Well, ok, it’s the “Funny or Die” version of a Visa commercial:
This one is for the Salty Old Dog who recently rediscovered old fashioned split screens while watching reruns of “The Patty Duke Show”. While he is still perplexed by the shows overarching theme that cousins can, in fact, be “two of a kind” while still being “different as night and day”, he has nevertheless found himself charmed by Ms. Duke herself.
Here is Patty (and Cathy) doing a little PSA for Social Security Online. I think it’s a pretty good way to target that baby boomer audience:
I’m still not going to spend a fortune on Evian water, but I will watch their commercial repeatedly.
Now this is a great commercial/trailer. It’s for the Xbox 360 “The Beatles: Rock Band” game and it’s a really cool tribute to the band:
I would give this year’s crop of high priced Super Bowl commercials a rating of OK. They were generally entertaining but nothing struck me as particularly innovative or memorable. The Salty Old Dog did get a good laugh out of the crystal ball/snow globe Doritos ad. He said that no matter how old he gets, nor how sophisticated he imagines himself to be, he still gets an adolescent belly laugh out of watching another guy take one in the cojones. To be honest, I thought it was pretty funny as well. As it turns out there’s also a great story that goes along with it. It was created by brothers from Indiana as part of a Doritos contest and they shot it all for less than $2000. The brothers were on the Today Show this morning and the commercial is included in their interview clip below:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
My favorite commercials of the night actually turned out to be a pair of NBC promos for Heroes and for their returning Monday night line-up. NBC was definitely determined to make the most of the Super Bowl broadcast and they didn’t skimp on the production values for these spots:
There are several versions of this commercial, and the Heidi Klum one is pretty good too, but this is my favorite. It’s Kobe Bryant, Tony Hawk, Alex Rodriguez and Michael Phelps having a “Risky Business” moment. My favorite part is Tony Hawk sliding in on a skateboard.
I was crying by the time this commercial was done! The song is Five for Fighting’s ”World” and it features LL Cool J, Vanessa Hudgens and Ty Pennington. Yes, it is a commercial and Sears is promoting their lines with LL, Vanessa and Ty, BUT it also tells a beautiful story. I think it is a fantastic Christmas time commercial:
So, the new Microsoft commercial with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld has appeared and ………….. I’m not a fan. They’re trying to use humor to convey a message but I’m not seeing either. Judge for yourself:
On the other hand, here’s a PSA that also uses humor to convey a message and it works like a charm. I could watch it all day:
Don’t worry; this isn’t going to be a dissertation about the evils of commercialism. Quite the contrary. Commercials often become part of our pop culture and I’m fine with that. Clever is clever even when it’s trying to sell us something.
First up is a fun article from MSNBC about the FreeCreditReport.com guy. All is not as it appears! Check it out at the link below if you can stand to have the illusion shattered:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26061279/
Apparently an upcoming commercial has him working at a renaissance festival – I can’t wait!
Next is the Salty Old Dog’s current favorite commercial – Target’s dancing dorm mates. These kids can move. I kind of wish the commercial was a little longer. 
You know how sometimes the most bizarre things can come up in a family conversation? Well, I had that experience yesterday and it sent me on a mission to find the Fig Newton commercial that ran during the 70s. So, for absolutely no good reason, here it is!