The Super Bowl is this weekend, get ready for some great commercials. When you watch of all those commercials is pays to remember, what you see isn’t always what you get.

Watching a video on the making of TV commercials can be an eye opening experience.  I can understand presenting food in the best possible light, but using shaving cream for a dollop of whip cream on the pumpkin pie just seems wrong.  A stack of pancakes interlaced with cardboard to stack better is deceptive but when they use motor oil instead of syrup that is a stab to the heart.  

For sixty years I’ve been trying to serve a holiday turkey that looked like the one in the Hallmark commercial.  Now I discover that turkey was never even cooked, but simply painted with a blend of browning sauce and dishwashing soap.  I feel betrayed.

A few years ago Kate Upton made the guys rush to Carl’s Jr, in the hopes she might actually eat there.  In these commercials Kate was displaying, well, almost everything, while she licked her lips and sensually took a bite out of a huge, juicy, Carl’s Jr hamburger.  I don’t feel too bad that the guys were probably disappointed with the actual hamburger at Carl’s Jr.  Real life isn’t anything like that commercial.

Some marketing tactics just completely miss the mark.  When my sister was younger, and there was more of her to love, she went shopping for a special occasion dress. She discovered, to her dismay, that the size she needed was listed as petite plump. Really? Petite plump, did this manufacturer really think the gals would stand in line waiting to purchase the latest petite plump fashion. 

I’m sure the guys feel better purchasing ‘relaxed fit’ vs ‘husky’ jeans. Knowing you are going to be relaxing in these jeans just sounds so much better than something to do with thunder thighs. 

Remember, ‘I can’t believe I ate the whole thing’. Then the  ‘plop plop, fizz fizz’ of the Alka Selzer commercials. Personally I thought it sounded like a bathroom issue, but that’s just me. On topic, Mr. Whipple reminded us, ‘Don’t squeeze the Charmin.’ 

Everyone wanted a Chevy when Dinah Shore sang ‘See the USA in your Chevrolet’.  Who didn’t want a De Soto when the Cole Porter tune was turned into a commercial ‘It’s Delightful, It’s De Lovely, It’s De Soto.’  When Bob Seager sang ‘Like a Rock’ for the Chevy trucks, guys lined up to buy one.

How ‘bout ‘Mikey likes it’ and we reached for the Life cereal.  After all Mikey liked it. How ‘bout the little boy who knew his dad needed Cheerios to control cholesterol.  Put raisins on your Mini Wheats while listening to Marvin Gaye, ‘I heard it on the grapevine’.  I loved that one. 

Go ahead admit it, you can’t look at a gecko without thinking about insurance. He is pretty cute and I love the Australian accent.  That annoying energizer bunny reminded us to pick up batteries before Santa arrived.  You know the tune to Meow Mix, meow along now,  -Meow, meow meow meow meow meow meow meow – that darn singing cat stuck with me all day. I don’t think he was really even singing. 

What’s with the bathtubs on the edge of the cliff.  I personally never got the connection between the bathtubs and Cialis.  If Cialis really worked wouldn’t they be sharing one bathtub?  

You can tell when the holiday season arrives.  All of a sudden there are gorgeous men and women touting the new fragrance of the latest clothing designer.  Cue the fans to keep the sheer clothing billowing in the breeze. These commercials are usually shot in black and white to make the whole thing more dramatic.  

Oh, and I love the one where the thirty something couple  walks out of the ten million dollar McMansion to squeal with delight that Santa left them TWO brand new cars.  Really? 

I have to hand it to the advertising folks, sometimes the commercials are more entertaining than the TV show they interrupt.  Some of us, with limited patience, are willing to  spend the extra dollars for a DVR and never see commercials. Yep, that’s us. We like it that way.  

   

7 replies
  1. Pat
    Pat says:

    Not sure how you remember all the commercials you mentioned but with my brain jogged I can picture them. I had no idea the amount of fakery that went into them. And yes, some people, myself included, have watched the Super Bowl mainly to see if there is an especially intriguing commercial.

    • Carrie Bonello
      Carrie Bonello says:

      I too watched the Bowl to see if the commercials were worth what they paid to advertise in that time slot.

  2. Cindy Lutz
    Cindy Lutz says:

    I read an article about how they made food look so good on photo print. Never thought about that before. But remembered most of the ones you mentioned. Still like Life Cereal whet they announce Mikey likes it!

    • Carrie Bonello
      Carrie Bonello says:

      If Mikey liked it, it was good enough for me. I forgot about Tony the Tiger, my kids loved Frosted Flakes.

  3. Glenn
    Glenn says:

    Wow I never knew my memory was so good till you reminded me of what I
    think I knew, mmm is that right ? Only liked the Harrison Ford one this year !

  4. Susie
    Susie says:

    Ok…here’s my 2 cents. The commercials were ‘ok’ on Superbowl Sunday. At the present time, my two favorite commercials are…. Allstate’s Mayhem commercials. Whoever thought of this guy, genius. The other, State Farm: the accident in the tunnel with helium. This one makes me laugh out loud each time I see it. Probably cuz I like talking like a munchkin now and then 😉

Comments are closed.