I’m talking about the ones where the anthropomorphic box of cereal/package of toilet paper/can of soup hops around, makes exaggerated movements, rockets through space, etc.
OK, maybe they were interesting when they first came out, but now everybody knows what they look like, and how they’re done, and it’s just not a fresh idea anymore. Now whenever I see the fucking box of Quaker Oats start that stupid exaggerated “looking around” and bending at the “waist” for no other reason than to show that it’s a computer job, I want to throw a brick through the screen. It’s so obviously a substitute for creativity by “artists” who just don’t give a damn. Not that the advertising “arts” are or ought to be a source of culture.
Maybe the animators know this; maybe they realize that all they’re doing is using computers to draw attention to their product. Imagine thousands of viewers, eyes idiotically following the dancing package of chemically preserved ready-cut luncheon meat on their flickering screens. It just doesn’t make me feel good about the future of humanity.
If these meatballs want to see how an animated commercial should be done, they ought to watch the Chevron commercials with the talking cars, animated by the people who did “Wallace and Gromit”. Those I enjoy.
What the fuck? You don’t like all the exaggerated, computer generated products used in advertising, but talking cars are OK? Do you really think that the advertising industry is going to change the way they do things because you only like one style of animation? What about the people who don’t like Wallace and Gromit, or that style of animation? What about the people who like Anime? Should all animated ads be done in this style to make them happy? Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, and they smell like shit to everyone else.
All I can say, is deal with the shitty commercials (I apologize if this is redundant). Computers are here to stay, and CGI is much cheaper than live motion to produce, on average. If you don’t want to deal with it, sell your television.
I can see you have an appreciation for the finer points of animation. The best counter-argument you can muster is that my opinion stinks?
Maybe someone is making good computer-animated commercials. If so, they’re keeping them a secret, because every one I’ve seen relies on the same boring shtick: Make the product look and act like a little human, have it bend and twist, make it jump through a hoop, and voila!, the viewer simply must have your product.
The talking cars are very well done. Somehow the animators impart facial expressions that make them seem really human, and they say very human things; things you would hear a car actually say if it could talk. My favorite is the one where the auto-transport truck gets choked up talking about letting his little cars go out into the world after they drive off his trailer. That’s in a completely different league from a goddamn jumping, leering box of cornflakes.
You’re right about one thing: the reason the computer-animated commercials are so ubiquitous is that they’re cheap. I say: You get what you pay for. Face it, they suck crusty biker ass. Oh, by the way, since you obviously have an ax to grind, which of these computer-generated yawn-fests are you responsible for?
I wouldn’t lower myself to make commercials. I see commercials as a pain in my ass. You say I get what I pay for. Well, I pay for my cable service. Doesn’t that entitle me to watch television without being forced to watch commercials that I don’t care about. There hasn’t been a commercial yet that has made me want to purchase a product. I don’t buy things based on advertising, because, as we all know, marketing executives are the only group that lies more than lawyers.
If you were trying to sell something, wouldn’t you play up the good points of a product, and not mention the bad? When was the last time Ford ran an ad using the Explorer’s chronic brakes troubles as a selling point? It’s never going to happen. Until the truth in advertising thing actually happens, I’m going to keep changing the channel when commercials come on, or just stop watching network television, and stick with HBO, which has my 4 favorite shows, and no bullshit commercials to interupt them.
In this corner… weighing in at 235 lbs… computer-generated Oatmeal Boxes that bend at the waist!
And in this corner… weighing in at 245 lbs… the Chevron Talking Claymation Cars!
All right, let’s have a good clean fight, gentlemen! No gratuitous insults, no comparisons between “assholes” and “opinions”, no stupid brain-dead arguing about an idiotic subject without the slightest of provocation…
I hate to disappoint SPOOFE Bo Diddly, but I agree with you 100% about commercials in general. What really grinds my gears is when you go to a movie or pop in a video and they stick in a FUCKING COMMERCIAL!! That said, if I have to watch them, at least they could be good and not brainless.
We could only hope for so much. And you don’t really have to watch them, that’s what the remote control (or fast forward for videos) was designed for. Change the channel, or skip the commercial. I know it’s hard to do when everything is commercialized, but you can try. Or read a book, they still haven’t figured out how to stick an ad in the middle of novels. Maybe it’s because the people who make commercials aren’t exactly sure what books are, or why someone would read one when they can sit and drool at the television. If half of the people would use their brains half of the time, the world would be a much better place.
The real pisser is, there is much less of a “wow” factor. I mean, I hardly even register that it’s computer animation. I don’t acknowledge that someone (probably a team of people) spent a gazillion hours making that damn canister of oatmeal move like that.
It is artistry, and creativity (although the concept might not be fresh, a lot of work went into the finished product). And thanks to overload, we don’t even notice.
Shit, did I forget to cue the violin music? I meant this to be dramatic, because I DO feel this way. The spouse is a computer animator.
I watch a lot of TV and I haven’t been seeing the commercials in the OP. I think what’s worrisome is that we’ve reached the point where you can’t tell real from fake. Every time I see that car ad where the tugboats pull the Golden Gate Bridge into an S-shape I stop what I’m doing and pay attention. It’s utterly amazing. I’m pretty fucking tired of the talking animal commercials, however.
Those kitty litter commercials from a couple years ago where the cat’s face gets those weird expressions (computer-animated face on real cat) used to shock me nearly to the point of soiling myself (not a pleasant surprise). Just the unnaturalness of it all.
I don’t want to leave anyone with the impression that I’m some kind of commercial connoisseur. When a commercial jingle sticks in my brain, I feel like calling the ad agency and demanding a fee. Truth be told, I’d much rather pay a little extra for everything if the commercials would just go away, except for the talking Chevron cars.