Mini Movies

Every commercial is a miniature movie - a short film. Some of these really feel like it too. When I go to visit my mom in Florida I often see new commercials that are local. This can be annoying at election time and even appalling as in the "ride it like a Ford" commercials or the headache producing repetitive lawyer commercials (the worst of which is Rubenstein).

On my most recent visit, however, I was actually choked up by these two commercials the first time I viewed them. I don't want to say too much about them or I'll ruin it for you but I've linked them below (which I never do) simply because they were so good.




Happy Mother's Day from Publix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwPInEIkVS0&feature=youtube_gdata_player




Working Together from Florida Blue (BCBS of Florida) -no photo found
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRvu_P9LMKg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy the mini-movies!

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Mio Animals

I love animals, especially giraffes. And I love innovation. And my husband really likes Mio. So why do I find these bizarre commercials so disturbing. I actually have to change the station when these come on and that is extremely unusual for ME (I'm a person who sometimes even watches commercials on DVR.)

The Mio animals, however, are so creepy I'm afraid they'll give me nightmares!!




Maybe it's because they are so elongated and instead of being humanized animals they look like some sort of alien hybrid. They just make me shudder!





These are exactly the kind of original ingenious commercials I usually love so I can't quite figure out why I find them as abhorrent as I do. Maybe it's because I love the naturalness of animals and that is completely lost in this animated concoction that populates these commercials. It's like they have dragged animal character down to the most trite human levels. No wonder it gives me nightmares. No self respecting animal would ever sink as low as a human!




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Sexy Librarian

There are two versions of this particular commercial: the older longer one, and the newer shorter one. The shorter one is sort of boring and forgettable. What makes this commercial sorta rock was seeing the husband and salesperson's reaction to her sexy librarian speech. It seemed as if both were entranced making the commercial extra racy as the sales associate was same sex. Maybe they decided later that this was too x-rated a concept for their commercial but the short watered down version is boring comparatively.



Whoever the actress is achieves the perfect balance of wholesome and hot so that she doesn't come off cheap or porn-y but instead like a "regular gal" just goofing around with the possibilities. I think this is what gives the ad so much charm.

Wish they'd go back to the long version!

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Wow!! Hot, not cool!!

I just saw the new York Peppermint Patty commercial with model, Gavin Dunne, eating a peppermint patty. Okay, I'm a grandma, very happily married, generally not taken with your typical young sexy beefcake guys - but WOW!!!!



I do enjoy an occasional York Peppermint Patty but I wasn't thinking about their cool sweet minty goodness when I watched Mr. Dunn devour his candy.

I couldn't watch anything but this man's amazing face!! Those eyes!!! This is one commercial I may not be fast forwarding through often! Congratulations ad agents for York. You have found the way to thwart the DVR!




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Stream Stream Stream

I find so many commercials annoying and one of the new most annoying commercials is the Xfinity streaming commercial using the old Everly Brothers hit Dream Dream Dream. Various scenarios show "everyday people" doing their jobs while watching streaming TV.


I'm sure my boss would be thrilled if I were streaming reruns of Lost while I typed up a letter. And I wouldn't feel terribly confident if my surgeon had Seinfeld streaming as I was rolled into the ER. It's such a bizarre commercial.

But the thing that struck me the most was extrapolating on those lyrics. I got the song in my head and began singing it and the truth of Xfinity streaming was exposed:

"only trouble is... Gee whiz... I'm streaming my whole life away..."

Yep, that is how the commercial should really play. People sitting back, eating and glued to their iPads and iPhones watching streaming TV mindlessly while the birds are chirping around them, their kids and pets going unattended... Their lives passing them by... Because that's just what would happen. The last thing the world needs now is yet another way to watch TV!!

Unfortunately the commercial doesn't go that far with the song but I would enjoy it a lot more if it did.




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Stanley Steemer's Staunch Stainchasers

Okay... these commercials have really gotten under my skin... in the GOOD way. At first I thought these characters were kind of stupid. Then I still thought they were stupid, but sort of amusing. Now I find them almost endearing.

When he says, "I'm not a doctor, but..." I just love it. I love how he takes himself so seriously. It's great! And I love how he takes the JOB so seriously. I think there's a little bit of this guy in each of us. A person who thinks our job is very important, thus WE'RE very important.

The amazing thing to me is this... I believe this is the first time I ever considered actually using a product or service based completely upon an advertising campaign!! I found myself watching one of these commercials the other day and realizing they also clean grout and non-carpet flooring I thought, "I ought to try those guys," as if the guys from the commercial would actually pull up in front of my house and start cleaning LOL. Advertisers just love people like me.





















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Grass Wars

My husband brought this to my attention the other day... there are serious grass seed wars going on right now. The main battlers appear to be Pennington and Scott. Now, living in a condo, we don't have to be concerned with grass seed but when I was growing up, my dad used to re-seed the lawn every spring. Nevertheless, I don't remember any angst happening when he was making the decision about which seed to use.

These days, however, we apparently need to be just as careful with our grass seed as we are with our nutrition. Pennington has made us aware that "the other guys" fill their bags with 10 pounds of grass seed and 10 pounds of filler!! And one of these guys explains that you'll have to water their seed more because it's so high quality.

Pennington calls theirs honest grass. Scott says theirs has no filler and is of the highest quality.



The war is getting bloody out there!!

Now, I just laughed at my husband when he told me about the grass wars the first time. I hadn't heard or seen anything about this phenomenon. This morning, however, I saw my first Pennington commercial. Then, while making breakfast I HEARD my first Pennington commercial.

The grass seed blitz has infiltrated our home!

I haven't decided which one I'm rooting for yet... guess I just need to see some more commercials to make that decision.




No, the below is not a link.... it just so happened when I finished posting the above I went to another website and when I glanced down at the bottom of the page I found this!! Scary!







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