So I’m just giving you loyal readers the heads up that I’m retiring my “Ad of the Week” feature. It was fun while it lasted, but as you would say to a college boyfriend, I feel it’s time to move on.
But stay tuned for more awesome commercial-related content as per usual! It may make you want to consume, but what doesn’t these days?
Parent company Coca-Cola’s ads for Glaceau Vitamin Water are under attack, according to The Guardian. The ads in question have been challenged due to their ‘misleading’ claims about their nutritional value. I would say nobody really takes those beverages’ claims of benefits like energy, relaxation, and power seriously, but with America you never know.
Do these ads look threatening to you?
Automaker Honda really outdid themselves with this classic ad, which is based on the concept of the Rube Goldberg device. It’s truly impressive, and apparently took many takes to get right. One of my favorites!
I have to say I like this DSW commercial, which features shoes at a speed dating event. It’s elegantly done, if anything.
Actor Ron Perlman, best known for playing Hellboy, appears here in an ad for beermaker Stella Artois. The ad is titled “Devil’s Island,” a reference to the famed prison colony of yore.
This is one of the better directed beer commercials I’ve seen. Well worth checking out! And if you know who directed it, drop me a line!
I don’t know if Bod is a real male grooming product line or not, but their commercial sure is hilarious.
I spotted the ridiculous product called Tingotang on TV’s Dragons’ Den, on which the company tried and failed to obtain funding for their misguided efforts. Basically, it’s jewelry you’re supposed to wear to signal that you’re single when at a bar or such. The product was dumb and nobody would ever buy it, but their ad is even worse.
This ad is just plain confusing. The company appears to be selling regular toothbrushes, but calling them revolutionary. And at $14.95 for 4 (not including shipping), they’re more expensive than far superior brushes you can buy pretty much anywhere. What the hell were the makers of The Easy Toothbrush thinking? They would get laughed out of the Dragons’ Den in five minutes.
Actor Jason Statham is pretty good looking, and I don’t mind his acting. So even though I was pretty late to the game, only discovering this ad a couple of months ago (as opposed to during the Super Bowl when it first aired), I was excited to see this commercial. Audi cleverly references the style and tone of one of Jason’s action movies, making this an ad you can almost forget is an ad.
For this week’s spotlight ad, I have chosen the second installment in the Magic Bullet trilogy, which focuses on a portable version of the device known as the Magic Bullet To Go. Some highlights include:
-A much-needed dash of sarcastic, self-referential comedy, i.e. “with what, your ‘magic bullet’?”
-The fact that the hosts’ friends are truly befuddled by the device at first…more than usual.
-Everyone seems confused when the hungover smoking lady, Hazel (my favorite character from the first MB infomercial) shows up on their camping trip. Plus, she emerges from the tent of the slob character, Berman…ew! You can see their sexual chemistry in action in the photo above.
-The hosts remember what the characters like in their pancakes, which shows some nice continuity from the first MB ad. But the way the male host mentions picking fresh blueberries for the (seemingly married) friend is a little sleazy.
-The Barney character speaks very passive-aggressively and condescendingly to his wife. When she acknowledges that chopping garlic is a pain, he mutters, “how would you know?” and when he talks about having to chop onions, he glumly states, “I think she just likes to see me cry.”
You can view all three parts of the ad (each of which takes place in a different vacation destination) below. The action starts at the 2:30 mark in the first video.
Lovable Bruce Campbell, of Evil Dead fame, has done a lot of good work in his life. But you probably don’t remember his short stint as an Old Spice pitchman. Check it.
I kind of like this fake action movie trailer from Microsoft, entitled “Office 2010: The Movie.” It’s way too long and there aren’t very many good jokes in it, but at least it’s well made.
Via AdFreak
My friends and I tried out the ridiculous Hawaii Chair (or an imitation chair) at Brookstone once, and it was exactly as silly and pointless as it looks. Ellen Degeneres did a great piece on these hilarious chairs which I also recommend, but the video below is the original ad, in all its bizarre glory.
Now I don’t really remember this product, which apparently was all the rage in the late ’80s, but it looks hilarious. The Max Skate Bike appears to be some kind of magical combination between a skateboard, a scooter, a BMX bike, and roller skates. And the ad itself is pure comic gold. Keep an eye out for the Michael Jackson impersonator (how timely).
Thanks Chris!
This ad comes to us from Spain, and it includes some pretty decent Bollywood singing and dancing. Enjoy!