There aren't terribly many of these multipart story-telling ads, but they're so different, I thought they should have their own topic.

The classic, of course, is the Taster's Choice series (I think the product has a different name in the UK) starring Anthony Stewart Head, which got spun out for quite a while as they met, re-met, had misunderstandings, and were about to get together at long last.

Last Christmas there was a two-parter, about a man using any means possible to get home through the snow for Christmas so he could give her a big honkin' diamond, although there was such a long lapse before Part II that it wasn't altogether clear that it was the continuation.

Are there other examples?

There was an adorable MasterCard series with a little Boston Terrier called Badger (Baxter?) who gets separated from his family and ends up being picked up by various people along the way, goes on a sprawling road trip, and then, finally, we see him running up to greet his people all, "Y'all will not believe how much fun I've been having! But I missed you! When's dinner?" and they are, of course, overjoyed, because he is the cutest freakin' dog ever.

There are also the Raisin Bran Crunch commercials with Johnson and his boss. While I think they are pretty funny (at least the first couple of times a new one airs), a lot of people around here can't stand them.

The only example I can think of besides the Taster's Choice on is for the Country Crock butter spread with the two characters you never actually see besides their hands; I can't remember the woman too well but I think the guy was the same guy who voiced the father on Rugrats waaay back. Anyway, somehow, there became this weird pregnancy plot in the commercials, then mentions of a baby (which we never see or hear either).

The baby is there; we hear him/her in the Country Crock mashed potato ads.

I'm pretty sure that is indeed the voice of Stu Pickles, which I always find really disconcerting. Also, I could swear the guy who voiced his brother on that show did a "guest spot" on one of those ads.

It's a very short serial [two episodes], but the Geico® "caveman" ads qualify for this thread. It seems they've put them together into the one commercial now, though.

There were three actually. They no longer show the first one, where they were shooting the commercial and the caveman holding the microphone stormed off the set. When they got to the second one (cavemen at home with one on the piano), I was totally on their side. (Because they now knew that cavemen were still out there - one worked for them - but they aired the ad anyway.) By the time they got to the third one with that lame ass apology, I didn't have any appetite either.

Yeah, I am seeking help.

I love the Johnson ads! Mostly because we have one of those deadbeat losers in our office and we call call him Johnson. I swear I can see the little asshole across the room eating cereal just like in the commercials - and just like them, everytime we think he's finally gone, there he is. (crunch, crunch, crunch...)

Also the Southwest Airlines "Want to get away?" series was funny - the football ref trying to get change for a dollar right there on the field when he was supposed to toss a coin, the lady who released The Pink Virus all through her office, there were at least a half a dozen of them.

Two serials I would love to see come back: Terry Tate - Office Linebacker and Rubberband Man.

I like the Johnson ads, but I hope we see the boss get vindication before the series ends. Like, Johnson finally runs out of cereal, speaks and shows how truly incompetent he is, and gets fired. I'm sure the boss' happy dance would rival the guys in the Sprint Push It ad.

I like the recent commercials with the kid who can't play hockey, but ends up being the Zamboni driver. "I want to drive the Zamboni. I want to drive... The Zam-Bon-I!!!"

I was genuinely emotionally involved when Rubberband Man lost his rubber band ball and let his work slide until he got it back two ads later. It was great seeing how happy he was.

Budweiser did a great job with one Superbowl. The lizard who was bitter about losing out to the three frogs started giving them dire warnings in the weeks before the game, then during the game there was a failed assassination, then for a while afterwards the lizards were still talking about it.

...and there's always the William Shatner Bran cereal
serial commercials.

"You can call me William...but don't call me late for dinner!"

Right.

A new sequel just started airing (at least I just saw it for the first time). It's one of that series for HGTV's Cash in the Attic, where we would see people with "treasures" that they wouldn't want to sell... until the HGTV guy offers them money for it, at which moment they leap at the chance. (All actors of course.)

Well, one of the first of those was a married couple being protective of "grandma's" stuff, being sure she wouldn't want to sell her mementos, until Granny pipes up, "Can we get a hot tub?" The new ad shows all 3 family members, in the backyard in their bathing suits, soaking in their hot tub. No words that I noticed, we're just supposed to recognize the connection.

I wonder if we'll have more of these sequels to the original ads.

Actually, there's another one in that series. It has the announcer talking to the couple about how happy they are with their new hot tub and the guy makes some comment about how Grandma likes a little too much and in the background, Grandma comes out naked and climbs into the tub (digitized for your viewing safety of course) and then it ends with the three of them sitting in the tub, Grandma looking smug, the wife looking resigned and the guy looking slightly queasy. Or maybe it is the same commercial and they are only showing the truncated version with only the three of them in the hot tub.

I'm sure that's it, Albino Girl. Either I saw a truncated version, or I just wasn't paying attention till it had been on for a few seconds.

It took me two or three viewings before I suddenly made the connection. Oh, the hottub granny. They have people from other commercials in those ads, too. The guy with the mechanical dolls is standing in front of a stereo, I think.

I always liked the Energizer Bunny ads, especially when they stopped showing it just rolling down the road and had it showing up in other ads.

I'm always amused by those Scottrade ads with the kid inventing all the crazy machines, like a paper thrower or building the massive tree house for his friends. I'm thinking, if this kid's so smart, then why doesn't patent some of those inventions, then he wouldn't have to run an investment firm anymore.

Finally, I'll give a shoutout to those Bush's Baked Beans ads, with the retriever, Duke, who keeps trying to give away the secret family recipe. I like the most recent one, where you see Duke running through this printing facilty, and he goes up a flight of stairs and exits from his normal looking doghouse. Jay Bush shows him a flyer advertising the secret family recipe and Duke says, "What, do you think I have a printing press under my doghouse?"

Everytime I see one of those, I just keep thinking, "Jay, the dog talks. You don't give a talking dog your secret family recipe. There's just too much latent hosility from making them wear those stupid antlers at Christmastime."

The guy in the Country Crock ads is Mr. Pickles from "Rugrats"...before that, he was Mr. Carlin on "The Bob Newhart Show"...His name is Jack Riley.

One commercial I thought was going to be serialized was the Coca-Cola ad from about a year ago where a bunch of college-age guys set out on the road with a camcorder to film America. I thought there were gonna be a bunch of the ads, but I only ever saw the one with the bike jousters.

The guy in the Country Crock ads is Mr. Pickles from "Rugrats"...before that, he was Mr. Carlin on "The Bob Newhart Show"...His name is Jack Riley.

One commercial I thought was going to be serialized was the Coca-Cola ad from about a year ago where a bunch of college-age guys set out on the road with a camcorder to film America. I thought there were gonna be a bunch of the ads, but I only ever saw the one with the bike jousters.

My absolute favorite serialized commercials were the Joe Isuzu ones. Dear lord they were hysterical. I never got to watch much television as a kid (lived overseas, parental rules) but I can remember watching HOPING to see one of those. If they had a DVD of all the commercials with him I'd buy it. And then they brought him back, but for only one or two ads! Such a disappointment...

I think it was serialized. If I remember correctly they had another commercial where the guys picked up signals for a pirate radio station in their car and found out where it was and were hanging out with the DJ. The other one I remember was they where at an "American Idol" like Competiton, not competing just filming the contestants as they waited in line.

Oh, I loved the Terry Tate commercials, and didn't get to see them nearly as often as I would have liked when they originally ran. I've worked with people I'd like to sic Terry on. Many, many of them, in fact.

I'm a fan of serialized commercials that just sort of show the lives of people--it's not like it's a particularly clever joke or a well known character, it just shows the same folks. Like Joe and Liz, the couple that own the Dodge Durango for different reasons (I think that was it).

I'm a fan of serialized commercials that just sort of show the lives of people--it's not like it's a particularly clever joke or a well known character, it just shows the same folks. Like Joe and Liz, the couple that own the Dodge Durango for different reasons (I think that was it).

A serialized commercial I remember from being little were the two women for Reynold's Wrap. One was a real sarcastic black woman and the other was a short, kind of dumb blonde one. I didnt see them on tv for the longest time and recently they just did a new commercial. They AGED, man.
OHH.. I suddenly remembered the Pine Sol lady too. I remember her braids or weave or whatever she had on her head would swing whenever she would move her head really fast in excitement when she used Pine Sol.

The Raisin Bran Crunch ads are back with new characters. I miss Johnson and the rest of the original cast, but I like the theme so I'm glad to see the commercials again.

There's now a spin-off to the Raisin Bran Crunch commercials: Caramel Nut Crunch. The first one of these I've seen is in a grocery store where the cashier is bitching out the stock boy and he's only getting occasional words, so he thinks she's coming on to him.

Those cereal commercials amuse me, but I'm not sure I want to buy something that's advertised as used by losers. Or is the message supposed to be that using the product will keep you in the ignorance-is-bliss state of not finding out how all your peers hate you? Meh.

I'm always interested in how eSurance will relate <i>Alias</i> and auto insurance in the newest step of the agent's mission, but the latest one actually has me curious. It seems that the car salesman attended spy-school in between installments, because he kind of suddenly became the heroine's spy-partner. Anyways, in the newest ad, he cleverly disguises himself by popping his collar, steals some documents or something, and runs off. It was pretty weird.

Here's one from the late Seventies. It was for Maxwell House Coffee and it featured a young guy named Hal and his dog, Duke. Hal was a photojournalist who traveled around the country just taking pictures at random. In every commercial (there were quite a few in the series) he and Duke would meet some nice folks who'd invite them in for a cup of Maxwell House and a dog biscuit.

I may be the only person alive who remembers these ads, mainly because I had a huge adolescent crush on Hal. He looked a lot like Andy Travis from WKRP in Cincinnati.

Apparently the Baileys Irish Cream ads are part of a long series, even though I've only ever seen two: confusion over who's the designated driver, and the guy who can't pick up an ice cube with tongs, so he pours his Baileys into the ice bucket and slurps from that. There's a semi-fancy website that shows all the spots (has anybody seen any other than the two?) and introduces the cast of characters. So they all have names, Lewis and Kelly and their friends Marvin and Monique and Diamond Dave and Rachel, but do we ever learn those in the ads (OK, I remember "Marvin" getting roped in as designated driver)? I get the impression that the idea is to create a buzz about the storyline of these fabulously attractive successful people leading their luxurioius life. What do others think about these?

There's another page in the Baileys® site for the actual ads, but only one is available [Who's driving?] for viewing. You're probably correct that the company is trying to generate interest in the characters and will develop a story arc if the attempt is successful.

I'm just glad that none of them is named Daunte or Shaniqua ...

These commercials for the job-finding service with the chimps and one human employee are growing on me. Some of them have elicited giggles.

We just watched a long ad campaign for Arnotts biscuits/crackers/cookies in one of my classes.

It starts out with a guy, Michael, putting a personal ad in the paper. In the next series of commercials, we see him recieving letters, going out on dates, and talking about this with his friend.. Then he meets his possible soulmate, Jessica. There's some misunderstandings when they run into each other again and on their date, but they eventually end up in bed.

Well, that's not the end of the story.. Things might be moving too fast, Jessica's having second thoughts, Jessica's ex returns.. And we're given the option of choosing what will happen to them. Will Jessica go with her ex or with Michael, or will she stick with her career, or has this been some weird dream of Michael's? They had a call-in number, and I'm not sure when this ad campaign was run (80s?), but the result was that Michael & Jessica get married!

I'm wondering what that sappy, sentimental song they used in every.single.commericial. Anyone know it?

I know the Country Crock couple was talked about on the first page of this thread. However, I just wanted to comment on my love of this "commercial series". It feels like it's been going on forever, and I wonder what's going to happen next for "the series". I mean we saw the proposal, the pregnancy announcement and now the toddler inviting mommy to dinner, along with a bunch of stuff in between. I think it's kind of cute.

I know a lot of people don't like the Geico caveman commercials but I love them. I'm not fond of the "Tina and I are getting back together" one but I love the therapist one. I hope they make a new one soon and start phasing out the party one. I actually HATE Geico and switched from them to Progressive, but I love both the caveman and gecko commercials.

My problem with the Geico cavepeople ['cause I'm sure that they'll include women soon] is that I don't think people choose insurance based on whether it's easy to buy online or not. There are some, errr, minor concerns like price, coverage, and speed at paying claims.

Of course, Fred Loya sells insurance here based on how easy it is to buy over the phone, so I'm probably just dead wrong about what people will do.

Ahh, the Country Crock commercials. I've grown up with them.

How this thread has gone on and not introduced the BEST of the serialized commercials is amazing.

*Ahem* Man Law!

This is from a long time ago (kindergarten and before, for me, while my grandmother was watching soap operas) but does anyone remember Mr. Whipple? "Don't squeeze the Charmin!" Also from that era was Madge the Palmolive lady, warning clueless housewives about "dishpan hands."

I loved the Energizer Bunny commercials, mostly because I would get sucked into the fake ads multiple times (bows head in shame). The two that always got me every time were the ones for the deoderant soap "Alarm" and one for the "Adventure Channel." Those have to be the best of all time, in television at least. (I think the best is Absolute Vodka, but that's for a different forum).

A few years ago there was a series of beer ads that I actually thought was clever. I don't remember it very well, only that I loved it. It was a series of salutes to ordinary male heroes, with a Smug Announcer Voice giving the mediocre achievments of the man in question, while a Dramatic Singer in the background sang things like, "Mr. Grilling-With-Gasoline" (which is probably not real, I just made it up as an example). And it always ended with the Smug Announcer Voice telling the ordinary male hero, "We salute you." I wish I could remember more about them, because I loved them.

The pregnancy/toddler business always makes me do a double-take because, frankly, shouldn't this couple be well into AARP age by now? They've been together since I was a little kid and even back then their voices always had a "our kids are grown and in college" sort of maturity to them. Or maybe I just don't see thirty-somethings having time to sit around and express their fascination with fake butter. My husband and I have a toddler and believe me, there's no time for holding hands while conversing about margarine. Plus I really don't know anyone in my age cohort who still eats margarine these days with all its health and taste issues. I don't know, "retired couple stuck in their food rut" would've been a more believable ad campaign for me.

Sesana, that was the "Real Men Of Genius" campaign by Bud Light(originally "Real American Heroes," but changed after 9/11). Here's a Wikipedia article about it.

The "Real Men of Genius" ads are still running here in Texas, but I've never seen one on TV--only on radio. Where are you, Sesana, that they're broadcast on TV? I'd love to get a tape of one.

It's the year 2007, greybear, and you want to see something that was broadcast on TV, so what do you do? Go to Youtube, of course. Type in "Real Men of Genius" and Voila!

I saw these ads in Cleveland, Ohio. Then again, they may have actually been radio ads, and I remembered them as TV ads. I rarely listen to the radio, so any ad that makes an impression on me is more likely than not to be on TV. But reading the wikipedia article, that is totally what I was remembering.

There were some tv ads in the series, easily found on youtube.

Who knew that the woman who's trying to quit smoking was going to appear again and again on our screens? I don't give a flying fuck about her struggle.

Word. I think the ads are for Commit lozenges. I wanna know why that woman decided to wait until AFTER she had the baby to quit smoking. Was she smoking during the pregnancy? Did she only quit for nine months? And if she was smoking during her pregnancy, why didn't her husband do anything about it?

And why do I care so much? Seriously. It bugs me.

Hard to say. I knew a woman who had six kids, and she quit smoking for each pregnancy. Just quit, cold turkey, as soon as she realized she was pregnant, and then started again as soon as she had the kid. Any other time she "tried" to quit, she just couldn't. Yes, I did eventually realize she was completely insane.

Oh my Gosh... I've loved the Real Men of Genius radio ads and had no idea there were TV commercials! They're even funnier when you can see the singer getting into it. Simply awesome.

That singer is hilarious. Does anyone know if that's the actual singer, or if it's an actor lip-synching? I'm not sure which would be funnier. By the way, youtube has tons of these ads up, just search for Real Men of Genius and you'll find them.

Yes, that's really him. He was the original lead singer of Survivor. He did the vocals for "Eye of the Tiger".