Best and worst commercials of the year

Posted: Monday, August 27, 2007 9:00 PM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under: TV commercials

As always, it was a close race. Which commercial would be chosen the year's worst, enshrined into the MSNBC.com Hall of Fame along with Digger the Dermatophyte, the woman plugging a boat leak with Tampax, and HeadOn? (Apply directly to your forehead!) There were plenty of strong contenders for the "worst" honor, whereas the choices for "best" ad were kind of all over the place.

But once someone nominated the Sour Skittles ad in which actor David Groh (Joe from "Rhoda") sits hooked up to a milking machine while eating the candy (and souring his "milk"), really, it was all over but the cringing. We had a winner. Or, really, a loser. The Skittles ad may very well appeal to the gross-out-loving crowd of young kids who buy the candy, but those outside the 8-11 age group just kind of gaped and stared. Many of us actually had to turn away as the milking machine jerked Groh's nipples up and down. Imagine the phone conversation as his agent explained this job to him.

Reader Melissa had a reaction that might surprise those who insist even bad commercials are good for the product in question. She commented: "I saw the Sour Skittles man commercial a few days ago on TV, and I nearly had to go throw up. I wish I were overstating my reaction, but I'm not. I think it put me off Skittles forever, and I did like them."

Another reader, Joe, agreed, saying "I could not believe it when I saw that Skittles ad the first time. It was so repulsive to me, and I used to like Skittles.  I have not bought any since then. I have not contacted the company about it, but maybe I should.  It just stinks."

Sour Skittles is indeed a deserving winner (loser), but early on, I figured the Wendy's tree kickers would run away with it. It's one of those commercials that readers enjoy puzzling over more than they enjoy watching. So ... these guys are in the woods kicking trees because why? And ... one of them is wearing a red Wendy/Pippi Longstocking wig because why? The ad seems to be playing off that old mom statement: "If your best friend jumped off a bridge (read: stood in the woods and kicked trees), would you do it?" But very few of us have best friends who wear wigs and kick trees. And even fewer of us feel that eating at one giant monolithic fast-food giant is really that different than eating at a different giant monolithic fast-food giant.

Another bad-ad contender from early on was the Little Lad for Starburst's berries and cream flavor candy. Thankfully, I have yet to see any of these ads on TV, but I've watched them on YouTube and they fill all bad-ad categories -- weird, kinda creepy, and unrelated to the product. I guess someone at the ad agency thought "Berries and cream? Don't snooty English types eat that? Like Little Lord Fauntleroy types. Get us one of those!"

Some folks have accused me of fixing the contest, of just picking the ad I personally hated (and loved) most. But believe me or not, I have to say that had I alone been choosing, uninfluenced by any of your comments or votes, my pick would have been for Burger King's stupid SpongeBob NoPants entry. (I never saw the Sour Skittles milking machine ad until it started coming up in the contest comments.) How do I hate SpongeBob NoPants? Let me count the ways. Why are the two kids in the giant bathroom while their dad is bathing? Why is the mom in there? Why does the dad, with the door open and his kids barely outside the door, decide it's cool to stand up and show off his NoPantsedness to the world? (Not to mention that the SpongeBob NoPants joke isn't even a good joke to start out with.)

SpongeBob NoPants runs in tandem in my head with another "naked grown man" ad, the Sony Handycam commercial where parents are bathing their grown son in the sink to try and recapture childhood videos they missed. It's almost as if the company is saying "Crazy people buy our products, why wouldn't you?"

Personal-hygiene and medication ads came in for their share of nominations. A latecomer to the contest was the bunch of dorks sitting around singing "Viva Viagra." Commented Mike: "I have to agree about the 'Viva Viagra' ad. The first time I saw it I was in disbelief. It is totally embarrassing for weekend jammers, and besmirches one of Presley's better movie songs, too."

Other bad-ad contenders can be found here, and there was one last-minute nomination that came from numerous readers a bit too late to make our poll and video link page. Chris from Philly described it well in the comments: "What about the fiber cereal commercial where the pitch-man is a construction worker and in the background you see an I-beam being pulled through a window, then barrels roll off a truck (behind the man to appear as if rolling out of his backside) and then finally a "dump" truck dropping gravel?  Not even remotely subtle.  Just plain gross."

BEST AD: CUTE PETS WIN EVERY TIME
There's an old saying in acting: Never work with dogs or children. They may pose some problems, but most of all they will steal your spotlight. Commercials with cute animals in them always pop up among our contenders for the best ad of the year -- last year, the talking cows won for Real California Cheese. This year, the contest went to the dogs. The winner is this adorable PetSmart ad, where an older bulldog gives his favorite toy to the bulldog puppy that's just joined the family, and the whole crew troops off to PetSmart to get another toy.

Yes, I'm a sucker for animals even on my worst day, but this ad just plays it perfectly, and it's no thanks to the human actors. It's all up to the dogs -- the way the new puppy stares at her new big brother, the way the older bulldog warily takes a step back at first, then noses his toy over to the newcomer. A feel-good ad, for sure, but it also fits the store and its message.

And apparently it sells the product. Writes Katie: "I love the PetSmart commercial with the big brother bulldog sharing his toy with his new little sister.  That is such a sweet commercial, and I love those toys -- they are too cute (we have 2 of them at home now...)!"

There were fewer contenders for best ad than for worst ad, but I'm used to that by now. One that kept coming in for praise, however, was the whole Cingular Wireless series about dropped calls ruining relationships. Our readers' favorite was the one where a woman gleefully announces her pregnancy, but can't hear her husband's delighted reaction. He's dancing around in a hotel lobby, but she thinks he's grimly silent and angry. "Way to step up there, Rick," she snarls.

I was surprised that another series of ads, for Dairy Queen, kept coming up in the "best ad" nominations. It's the series about a romance between DQ's soft-serve ice cream and a waffle cone, and while it's not one of my favorites, many readers loved the ongoing plot. Said BAS: "I'm a fan of the DQ storyline commercials ... the ice cream moves into the apt. down the hall and asks to borrow some chocolate ... then they date, move in together, and the latest they're at the fertility doctor learning the waffle cone ISN'T lactose intolerant ... hahahahahah! Clever stuff!"

GOOD VS. BAD IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
I'm fascinated every year with the ads that really divide the audience. Some LOVE them and nominate them over and over for the "best ad" honor. Others HATE them and obviously are stunned that anyone could find them entertaining or even acceptable.

This year, one of those ads was Cingular Wireless' text-messaging girl, or, as we like to call her, "IDK, my BFF, Jill." This ad has some funny bits -- the mom and girl carrying on a conversation via text-messaging abbreviations struck some readers as a cute slice of modern life. But many were disgusted by the lack of respect the girl shows her mom, first in running up a big bill and then in talking back when challenged about it.

A reader who liked the ad, Kirk, wrote in to say: "The 'BFF Jill' ad is hilarious and has quietly become a pop culture phenomenon (it even has a Facebook group of almost 100,000 people). IDK...I LMAO every time!"

One reader who's not LHAO was Leslie, who wrote: "The 'IDK, my BFF Jill' commercial bugs me for a couple of reasons...mostly that the mother winds up looking like an idiot at the end of the commercial with her "That's what S..N..F...' retort (Never lower yourself to the kids' level.  It's like going in shark-infested waters with a sack of meat.)"

Many other ads split the audience, but one was second only to "IDK, my BFF Jill." Clearblue Digital is a pregnancy test, and they want you to know that it's "the most sophisticated piece of technology you'll ever pee on." Or, in an edited version of the ad, they just want to say "the most sophisticated piece of technology you'll ever -- well, you know."

Writes Laurah in New York: "I actually find the home pregnancy test ad amusing.  I mean, here comes this item floating through space like the star ship Enterprise, with the appropriately stentorian voiceover.  It cracked me up the first couple of times I saw it."

She's not alone, but others don't like the commercial's urination replication. Says Brian: "In the Philadelphia market, we get both versions of the pregnancy test commercial, depending on the time of day and the channel on which it is airing. What bothers me most is not the copy, but the visual -- the stream of liquid pouring down onto the stick is just too much."

SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER?
I get a huge kick out of discussing TV commercials with you each summer. I'm shocked every year by how the new ads run the gamut from entertaining and creative to downright horrifying. The good ones are like masterful 30-second movies, the bad ones make me want to kick a rock right through my TV screen. And reader participation always raises the discussion to a higher level -- recounting ads I haven't seen, offering up sly takes on what works and what doesn't.

For now, Test Pattern will return to pop-culture and other TV-related topics, although I'm sure commercials will find their way into the discussion occasionally. I hope you'll follow along at testpattern.msnbc.com, and you'll likely also enjoy my co-worker Allison Linn's Weblog, Ads of the Weird.

Thanks to all!

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