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Techtite Feature Article! |
"...and then the same girl from the earlier scene jumps in and tackles him to the ground…and not in a good way. You go girl...!" --from the article
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The MANY "Close Calls"...! It isn't that there were many "awe inspiring" commercials this year, but choosing a top ten list was still hard, with so many "good" commercials, even if not "great." Here are a dozen also-rans worth putting on a "good commercial" list: ---Splash Guards (Honda Ridgeline) Silver female silhouette seen on the splash guard of many trucks gets off her splash guard, and walks over to the newest thing in trucks. She gets in the truck, only to be greeted by the driver, who is Yosemite Sam; complete with his splash guard motto, “Back Off!”. Says the voice-over: “Even those who spent their entire lives around trucks, have never seen a truck like this.” ---The Mission Impossible 3 Trailer: Let the tabloids have their fun with Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, but this next MI movie looks cool...at least it did here. ---Yet another imaginative Emerald Nuts ad, this time claiming that "Eagle-eyed Machete Enthusiasts Recognize A Little Druid Networking Under The Stairs." And of course, they all love Emerald Nuts. ---Clydesdale American Dream (Budweiser). Young horse wants to be a Budweiser Clydesdale horse, pulling the red Budweiser wagon. He walks into the harness and tries with all his might to pull it himself. It works! He’s moving! Well...sort of. Camera pans to back of the wagon where two adult horses are pushing the wagon with their heads. Says the onlooker; “I won’t tell if you won’t!” The Bud Wave (Budweiser). One side of the stadium holds up cards that form a Bud Light bottle. The other side's cards form a "glass." The whole stadium then moves cards as if the beer is being poured into the glass, as the glass slowly fills. I don't know; this is so imaginative it almost warrants a "best of" list placement, but as we said it was a very close race. ---Superfan (Budweiser). Now classic ad plays out at first, of horses playing football in the desert. Out runs a shaved sheep. "Streaker!" says one of the human onlookers; "didn't need to see that!" Indeed... ---“Ford Hybrid and Kermit” (Ford Escape Hybrid). Here’s how you open a 2006 commercial: muppets! The classic sight of Kermit the Frog on a bike appears, singing his classic song about how "it’s not easy being green." But look; suddenly Kermit is kayaking! …rock climbing! Atop the cliff is the new Ford Escape Hybrid. “I guess it is easy being green!” While the ad may have wanted to explain the correlation between a hybrid car and "being green," We suppose it's an environment sort of thing. Still, it's Kermit, and Kermit is always cool. ---That funny Super Bowl commercial for ABC's "Lost," where the film Locke and Eko are watching turns out to be a re-edited music video of "Might as Well Face It; You're Addicted to LOST!" As the film concludes with a shot of Kate in her shorts, Locke is seen musing, "We'll need to watch that again!" ---“We’re Proud to be part of the family.” (NFL Network). While not with the humor of the “Tomorrow we’re all ‘undefeated’ again” commercials of yesteryear, this is a nice poignant ad about how whether this Superbowl is your 40th or your first, it brings us together every year, and NFL would like to thank you for making them part of the family. Cool. ---That new Pirates of the Caribbean movie looks cool, if just because it's pirates, it's Johnny Depp as a pirate, and hottie Keira Knightly returns. ---"Save Yourself!" (Bud Light) It's an old joke but it still works, when "Dave" and his friend meet up with a bear in the woods. The friend tries to distract the bear by offering him a bottle of Bud Light, which actually works...until Dave streaks by and takes the bottle with a "woo-hoo!" Says the friend before being mauled; "Dave? Not Cool...!" Funny, though...! ---and, yes; that new series "The Evidence" looks really cool. |
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Top Ten Best Super bowl Commercials, 2006
A Techtite Feature Article"Never forget the buzz phrase"...? Remember last year, where the rule of thumb was to always have the funny final joke at the very end of the commercial? Well...forget all that. Gone is the final punchline, replaced with the catchy one-liner! Okay; so a catchy one-liner does not a "classic" commercial make. But although nothing really shouted out at you in commercials this year, there were actually quite a few of them worth mentioning, as "pretty good." After all; a catchy one-liner at the water cooler is hard to refuse. "My cel phone has a crime deterrent!" That's funny stuff. Missed the locker room commercial, did you...? Well, you can see them online at web sites like iFilm, but chances are you'll be seeing these commercials a whole lot more no matter what you do. Like it or not, this is the look of ads for the next year...for better, or worse! Here are the ones that made us smile: -------------------------------------------
“A Song For Every Occasion.” (Sprint). In Summary: What if your couch was on fire? Better Summary: Guy muses that with his new Sprint phone, he can immediately play songs for any occasion. Friend muses, “What if your girlfriend left you?...What if you won the lottery?" Finally the couch catches fire; "What if your couch is on fire?” asks the friend. You’d think that last one would’ve stumped him…but he plays the Benny Hill Show theme song, as he and his friend are chased by a short-skirted female keystone cop. Ha. What Makes It So Cool: Any excuse for a Benny Hill shtick is cool.
“The Sprint Locker Room.” (Sprint). In Summary: Oh yeah? Well my cellular phone has a crime deterrent! Better Summary: Two guys in a locker room muse how many things their cellular phone can do. Small guy says his can play music. Big guy says his can play music and video. Small guy says, yeah, well, his can play music and video and it's even got built in crime prevention. Go ahead, big guy; try to take his wallet. As he makes a move for the wallet, the little guy throws his cellular phone at the guy's head, knocking him to the ground. Splashing across the screen are the features of the new Sprint phones. Music, check. Video, check. Crime deterrent, check... What Makes It So Cool: ...and then he throws it at the guy's head again. “Touch Football.” (Michelob Ultra: Amber). In Summary: "You were wide open...and now, you are closed!" Better Summary: A hot blonde plays touch football with the boys. Throw it to her, she insists; she’s wide open! Well, she was open…only to be roughly tackled to the ground. The world of light beer “just got a little darker” muses the narrator. What Makes It So Cool: Final Punchline: same guy is seen later in a bar, as he muses about making “no free passes”...and then the same girl from the earlier scene jumps in and tackles him to the ground…and not in a good way. You go girl...! “Whopperettes.” (Burger King). In Summary: Whopperettes!!! Better Summary: The Burger King has been pretty funny lately. His funniest ad to date was as a King Kong parody , giving a blonde a sandwich from the window. Now he's surrounded by "The whopperettes," who are dressed as all the ingredients of a whopper. They promptly create a sort of football pile-up of sorts, jumping one on top of the other to create one big whopper. The top female is in a gown made to look like a sesame seed bun. Who plays the top bun...? Brooke Burke, of course! What Makes It So Cool: Let me tell you; it's pretty hard to forget a sight like half a dozen pretty dancers jumping atop one another to make a giant whopper. “Start Poppin'...with Miss Piggy!” (Pizza Hut). In Summary: Piggy as Jessica! Better Summary: Okay; maybe Pizza Hut went a little overboard with all the publicity blitz over Jessica Simpson's "These bites were made for poppin' " commercial. In the original commercial, a teenage boy asks for that new Pizza Hut pizza with the cheese bites in the crust. In dances Jessica singing "Start Poppin'...!" to the tune of her music video, "These Boots are Made for Walkin'." Kid faints when she gently puts one of the cheese bites in his mouth. This...isn't that video. It begins the exact same way, but...who's that at the doorway? Miss Piggy! Oh, and instead of feeding the boy a cheese bite? Piggy takes the bite for herself. Bwa-ha-ha! What Makes It So Cool: Any reason for classic muppet cameos is a good one. Piggy parodying Jessica is a total riot. “Leonard Limoy's Aleve Commercial.” (Aleve). In Summary: Live Long and Prosper...with Aleve. Better Summary: Just about everyone Leonard Nimoy passes on his way to a stage, is easily greeted with a wave of his hand. Then he comes on stage and the crowd gasps at the mere wave "hi." It's a Trek convention! Leonard gives his classic fingers-parted "Vulcan" salute...thanks to the assistance of pain reliever, Aleve. What Makes It So Cool: Spock is cool...and so is Mr. Nimoy! “Mastercard MacGuyver” (Mastercard). In Summary: MacGuyver needs credit. Lots of credit! Better Summary: MacGuyver --still played in this commercial by Richard Dean Anderson-- uses his simple gadgets to get the job done, as always. Narrator gives the price list for: an air freshener used to break free of his ropes, a tube sock used to slide down a cable on the side of the building, and for his latest gadget made of knickknacks: “paper clip, ballpoint pen, rubber band, tweezers, nasal spray, and a turkey baster...!” But hey...? The little things that get you through the day: priceless. Final punchline: seeing Mac buying all his “tools” at the grocery store…with his own Master Card. What Makes It So Cool: Man, we the fans of Stargate SG-1 miss you, Anderson. Seeing you back in MacGuyver style was great. "Magic Fridge" (Bud Light). In Summary: Guys! The Magic Fridge is Back! Better Summary: Guy has his entire refrigerator filled to the last inch with Bud Light. Friend of guy asks, dude; what about all the people coming over for the Super Bowl? No problem, says the guy, as he flips a switch and the fridge rotates behind the wall. "Genius!" Says the friend. Camera pans to behind the wall, where a bunch of surfer dude types exclaim, "The magic fridge is back!" What Makes It So Cool: This was voted the funniest ad of the Super Bowl on many a vote site...and with reason. You'll be seeing kids repeat the final shot for weeks, as the kids chant "Magic Fridge! Magic Fridge!" What a total riot! ------------------------------------------
------------------------------- What was your choice for best/worst Super Bowl Sunday ads...? Send your opinions to Techtite's Letters page!
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The Fed Ex Caveman. (Fed Ex). In
Summary: No Fed Ex Yet? Not
my problem! Better Summary:
A caveman tries to "deliver" a package by prehistoric means, only
to have his chosen dinosaur carrier get eaten by another dinosaur. He enters
the cave and says the package never made it. Well, did you use Fed Ex, asks
"boss" caveman. Nope, says the first caveman. Well then...you're
fired, says his boss. But...Fed Ex isn't even around yet, insists the
caveman. "Not my problem!" says his boss. What
Makes It So Cool:
This is a funny ad right down to the final joke, when the "dumb"
caveman exits the cave and gets stepped on.
“Sharpie:
A Pirate's Life.”
(Sharpie). In Summary:
Having a hook for a hand can be a hassle... Better
Summary: “My Job’s Rewarding,"
says a theme park employee dressed as a pirate, "…Though it took a while to get
used to the hook!” Pirate-guy muses how the hook always gets in the way,
as we see it pop balloons, and what's worse; he can never get the cap of the
marker off to sign autographs. Then he discovered the
Sharpie retractable; one hand is all he needs! What
Makes It So Cool:
Here's where good commercials do not require good product; a good commercial
makes the product look good. Retractable pens have
been around for ages, Mr. Pirate...! But it's one cute commercial.