LOL, yes this topic may seem like an oxymoron, but there actually are some commercials out there that folks really like, myself included. I think some of the cutest are the ones for Cheese (Behold, the power of cheese!); in fact, my most favorite commercial is the one where you hear a voice saying, “Wait… wait… wait… okay, good boy!” the camera panning around the room; the audience sees pictures of dogs doing all sorts of things that (normally) people wouold be doing; as the voice says the last words, we see that it is a -human- with a piece of cheese on his nose, and a -dog- is making him do the trick of keeping it balanced there then catching it and eating it! LOL So funny! Now they’re showing the Christmas one, where Santa leaves tons of gifts, and the little girl says, “I didn’t leave him cookies, I left him … cheese!” Of course, what else?! LOL
The Rice Krispies commercial, where the family runs out of cereal and the dad jumps up and starts belting out “No more Rice Krispies!” with a full opera going behind him.
It’s for a car. There is a scene of a woodsy area. Then you see a flash of light followed by a really loud growl. You then see this guy come running out of the woods towards another guy. The guy is screaming “let’s go”, “let’s go” or something similar. Both guys jump into a new car and go tearing off down the road. The original guy then pulls out a polariod picture of himself and a bear cub. Followed by the other guy saying he’s an idiot. Allways tickles me.
I loved the back-to-school one for Staples, with the father (happily) and his son and daughter shopping (miserably) at Staples for school supplies. The shot of him gliding through the aisles on the shopping cart giddily slayed me every time.
My current favourite is the one for Janes Scottish Haddock, in which a burly Scottish man goes into the lake holding out a fishing net, and proceeds to yell at the fish, “YOU! OUTTA THE WATER!”. The fish then jump into the net.
“YOU! NO, NOT YOU! TOO FLABBY! YOU! OUTTA THE WATER!”
It’s hilarious, although I’m not certain as to whether or not Janes Family Foods is a Canadian company, in which case, many of you in the U.S. probably haven’t seen it.
In response to the OP, I don’t think it’s an oxymoron. Some commercials are far more entertaining than most programs.
My favorite commercials are both from the same company (EDS? I think that’s right…): Cat Herding and The Running of the Squirrels. Those make me laugh every time they come on. (“I lost my best friend to the squirrels…” )
Others I like are:
One for a hair-care product that has a fire-breathing dragon and a princess (mostly 'cause I like the dragon!)
A car commercial (Nissan Altima?) that has “You want it” flashing across various TVs–not because I like the commercial itself, but I love the music for it.
Two squirrels giggling and high-fiving each other after one makes a car swerve off the road. I don’t even know what was being advertised, but it cracked me up.
Some commerical for Ameritech DSL with a woman watching her neighbors moving in and the neighbor mom signs to her son “Don’t worry, I’m sure the neighbors are nice people” (she also speaks this to him for some unknown reason if he’s deaf, but anyway…)
So said woman gets on the internet and looks up a sign language site and learns how to sign via a slow and choppy 56k connection. Then she hands the little boy a pie signing “I baked your dog for you” (saying “I baked this pie for you”) and the little boy runs away frightened.
There is an AGFA commercial that was banned in Denmark that I really like. It goes like this:
First you see a guy, swimming off the shore of a beach. Three hot girls come up to him and start giggling. They reach underwater for a little bit, then they pull their bikini bottoms from inside the water and start waving them in the air to this guy. The guy stares for a few seconds, and then pulls up his waterproof camera. The girls are embarrassed, and then you see the guy in a raft admiring some photos (you don’t actually see them )
I loved that one too, especially that “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” was playing in the background. It got my attention even though I was in another room–sheer genius.
I loved another Staples commercial, too, but I only saw it once so I don’t remeber it all that well. The "office manager is working late, it’s very dark except for the light over her desk. She is trying to balance a budget, if I remember right. She wonders out loud how to cut expenses. A brilliant light flashes and a booming voice (Godlike) says “Go to staples.com.”
The payoff is that it is the building super. As he climbs down from installing the fluorescent tube she casually says, Thanks, Frank (or Joe, whoever). Cut to me, ROTFL.
I love all the Southwest Airlines “need to get away?” commercials, like the referee who asks the football players at the game start if anyone has a quarter or the two women in the office reading the singles ad out loud that turns out to be from the guy in the next module.
I also love the Visa/Mastercard? commercial with the dad and his little girl in the store buying a pair of rabbits. Again it is the music that makes it perfect: “Love is in the Air.”
A current favorite is for Marriot (I think). Couple in bed, bored, then David Copperfield pops in. “Need a little spark?” He pops up a lovely tub with bubbles, then a table for two with champagne, then asks if there’s anything else they need. Male says, “Yeah, can you make me irresistable?” Copperfield pulls the covers up, then down, and male has become a cute, furry little puppy. Another Marriot shows Alice Cooper urging a middle of the road dad to spend a weekend with the kids–“You don’t want them to turn into wierdos, do you?”
As stated before, sometimes the commercials beat the programs hollow.
I loved the Snickers bar commercials, two in particular. One featured a man laying the hashmarks on a football field and putting the team name (the KC Chiefs) and logo in the end zone. Poor guy worked like a dog and after he finished a player tells him that it looked great, “but who are the ‘Chefs?’” The other also involved football and a guy gets plowed under during a play. They question him about his location, the date, etc, and he answers everything correctly till they ask him his name. He gets a serious look on his face and says, “I’m Batman.”
My favorite commercials running are the UPS ones featuring Dale Jarrett. UPS is sponsoring Jarrett’s NASCAR car and their commercials revolve around convincing him that he should drive the truck instead of the Ford in the races. Creative and humorous work.
Favorite of series?
Kid comes up to Dale in the mall.
“Are you Mr Dale Jarrett?”
“Yep”
“Are you gonna race the big, brown truck?”
“No, I’m not drivin’ the truck.”
“I’m gonna hold my breath 'til you drive that big brown truck.” Takes breath.
Dale reaches out and squeezes the kids cheeks.
“Phbbt”
The commercial for Becel margarine where the potato commits suicide because there is no margarine left, and it’s cousin the add where the Becel and the potato fall in love on a grocery store conveyer belt.
Also, the Halls ad where the guy is golfing, and because he can’t yell “fore” because his throat is sore, he keeps beaning people with balls. Kills me every time.
I liked the one a few years ago for Pepsi, where the guys are using the can of Pepsi for bait while fishing, and they catch the guy in the suit. The guy is swimming just like a marlin. That was funny. The discovery.com commercial with the meteors were pretty funny, too. “Ahh the atmosphere!” I also liked the Corona commercial where you think they’re shoveling snow, but it’s ice for the beer. Fooled me the first time. Terrible beer, though. The Reebok Sumo ad with “Surfin’ Bird” was qute amusing as well, until about the twentieth time.
“How fast is the new Isuzu I-Mark?”
He then takes a bullet turns and fires it. Walks casually around to the driver’s side, gets in and takes off. Drives a bit. I think he does some slaloms then finally gets out, walks to where the bullet is going. “Faster then a speeding …” Holds up a piece of wood with a bulls-eye on it. Bullet hit the center and Joe catches it in his teeth. Pulls down the target and says “Well, you know.”
I have no idea what was being advertised, but the commercial opens with a TV newsman interviewing a tree-hugger, who has chained himself to a large tree in order to protect the natural habitat of the (Grizzly?) bear. Suddenly the reporter spots a bear coming out of the woods, and takes off running with the cameraman…Leaving the guy chained to the tree. Camera cuts back later to show the reporter standing near a pile of ripped clothes.
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