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Every week, msnbc.com entertainment producers Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Denise Hazlick, Paige Newman, Kurt Schlosser and Anna Chan weigh in on topics ranging from TV commercials to movie hype to the latest celebrity blunder. We're not ashamed to admit our love for bad TV or reveal what's on our iPods, and invite you to join the conversation via your comments.



Kids in ads: Read the rules, Shankapotamus

Posted: Monday, August 31, 2009 9:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:

The use of kids in TV commercials is always a controversial topic. Some viewers are sucked in by their cuteness, others find them annoying as all get-out. And so we don't start a fight between the parents and the child-free, here, I'd like to say that I'm a parent, but that doesn't mean I find every use of a kid in a commercial to be brilliant. Sometimes I find myself grabbing for the remote because the kids are just so awful. And sometimes it's not the kids, but the fact that many commercials think smart-mouthed kids putting down their hapless and unable to discipline parents is entertainment.  (See our stereotypes in ads discussion for more.)


Baby Shankapotamus has redeemed the E*Trade ads.

I admit, I didn't like the E*Trade baby for a long time. (and I don't like typing a star between "E" and "Trade" either -- cutesy company names bug me! Get off my lawn!) I especially hated the ad where the baby barfs up a bunch of milk. But I finally found one I like, and based on the comments, many readers agree. It's the one where the baby berates an older man for not paying him his golfing winnings, and then sneers "Why don't ya try reading the rules, Shankapotamus?" Just reading that description does not sound funny to me, but something about the voiceover inflection and the phrasing, and the word "Shankapotamus," has almost redeemed the E*Trade baby for me.

And I still haven't seen the Evian roller-skating rapper babies on TV -- just on YouTube -- but they still fascinate me. I think if I saw them on TV I would have to drop everything and watch them skate. But I'm not sure how great a commercial it is, because I remember "roller-skating rapper babies," but I had to look up the name of the product even though I've written about it three times. The connection between drinking expensive water and CGI babies just isn't being made for me. (This older ad, featuring synchronized swimmer babies, at least features water.)

Not all kids in ads are babies. Older kids are much harder for me to take in ads. I can't exactly explain why I'm bugged by this Olive Garden commercial, where Dad works late and Mom takes her teen son out and tries to get him to tell her about "Donna." (Which seems like a wrong-generation name for this ad, if you ask me.) Apparently the young actor who plays the son has a fan club, but I find him and his "mother" both so syrupy fake that it's like drinking a no-ice Slurpee just to watch the ad.

Some ads have kids, but it's the adult actors who grate on me. From the comments, it seems that a lot of you like the AT&T rollover minutes ads, where a mom yells at her kids for throwing away little plastic circles that somehow represent cell-phone talk time. It's not the kids who bug me in this one, it's that screechy, horrible mom, who kind of looks like an older Kate Gosselin. I'd throw my minutes away just to spite her.

Discuss commercial kids of all ages, and their parents, in the comments, Shankapotamus.

 

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Comments

Gael,

One important thing you failed to mention in your article was that a "shank" in golf is a disastrous shot that sends the ball squirting off to the side as a result of a mishit.  Some golfers can't even say the word for fear of putting the thought into their heads.  So, being called a "shankapotomus" is the ultimate in nasty namecalling.

Andy Mann, Framingham, Mssachusetts (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 1:46 PM)

I don't care for the Morton's Grinders ads, where the little girl has the...idk, some spice up in here room.  The mom calls through the house about where the...salt? is, and the girl yells back "I'll do it!!".  Does it not bother ANYONE else that the parents are allowing the little girl to play with spices they're going to eat?  Or that if she gets the grinder apart, there's actually stuff in that bottle that could hurt her?
Really?

kate (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 1:55 PM)

I'm 50/50 when it comes to kids in commercials...I too am a parent and I enjoy some kid commercials and other I'm just like whatever! But I'm not sure if it's the kids exactly or just that I don't like the commercial period...and I'm not sure I'd like them any better with just adults. Case in point...the Olive Garden commercials, they're all a bit cheesy if you ask me. I love the AT&T commercials...mom's expressions are priceless and the E*Trade baby is hilarious. Saw the skating baby commercial only on You Tube also, but reminds of the Alley McBeal baby...not so into it...so just as most things in life I think it's more about personal preference than the actors themselves.

Ms. Lee (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:05 PM)

this ad makes me laugh out loud every time I see it!  The baby's "voice" is spot on for his sarcastic rant. More please before this kid gets out of the high chair!!!

Maryann Mabry Boise ID (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:05 PM)

What about the stanley steemer commercial where the narrator asks the little boy questions about his mom's recent carpet cleaning.  The boy responds "beaut-i-ful" to every question and then at the end adds "beautiful like a brand new home".  That commerical is sooooo annoying...the little boy isn't even cute and it is so rehearsed.  

Angela S., Napa Valley, CA (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:12 PM)

Although my kids have all left the nest, I still love the AT&T rollover minutes commercials with the mother whos son throws away his unused minutes.  I swear she has the same 'I've reached my wits end' attitude I had when I would tell my kids the same thing over and over again.  It wasn't wasting phone minutes back then.  It was wasting food, using too much paper towels, pouring too much milk in the cereal bowl then throwing out the unused milk, etc.  The son just sits there with that 'what's the big deal' look on his face.  I feel her frustration!

Cris (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:20 PM)

I agree about the AT&T rollover minutes Mom who gets so intensely - well, intense! - over the minutes. I always make the same comment to my husband every time we see it which is, "She needs to renew her chill pill perscrips."

Alise, Chicago, IL (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:20 PM)

Chalk me up as one of the hate-the-kids-in-ads people. If it isn't a kid-type product then don't try to sell it with kids. I boycott these on principle. And PLEASE stop with the kids with filthy faces covered in food--I haven't been able to eat Cool Whip (for example) in 10 years.

Kathleen, Helena, MT (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:20 PM)

I think I finally figured out what bugs me about the Olive Garden commercial.  It's like some ad guy woke up from cryogenic sleep, thought it was still 1986, and said, "Hey I have an awesome idea for an ad."  The corniness of it really makes it seem like a perfect mid 80's ad that just missed the boat.
As for the rollover phone minutes, the original commercial made me laugh because it was a good concept, but much like the Energizer Bunny there's only so much mileage you can get out of the same gag.  Now it's starting to get a bit creepy...what do you want to bet she also has a thing against wire hangers?

Leslie, Albuquerque (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:28 PM)

I would tend to agree with you regarding 'kids in ads'; however, this is definitely an exception.  I first saw this commercial toward the end of this past year's Super Bowl.  I loved it then and do now...I manage to laugh every time I see it...Which was just now, thanks for including it!

Ted Wolken, Sammamish, WA (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:34 PM)

I hate the kids ads too.  Especially the investment-related ads. If you're going to have an ad with children, make it realistic -- something children would be involved in.  Remember the old LIFE cereal commercials with the tag line "Mikey will eat anything"?  Those were appropriate for children to appear in.

JL, St. Louis, MO (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:36 PM)

The E-Trade commercials are the best!

eugene kudrow (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:37 PM)

I am so glad you mentioned that Olive Garden commercial.  I thought I was the only one who had to change the channel when it came on.  I think it is the way the son says "maybe" so coquettishly when answering his mother that it makes me want to call CPS.  It's disturbing.

Lauren, The Woodlands, Tx (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:42 PM)

The commercial that has always annoyed me the most involving a child is the Bounty commercial where the little brat takes out the bottle of orange soda starts shaking, the pop tops off and his mother picks up the hose thing from the sink and starts squirting him with that... Okay I know commercials are not reality, however, my mother would not have sprayed me with the hose, she would've handed me the mop and sponge made me clean it and then hand me my head...

jrzy grl... (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:45 PM)

I didn't like any of the early versions of the E*Trade baby commercials.....and I loathed the one where the kid barfed.  But the "shankapotamus" one cracks me up every time.  I would vote for that as an all time fav.

Love the AT&T minutes commercial too although the Mom is a bit overwrought about the minutes.

Angie W, Chattanooga, TN (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:49 PM)

On the ATT Rollover Minutes in which she is in the car. If you watch very carefully, you can tell from her facial gestures that she is trying hard not to crack up laughing in the end. I am certain that she found it just as stupid too! I am cetain there was quite a few retakes of that shot.

Ted Warner, Seattle WA (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:51 PM)

I have always loved the E-trade baby ads, and the Shankapotomus ad is my all time fav - makes me laugh everytime!

Bernadette, Concord, CA (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:53 PM)

As a general rule, I don't like kids or babies in commercials for products that don't relate to kids or babies.  It seems that too many advertisers mistake precocious for bratty.  However, I just watched the Evian rollerskating babies commercial for the first time and I thought it was very funny.  I also like the AT&T mom with her teenage son.  Yeah, it's the same message every time but that doesn't make it any less entertaining.  One commercial I strongly dislike is for some paper towel brand where the mom and son get into a water fight in the kitchen but it's okay because they can clean up with the paper towels.  Encouraging a child's bad behavior is never okay in my book.

Julie, Portland, OR (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 2:55 PM)

I really enjoyed the Rodney Allen Rippey and the Mason Reese commercials. What year is it again? Darn shankapotamii!

Doug Sargent Eugene, OR (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 3:01 PM)

Olive Garden commercials are one of my least favorite commercials on TV. I always dislike them because they're so corny and unbelievable. Would the stuff that happens in them ever actually happen? No. My least favorite was the one a while ago where the woman comes in and is describing the people she's meeting, making it sound like a date, but it's actually just her husband and son. Horrible. I turned it off every time it came on.

Sarah, East Greenwich, RI (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 3:08 PM)

The other commercial where the other baby is singing and the one tells him to stop is pretty funny too.  What makes it work is the voice-over, with the baby acting like an adult.  Babies as just babies in the commercials is, for me, always gonna be a little iffy.

Cire Princeton NJ (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 3:13 PM)

I haven't seen this ad for Mrs. Paul's whole fillet fish sticks on TV, but saw it a lot watching ABC Family programming online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRO2j8Fu6QY
Certainly not the way any child should speak to a parent, but I doubt that would come naturally out of a child that age anyway. The way this little girl delivers those lines has me on the floor every time!
"What is this, minced? You feed me minced? You ever catch a minced fish??" So cute!

Sarah, Washington DC (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 3:13 PM)

Everyone is missing the point of the OG ads.  People who eat at OG probably like them.  As for the ETrade baby, he is the best.  I love all of them, especially the Shankopotomous ad.  I watch it online just to laugh.  And for the record, i usually don't like kids in ads.  what do they know?  but the baby ad is so clearly satire, it's hilarious.

Kathy, Chicago (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 3:18 PM)

Ugh- Olive Garden commercials are the WORST. And that one takes the rotten-cake. Someone mentioned that it's like someone woke up from a cryogenic sleep when they came up with that- haha- and I TOTALLY agree.

JoAnn, Philadelphia (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 3:53 PM)

I love the minutes mom!  The one where the sons and dad are at the table and one of them spills milk on the minutes and they sweep them into the trash.  The mom says something about giving them to her sister and the dad says "Isn't she lactose intolerant?"  cracks me up everytime.  I can relate.  I've got kids who don't understand what it means for me to have to pay for things.

carly (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 3:56 PM)

I cannot stand the valsic pickles or the welches grapejuice kids.  There is definately a cuteness tipping point.  Why do ringlette curls anger me so?

carly portland, or (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 3:59 PM)

I think you are dead wrong about the mom in the AT&T ads. That punk teenaged son is the perfectly horrible representation of the bad rearing parents of the next generation have done for their children. I would never have been allowed to speak to my parents that way without going unpunished and that kid is supposed to look like he's in the right for it? It's reprehensible and disgusting.

Jamie, Reston, VA (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:04 PM)

I think most marketing is just kids and dogs.  ie, not very original.

LLA, Alexandria, VA (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:11 PM)

E-trade gets it all across. Easy to do, hip to do, etc., in a really enjoyable format (really like the one where one is 'still using a broker'.  "Well, he's a good friend of my father." And the other kids just crack up.  

Want horrible, irritating, turn-off-the-tv, wouldn't buy from you if it was law?  VEHIX.COM.  If you don't have it where you are, enjoy.  When it gets there, you'll go back to radio...or simply watching the clouds for entertainment.

Bill Nelson (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:13 PM)

Dude the lactose intolerant AT&T ad is also priceless. We actually have a friend that looks a lot like the mom, so it's very weird to see those commercials since it's like I'm looking into the future when her kids are that old. And I'm glad someone mentioned the Welch's grape juice ads... Those kids are from another planet... They are just too perfect looking and speaking that they must be evil aliens sent to destroy the earth. At least that's what my wife and I say to each other when we see the commercials. But yeah, when the dad asks if the daughter is lactose intolerant and the look he gets from the mom is classic.

Scott M., Santa Fe, NM (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:20 PM)

I like the little girl from the Verizon commercial.  "She thinks you're super-delicious." Gets me every time!

Cate, Utah (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:25 PM)

I hate the E*Trade baby, but 'shankapotamus' is a funny word.  I'm usually against babies in ads acting like adults, or any ad where the kid is supposed to be cute but is really just an annoying brat.  The AT&T ads work for me because they take a real life scenario, wasting money, and turn it just enough.  Come on, we've all seen moms like that.

Lisa Simpson (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:32 PM)


My wife hates the AT&T commercials but I think the mom is great to watch, reminds me of my mom. I would rather see dogs then kids in commercials.

Fritz, Glendale, Ca. (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:33 PM)

The mom and son in the minutes ad are having a stare-off, and the kid blinks!

Martha, SATX (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:33 PM)

One ad I haven't seen mentioned is one from last spring.  It was an ad for H&R Block that had baby Valentine going through a tax audit. Valentine launches several arrows into the IRS tax man to no effect.  I thought that was brilliant.

Christian Lopez, Duluth, MN (Sent Monday, August 31, 2009 4:45 PM)



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