Last chance to vote in commercial contest

Posted: Monday, August 04, 2008 5:30 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under: TV commercials

Next Monday I'll announce the best and worst commercials in our annual summer contest. You've still got time to weigh in -- if you've spotted an ad lately that should contend for either title, post about it in the comments.

Before we get to that final commercial post, though, there are a few topics left to touch on.

Humor in ads
Humor is so subjective. What makes me crack up may be incredibly unfunny to you. I like the concept of the cell-phone ads where families throw away their extra minutes, even though I hate the lecturey, witchy tone of the mom who yells at them for it. Remember the Geico cavemen ads? They started out pretty funny, but got old quickly (don't even mention that horrible sitcom they spawned). Lots of readers think the unibrow woman who uses Planters cashews as perfume  is funny, but I just roll my eyes at that one. One ad series I am enjoying is the one where you see someone's phone talking about how their alter ego isn't going to get the phone call to go do something fun (Motorhead tickets!) because he or she can't get a signal wherever they are. Which ads make you laugh, and which supposedly funny ads just leave you cold?

Regional ads
I don't think it's fair to have an ad that can only be seen in one state contend for the title. But if I did, I'd have to nominate the Washington State Lottery ad from my own state. The video seems to have been yanked offline, but it shows people hang-gliding with flightless birds. At first I was horrified, because I imagined the birds were as scared as I would be if someone forced me to go hang-gliding. But then I watched it again, understood the concept (these birds are finally being allowed to fly), and noted that the birds actually looked pretty happy to be soaring. I'm really not sure why the Lottery has been so diligent about yanking the ad offline, but that's not my call. Tell us about your favorite -- and least favorite -- regional ads in the comments (describe them well if no links are available).

People I hate in ads
Sometimes I see an ad and just take an instant dislike to it because I can't stand the main actor. I guess that's not really fair, and I can't explain it, but personality is everything in these spots and some commercial actors just lack it. Examples:

--The gorgeous woman in the eyeglass ad (apparently it's South African model Tanit Phoenix) who brags about how she depends on her eyes to "capture the wonder of this planet." There's just something so pompous and fake about describing your job in that way, and I don't buy her as a working photographer for one minute. 

--I'm also annoyed by Kitty, the woman who details how many cigarettes she smokes each day and exactly when she smokes each one, and ends the ad by going to her doctor because it's "my time to quit." I'd bet Kitty never succeeds.

--The chirpy model who blathers that "you've got to put Mercury on your list" bugs me too, because no, I don't.

--Sally Field. Look, I loved her in "The Flying Nun" and even now on "Brothers & Sisters," but those ads where she talks about how onerous it is to take one pill a week  get on my last nerve. Can it, Gidget.

--I'm also annoyed by the gray-haired dad who talks about how he and his wife had to postpone their lovin' because their college-age daughter surprised them with a visit. TOO MUCH INFORMATION, Daddy-O! Other erectile dysfunction ads bug me, but this one, with the daughter breaking up mom and dad's planned mattress meeting, is just weirder than the rest.

Tell me I'm not the only one with irrational dislikes of commercial spokespeople, and discuss anything else about TV ads in the comments.

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