Normally when there’s a pre-roll ad slapped on the front of a video I want to see, I click “skip ad” as soon as I can. But the one below sucked me in within the first few seconds. I watched the entire six minutes and 46 seconds and was so glad I did. I wouldn’t even call it an ad, it’s a short film really, a character study with a powerful message. Heck, I didn’t even know what the ad was for until the very end.
Ricky is my new hero, and Doris rocks!
My wife and I buy a new car only once every decade, whether we need to or not. In 2002, with Baby #3 on the way, we shed any vestiges of “coolness” by getting a Honda minivan. In 2011, I campaigned hard for a Jetta Sportwagen TDI because I’m a tree-hugger and loved the great gas mileage along with the benefits of the “clean diesel” engine that VW was promoting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNS2nvkjARk
Turns out we’ve been living a lie. VW was gaming the system with a software cheat that tricked emissions testing, something that was uncovered by a professor at WVU. All this time I thought I was doing the environment a solid, while in reality we were driving a nitrogen oxide belching beast.
We don’t put a ton of miles on the Jetta. I still commute to work via bus most days, and have for the past 20 years, so that helps assuage my green guilt over this “diesel dupe.” But that’s not the point – the point is VW did not sell us the car they promised, and we feel betrayed.
The good news is by 2020 Teslas might actually be in our price range.
Thank goodness that the new Star Wars movie is getting just a wee bit of merchandising tie-in promotional support. If not, folks probably wouldn’t go see it.
Macy’s keeps it pretty basic… just t-shirts:
JCPenney ups the ante with watches, slippers and a few other tchotchkes:
Target jumps on the bandwagon with toys, “limited edition” cereal and even Star Wars shaped Macaroni & Cheese (“may the SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSPHATE be with you!”)
But the real winner of the Pimp My Movie contest is Kohl’s, as they are selling bedspreads, throw pillows, suitcases, headphones and even friggin’ Christmas ornaments!
Collect them all before Jar-Jar Binks comes along to ruin it for everyone.
UPDATE: We’ve obviously come a long way from 1977, when the original Star Wars movie came out. There’s a Cincinnati Enquirer article about a guy who has been designing Star Wars toys since ’77. It appears the first movie caught them off guard:
One of Boudreaux’s first assignments was helping Kenner figure out how to deal with the unexpected box-office smash despite not having any products to sell. This was almost four decades ago, a simpler time when movies weren’t the carefully orchestrated and licensed consumer bonanzas they are today.
Kenner scrambled but soon realized there wouldn’t by any Star Wars toys ready in time for Christmas.“It was discussed internally that we should have something that folks could put under the tree, to build that excitement and anticipation,” Boudreaux said.
The solution was selling an empty box marketed as the “Star Wars Early Bird Set,” a sort of IOU from the company that could be redeemed for a real toy later. Kenner, which was acquired by Hasbro in 1991, actually made a television commercial for what amounted to a piece of cardboard that could be folded into a toy display stand. In a sign of just how much of a sensation Star Wars was becoming, parents bought the cardboard in droves. Kids could then send away a certificate from the box to receive four action figures by June 1.
I say, bring back the cardboard box!
Yes, as this Wal-Mart Sunday sales circular points out, “Nothing says summer like fresh berries.”
Of course, you won’t find those in Pop-Tarts¹, Oreos, Cheetos, Star Wars cereal and all the other processed foods advertised on this two-page spread.
¹I know the Pop-Tarts shown are “strawberry” flavor but the chances that they have actual berries in them are about the same as the chances that Froot Loops contain actual fruit.
Saw this ad in the Sunday newpaper’s coupon section:
I guess what they are trying to say is being a conjoined twin makes you better at karate because you have 4 legs for kicking your opponent’s butt. Oh, and your hair will look better too.
I really think the advertising folks that put this one together could’ve given this one a bit more thought and come up with a better “2 in 1” comparison. Or at least one that’s a bit more common. Maybe a futon?
Don’t ask me why, but this morning I was thinking about how the most interesting dog food brands from my youth are now defunct. (A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but I’m doing a pretty good job of it so far.)
My favorite commercial was for Chuck Wagon, with a pooch chasing a Ray Harryhausen-style Conestoga wagon through the house.
And I was always intrigued by Gaines*burgers dog food too, because of their hamburger shape. Love how the TV ad tout and the package both tout the fact that Gaines*burgers are “made with REAL MEAT”.
Notice they don’t say what type of animal the meat came from. Just sayin’.
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