We'll Be Right Back After This Commercial Break
I have a great friend, Chryseis, who lives in South Haven, MI….one of the coolest little towns I’ve ever visited. We met through the online role playing game I’ve previously mentioned…Dragon Realms. Unlike so many of the internet horror stories you hear, this was a great one and we remain friends today, even if I don’t get up there to visit much and most of our communication is over email and sporadic.A couple months ago, Chrys was writing a story and shared the beginning with me. I recently asked what had become of it and it would seem that it’s on hold. I know she loves to write and has trouble finding the time. I suggested blogging as an outlet for writing. When we discussed it, she shared an idea (that I won’t go too far into) about commercials. I think she should pursue it and I am being the nagging friend in the meantime. Posting this is part of that nag, of course.
Oddly enough, shortly after we discussed it, three commercials caught my attention and I have to comment on them…this is not the idea she had, btw, but it’s just related to commercials so I thought I’d tie them together.
So, Chrys, consider yourself nagged. Oh, and for your project, check out Kraft and Phillip Morris. ;)
First, has anyone seen the new Columbia Sportswear commercials? They are freakin’ hysterical. There are two that I’ve seen so far. The first shows a concrete mixer in action, and out rolls a groundhog, followed by various other items; a cinder block, an alligator, a grill, a chainsaw, etc. Some pretty weird stuff comes out. Then this middle age guy comes tumbling down the shoot and, after landing on the blacktop, kind of shakes his head and looks around…zoom closer to his khaki pants. The text on the screen identifies him as Tim Boyle, President of Columbia. Then they pan out and you see this older woman working the concrete mixer and she is identified as Gert Boyle, Chairman of the Board….Tim’s mother. It’s much funnier than I’m describing here.
The second spot is Tim having a meeting and writing on a white board and you see Gert come into the back of the room with a blow gun and pops a dart in Tim’s neck. When you next see him, he is in the middle of some frozen tundra, Columbia parka on and a map in his hand with a big ‘X’ and “you are here” written on it. They are so damn funny. And I just found out the campaign was award-winning.
Maybe these are old commercials, but they are new to me and I laugh my ass off whenever they air.
So, I come off these funny commercials and then see this other one for “Aquadoodle”. Now, let me preface this by saying I was working and on the phone when I saw this and had the sound muted. Apparently, it’s a drawing mat that requires water. Huh? Upon further research, I found that you draw on the mat and then, in 60 seconds, the colors fade away. When I saw it, they had some little rug rat letting a toy locomotive drive over it, making tracks, and I couldn’t understand how this was fun since the kid was just sitting there and the train was having all the fun. And why let the colors disappear? Some little kid, all proud of his doodle, runs into the other room to get Mom and show her and when they get back, it’s gone! What happened to paper and crayons, for pete’s sake? Why must water be added to make the doodling experience fun? If I’m going to add water to my doodling sessions, I’ll lounge by the pool with my paper and pencil. And when I’m done, I’ll throw the fuckers out. (Oh, now I get it, maybe they are saving trees.)
And the third commercial speaks for itself. From Always…yeah, the maxi-pad folks. They have a whole poem dedicated to your period; I’ve posted it in the pic. If you click on it, you should be able to read the larger version.
Their new tag line is “Have a Happy Period.”
Go to hell.
posted by Cherry Indigo (Cindy) @ 11/03/2005 12:34:00 PM
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