My new favorite commercial. Shatner being "replaced" as Priceline spokesman.

http://www.priceline.com/promo/shatner_return.asp

rosiebloom, I think I choked on my own spit while watching that. Absolutely Hi-Larious.

I'm really like the GMC Envoy XUV commercial. The music and the same synchro-choreography of the people closing and shutting the doors at the sametime on the vehicle.

God, yes. In general, I hate any ad that features food around the mouth like that. Mostly because it always looks like fake makeup, and now I'm thinking about people eating that fake makeup, and it's gross. (It's not so bad when it's babies because I think they use real food and just make a mess. I can handle it if it's real food).

I hate the milk mustache print ads for the same reason. They look so fake and gross.

They are fake. Whatever it is they use, it ain't milk. And I really don't want to know what it is.

I tried the black & white M&Ms today. 27 different kinds of wrong...

It's so funny that the B&W M&Ms taste different. They're the same thing-- but they really taste weird. I think it's an evil ploy to get people to order colored M&Ms from the website.

TOPIC? I really hate the Crest Whitening commercial with the woman dreaming about the weird bear v. gorillas soccer game. I mean- the hell?

Yup. No matter how hard I try, I still can't fathom how there is enough crack in the world to inspire that.

Seriously...can you imagine the planning meeting for that? I think it was probably held in a local crack den.

I have seen this new V8 commercial twice now that is so fucked. It is like this dreadlocked black guy doing this crazy (and totally weirdly intrusive!) tap dance all through a busy laundramat. He's like hopping up on the washers and jumping down and kicking over people's boxes of detergent and swishing his feet around in it on the floor and making a huge mess and then tap-tap-tapping away. No one seems to notice the weird, frantically tap dancing black man jumping all over the place and slamming dryers shut in their faces. And then as he prances over to a chair at the end of the room, he kinda spins and sits down and POOF! He turns into a young white woman, drinking V8. Spicy V8.

Yeah... So that whole tap dancing thing was in her head? Are we supposed to associate "spicy-ness" with a dreadlocked, hyperactively tap dancing black guy? Doesn't this seem bizarrely racist in an exoticism sort of way? Why did she need to turn into that guy in order to do the crazy imaginary tap dance?

OK. I need to stop thinking about this commercial. I'm getting in one of those bad overthinking-it cycles.

Anyone else seen it?

Well, you know, black people are naturally spicy. Black people are also sassy, magical, and wise. Regular V8 tastes like crap, and they think making it spicy will entice me to drink it? Fuckers.

What's better than finally seeing "Crossroads" advertised as part of Tha Down Low compilation? Seeing it three seconds later, as part of the Thug Nation compilation: "For the thug in you!" This song is having some kind of identity crisis.

See, without even clicking the link, I knew who was going to be the "replacement." Clicking the link and reading the "hint" made it even clearer. But hey, it was still cute. Isn't that Savion Glover?

I have no idea. You can't ever see his face. Just his green outfit and his dreads. And his spicy dancing.

Wow. That is just wrong on so. Many. Levels. I don't know why, but it reminds me of that conspiracy theory about The Man putting stuff in black men's sodas to make them sterile or female. Or something equally ridiculous.


I thought hispanics/latinos were the "spicey" ones?

I saw the Thug Nation CD ad too and was flabergasted. "For the thug in you!", indeed.

I'm pretty sure it is Savion Glover, you can see his face in closeup pretty well at least once in this commercial. He's done ads for Twix and Cingular and I think some car company before, and he always does the frenetic tap dancing thing. I'm surprised I've never seen him in a Gap commercial, actually.

If the tap-dancing man is Savion Glover, why wouldn't they just leave at that? Savion Glover drinks some V-8 and is inspired to dance, as he is wont to do. I actually like V-8, but I don't like this commercial concept.

Exactly! This commercial is baffling, both in terms of why TPTB thought the concept was good and what the hell happens in it.

I love V8 but this commercial concept blows.

That takes it to new levels for me, Cleo, it never occured to me that it was makeup. Now I am even more grossed out. I have a sneaking suspicion that pancake makeup doesn't taste like pancakes, either....

Gotta agree with you about the babies eating thing, that really doesn't bother me. Babies crying in commercials is another thing entirely. Not only to do I have to hear it in the grocery store, laundromat and throught the incredibly thin walls of my apartment, but on TV, too? I dive for the remote anytime the internet swimsuit supermodel one comes on, or the carpet commercial, or any number of ones I can't seem to differentiate in my mind.

I mean, I know babies cry; fine, whatever. But do you have to put them in ads crying????? How do they get them to cry anyway? Wait around or do something to the babies to upset them? (Although I know from experience you needent wait for long to get a crying baby.)

OK, done now. As you were with the V8 commercial, which I have not seen. Maybe it's my market area?

One of the most annoying Kids Wb commercials is the "D'myna leagues" commercials that run nonstop during afternoon and Saturday morning programming.
"We've got grit, we've got style, we can hit the ball a mile!". Nope, still not watching. If it doesn't have giant robots or superheroes, I'm not watching.
Yes, I'm twelve again.

The teddybear and gorilla soccer game is odd enough, but last night, I saw that Snuggle commercial where the bear is sitting by a stack of towels in a Hawaiian shirt, watching some slinky woman dive into a pool and swim toward him. Is it just my imagination, or is the bear actually leering? It just looks like he has this weird smirk on his fuzzy li'l muzzle. Cree. Py.

Never mind.

It's annoying me that Snuggle doesn't seem to talk in the commercials anymore. He used to ramble incoherent sentences and snuggle the bottle and stuff. Now that British-but-not lady gets lines, and that weird porcupine.

My favorite Savion Glover commercial was the one where he calls someone on the telephone, then puts down the phone and tapdances near it, then a little girl says "Hi, Uncle Savion". Can't remember which mobile phone/long distance plan/etc. this was for, but it was really cute.

I think it was Cingular.

Not anymore, baby! Why couldn't they just have Savion dancing 'cause the V8's so damn spicy and leave it at that?

The Snuggle bear is creepy now. And I used to think he was cute. Now his eyes are cold and lifeless; he may very well be leering at a human woman. FWIW, I think they're spoofing perfume ads. Still creepy, though.

I am both upset and on the verge of hysterical laughter at this. I speak as a Vermonter and a Dean supporter. There is not much sushi. There are lattes and Volvos because it is fucking cold, and we need warmth and sturdy cars. He was the governer, so wouldn't it be a good idea to keep up with the world? Our local paper ain't worth much. And Howard? A rich boy from outta state. I really was too young to pay attention during his time in control of my state, so I can't defend against the polocy cracks, only the dises to Vermont. (Sorry this came so long after the discution ended, my parents wouldn't let me on line all week and I really wanted to note this.)

On another (on topic) note, I really, really want to see the glittery deoderant commercial.

I love Savion Glover. He used to be on Sesame Street pretty often, too. But yeah, why can't Savion get a kick out of the Spicy V8 instead of having him turn into a white woman?

I also finally saw the macarena-tummy woes commercial. The diarrhea dance is just so many flavors of wrong. Pepto Bismol makes me puke, anyway, so it won't hurt my feelings to not buy it on the basis of that dreadful diarrhea dance commercial.

Like someone else, I miss a lot of these commercials because I usually watch the Old People Channels (TLC, History, A&E, etc.) But once in a while I switch over to VH-1 or MTV and I finally get to see the commercials all you young hep whippersnappers are seeing. I make Mr. Puckish stop talking during the commercials so I can see them with my snark-colored glasses.

OK, here's one I haven't seen mentioned: that stuff to repair scratched glasses lenses. Clear Lense or something like that. First, they misspelled "lens." Second, when the woman is brushing that stuff on her glasses and they show a closeup, you can see how distorted the ribs on her sweater are through the lenses she's just "repaired" with the miracle rub-on stuff. That's not good for sales, I wouldn't think. On the other hand, normal people don't peer as closely and as critically at commercials as I do. BUT. I have to admit that despite the misspelling of a word as simple as "lens" and the aforementioned distortion of the lens when the stuff is rubbed on, I'm tempted to pick some up for my sunglasses, which are always and forever getting scratched. No way no how would I put it on my real glasses, no matter what those people say about it not changing your prescription. But for cheap-ass sunglasses? Maybe. Anybody used this stuff?

Saw a cute commercial for Oreos the other night. Two little boys are sitting side-by-side at a table drinking milk and eating Oreos. One is a "big boy" and the other has a sippy cup. The big boy is dunking his Oreos in his milk (as I, myself, like to do). The littler boy wants to dunk his Oreo, too, except it won't fit through the sippy cup opening. Duh. So finally he turns his sippy cup over and sprinkles out some milk on his Oreo. Normally I hate cute kid commercials, especially when they're doing something messy, but the laugh the little guy makes at the end was just too cute.

I love this commercial. The cutest part is when someone off camera (his mom, maybe?) says, "Charlie." He gets the cutest smile and looks over to whoever just called his name. He has this "oops, I got caught" look all over his face. So adorable!

That tap dancing guy is Savion Glover. I recognize that tap dancing technique of his anywhere. And I agree about everyone else who is just as confused with that commercial toward the end.

Do people really play basketball now on rollerskates? The guy is like ready to play (in a sec), even though he's like halfway through a Big Mac, and I'm like "dude, you really should wait at least thirty minutes after eating to engage in physical activity"- but then I think to myself "but he's playing basketball on freakin' rollerskates!"

Delcia80, I'm the same way...I was in another room but as soon as I heard the tapping I knew it was Savion. You actually see his face pretty clearly throughout the ad, but if you don't recognize him that doesn't help. Also, he's probably the most commercially-successful tap dancers right now, isn't he? If there's a tap dancer in an ad, it's gonna be him. And I had to watch because I love him. And then I had the same reaction at the end of the ad, because I had been thinking it was probably for shoes or (a stretch) his new show (doesn't he have one now, or is that over?), and was floored when the V-8 denouement came.

Triple Word Score! I am SOOO with you on this! I was blown away by the complete wrongity-wrongness of this commercial. Snuggle is all kinds of leering at that woman! Snuggle is the pool boy! Snuggle is a playah! Sunggle will wrap up ALL the foxy ladies in big white fluffy towely goodness.

Ew!

Well, you would kinda...get hurt...if you were to be doing the porcupine instead of Playah!Snuggle.

Don't know if anyone mentioned this but I love this commercial....it's for British Airways. The guy goes to sleep in a bed Times Square and wakes up in Picadilly Circus in London. It makes me homesick for London and I like the music in it. Am I alone?

I will add to the kitty love. My cat looks at me like I have 6 heads when I have to yell at him which isn't often because he can do no wrong. Mr. SundayMoon is the disciplinarian which is probably why Bailey prefers my side of the bed at night.

I love that British Airways commercial too, Sunday Moon. [OT]I always wanted to go to England. My nan's from Birkenhead and I really want to see the North.[/OT]

But the absolute BEST part of those commercials is the white guy and the thuuuuug lines. Ohmygod. Who decided he should try to talk like that? So embarrased for that guy.

The commercials I hate this week I see all the time lately are the fake newspeople talking about stealing cable. It's on all the time. I hate it.

Just saw an ad for Pizza Hut Meat Lovers pizza, which apparently features, says the ad, nearly every meat on the planet. The first thought to jump into my head is otter? Badger? Rat? Perhaps elk? Dare I ask if human meat is one of the excluded meats on the pie? Why not just say it's lots of sausage, pepperoni, bacon and hamburger? It takes more time, but grosses me out a lot less.

Reminds me of that Discworld song about the hedgehog.

*ahem* Anyway... yeah, I don't know what marketing geniuses decided a horny stuffed bear would be the perfect way to appeal to their target demo.

I live in Vermont, and I have to drive to New Hampshire to get lattes. At the Borders no less.

LOL...yes. I was thinking the same thing the other night! I was going through my head thinking of all the edible meats one may want on a pizza and I only came up with 4, marginally....5. Scary, eh? They claim 6.

On MadTv Paul Vogt as "Mrs. Garrett" just said "Hoo-Hoo". Did I hear a TWoP shoutout or what?
Topic: Pizza hut, yes, the marketing geniuses. Every meat you can dream of!! Now comes with your choice of cholesterol lowering prescription. Ugh.

The ads for the return of Gilmore Girls puzzle me. I never watched the show, so that's probably why I don't understand "fresh from the Frog..."

Can someone explain?

Ah. The WB network (short for "Warner Brothers") uses Michigan J. Frog as their logo/mascot. He's the top-hatted, singing, dancing frog that originally appeared (I think) in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Thus, "fresh from the Frog" just means that it's new on the WB.

naugastyle as far as I know Savior commercially-successful! I think I've seen him in a couple of other commercials, but can't remember any right now.

There's a local commercial here that is actually pretty good. A woman walks up to a shiny red convertable parked at a golf course. All of a sudden, she pulls out a sledgehammer and starts beating the car with it, screaming "You cheating, scum!" Then her husband drives up in a virtually identical car. "Honey, what are you doing?"
Whatever their name is Auto Body Repair. "We can fix anything."
Normally I hate local commercials. but this one works for me.

I don't know where you live but I don't think that's a local commercial. We have that one here (Lawrence, KS) too.

That commercial with the guys in the truck where one of them freaks the others out by singing "I feel like a woman" keeps cracking me up. He just sings with such gusto. I really, really, really hate that song but the hilarity of that commercial is kind of mitigating the song's repellant annoyingness for me. I fully recognize that it is a cheap, vaguely homophobic gag but I can't help being amused.

Has anyone seen the fantastic new commercial for the Siegfried and Roy Collection? It is like three or four dvds/videos of Siegfried and Roy, including never-been-seen footage of their personal lives and their baby tigers, as well as awesome footage of one of them prancing around onstage on a big, dancing white horse. AND if you order now, Siegfried and Roy themselves will send you an exclusive Siegfried and Roy poster that isn't available anywhere else! Is it wrong that watching that commercial makes me laugh, even though one of them is still convalescing somewhere from that tiger attack? All their pomp and drama has that effect on me. Plus the announcer talks about them so incredibly reverently, like he's pimping DVDs of actual Jesus footage or something.

That is Savion Glover! I was going to post about this commercial, but kept forgetting to. He's been well-known for his "tap dancing" since he was a kid. According to IMdB, in 1996 he won a Tony for choreography in Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, and was also one of the youngest males nominated for a Tony in 1989. He has appeared in specials with Gregory Hines and other stars. My take on the commercial is that the white lady is really the one tapping on the washers and kicking everyone's laundry baskets and detergent over. V8 turned her into Savion Glover because it's so spicy, or whatever. Anyway, I hate this commercial! I don't care how famous you are or how great a dancer you are, you would get you ass seriously kicked for knocking over people's detergent and clean laundry, especially people in a laundromat with pay washers and dryers?!!

Well, it IS Pizza Hut, and it's from the same conglomerate who brought you Grade-D meat in your Taco Bell taco.

Wow, so many things to comment on:

1. I finally forced myself to sit all the way through a 'Kidz Bop' commercial instead of just cursing and changing the channel. I totally though you guys were joking when you said the did 'Hey Ya!' What the hell? Those kids are like mini-Pat Boone's, sucking the life and energy out of every mainstream song around.

2. Has anyone seen the commercials for some hot sauce called 'Red Hot' (I think that's the name?) Anyway it has this scientist guy talking about spicing up you life with the hot sauce and then it shows plumber guy bending over to reveal he's wearing women's underwear. The scientist guy then says : "There may be other ways to spice up your life, but red, lace panties aren't one of them." There's another one with a guy piercing his nipples and the scientist guy says: "There may be other ways to spice up your life, but nipple modification isn't one of them."

3. I love the Toyota Shania Twain ad. ITA with the other poster who said it's vaguely homophobic but they love it anyway. That guy just sings with such conviction!

Woo hoo! I finally saw the hotels.com tape measure commercial. I was watching TV with my family when it came on and I just went into hysterics. They think I'm crazy now. That is all.

Oh, wait, that is not all. I abhor the Kidz Bop commercial. Why on earth would anyone buy CD full of pop songs sung by some dumb ass kids? Are kids not allowed to hear the real artists sing the songs themselves? I just don't get it!

[small voice] I thought it was for Chevrolet[/small voice]
I love it so much, I don't even know what it is trying to sell me.

Get out of my mind! I was thinking the same thing!


But is it OK if it's a low carb pizza?