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Commercials


Garrett Duke

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Well commercials are normally a time to take a break from the TV or something to be dreaded, though do have to admit there are a few that are cute or kinda fun to watch. Right now my two favorite commercials are one is for ESPN's NASCAR with Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski's semi truck drivers gassing up their rigs with Jerry Reed's song, "East Down and Bound" song going on in the back ground, has a Smokey and the Bandit sort of theme as well.

The other one is the Pepsi Max commercial where the Pepsi Max semi truck driver goes to a truck stop where a Coke Zero truck driver was sitting there. They comment on the song that was playing...something like "Why can't we be friends?" and the Pepsi Max driver shakes hand with the other driver and sits down next to him while the Coke Zero guy gets a Pepsi Max after Pepsi Max driver comments on how it has zero calories. Then the Pepsi Max guy videos the Coke Zero guy on his phone for Utube. They end up wrestling out through the window. For some reason, I find that commercial funny every time I see it.

Y'all have any favorite commercials?

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I had an idea for a thread like this a couple of weeks ago whilst driving. I promptly forgot all about it and can't even remember what advert prompted the idea - age does memory no favors :(.

Garrett, I found your adverts on YouTube (neither of them made it over this side of the Atlantic):

ESPN - NASCAR Haulers Race

Pepsi MAX - Diner 2pointZero

Both very funny. I think advertising law in the UK/Ireland prevents ads like the Pepsi Max one using a rival brand like that - the other guy would probably have to work for a generic cola company. The ad spoofs a 1995 original which I also found:

Coke Vs Pepsi

On TV here, adverts occasionally acheive cult status. One of the recent ones is a series of adverts for an insurance comparison website 'Compare the Market'. The adverts have now developed into mini epics - the sixth one is here:

They even have their own spoof website (www.comparethemeerkat.com) - simples.

I know most adverts don't cross the Atlantic due to different laws/products/humor. Some take ages - the Budweiser 'designated driver' advert with Cedric the Entertainer only aired here earlier this year. Here are a few old adverts I liked:

Cadbury's Gorilla - part of an obscure series of adverts from around 2007:

The gorilla suit was made by the legendary Stan Winston.

Carling Black Label - very funny adverts for lager from the '80s:

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They show that Pepsi Max one I think several times throughout the races and everytime I have to sit down and watch it and still find it hilarious! Glad I'm not the only one, I think them going out through the window tops it all off!

The ESPN NASCAR hauler one is great and ironic. Ironic being that they first aired that one during a Nationwide Series race. Well those two drivers, Edwards and Keselowski, have a history of not getting along with each other. Well in that race they aired that commericial, Keselowski bumped Edwards on the final lap and Edwards paid him back by spinning him out for the win. So it being those two drivers in the commerical...or rather their haulers and their drivers, kinda even make it even more great than it already is. I love Smokey and the Bandit and y'all know how much I love NASCAR, you put those two together it has to be great. The only way they could do it greater is if it was the Dukes and NASCAR. :D

Hoss - it is interesting to hear about the different advertising laws and all that that you have over there than we do here. I can see the whole rival thing being an issue and not using a rival product during the commercials...I feel like they should do that here. Though, in that commercial with Pepsi Max and Coke Zero, I don't think a generic would have worked or made it as hilarious as it was. At least not to me. Also glad to hear I am not the only one with this idea for a thread, the Pepsi Max commercial just got over when I started this thread and that was what gave me the idea. Didn't know if everyoune would think it to be stupid or what, but thought I'd give it a try. :D

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The laws over here are very different. Sometimes other brands are mentioned, but it is also quite usual for lines like '8 out 10 people preferred it compared to the leading brand'.

Product placement has also been prohibited on TV. Things are set to change with commercial stations losing revenue to the internet. Of course the BBC does not show any commercials. I was watching a programme this morning where they referred to 'a well known brand of luncheon meat' without being able to name it - I'm assuming it was Spam. This policy is a bit ridiculous at times. In the '80s the BBC used to show the cartoon 'Top Cat'. Because there was a brand of cat food with the same name, the cartoon was referred to as 'Boss Cat' in TV listings and by programme announcers. If you remember the theme tune this led to the announcer saying '... and now on BBC 1, Boss Cat' immediately followed by 'Top Cat! The most effectual Top Cat! ...'.

Is BBC America commercial free?.

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BBC America is a cable/satellite channel showing British TV shows in the US - I just don't know how widely available it is.

Another commercial I just remembered also highlights differences between the US and UK. The advert is for Walkers Crisps (potato chips), and stars one of England's all-time best soccer players, Gary Lineker. As well as scoring loads of goals, he is also well known for never receiving a booking from the referee throughout his career. The series of adverts was known as 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' (nice Dukes reference there :)) because it was decided that Mr. Lineker (who was returning from Japan) should show he had a bad side (brought out by the chips) by stealing the child's chips at the end of the commercial. The company's US bosses thought it was a terrible idea that a soccer hero would steal chips from a child, so the ad company sneaked it by them. We Brits obviously saw the funny side because he still does the ads more than 15 years later.

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Here's a commercial from earlier this year for SpecSavers (Europe/Australia/New Zealand opticians). It's a parody of a commercial for Lynx deodorant.

The Walker's Crisps commercials I mentioned a few posts ago are still going strong. The latest includes Lionel Richie.

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The other one is the Pepsi Max commercial where the Pepsi Max semi truck driver goes to a truck stop where a Coke Zero truck driver was sitting there. They comment on the song that was playing...something like "Why can't we be friends?" and the Pepsi Max driver shakes hand with the other driver and sits down next to him while the Coke Zero guy gets a Pepsi Max after Pepsi Max driver comments on how it has zero calories. Then the Pepsi Max guy videos the Coke Zero guy on his phone for Utube. They end up wrestling out through the window. For some reason, I find that commercial funny every time I see it.

Aha! This is the one Richard Speight Jr. did! I absolutely love that commercial! :D He played the Trickster aka: Gabriel the archangel on Supernatural!

...yeah, so anyways, back on topic. ;)

About the only commercial I really crack up at is the Red Robin commercial where the kids are playing hide and seek and the little girl says Red Robin so the others would give away their position. When that little red headed kid comes running out of the bushes shouting, "YUM!" it cracks me up!

And the military commercials usually get me pumped and motivated. :p they also make me want to rethink my future...again...too.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another comercial I saw today that was cute was a cat litter commercial..maybe Tidy Cat. Something like that. But it shows a hound dog walking around and seeing these flyers on trees looking for a good hound dog to look for their cat box. Finally it shows the dog following an orange cat into the house and sniffing around looking for the cat box for the cat.

I'm assuming the commercial is trying to state if you use that type of cat litter that you will not be able to smell it, but I don't know about you, but I would kinda worry if Daisy, my cat, could not find her cat box. HA HA.

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I remembered these the other day. They are a few years old now, but I don't think they were shown in the US. Both are epic 2 minute commercials for Honda:

They cost a fortune to make (£1m plus) each.

Woah really? You know those "You can help save this child by donating such and such amount of money a day," commercials, why don't they use all that money they spend on actually MAKING the commerical to help those kids??

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Woah really? You know those "You can help save this child by donating such and such amount of money a day," commercials, why don't they use all that money they spend on actually MAKING the commerical to help those kids??

It sounds like a lot of money, and most commercials don't cost as much to make, but it's peanuts compared to the campaign budgets. A 30 second advertising slot during the Super Bowl now costs $2.5 - $3m. Sounds like I'm in the wrong business :).

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It sounds like a lot of money, and most commercials don't cost as much to make, but it's peanuts compared to the campaign budgets. A 30 second advertising slot during the Super Bowl now costs $2.5 - $3m. Sounds like I'm in the wrong business :).

Wowzers, haha. :D I'd have to agree with ya on that one though, looks like a lot of us are going about making a buck the wrong way!

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  • 1 month later...

Gotta say, my favourite commercial's gotta be the one from the NHL All-Star game a few years ago with all the All-Stars partying in this fancy hotel playing tricks on each other and Sidney Crosby ordering ridiculous amounts of food and sending it all to Alexander Ovechkin's room. Or was it the other way around. Can't remember. And the goalies all riding down ramps on those fancy, gold bag cart thingys... Great ad!

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  • 3 weeks later...

A new 3 minute commercial has just aired over here. It's for mobile phone company T-Mobile, and features passengers being welcomed back to Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport by a load of a capella singers. Songs include:

Mel Tormé - Comin' Home Baby

Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack

Iggy Pop - The Passenger

Thin Lizzy - Boys are Back In Town

Kaiser Chiefs - Oh My God

Aretha Franklin with George Michael - I Knew You Were Waiting (for me)

Peters And Lee - Welcome Home

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