Seriously. If you watched the Super Bowl, maybe you were as unimpressed with the ads as I was. The "creatives" as they're called, are pulling fortunes and creating awkward dreck, at best. The Snickers commercial that was hyped to ridiculous proportions was singularly not funny. It was said to be a "true original", but the men's reaction, in essence the punchline, has been done, and re-done, in a zillion varieties: A desperate, over-the-top gesture of manhood, the kind that never happens in the real world. It lacked anything resembling subtlety, and was completely ineffective at making me want to buy a Snickers. How much was spent? How many pats on the back did it earn in the board room, and why?

And how about that Coke commerical...the one that was like a giant animated Rube Goldberg without much wow...it looked like it cost twelve billion dollars and six years to make, and in the end, I was left unimpressed and asking the air above me, "all that...for a beverage...?"

Geico doesn't nail them all, but they (and Apple) have to be the best at consistently producing commercials that drive the brand and appeal to a wide audience through simplicity and subtlety. Who else would have the brilliance to use Burt Bacharach, and use him this well:

And when it comes to subtlety in humor, it doesn't get much better than this:

Labels: advertising

A short while ago I was asked the following from an anonymous (grrr) reader:

"...you clearly gave the Iraq war and those behind it the benefit of the doubt. Just wondering how you feel about that now, considering I haven't read anything about it here in a long time."

Yea, well...I'm not sure it's a bad thing to give a president the benefit of the doubt, but how do I feel about it now? Well, to put it as succinctly as possible, it feels like this:

Bumper Stickers: 1, Me: 0

Still, I don't think that deferring judgment in favor of the long view of things is such a bad idea. Iraq is a disaster, I don't think there's much doubt about that. But if you look at what's happening to the hearts and minds of the people of the quasi-state of Kurdistan, you'll see a success story that could serve as a model for the rest of Iraq. With the right people at the helm, and the right policies (whatever they may be) in place, peace and prosperity can spread just as quickly as war and poverty. We can hope so, anyway.

Labels: commentary, politics

The regular cable movie channels like AMC and TNT seem to replay the same four movies regularly, and they always seem to be on late at night when I'm the only one awake and I'm half-heartedly trying to sleep. The other day I watched Groundhog Day for the 348th time . I've always liked it, but I ask myself, is it really good enough to merit a 349th viewing? Probably not, but it didn't matter. As soon as the movie ended, they replayed it. And I watched it again. This was Comedy Central I think, and I think it was on the actual Groundhog Day. A few minutes into the replay I realized that I'd never seen the opening scenes. I've watched this movie more times than I'd probably like to admit, yet I'd never seen the beginning, until then. I've always caught it in progress.

And it occurred to me that there a few other movies that I always watch despite knowing every scene by heart. Apollo 13. I have no idea how many times I've watched it, but if I'm scrolling through the guide and it's on, I'm watching it. Curious, though...I don't think I've ever seen the first 10-15 minutes of that one, either.

Gladiator. I always seem to catch this one an hour or so into it, but I watch it anyway. The Princess Bride. Seems like it's always on one channel or another around 1 a.m., and if I find it, I'm glued. I'm not sure what it is about these four movies, but they're like regular nighttime companions.

I think it's time I moved on.

Labels: at home