Archive for the ‘absurdities’ category

Sears Black Friday Commercial, “Turkey Chase”

November 28, 2013

turkey chase– –  “Get in the bag!- – Get in the bag!,” cries the Denskies’ Dad, a would-be turkey pursuer to an agitated and very mobile turkey, which readily keeps ahead of the hapless hunter.  So intent is Mr. Denskie at bagging the bird that he is oblivious to a number of trees looming in the immediate vicinity, soon colliding with one of the massive trunks and getting knocked out cold.  The turkey escapes, none the worse for the wear. – – So who’s the real bird brain here?!

We haven’t seen a hunter this inept since Elmer Fudd, and Sears is bringing us this reminder of their Black Friday sales as a better way to save money than hunting your own wild turkey, most of which bear little relationship anymore to what’s being sold in supermarkets…and a happy holiday to all of you!

The Starburst “Juicy Dragon…”

October 8, 2013

starburst– – I hate to see mythological creatures exploited, and one usually doesn’t want to mess with dragons.  But the Starburst “giggly juicy dragon” is not your typical dragon, even among a race of extraordinary creatures.  The dragon in question also seems to dearly love his videos, and apparently is easily entertained by them.  The dragon must live under a rock not to already be familiar with the “keyboard cat” video, but then again, dragons are reputed to at times live under rocks, or at least in caves.  For that reason, the giggly juicy dragon is probably starved for entertainment, or at the very least doesn’t get out much.  The “keyboard cat” apparently can really tickle the dragon’s funnybone, or whatever he may have that passes for one.

In this short video, one candy-chomping man is wondering how they get Starburst candies to be so juicy; lord knows, many poor devils lay awake at night pondering that very point.  Now thanks to this commercial, you need wonder no longer! – – They show the giggly juicy dragon funny videos such as the keyboard cat, he laughs so hard that he weeps tears of joy, and such tears as they flow are collected and put into the Starbursts.  I guess that this isn’t quite exploitative as the dragon gets his jollies that way, although PETA might see the matter differently…

Cousin Itt…

September 27, 2013

Itt– – I would be remiss if I did not include at least one post about Cousin Itt, since who could be more hairy or furry than he? A recurrent but not main character on The Addams Family television series and movies, Itt was a character not created by cartoonist Charles Addams but rather by the producer of the series. The cousin of Gomez Addams, Itt was a short individual completely covered with long, thick hair that completely obscured any underlying features. He typically wore sunglasses and a hat, usually a derby. Itt’s speech was rapid, high-pitched gibberish understandable to any member of the Addams family but not to anyone else.

Cousin Itt did not routinely reside at the Addams mansion, but was a regular visitor there and at times occupied a room, one scaled down to his height and size. Itt was reputed to be highly intelligent, and had a variety of skills and talents, including singing. Itt was quite a lady’s man, and did at one time sire a child, whose name appropriately was “What,” supposedly the first word out of the gynecologist’s mouth when the child, who resembled a tiny Itt, was delivered.

Itt could be the life of any party. My favorite episode depicted Gomez asking Cousin Itt what was under his great mop of hair.  Itt’s response was, “roots!”

Flodilocks and the Three Bears…

September 18, 2013

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– – Flo of Progressive Insurance is a bit of a fantasy female herself, so she seems strangely at home in a fairy tale such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  While meandering as a uniformed insurance clerk in a magical storybook forest, Goldilocks/Flodilocks comes upon a cottage, entering it to find sitting on the kitchen table not three bowls of porridge, but rather three boxed insurance policies!  We really expect this kind of thing from Flo, who lives, sleeps, eats, and drinks insurance…and outside of these commercials, insurance is dreadfully boring stuff, to say nothing of the back-breaking expense of it. Buying insurance is as much fun as paying taxes.   But I digress…anyhow, checking out the boxed insurance policies, the intrepid Flodilocks finds one having lots of coverage, another one having little coverage, and the third one just right !

Just then Flodilocks notices that three anthropomorphic bears are sitting in the nearby family room, and they are staring at her! Things then become more surreal, for the Papa Bear voices, “Hi, yeah we love visitors! That’s why we moved to a secluded house in the middle of the wilderness.” Flo doesn’t quite know what to do with this bit of information, so the video freeze frames on this last scene, and we zoom out as the storybook page turns…

One may basically write their own ending here. – – Do the bears have sinister intent, and devour Flodilocks? Or my preference and darker still, would Flodilocks best the bears in hand-to-hand combat, and devour them?  End scene of Flo patting a very full belly, and fade to black.  The best fairy tales play out in the mind, after all, and can be rather scary…

 

The Orangina “Cat…”

July 26, 2013

Orangina

— In France and elsewhere, a soft drink is sold called Orangina.  A memorable commercial was made for the product in 2010 which featured a CGI-generated anthropomorphic male cougar who liked the product so much that the big cat applied it to his face following shaving like lotion to soften his skin.  As the viewer is wondering why a cougar shaves or why a soft drink has skin applications, a bare-chested human male enters the scene who approaches the cougar, and shares, shall we say, a tender moment with him…

…yes, cross-species same-sex attraction! — Ah. those French are such sly dogs, are they not…or perhaps I should say, cats? — Meow!

“Sharknado;” Awesome Silliness!

July 19, 2013

sharknado

– – Being eaten by an airborne shark can ruin your whole day!  It’s not that the SyFy Channel hasn’t made and aired breath-taking bad movies before; it’s just that Sharknado is one of those rare hilariously bad movies that has taken on a life of its own, and taken Twitter by storm.  For the time that Sharknado aired, there was the feeling that a global ephemeral community had formed, and that thousands, perhaps millions of bad movie connoisseurs were united in groaning and laughing over the premise and execution of this marvelously bad flick.

Originally airing on the SyFy Channel on July 11th and repeated on air July 18th, Sharknado was a kind of monster meets disaster movie production in which a freak hurricane hits Los Angeles, causing man-eating sharks to be scooped up in tornadoes, which then flooded the city with shark-infested waters.  There is something dark inside many of us that delights in seeing someone eaten by a shark, especially a throw-away character that deserves it.  Unlike similar movies in which there’s only five or ten minutes of actual gory action, Sharknado didn’t skimp on the shock and sharks; there were sharks peppered throughout the film, on land, sea, and air!  They consumed fleeing motorists, and even made their way into flooded houses. – – That’s gotta lower property values!

If you left your brains at the door, Sharknado was great fun!  Sample dialogue:  “We’re gonna fight.  You can’t just stand around and wait for sharks to rain down on us.”  Fight the protagonists did, with shotguns, baseball bats, and even chainsaws…they got up in helicopters, and used home-made propane bombs to neutralize tornadoes!   You haven’t lived until you’ve seen someone use a chainsaw to rescue a woman after being consumed and inside the shark!  Contracted by the SyFy Channel and directed for film studio The Asylum by Anthony C. Ferrante,  Sharknado will have a sequel set in New York City, with fans suggesting titles on Twitter

Maxwell and Ted Have Hail Damage…

June 3, 2013

Boating Maxwell– – Hipster Maxwell the pig may have hail damage to his baby blue VW Cabriolet, but he’s so slick that he speedily gets an appointment through his Geico app with an insurance adjuster, and as fellow hail damage sufferer Ted struggles on hold with his insurance company, Maxwell even has time to steal Ted’s girlfriend away, and go boating with her!  “Later, Ted!,” chortles the nameless fickle girl. –What is it with pigs, anyhow, that makes them “chick magnets?”  Perhaps because they’re both farm animals…

Now if only they could have attached Maxwell’s trademark pinwheels to the handles of his Skidoo!  This porker gets out and about more than most of us do…but just remember that relationships with pigs are illegal in most states! 

Buick vs. Dinos

May 16, 2013

Buick dino– – You’ve probably heard certain types of vehicles referred to as “dinosaurs,” or perhaps as “big boats” or “land yachts“- -Well, in a commercial for the 2013 Buick Encore, the crossover vehicle has to navigate around a variety of dinosaurs including a stegosaurus, triceratops, and possibly an apatosaurus as they go plodding along city streets and even trying to park.  The message is that the time of “big luxury” cars has passed, and the next big thing in luxury vehicles is small and nimble.  This is somewhat ironic in that Buick in its day has made some of the biggest and softest luxury cars around; we also continue to burn fossil fuels aplenty, so perhaps the dinos shouldn’t be mocked.  The commercial’s voiceover is by Kevin Bacon, and the music in the spot is “The Guitar” by They Might Be Giants

Perhaps Jurassic Park was having a clearance sale…and kids of all ages seeing this commercial are likely to want to have a dinosaur rather than a Buick…

The Aflac Duck in Physical Therapy…

April 17, 2013

physical therapy– – As you’re likely aware, the Aflac Duck was recently injured, suffering damage to his beak and a wing.  Now the waterfowl is fighting his way back, with help from physical therapy and the inspiration of Rocky Balboa!  In the 60 second commercial, we are shown the duck struggling with such therapy tasks as climbing stairs, treading water, working on a gym station, and jumping rope…slow and sad piano-accented music plays in the background.  It’s so hard for the doggedly-determined duck…but then he starts to get his energy and range of motion back, and as the soundtrack of “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor plays in the background, we see the duck working out like a champ!

The underlying message is that with Aflac to pay his bills so he doesn’t have to worry, the duck can focus on therapy and getting better…and there’s no keeping a good duck down!  He’s gotten 35,000 get-well cards, according to Aflac’s chief marketing executive, who considers the duck and the brand to be not an image but an experience.   But will he suffer from post-traumatic stress, and require therapy?  This is the 58th commercial to feature the Aflac duck, if you’re counting…

 

“Cookie Monster” Just That…

April 14, 2013

cookie– – Many strange things may be found in New York City, including people who walk about in unlicensed character costumes offering tourists the opportunity to have their children photographed with them in the expectation of getting a several buck tip in return.  These characters are known to frequent Times Square and elsewhere, and may be dressed up as Sesame Street notables, Mario of Nintendo fame, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh, or perhaps the Statue of Liberty, to name a few; some of the outfits are poor copies, barely recognizable.  Trouble is, the hustlers tend to be a bit aggressive, and at times have been known to bother or pursue their marks for photo privileges, demanding money afterwards before putting a photographed child down.   There have been ugly incidents as well; last summer, someone dressed as Grover lost it, and burst into an antisemitic rant in public…a Super Mario once groped a woman, and a Spiderman even punched a mom!  Hardly your friendly neighborhood Spidey…

Well, last Sunday someone dressed as Cookie Monster had himself photographed with a two-year-old, becoming irate when the child’s mother didn’t have tip money handy.  Insults and cursing followed, and the costumed cad pushed the child, allegedly causing the boy to almost lose balance.  Now the Cookie Monster wanna-be is facing charges of assault, aggressive begging, and endangering the welfare of a child…

…what’s next?- -“Shackle-Me Elmo?