I’m not sure what Elderplan is, but this ad caught my ear when the female representative at about the one minute mark says something that sounds dirty but isn’t. She’s talking about cheesecake, wasting valuable phone time by humoring a customer (something she’ll surely get in trouble for as soon as the commercial is over), when she says “You’re making me really hungry” in a way that makes it sound like she really wants to say “horny.” Maybe she’s attempting to have covert phone sex with her boyfriend, using code words like “cheesecake” and “Elderplan.”
Another thing I don’t like about this ad is that the host lady acts like she’s not ready to start filming at the beginning of the ad. I know they’re trying to seem all cool and casual about the whole thing, but then they start in with their professional graphics and prepared sales pitch. It’s almost as bad as when people end ads by saying “cut” and showing people walk off the set, chatting with each other about how well the ad went. This one ends almost as annoyingly, and even more confusingly, with the lady asking some guy at the fake phone bank where he’s going, like she didn’t think she was still on the air. Ugh.
I have never been a fan of commercials where different people’s conversations are cut together so it sounds continuous. The telephone commercials where families talk to each other around the world are a good example…someone will say in Korean, “How have you been? Want some kimchi?” and somebody in England replies, “Bully, cheerio,” or something, to which an Irishman will ask, “Where’s my whiskey and potatoes?” And so forth.
But this Citi commercial (entitled “Spending Smarter”) is even weirder, because the cut-up conversation doesn’t even make sense. It also implies that the family of one of the woman portrayed likes to eat “dog food, bags of it.”
Ed McMahon was a wonderful entertainer, and I think everyone’s a little bummed that he’s gone. But in honor of Ed, and in keeping with the theme of this website, I’d like to celebrate him with a look back at a really awesome Cash4Gold ad he made last year or so. He will be missed.
I find this Mastercard dinner scene commercial confusing. First of all, they seem to be implying that only people with credit cards can buy and/or afford generic food brands like Pillsbury and Jolly Green Giant veggies. Not so. Secondly, this is one bizarre-ass meal they’re coming up with. Pickles, peanuts, Count Chocula cereal, Spaghetti-O’s, crescent rolls, tuna casserole, salt, fish sticks, canned vegetables, and god knows what else…those ingredients do not a satisfying feast make. And I find it strange that Mr. Clean is doing the dishes…his brand represents cleaning products, not dishwasher detergent. How about Joy Droppy?
I didn’t think insurance fraud was the kind of thing that warranted commercials, but apparently, The New York Fraud Fight disagrees. Their new public service announcement has been playing a lot lately, and it’s so overly dramatic. A young man curses his father’s existence, yelling things like “Hypocrite!” and “Liar!” in an empty sound stage, apparently because his dad went to a doctor’s appointment with someone else’s insurance information or something. Is it really that big a deal? Whatever.
Anyway, I found the company’s website, and they have all of their TV ads posted on this page. There’s “Ripples,” the one I mentioned, and also one where people burn money in a bonfire (”Burned”), and a truly terrific jail-themed piece entitled “3 Men in a Cell.” I recommend them all.
For god knows how many years, Mastercard has been bombarding us with commercials suggesting that all the costs associated with having a good time are unimportant, because the experiences and memories you’ll create by spending money are “priceless.” Messages like these are part of the reason we’re in this whole mess where people spend money they don’t have, but that’s beside the point.
The “priceless” campaign is memorable to be sure, but I’m suggesting it’s time for a change. Even mocking the commercial’s catch phrases is old hat now, and if that doesn’t prove it’s over, I don’t know what would. Mastercard probably pays advertising companies millions of dollars a year, so they should put them to work for once and have them come up with a new campaign! It’s not that hard. Geico does it every couple of years.
Anyway, here’s the latest “priceless” ad, which is actually quite bizarre. I don’t know what the giant jack-in-the-box is all about, but I feel like it’s going to give me nightmares.
I loved the Mr. Bill sketches when I was growing up, so in a way I’m happy to see the character revived in the new Mastercard ads. But this isn’t the Mr. Bill I know and love. He keeps finding a reason to be happy that all these terrrible things keep happening to him, which kind of ruins the joke. Maybe it’s because they didn’t want the commercial to seem too negative? Whatever the reason, it’s lame.
Have you seen the new Free Credit Report (dot com) TV ad where he sings about how “I married my dream girl, but she didn’t tell me her credit was bad…”?
Here’s a clip to refresh your memory.
I don’t like this ad. The guy is criticizing his wife for having bad credit, blaming her for their crappy living situation, even going so far as to say he wouldn’t have married her had he known about her credit rating, because then “he’d be a happy bachelor with a dog and a yard.”
The nerve of this man! As I recall from his previous ads, his credit ain’t so great either. A dude who works at a pirate restaurant and the Renaissance Fair shouldn’t complain.
