FIVE favorite commercials from this year

An unranked list:

1. Times Square flash mob for "Star Wars: The Old Republic"
I think flash mobs are starting to get passé, untrendy, and cosplay is easy to mock, but I still really like how this was put together.  Unmasked Darth Vader is much more horrifying that masked Darth Vader, and seeing him walk out into Times Square must've been a truly singular experience even for the jaded New Yorker (though I doubt that they'd bother to go to this busy tourist hotspot).  And I love how the people who seemed to be bystanders took out their own lightsabers and enacted countless more duels between good and evil.  Which side would I choose?  It'd be more fun to be the bad guys but, really, I'd have to follow my heart and fight for the Rebel Alliance.

2.  Super Bowl Volkswagon commercial
Of course I have to include this adorable ad.  So simple and effective even though there are no lines spoken and the commercial only highlights a single feature of the car, albeit a supercool feature.  I was slightly crestfallen when I found out that the child actor inside the costume had never even seen Star Wars prior to filming the commercial (!), but I think that goes to show that this commercial still does a good job telling a story.

3.  Kristen Schaal's commercials for the Sony Xperia PLAY
I already wrote a post on my favorite of the series because I didn't think I'd end up making a list of a bunch of my fav commercials.  Again, I like these commercials because they're funny and do a good job selling both the actor and the product.

4.  New Era Rivalry commercials featuring Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski
I think the first commercial is my favorite but they've all made me laugh.  New Era made a smart move in casting these two actors and using them as representatives of their respective baseball teams.  I wonder if the other 48 states are tired of hearing about the Red Sox vs. Yankees rivalry, but it still lives on and continues to be a source of frustration and satire. Here are my thoughts on the second, third, fourth, fifth, and last commercials from this series.

5.  Promo for season 3 of the NBC's "Community"
I watched all of the episodes from season 3 at leats twice in preparation for the fall premiere and was not disappointed with any of the episodes.  This show is so wildly creative and packed with pop culture references and bumps up against the fourth wall and pushes boundaries in unexpected ways, and seeing all those descriptors written out it's no wonder that this show hasn't been a ratings darling and has been cancelled postponed indefinitely.  All shows come to an end (well, maybe not Doctor Who) but it's much too soon for Community to end.  It's poignant to look back at this promo and see just the tip of what this third season has given.  How many other shows feature multiple timelines, a man with an elephant ivory toupee, shadow puppets, an epic Japanimation foosball showdown, and a Doctor Who parody in the same season?

One of my favorite commercials from this year

Kristen Schaal!  She's moving on up and out of the "oh hey it's that chick" category of actresses, I think.  She's been on the Daily Show, Flight of the Conchords,  and in an  episode of How I Met Your Mother; this year she did a smashing job at hosting the Writer's Guild Awards (well, from what I can tell from this opening monologue and song-and-dance number), she did these commercials, AND she scored what looks like a recurring guest role on 30 Rock (named Hazel Whatshername).

Out of the many commercials shot for the Sony Xperia PLAY, this one is my favorite:

Hehe, eyeballs. It's wonderfully bizarre and has that wonderfully weird juxtaposition of using a mobile device for looking at cat pictures and for fighting epic battles in full Xena battle regalia.  And it has no profanity in it, whereas most of the other ones do.  I’m not against profanity as a whole, and I think it’s used well in the other ads, really highlighting the contrast between her charming, girly voice and her intensely violent gamer side. Wonderful.

Schaal on the Daily Show

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Hosting the WGAs

NOT John Krasinski's ringtone

This is not the ringtone that John Kransinski has in the New Era commercials but it's the first tune I could think of that even begins to compare.  The notes are very similar-- both go do-re-mi-do-la-- but the rhyme of the music is decidedly different.  I know this song because I watched "The Boondock Saints", and the only other similar music I own is the Riverdance soundtrack, which features more, well, dancey music.

These ads feature John Krasinski's phone rigning:
at the 0:11 mark


again, at the 0:11 mark


at 1:09

Commercial FTW!

Instead of typing "blogger" to get here I almost typed "bladder".  You'll see why in a minute:


This is my favorite of all these commercials.  Let me count the ways, yes?
1) Finally they show the two protagonists sitting down and actually watching a Sox-Yankees game together, and they act and react just as you'd expect. 
2)  And finally they show a Yankees cap (not that I was complaining or anything) and it's still not that close to Mr. Baldwin's head, but no matter.
3)  Great escalating trash talk that actually gets personal and makes reference to the actors' respective personas: John Krasinski is actually married (to Emily Blunt, who we never see and hasn't been referenced before), and Alec Baldwin has brothers with wildly divergent personal and political perspectives.
4)  Peeing your pants: it happens when you don't wanna miss a thing.
5)  My suspicions are pretty much confirmed: they put up these videos whenever there's a Sox-Yankees series going on.  For the record I think that whenever the Sox win in these videos they lose in real life.
6)  I relate to Alec Baldwin's unfounded superstition that doing something like leaving the room to go pee will jinx my sports team and cause them to lose.

Commercial analysis: Tresor Midnight Rose

My thoughts on the following perfume commercial:

- Emma Watson looks darling, gamine.  In other news, grass is green.
- As with most (all?) perfume commercials, this one essentially is a silent film, an art-y short story in video form.  It's cute, a little mysterious, and (thankfully) not as explicitly sexy (or sexxxyyyy) as perfume commercials go.  There's not that much tension in the storytelling, which is why I am indifferent to this commercial.  It's not too hard to figure out that she "accidentally" left this hat and will reunite with it through him, etc.  It's not that mysterious.
- But this ad actually does a good job at getting me interested in the perfume.  To me, the company that produces this perfume, Lancome, is a rich housewife's brand; it's not youthful like Emma Watson.  Is the scent Tresor Midnight Rose therefore a lighter and more youthful scent, perhaps not so heavy and musky as befitting a woman of a certain age?  I wonder, and actually I will keep this in mind the next time I walk through the Macy's beauty department
- I was wondering what book Emma Watson's character asked the bookstore clerk to fetch, and at 0:47 the title is briefly shown.  It's rather blurry but I'm pretty sure that the cover reads "Midnight Rose".  No author byline is shown.  The first hit of the online search "midnight rose book" revealed that there is indeed a book by that name but it does not have the same cover.  Quelle suprise, it's a harlequin book and one of the love interests is a vampire.
- This commercial is over a minute long; many perfume commercials get cut down to the regular TV commercial length of 30 or 60 seconds.  I think this commercial would be more effective if it were well-edited down to that amount of time.  Sometimes cutting a commercial down renders it confusing, as in the case of this commercial:
edited version

full length version

Concluding thoughts: Not a very engaging commercial, esp. as perfume ads go.  But not a complete waste of 105 seconds.  I liked the purple tint, and intend to look into this scent.

I can't help but include here my favorite (and quite absurd) perfume commercial so far:
Oh, actually this perfume doesn't exist.

The Return of... (more commercials)

Alec Baldwin's squeaky shoes!

Oh, the lengths people go to annoy other people...I should know, actually, because I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.

Still funny: jokes about how Alec Baldwin is rich and John Krasinski is not (as rich as Alec Baldwin, obviously, if he didn't know what '912' was).

Winner of this round: Alec Baldwin. He may have burnt precious Red Sox tickets and his apartment building, but he has no regrets and has made John Krasinski suffer (or probably will) from having to move into said Red Sox fan's home. 

Comercial número cuatro

I do like this series of commercials but I have to say that the first one is the best and my favorite.  And I'm still glad to see John Krasinski and Alec Baldwin in these quick little vignettes.  Vámonos!


-  Even though Baldwin only appears in this commercial for two seconds and his voice is played for about the same amount of time he's just perfect in his reaction

-  Love the reaction face on Krasinski from 0:05-0:07.  There are about three or four stages of reacting going on there:
1) Huh, what's that?
2) Is that..?
3) Me?
4) WHAT?!

- Forgot to note because I didn't notice it in the latest commercial, but props to the script supervisor and/or PA and/or makeup artist for maintaining continuity in the series.  Krasinski sports a dark mark on his left cheekbone as proof that he's healing from the Alec Baldwin's plumber hand punch from the second commercial.

-  On one hand it's funny to see Krasinski reclining in a cheerleader uniform or bikini, and in a Yankees one at that.  On the other hand I feel slightly slighted at the use of the image to sort of emasculate Mr. Krasinski by showing this silly image.  But it's still funny because it's a picture of a Red Sox fan photoshopped to become a "Yankee Pride" image.

-  That ringtone again! It's going to drive me crazy, it willl, trying to figure out what it is...

Even more commercials?

I was watching "Toddlers & Tiaras" the other day and took copious notes on everything what I saw in that one episode.  The one I watched focused on three girls (ages three, seven, and seven) as they prepared for and performed in a $10,000 cash prize beauty pageant.  There's a lot of ridiculousness that happens in the episode, but I was actually surprised by the commercials: by the types and number of commercials that ran.

I saw 41 commercials.  That's practically one for every minute of show (most hour-long shows last 42-47 minutes). Ugh, I feel so dirty.  I mean, I've seen all those statistics on how many commercials the average American sees on a daily basis and read reports on how damaging it is for children to see all those ads, but it's really sobering to have sat and kept track of all those commercials. 

I sometimes enjoy commercials.  Sometimes I really enjoy commercials, to the point where (if I feel like wasting time) I track them down on YouTube and rewatch them.  It's like the shortest mini-narrative, a really short, expensive, informative film.  Of course, most of them are...insipid, and I flip to another channel or find some other means of entertaining myself until the featured program returns.

Attention men: Gerard Butler doesn't want your skin to look tired

Commercials: they take you away from the TV show you're watching, but they're the reason the TV show is able to exist.  But sometimes they can be entertaining and are worthy of as much analysis as a well-produced drama.  I'm guessing that this commercial airs in the UK and wonder if they'd market and tailor the same product in the U.S. 

Without further ado:

Thoughts:
1) It's great that now women aren't the only ones who have to worry about having tired-looking skin
2) Gerard Butler's a fun choice for this kind of ad, because he can be all Manly and use his natural Scottish accent in the voiceover and do things like play rugby and poker, aggressively go in for a kiss with a woman, jump off a fire escape ladder, drive a Sexy Sportscar and, most importantly, FIGHT 5 SIGNS OF FATIGUE with a swipe of his hand (and, presumably, a squirt of that lotion on his face)
3) That moisturiser is a pretty blue color
4) Funny that most face/body care products aimed at men feature the same colors: charcoal grey/black, silver, bright orange and electric blue.  That goes for most products target at the male demographic, actually.
5) Mr. Butler is so commanding and in control of everything he does.  He makes Decisions and Takes Action, he Gets Stuff Done.  I know, this really should be categorized as an extension of point number 2 but I feel it bears special recognition.  Despite having portrayed the titular character in "Phantom of the Opera" and the deceased lover of the weepy movie "P.S. I Love You", he is (in this commercial, made to look and act like) the Ultimate Man's Man.
6) I like the way it ends with Mr. Butler speaking three short, direct sentences.  "Look Sharp. Not Tired. Enough Said."  Men, it's important that your skin can keep up with you, and Mr. Butler has presented his arguments in concise and persuasive terms.  He does not need to spend more time to convince you of the products properties.  Just get on with it-- go out and buy L'Oreal Paris Men Expert's new Hydra Energetic Anti-Fatigue Moisturiser. Now.

Another commercial

I know I just did one of these a few days ago but I just found that this was posted, and so I must comment without delay:

This one is half as long as the other commercials, but it is equally effective, affecting and funny.

1) I'm glad that Mr. Krasinski made sure that it was safe for animals.  I'm not vegetarian out of sympathy for animals but that doesn't mean I can't be indignant and offended when they're decorated inhumanly.
2) I still agree: it was totally worth it.
3) I love the squelchy sound of Mr. Baldwin's shoes on that floor.  I could listen to that for...well, not hours, but for a while.
4) Sadly, I cannot readily identify Mr. Krasinski's ringtone in this commericial.

Commercial analysis: Lovestruck by Vera Wang

1. Love that dress!  What a gorgeous color and ravishing shape!

2.  But I wonder it's like to walk in it, if that's even possible.  Luck for Leighton Meester, actress from my former guilty pleasure TV series Gossip Girl,  all she has to do in this commercial is stand in one place, and occasionally show her impatience by looking and leaning over the balcony railing.

3.  It annoys me slightly that her movement is restricted by her dress, so that she is unable to rush to her beau the way he rushes up to her.  It's very damsel-in-distress.  I get that it's "romantic" in that He goes through all this trouble to get to Her, and that She justcantwait for him to get there.  As cheesy as it is, I prefer the whole "two people running in slow motion to each other from opposite sides of a field" to this admittedly cheeky, coyly waiting maiden and her valiant suitor.

4.  I love peonies!  How thoughtful of Him to get Her that bouquet!

5.  But-- she throws them down and away!  They were so pretty!  Sure, He's the real object of beauty here, but I would've held onto those flowers.

6.  Interesting, that the first thing She does after tossing the flowers (shame on you!) is to hug him.  I was expecting a kiss, and it's notable (at least to me) that the commercial never shows them kissing, although it can sort of be implied that they do, by the proximity of their faces at the end.

7. I wish my hair could naturally have that texture.  I bet it took a lot of choreography to get her hair to that effortlessly wavy and tousled condition.  I have neither the time nor patience to work my own locks into submission.  Although this is a commercial for perfume, I think it could just as easily be one for a hair product.  All it needs is a better close-up of Her hands going through His hair.

New "New Era" commercial

They're baaack!



This commercial isn't as ripe for analysis as the first one featuring Yankees fan Alec Baldwin and Red Sox fan John Krasinski.  But I still find it amusing.  My thoughts-->

Quick (over)analysis of New Era commercial

New Era  commercial featuring actors Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski exchanging baseball trash talk:

I like.  Things that pique my interest?