Archive for the ‘feathered friends’ category
April 22, 2019
Watching a commercial of the Chantix turkey camping, I wonder if the vest that he’s wearing is goose down filled, and if so whether the wearing of it isn’t some kind of crime against birds in general. Don’t get me wrong, he does look good in it, kind of like an avian Eddie Bauer. One almost expects to see Elmer Fudd emerge from those woods in the background in his ludicrous hunting outfit, toting a long gun and announcing, “I’m hunting wabbit…but you’ll do!” Then in my crossover fantasy, previous Chantix spokesman Ray Liotta emerges from those same woods, engaging Elmer in a firefight since one corporate spokesman might reasonably be expected to defend another. Ray would easily win the fight, having played tough guys in Mafia-inspired films. Elmer is hardly known as being a marksman…
Other questions lurk, too…since the Chantix turkey represents the slow turkey approach to smoking cessation, might we someday expect to see his cousin, cold turkey? That bird might be imagined as being cold to the point of chattering, and to have really jittery nerves. As we view the Chantix turkey hiking in the woods, we’re sorry that he’s mute. Perhaps in the future he could be given a voice, even singing the Happy Wanderer song as he hikes. With just a little refinement, this turkey could really take off. He even cooks over a campfire, and I’d toast marshmallows with him..we’re all forest friends here!
Categories: absurdities, advertising, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, commercials, fantasy, feathered friends, furry, furry commercials
Tags: Chantix turkey camping
Comments: 9 Comments
March 18, 2019
For many years now, insurance companies like Geico and Progressive have been producing clever and memorable commercials to tout and lure us to their services. Arriving a bit late to the commercial fray, Liberty Mutual has now produced commercials that incorporate an animal representative in the rather unlikely character of an emu…
These ads invoke the “buddy cop” series of the 1970’s, exemplified by such shows as Starsky and Hutch; Robert Blake’s series Beretta even included a cockatoo as Beretta’s companion.
In the Liberty Mutual commercials, the bird becomes even more of an active partner, riding shotgun with his human partner Doug while wearing aviator sunglasses! Called the LiMu Emu, this bird rocks, although in the Reflections ad he does have a bit of a problem interacting with his own image in a window glass, showing those bobbing, weaving, and pecking behaviors that birds sometimes manifest when confronted with reflections that they consider to be another bird. Partner Doug explains that the LiMu Emu spends so much time time interacting with humans on insurance customization that he doesn’t know quite how to respond to another bird, but that he’ll “figure it out.”
Now I know how to distinguish my own reflection, but do confess to a weakness with distractions posed by shiny things. At any rate, we can rely on the new dynamic duo of the LiMu Emu and Doug, and as Beretta might have reminded us, “Keep your eye on the sparrow…”
Categories: advertising, animal elements, animals, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, commercials, feathered friends, furry, furry commercials, television, twisted reality
Tags: Liberty Mutual emu, LiMu Emu
Comments: 5 Comments
January 21, 2019
It’s not easy being a turkey. Apparently, if a carnivore doesn’t get you, a nicotine addiction probably will. Is Elmer Fudd lurking in wait for our feathered friend, or a cancer specialist? Life is full of uncertainties. In light of his questionable destiny, the turkey in our Chantix commercial is keeping active in a variety of activities, and probably maintaining a positive mental attitude as well. This bird has a fuller life than I do…he gardens, reads, mows the lawn, and finds time to float in his pool. I envy him…I don’t have a freakin’ pool, so the wages of poultry must be pretty good. He even puts out a feeder for the birds…but wait, isn’t that what he is?! I’m so confused…then in order to minimize the number of strikes against him, the turkey is wisely trying to kick the cigarette habit with Chantix, a program which allows him to go “slow turkey” as opposed to cold turkey.
Unanswered is the question of whether unsuccessful quitters of his species are the source of smoked turkey; I’ve always wondered. Anyways, I’m glad that this Chantix user is no bird brain…
Categories: animal spokepersons, anthropomorphic, avian, commercials, feathered friends, furry, furry commercials, television
Tags: Chantix turkey
Comments: 3 Comments
January 3, 2019
Aha, I just knew that we were going to be able to sneak some compelling furry images and characters onto mainstream television soon, and with The Masked Singer on Fox (- -how appropriate!), our time may have finally come in 2019!
Now for those of you not in the know, The Masked Singer is a new reality show (for the U.S., anyways) in which celebrity contestants perform and compete entirely clad in costume head-to-toe, concealing their identity. Most often those costumes are of animals, monsters, or other fantastic life forms with the contestant’s group of twelve including among others a unicorn, a deer, a hippo, a French poodle, a pineapple-man, a lion, and my personal fave, a rabbit! For the first night, six contestants competed on a paired basis, with the lesser voted contestant of each match-up relegated to the bottom three, and the weakest of that group unmasked and sent home. Victors in the matches included a Peacock winning over a Hippo, a Unicorn beating a “Monster,” and a Lion defeating a Deer. The Hippo, a real-life football athlete, ranked lowest and was sent home.
The show kind of blends American Idol with The Gong Show by way of a furry convention. Some of the costumes are elaborate and impressive, and dependent on their individual gifts and the bulk of their outfit some of the contestants incorporate a little choreography into their stage presentations. All of the contestants are supposedly well-known figures in music, comedy, or athletics, and the identity of each will ultimately be revealed as the weaning-out process continues. Popular in Asia and originating in South Korea, the American version of The Masked Singer is certainly different, even if it’s not for everyone…
https://youtu.be/Pv_qCDK9xYw
Categories: animal elements, animal presence, animals, anthropomorphic, avian, creature features, fantasy, feathered friends, furry, furry fandom, television
Tags: The Masked Singer
Comments: 6 Comments
March 28, 2017
Owls have long held our respect and are associated with wisdom, and they are increasingly being used as advertising icons. Their presence in the Harry Potter movies further spiked their popularity to the extent that some misguided people sought them as pets…bad idea, at least for most people!
Recently used memorably to sell eyewear for one company, owls have now entered the rather competitive allergy medication OTC market. Enter then Nigel the Xyzal Wise Owl, pictured above. This feathered guy has class; in one spot, he’s shown in a library with books, wearing a natty jacket, a monocle, and speaking with a British accent! Clearly, this guy is no flyweight, and knows his stuff; he appears to have the right credentials.
With many allergy medications having transitioned from prescription to over-the-counter status, recruiting a feathered sage with the voice of authority like Nigel might help carve out a niche for another product…
Categories: animal spokepersons, animals, anthropomorphic, avian, feathered friends, furry, furry commercials, television
Tags: Xyzal Owl
Comments: 6 Comments
January 24, 2016
Owls have always had a popular following, representing as they do wisdom, knowledge, and learning. Their popularity may have been further bolstered by their use in the Harry Potter books and movies.
Recently an articulate and fine specimen has emerged as a spokesman for the America’s Best Eyeglasses line, suitably bespectacled and able to model different frames simply by an uncanny rotation of his head. The owl himself is both wise and extraordinarily expressive, with a lot of eye and other facial movement. He is further able to cast the hapless human into mimicking the usual owl role, reducing them to single-word utterances of “who?” as he elaborates on virtues of the eyewear company.
If Harry Potter had an owl of this caliber at his side, it might have been easier for him to take on Voldemort…
Categories: animal spokepersons, animals, anthropomorphic, avian, feathered friends, furry commercials, television
Tags: America's Best Eyeglasses, owls
Comments: 4 Comments
January 12, 2016
In another Farmers Insurance commercial, we are shown the revenge of the “proud bird with the golden tail,” the long-suffering and oft disrespected turkey. A “Meaty’s Butcher Shop” truck manned by a single hapless guy is making its way down the road when a turkey appears in its path, causing the driver to veer off the road and into a tree. The middle-aged gent then regards his passenger seat, where he be holds…a turkey! The driver screams at the turkey, who gobbles loudly at him…
…payback, they say, is hell. We then cut to an exterior shot of the disabled truck, with a mob of turkeys descending on it. There is strength in numbers, and the delivery truck rocks from side to side as the turkeys administer their own brand of justice to one of their oppressors. It’s reminiscent of a scene in the first Jurassic Park movie where a throng of diminutive dinosaurs overwhelm and dispense with an especially obnoxious character in his vehicle.
We then cut to a scene with the unflappable J.K. Simmons escorting a client through their extensive Hall of Claims, where we gaze with them upon a much-mangled apron, last worn by the ill-fated delivery driver. Farmers Insurance has seen just about everything, we are reminded, so they can insure against anything, including “Turkey Jerks…”
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, feathered friends, furry, furry commercials, television
Tags: animals of Farmers Insurance, turkey jerks
Comments: 6 Comments
May 19, 2015
Some things are so bad that they’re almost good…either that, or I’m a glutton for punishment! It is into this category that I cast the hokey Burger King commercial for chicken fries in which a young hen and a box of french fries sit in a comfy living room, where the hen informs her parents on the adjoining couch that she and french fries are pregnant, and going to have chicken fries! As we the viewers probably face-palm, the mother hen goes into a flurry of frenzied wing-flapping while her rooster father admonishes everyone to “Calm down!” From the doorway a sibling of indeterminate sex comments, “Again?” Unwanted chicken pregnancies are a national shame that we all pay the price for. – – Thanks, Obama!
The commercial pushes the envelope of silliness and stupidity, and lacks the creepiness factor of the Burger King monarch himself, who I would love to see in a death match competition with Ronald McDonald, Wendy, and the KFC Colonel…
Categories: absurdities, animal spokepersons, animals, anthropomorphic, feathered friends, stupid, television
Comments: 2 Comments
April 15, 2015
Dang, this chicken leads a more adventurous life than I do! A free-range chicken is shown riding the rails, traveling shotgun with a trucker, enjoying a campfire gathering, and sitting at a diner counter while observing egg platters being served…that’s gotta be awkward! – – Ahh, the lure of the open road, to be footloose and fancy free! All the while, said chicken manages to send pictures of her exploits to a worn-looking farm couple, her former owners…
…it’s what she does…after all, she’s a free-range chicken, doing what she’s called to do! The sweeping melody of “Ride Away” by Roy Orbison accompanies the Geico commercial, and I’d love to log a few miles with this bird!
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, feathered friends, furry, furry commercials, television
Tags: Geico chicken
Comments: 2 Comments
November 27, 2014
The Destination America channel treated us to some strange, tongue-in-cheek fare the evening before Thanksgiving with a special styled somewhat like numerous others airing on that network, and called “When Turkeys Attack!” The show used home video footage depicting wild turkeys chasing children, grandmothers, and grown men; one chased and kept up with a bicyclist for a short distance, while others attacked mail delivery vehicles in a territorial frenzy.
Now wild turkeys should be distinguished from domesticated turkeys genetically engineered to be walking hunks of meat; these are the descendants of theropods, a carnivorous dinosaur. A wild tom turkey can stand about waist high on a human, and can drop kick you in the head. This could be a bad encounter as the males have razor sharp spurs on the back of their legs that are 1-1/2″ – 2″ long. They can flog you with their wings. Turkeys will try to strike at your head, have acute hearing, and can read subtle behavior rather well.
How then does one defend against a wild turkey attack? It was suggested that you don’t run and flee from them, but rather try to put a physical object between yourself and the offending turkey. Don’t try to fend one off with a flipped jacket, which they may interpret as an invitation to attack. Cover your head, and try to kick at them. In the words of one expert, “Some turkeys are territorial, some defend their women, some are just crazy!”
Categories: animal behavior, animal rights, animals, avian, feathered friends, strange happenings, television
Tags: Thanksgiving, turkeys
Comments: 2 Comments
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