MetaFilter posts tagged with commercials

Spock vs. Spock

Podkayne of Pasadena — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:17:06 -0800

The greatest car commercial ever !! Old Spock (Nimoy) and New Spock (Quinto) come together (and battle it out) in what is likely the best car commercial that you ever saw (or will see). Chock full of Star Trek references there's even a scene with Nimoy humming along to "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" . Awesomeness follows ...

The Japanese Version

Monsieur Caution — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:19:13 -0800

In the late '80s, documentarians Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker spent six months in Tokyo looking at how symbols and imagery familiar to Americans had been appropriated and given new significance in Japan. Though more than 20 years old, the resulting video remains popular in undergraduate courses across the social sciences and humanities in part because it's so entertaining.

Viewing guide distributed with the video.
Transcript of the video.
Viewing notes from Anthro 254 at Yale.
Critical commentary by a prof of Japanese history at Columbia.
Source for the DVD.

Thanks, Obama.

Pope Guilty — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:13:52 -0800

A series of GIFs captures the difficult lives of people in infomercials.

Is it a sinister government experiment, designed to brainwash children?

eric1halfb — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:44:15 -0800

Digging up long forgotten memories for a generation who spent their formative years glued to the boob tube, Memorex is a veritable nostalgia nuke for children of the 80s. Endless beach parties, Saturday morning cartoons, claymation everything, sleek cars, sexy babes, toys you forgot existed, station idents, primitive computer animation, all your favorite sugary cereal mascots, and so much more. An ode to the hyper consumerism and sleek veneer of a simpler time. (previously)

Gatorade is the Gillette of Fuel

Krazor — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:03:33 -0800

It's no secret that eleven-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte has given some less than stellar interviews, but did you know that he's also terrible at commercials? [MLYT] Brought to you by The Second City Network

Variations on a steem

EJXD2 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:42:49 -0800

Mia Gentile covers the Stanley Steemer jingle again (goth) and again (50s girl band) and again (a la Avril Lavigne) and...

How would you feel if somebody was out there using your name for purposes of their own—without your knowledge?

Potomac Avenue — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:13:50 -0800

Anthony Bourdain is "fighting mad" at the Travel Channel for editing him into a commercial without his permission. He expressed his rage on twitter first, and then in a long post on his tumblr blog: "All of us on the show would have preferred to go out on a high note—and we tried to do that as best we could, turning in a strong, final season that we are very proud of. We wanted to go leaving a lot of great shows—and nothing but good memories and good will behind...But things just didn’t turn out that way." Bourdain Previously

He's a sneaky one

Clustercuss — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:32:15 -0800

Just in time for election season, royalty-free music site firstcom has released a playlist of music for attack ads. You can choose the dramatic "Negative Vibes," the dual-mood "Compared to What's His Name," the dark "He's a Sneaky One" or the anthemic "Better Days Ahead." Firstcom also has playlists for pirates, extreme weather and science and technology.

Working, playing, day or night, the look that's right

mrgrimm — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:30:33 -0800

Jeans. Jeans. Jeans. JEANS! (via)

113 Super Smash Mega Fantastic Dynamic Sensual Explosive Electrifying Spectacular Hits

mintcake! — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 09:06:11 -0800

Oh, hey - the 113 K-Tel commercials you ordered have arrived. 20 All-Time Greats Of The '50s Vol. 2 20 Electrifying Hits, 20 Original Stars 20 Explosive Hits, 20 Original Stars 20 Famous Country Hits 20 Heavy Hits 20 Irish Party Songs 20 Power Hits Vol. 2 20 Solid Hits 22 Explosive Hits 24 Country Gospel Greats 24 Country & Western Greats 24 Great Tear Jerkers 25 Greatest Hits Of Sesame Street 25 Polka Greats 25 Rockin' & Rollin' Greats 25 Rock Revival Greats 26 Sing Along Honky Tonk Greats 36 Super Gold Hits 40 #1 Hits 44 Golden Greats 50 Children's Favorites 60 Juke Box Hits 101% Klassik Adventures In Storyland Axe Attack Axe Attack Vol. 2 Believe In Music Best Of Britain Best Of Country Music Best Of Hooked On Classics Block Buster Breakdance Bright Side Of Music California Sun Can You Feel It Chart Explosion Chart Hits '81 Classic Opera Classics 100 Classics For Today Country Flashbacks Country Road Country Sundown Country Superstars Danser Encore Dumb Ditties Dynamite Fantastic Flashback Fever Forever Lennon & McCartney Friends & Lovers Get Down With Boogie Girls Girls Girls Golden Greats Golden Melodies Goodtime Music Goofy Greats Great Italian Love Songs Heartbeat Of The '70s & '80s Hit Machine Hit Mix Hot Bubblegum In Concert It's Gospel Juke Box Jive Kooky Toones Looney Tunes Love Album Magic Reggae Masters Of Metal MasterWorks Mellow Mind Bender Mounting Excitement Movin' On Music Power Night Life Night Moves Out Of Sight Pardon My Blooper Pin-Ball Rock Platinum Album Play It Again Power House Power Play Pure Gold Pure Power Radio Veronica - 40 All-Time Greatest Hits Rejoice Rhythm 'N Reggae Right On Rock '80 Rock '84 Rock & Roll Rockin' & Rollin' Rock Rules OK Songs Of Joy Sorrisos E Lagrimas Soul City Souled Out Sound System Sounds Spectacular Southern Fried Rock Super Star Collection Superstars In Country Music Starflight Star Power Stars Straight From The Heart Super Bad Super Bad Is Back Superhits Of The Superstars Superstars Greatest Hits NOTE: The vast majority of these are courtesy of the 'KtelClassics' YouTube account. THANK YOU, whichever intern spent a month digitizing and uploading this stuff.

The Story of Jay Fucking Over Brian and Travis

mrgrimm — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:00:18 -0800

Dear Jay Leno ... "First off, my intention is not to fight you on this. You have more cars than I have dollars, and so I know I don’t stand a chance legally ..." - "An Open Letter to Jay Leno About Stealing My Video and Then Getting It Removed From YouTube" * YouTube: The Big Copyright Lie * Who Owns Your YouTube video? * YouTube appeals German copyright ruling * Untangling Cover Song Licensing on YouTube * YouTube user receives copyright takedown for video with birds singing in background * Original "rickroll" video removed from YouTube due to copyright claim by ... AVG?!

If it's out there, it's in here.

Orinda — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:45:41 -0800

Ding! Furniture stripping. Rock drills. Herbs. Die casting. Dumbwaiters. Conductive shoes. Vanity cases. Civil engineers. If it's out there, it's in here. [MLYT] If you watched television in the northeastern US in the late 1980s, you probably remember the NYNEX Yellow Pages ads by California ad agency Chiat/Day. In a frenetic market, the spots were praised for using humor and "pure-concept, minimalist stuff" to capture consumers' attention. p.s. I couldn't find the "Fishing tackle" ad I remember. Can anyone else come up with a link?

The S-T period to the I-D-E to the S!

ignignokt — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:05:06 -0800

In 1991, Ice Cube was a force of nature. The idea that he could someday star in Are We There Yet? was inconceivable. Still, commercialism wasn't foreign to him. He shilled St. Ides malt liquor as furiously as he called out the police.

St. Ides, manufactured by Pabst Brewing Company, targeted young black people. They built an advertising strategy around rappers and hired DJ Pooh to produce beats and commercials. Rappers responded with zeal. They started with King Tee, but Cube soon became their linchpin (or perhaps linchpin), making half a dozen jingles with DJ Pooh. (They didn't mind jackin' their own beats. Track #2 is an adaptation of Jackin' for Beats. The last track reprises the schtick from It's a Man's World, featuring Yo-Yo taking a feminist stand on the drinking 40s.) Pooh and Ice Cube brought in the Geto Boys to get some St. Ides ends. EPMD joined the business (along with Pooh's beat from A Bird in the Hand). Eric B and Rakim lended some of their GOAT rep to the malt liquor. Kool G Rap tapped on the bottle. St. Ides established a Wu-Tang quorum for a radio spot and had Raekwon shooting lasers in Shaolin for TV. Cypress Hill took a break from the bong to warn about drinking and driving. But also to encourage drinking. In the G-Funk era, they introduced flavors. Tupac and Snoop came on board to push blueberry. Warren G and Nate Dogg weren't left out, and Dre showed up to smile and nod at the end of a commercial dominated by phallic special effects. Who couldn't they get? Public Enemy. St. Ides definitely tried. But Chuck D noted they didn't sell that shit in the white neighborhood.

Let's Start A Movement!

hermitosis — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 07:48:45 -0800

Drag star Varla Jean Merman is the new spokesmodel for Fleet enemas. Her commercials: Part 1, Part 2, cabaret version. Previously: Varla's Schoolhouse Rock.

"Warren G, what are you doing here?!"

mrgrimm — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:53:45 -0800

"Warren G, what are you doing here?!" ... "What does it look like I'm doing?!" ... Legendary recording artist, Warren G, offers a little help to a man struggling to satisfy his woman. "Are you my waiter?" ... "Nah, I'm the Regulator." (MLYT) (via)

Boy, those French. They have a different word for everything

growabrain — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 09:16:32 -0800

4 photogenic youngsters travel to beautiful cities, to Paris, Barcelona, Beijing & London. Short, upbeat commercials by Gustav Johansson & Albin Holmqvist for a French language school

How much does McDonald's spend on advertising? "Uh, lots."

evilcolonel — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 08:45:16 -0800

Behind the scenes of a McDonaldland commercial in the 1970s McDonaldland outtakes The fake McDonald's restaurant in City of Industry, CA used to film commercials

Canadian Tire knows you want to exploit Charles Dickens' legacy this holiday season

mightygodking — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:25:32 -0800

If you lived in Canada in the 80s and 90s, then the holiday season meant one thing: Give like Santa, save like Scrooge.

"What's the difference between a virus and windows ? Viruses rarely fail."

Fizz — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:09:11 -0800

Symantec’s “Hack Is Wack,” And Cybersecurity’s Most Embarassing Marketing Campaigns: Hack is Wack previously Jackie Chan - Kaspersky 2010 Antivirus Commercial. Ex Gang member turns Computer Hacker. Don't Copy That Floppy. & Don't Copy That Floppy 2.0.

Ending the Hurf Durf

emilyd22222 — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:40:53 -0800

About-Face aims to provide women and girls with skills to critically examine media messages that affect their positive self-image. Their website is a one-stop shop for simple, direct, teen-friendly educational materials about female self-esteem and body image. Some highlights:

The Gallery of Winners, which collects positive media messages around female self-image, and The Gallery of Offenders, which contains examples of negative media messages. Most have "questions to consider," which could be starting points for discussion of media with teens. A fact sheet that presents obesity as a complex issue, tied but not equivalent to health problems, and marketed by the media in a way that promotes body dissatisfaction and stigma. A blog geared towards discussion of entertainment consumed by teens and young women, such as ABC's Huge and Twilight. A list of ways for women to make changes to improve their self-esteem and empower themselves. Resources for parents and teachers, including parenting techniques that foster the development of positive self-image and aim to prevent disordered eating. Previous posts about portrayal of women in the media on Metafilter

Literary Superheroes

GatorDavid — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:07:56 -0800

Looking for literary superheroes? Behold the awesome powers of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne! (SLYT)

My Movie Has a First Name, It's O-S-C-A-R...

oneswellfoop — Wed, 05 May 2010 03:59:46 -0800

Don't like those commercials that run before the movies in the theaters? Well, this weekend, Kraft Foods is introducing something new to screens across the U.S., "two- to three-minute branded-entertainment vignettes" that promise NOT to "knock you over the head with a bat as a brand commercial", but instead they... well... here's an example: Lunchables kids' meals present: Alien Field Trip* (Warning: more artificially cheesy than Cheez Whiz). Kraft and other big advertisers are betting that long-form ads will be "the Wave of the Future", and the perfect audience for them will be the folks who have already paid to see "Iron Man 2", "Sex and the City 2" or "Toy Story 3". What could possibly go wrong? *For those of you who don't want to sit through the 3 minute video, "Alien Field Trip" is a stunt in which a class of kids on a field trip to a 'space center' are introduced to real live aliens from another planet (NOT), ending with a 15-second plug for an Oscar Mayer-sponsored "50 field trips" sweepstakes.

Bad credit or no credit? No Problem! Are you on welfare? Social Security? No Problem! You have to see the Special Man

grapefoot — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:09:14 -0800

Bad credit or no credit? No Problem! Are you on welfare? Social Security? No Problem! You have to see the Special Man!

Local Commercials GONE WILD

not_on_display — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:07:56 -0800

Rhett and Link love local commercials, and, with a sponsorship by MicroBilt, they want to visit your town to make one! Don't worry [NSFW], they've had experience doing this kind of thing in the past. • Rhett and Link's website and YouTube channel are chock full of fun stuff besides commercials--why, they even helped me learn all about regional variations of southern BBQ! • [ many previous appearances ]

Vintage German Illustration

Fiasco da Gama — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:54:09 -0800

Vintage German illustrations, poster art, and advertisments.