher movies.  I LOVE IT!

"And Now For a Few Words From Our Sponsor"

  I hate most commercials.  I DVR TV shows so I can fast forward through commercials.  But every now and then, I see a commercial that I like.  This morning was one of those times.

This was a commercial for Volkswagen Passat.  Only 30 seconds, it says everything you want a commercial to be.  Shows the car, has respect for the viewer's intelligence, and leaves you feeling good after watching the commercial.  Plus, in this day of diversity, it is sure to appeal to the growing Hispanic population in this United States of America.

Too many commercials I see today (and in the past) have the same common theme:  the adult white guy (dad) is portrayed as a clueless Doofuss and the wifey poo is portrayed as the "adult" and the children spout a vocabulary beyond their years.  I guess all of this is supposed to be "cute", but I find it always annoying.  

Now here is another car commercial, this one for Volvo that is also innovative, interesting and will make you remember the product.




  I didn't mean to go this way with the car commercials but here's one from the 2013 Super Bowl for Audi that's pretty cool.



One of the funniest commercials (getting away from the car commercials now) that I ever saw was the "Mama mia that's a spicy meatball" commercial for Alka Seltzer. This commercial was made in 1969 and I haven't seen it in years. I just viewed it again to see if it was funny enough to add to this posting and man oh man, I laughed just as hard. Damn but this is a funny commercial.



Continuing on with the funny commercials, who can forget the "Where's the Beef?" commercial for Wendy's? Can you believe this was made 30 years ago in 1984? Time flies when you're having fun. 



Then there is my favorite, Doritos! This one is from the 2013 Super Bowl. Short but to the point. Yes, I am addicted to Doritos. Don't have a goat though but when I'm out of Doritos (just brought two more bags this morning), watch out!

 

I searched and searched but I finally found a commercial that depicted a woman (a blonde) as the dummy instead of the white dad/guy. Here is one for another car, this one Mercedes Benz.



  I'm on a roll folks. Here is a funny commercial from Land Rover. I was going to write a blog about commercials I hated but decided to write one instead about commercials that make me laugh. Unfortunately, we don't see too many of these commercials. 



 And how can I let out the Fiat? 



  And we'll end with dog commercials. How can anyone go wrong with a dog commercial? Enjoy and have a great day!

Brad Pitt Makes a Douche Commercial!

OMG!  Did you see the new Chanel No. 5 commercial Brad Pitt made?  

OMG!

This is the worst piece of drek I've seen since the infamous "Tank Commercial" that Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis made to show his bonafidas (balls) as a tough puppy.  

The Dukakis "Tank Commercial" ended up making the former  Massachusetts governor a laughing stock of the world.  Not the result Governor Dukakis was looking for. 

Snoopy in a Tank

The same thing will happen with this commercial Brad Pitt made for Chanel No. 5.  First of all, does anyone know ANY MEN who are going to buy Chanel No. 5 just because Brad uses it?  What's it smell like, Movie Star Sweat?

I admit, I've never been a Brad Pitt fan.   Sure, he's handsome and a good actor but to me he's just way too full of himself.  And don't even get me started on the whole Angelina Jolie and Adopting a Kid From Every Nation thing.  It seems like every time I see this duo they are carrying around one of two of these kids who are much too old to have mom or pop carrying them around but hey, isn't that why movie stars get the kids, to show off?  But that's another thread I won't get into here. 

But Brad, what were you thinking?  You didn't make a commercial for a perfume, you made a douche commercial.

New Favorite Commercial

Hey folks, I hate commercials just as much as many of you do.  But there are exceptions.  Once in a great while there is a commercial that makes me laugh out loud (LOL).  Here it is, the latest GEICO commercial.  Who knew a GEICO commercial without Flo could be funny?