“For whatever reason it moves the needle for them. I don’t know why.”
September 22, 2018 4:17 PM Subscribe
How a small company in Malden created the Greatest TV Commercial Ever Made At this point — if you haven’t done it already — it might be time to watch this thing again. But I’ve already been over it like it’s the Zapruder film. I know that the dogwalker in the background was a happy accident; I know that the lemonade at the end is weirdly clear because the pitcher was full of real ice on a very hot day; I know that Dodd’s shirt-tug at the beginning was ad-libbed. So I’m going to sit this viewing out and I’ll see you in two minutes.
Here's the commercial being discussed.
What's mostly weird is that they must have gone through redubbed them after they raised the price in the 14 years since the commercial was made. At 0:29, you can hear him say "as little as five hundred and ninety nine dollars" but his lips are definitely saying "as little as three hundred and ninety nine dollars."
posted by RubixsQube at 4:28 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
What's mostly weird is that they must have gone through redubbed them after they raised the price in the 14 years since the commercial was made. At 0:29, you can hear him say "as little as five hundred and ninety nine dollars" but his lips are definitely saying "as little as three hundred and ninety nine dollars."
posted by RubixsQube at 4:28 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
RubixQube: the dubbing is specifically mentioned in the article. Which is worth reading.
posted by hippybear at 4:30 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 4:30 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
Nice try, but this is the maximum TV ad. That thing ran until at least 1980 in Atlanta.
posted by thelonius at 4:51 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 4:51 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'll see your Sunsetter ad and raise you any "Cal Worthington and his dog Spot" ad...
posted by PhineasGage at 4:58 PM on September 22, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by PhineasGage at 4:58 PM on September 22, 2018 [16 favorites]
what I found odd is that piece does not mention or make refernce to thenfact that the company appears to have addressed what appears to be a primary sales challenge, those support spars. There is a reverse up at an extending awning: no spars. At the end, with the showcase shot of all that free littracha, you can see that the cover of one of the items features a sparless awning.
Where is journalistic responsibility in this piece? What happened to the spars, Nestor? What are you leaving out, and why? Have the spars been removed from the marketplace due to "national security," much like the Fisher-Price Pixelvision?
(yes I am only joking mostly. I am a little puzzled by Wikipedia's not including the specific scuttlebutt I refer to regarding the Pixelvision. The story I heard was that F-P sold their entire fabricated stock of the CCDs used in the camera, including fully-manufactured units which were disassembled and repurposed, to be used as the disposable guidance cameras in the smart bombs used by US forces during the first Gulf War.)
posted by mwhybark at 5:00 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Where is journalistic responsibility in this piece? What happened to the spars, Nestor? What are you leaving out, and why? Have the spars been removed from the marketplace due to "national security," much like the Fisher-Price Pixelvision?
(yes I am only joking mostly. I am a little puzzled by Wikipedia's not including the specific scuttlebutt I refer to regarding the Pixelvision. The story I heard was that F-P sold their entire fabricated stock of the CCDs used in the camera, including fully-manufactured units which were disassembled and repurposed, to be used as the disposable guidance cameras in the smart bombs used by US forces during the first Gulf War.)
posted by mwhybark at 5:00 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yeah, Cal, like Vern Fonk made a ton of ads, I think this is longevity for a single ad. I'm still trying to get to the article, though.
posted by lkc at 5:03 PM on September 22, 2018
posted by lkc at 5:03 PM on September 22, 2018
This is fascinating. Some friends of mine ordered that DVD when the first one of us bought a house. Have a few cocktails, watch an advertising DVD. Good time.
For the record, I’ve been trying to get my wife to buy a Sunsetter awning since we moved into our house but she won’t go for it. I think she thinks I’m kidding, like the very idea of this old-fart infomercial product is a joke, but I am dead serious.
Our deck is wicked hot, you guys.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:08 PM on September 22, 2018 [14 favorites]
For the record, I’ve been trying to get my wife to buy a Sunsetter awning since we moved into our house but she won’t go for it. I think she thinks I’m kidding, like the very idea of this old-fart infomercial product is a joke, but I am dead serious.
Our deck is wicked hot, you guys.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:08 PM on September 22, 2018 [14 favorites]
Weird, I don’t subscribe to the Globe and had no trouble with the article. My apologies if it’s blocked for you.
posted by schoolgirl report at 5:09 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by schoolgirl report at 5:09 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Every generation has their Freedom Rock, man.
posted by phooky at 5:11 PM on September 22, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by phooky at 5:11 PM on September 22, 2018 [16 favorites]
Turn it up, man!
posted by uncleozzy at 5:13 PM on September 22, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 5:13 PM on September 22, 2018 [16 favorites]
When you're thinkin'....
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:17 PM on September 22, 2018
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:17 PM on September 22, 2018
If it's not Major Stuart Benest, it doesn't count - "Gone are the days when bacon was exclusive to breakfast!"
posted by carsondial at 5:25 PM on September 22, 2018
posted by carsondial at 5:25 PM on September 22, 2018
The trendy way to shade your patio now is with one or more of those asymmetric twisty shade sail things.
posted by w0mbat at 5:29 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by w0mbat at 5:29 PM on September 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
> removed from the marketplace due to "national security," much like the Fisher-Price Pixelvision?
What?
posted by glonous keming at 5:31 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
What?
posted by glonous keming at 5:31 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
I don't have a dog in the "greatest ad of all time" fight, not even one named Spot, but the importance of information delivery in ads is really interesting. At work the TV plays while I'm preparing things for the morning, so I hear it but don't really see what's being shown. Nonetheless, I can virtually repeat verbatim a number of the regularly played ads by dint of how the scripts are delivered while others played in equal frequency don't stick at all and others become downright grating.
An ad with Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete for Lipozene which is made with the rare Konjac root which contains glucomannan a very safe and effective weight loss supplement* and Alex Trebeck three Ps for buying life insurance on a fixed budget both stick to the point where I catch myself parroting the information in the different intonations and cadences of the actors as they deliver their lines. While an ad for some constipation remedy causes me to immediately wince and never gets me to remember the product because the actor's delivery is so ungodly awful, with the woman finding some unholy combination of Brenda Vacarro's gasping and Woody Allen's smugness. And then there's the My Pillow ads which matches a faux-casual "improv" with a purposeful meta "cleverness" in such a bizarre fashion that makes me stop and gape when they come on trying to figure out how it came to be.
It's an arcane art that bears further study, so I enjoyed the article for making a start on that for no money down or easy payments required.
*Citation needed I know
posted by gusottertrout at 5:34 PM on September 22, 2018 [7 favorites]
An ad with Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete for Lipozene which is made with the rare Konjac root which contains glucomannan a very safe and effective weight loss supplement* and Alex Trebeck three Ps for buying life insurance on a fixed budget both stick to the point where I catch myself parroting the information in the different intonations and cadences of the actors as they deliver their lines. While an ad for some constipation remedy causes me to immediately wince and never gets me to remember the product because the actor's delivery is so ungodly awful, with the woman finding some unholy combination of Brenda Vacarro's gasping and Woody Allen's smugness. And then there's the My Pillow ads which matches a faux-casual "improv" with a purposeful meta "cleverness" in such a bizarre fashion that makes me stop and gape when they come on trying to figure out how it came to be.
It's an arcane art that bears further study, so I enjoyed the article for making a start on that for no money down or easy payments required.
*Citation needed I know
posted by gusottertrout at 5:34 PM on September 22, 2018 [7 favorites]
I have to say, if I had made that commercial, I'd feel like I'd earned my pay. You'd have to have worked in the field a long time and have a perfect mastery of your trade, I think, to pull that off. (Someone - Eliot? - said something similar about the opening scene of Hamlet.)
posted by Caxton1476 at 5:39 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Caxton1476 at 5:39 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
What happened to the spars, Nestor?
In the hierarchy of unanswered accusatory pop culture questions, I feel this is just behind, “Where’s Wallace at, String?” and ahead of, “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:44 PM on September 22, 2018 [10 favorites]
In the hierarchy of unanswered accusatory pop culture questions, I feel this is just behind, “Where’s Wallace at, String?” and ahead of, “What’s the frequency, Kenneth?”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:44 PM on September 22, 2018 [10 favorites]
You can't have a discussion on "long-lived, seeming ubiquitous commercials featuring a 90s-styled couple complaining about the heat in their home" without the 'Another Scorcher' Sears air conditioning ad.
As someone primarily raised on 90s American cable television, I witnessed this ad several thousand times – sometimes twice within the same commercial break.
posted by workingdankoch at 5:46 PM on September 22, 2018 [20 favorites]
As someone primarily raised on 90s American cable television, I witnessed this ad several thousand times – sometimes twice within the same commercial break.
posted by workingdankoch at 5:46 PM on September 22, 2018 [20 favorites]
I had no idea this was a thing.
The house I bought six years ago has a Sunsetter lag-bolted to the back. I’ve made a few half-hearted attempts to unfurl it but never persisted long enough to actually accomplish the task. I even skimmed the manual, which we got from the previous owners along with that same stack of sales literature, and lost interest somewhere around Step 19. My resolve is not boosted by the fact that it’s on the north-northeast side and under the canopy of a very large tree, i.e. it wouldn’t do anything anyhow.
posted by jon1270 at 5:55 PM on September 22, 2018
The house I bought six years ago has a Sunsetter lag-bolted to the back. I’ve made a few half-hearted attempts to unfurl it but never persisted long enough to actually accomplish the task. I even skimmed the manual, which we got from the previous owners along with that same stack of sales literature, and lost interest somewhere around Step 19. My resolve is not boosted by the fact that it’s on the north-northeast side and under the canopy of a very large tree, i.e. it wouldn’t do anything anyhow.
posted by jon1270 at 5:55 PM on September 22, 2018
Ugh that sears one. She can’t call sears? I’m assuming because he makes the money and she’s not allowed to make such a big purchase with it? Blargh.
posted by greermahoney at 6:21 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by greermahoney at 6:21 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
This delightful ad was on local channels in Brisbane, Australia for over 20 years. It still haunts me.
posted by h00py at 6:22 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by h00py at 6:22 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
It still haunts me.
Understandable. Mom is clearly delighted to a Macaulay Culkin degree with that upholstery.
In the Toronto part of the world, we had this sort of thing. He is still at it decades later, with only slightly better production values. The newer one would never inspire anything as glorious as the SCTV spoof, though.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:36 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Understandable. Mom is clearly delighted to a Macaulay Culkin degree with that upholstery.
In the Toronto part of the world, we had this sort of thing. He is still at it decades later, with only slightly better production values. The newer one would never inspire anything as glorious as the SCTV spoof, though.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:36 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Chicago: "Look at those low rates!" (if you don't know which ad I mean you're not a Chicagoan)
Edmonton: any ad for The Brick.
posted by aramaic at 6:53 PM on September 22, 2018 [4 favorites]
Edmonton: any ad for The Brick.
posted by aramaic at 6:53 PM on September 22, 2018 [4 favorites]
Greatest.
Awnings.
Greatest.
Depressing. I hope their awning catches fire.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:54 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Awnings.
Greatest.
Depressing. I hope their awning catches fire.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:54 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've never actually lived anywhere where too much sunlight was an issue. Rain sure but not sunlight.
posted by octothorpe at 7:32 PM on September 22, 2018
posted by octothorpe at 7:32 PM on September 22, 2018
While an ad for some constipation remedy causes me to immediately wince and never gets me to remember the product because the actor's delivery is so ungodly awful...
There’s also the case where the ad is so well played, viewers don’t recall the product it was pitching. Case in point: Alka seltzer’s ”Spicy Meatball” from 1969, which many viewers thought was a commercial for spaghetti sauce.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:39 PM on September 22, 2018 [8 favorites]
There’s also the case where the ad is so well played, viewers don’t recall the product it was pitching. Case in point: Alka seltzer’s ”Spicy Meatball” from 1969, which many viewers thought was a commercial for spaghetti sauce.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:39 PM on September 22, 2018 [8 favorites]
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
posted by logicpunk at 7:47 PM on September 22, 2018 [13 favorites]
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
Sunsetter retractable awnings: apply directly to the forehead!
posted by logicpunk at 7:47 PM on September 22, 2018 [13 favorites]
I just watched the commercial for what I think is the first time; I don't watch much TV. Now I'm torn between wanting to mock it and wanting to go buy a retractable awning, which would actually be put to really good use on my deck. Please advise.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:01 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:01 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
Wait, the leader of the beings who create machinery to protect their sensitive skin from the harmful rays of the sun is named MORLOCK?
posted by moonmilk at 8:17 PM on September 22, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by moonmilk at 8:17 PM on September 22, 2018 [10 favorites]
"Bula Vinaka, Beachside!"
I'd really love to know what goes on in people's heads. The dubbed version tests better than a cut away to the new price? I mean what?
posted by ob1quixote at 8:18 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'd really love to know what goes on in people's heads. The dubbed version tests better than a cut away to the new price? I mean what?
posted by ob1quixote at 8:18 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Ummm... they work reasonably well? They do what's advertised at a reasonable price?
Now. If you want real front-page post content involving New England and UHF television advertisement and jaw dropping insanity...
GREETINGS, EARTHLINGS!
I'M FROM MARS!
MY NAME IS ROBILAR AND...
... I EAT ALL KINDS OF CANDY BARS!
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:53 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
Now. If you want real front-page post content involving New England and UHF television advertisement and jaw dropping insanity...
GREETINGS, EARTHLINGS!
I'M FROM MARS!
MY NAME IS ROBILAR AND...
... I EAT ALL KINDS OF CANDY BARS!
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:53 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
Cullman Liquidation has been one of my faves since I saw it. (Previously)
"Get yourself a home. Or don't. I don't care."
*eagle cry*
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:58 PM on September 22, 2018 [11 favorites]
"Get yourself a home. Or don't. I don't care."
*eagle cry*
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:58 PM on September 22, 2018 [11 favorites]
I still get the RB Furniture song stuck in my head now and then
posted by moonmilk at 9:06 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by moonmilk at 9:06 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
I get it. You just made us watch a commercial for retractable awnings. Good one.
posted by goatdog at 9:11 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by goatdog at 9:11 PM on September 22, 2018 [6 favorites]
This delightful ad was on local channels in Brisbane, Australia for over 20 years. It still haunts me.
♬John Gill the Timber Man
posted by adept256 at 9:12 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
♬John Gill the Timber Man
posted by adept256 at 9:12 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Selling awnings to younger generations is a challenge that even David and Shauna can’t solve.
You don't have much of a use for an awning if you can't afford a house.
posted by Miko at 9:28 PM on September 22, 2018 [17 favorites]
You don't have much of a use for an awning if you can't afford a house.
posted by Miko at 9:28 PM on September 22, 2018 [17 favorites]
Millennials killed awnings!
posted by thelonius at 9:30 PM on September 22, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 9:30 PM on September 22, 2018 [13 favorites]
As someone growing up in Connecticut in the 90s, it was Bob's Discount Furniture ads. Not one specific ad, but the format has remained the same even as Bob has gotten older.
posted by mrzarquon at 10:03 PM on September 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by mrzarquon at 10:03 PM on September 22, 2018 [5 favorites]
God bless Nestor. And everyone involved in that ad.
posted by davidmsc at 10:09 PM on September 22, 2018
posted by davidmsc at 10:09 PM on September 22, 2018
On my way into work I cross a street called Lynnfield and every single day I hear a snippet of an old Boston-area radio ad: "on the Lynnway in Lynn!"
I think it was for a car dealership.
posted by bendy at 10:43 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
I think it was for a car dealership.
posted by bendy at 10:43 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Chicago: "Look at those low rates!" (if you don't know which ad I mean you're not a Chicagoan)
Or too old of one, because I don't know what you're talking about, despite being instantly triggered by "Rock-a-bye-your-baby!" and "That old car is worth money!"
posted by davejay at 11:10 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Or too old of one, because I don't know what you're talking about, despite being instantly triggered by "Rock-a-bye-your-baby!" and "That old car is worth money!"
posted by davejay at 11:10 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
I don't know what you're talking about
I've got something forrr youuuu!
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:31 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
I've got something forrr youuuu!
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:31 PM on September 22, 2018 [2 favorites]
Back in the 90's these awnings were the hot ticket to buy in the beach community on NYC's Rockaway Peninsula that I grew up in if you didn't have a covered deck. My uncle was the first person to buy one in the community. They worked pretty well for what they were, actually.
posted by KingEdRa at 11:42 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by KingEdRa at 11:42 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
If we're doing good bad ads, or furniture ads, Melbourne's Franco Cozzo is world famous in Melbourne.
posted by quinndexter at 12:27 AM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by quinndexter at 12:27 AM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
The story I heard was that F-P sold their entire fabricated stock of the CCDs used in the camera, including fully-manufactured units which were disassembled and repurposed, to be used as the disposable guidance cameras in the smart bombs used by US forces during the first Gulf War.
Yeah, I remember that. That was back when Nato commandeered an entire Christmas season's run of Lego to construct a new weapon. It was found to be most effective if detonated directly over civilian targets in the middle of the night, when a series of loud fireworks would send groggy barefooted people running into streets now entirely carpeted with scattered Lego.
posted by pracowity at 2:15 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I remember that. That was back when Nato commandeered an entire Christmas season's run of Lego to construct a new weapon. It was found to be most effective if detonated directly over civilian targets in the middle of the night, when a series of loud fireworks would send groggy barefooted people running into streets now entirely carpeted with scattered Lego.
posted by pracowity at 2:15 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
I've been entranced by this commercial and now I know why.
A discussion about long running commercials and no one's mentioned Discount Tire? Too obvious?
posted by bongo_x at 2:45 AM on September 23, 2018
A discussion about long running commercials and no one's mentioned Discount Tire? Too obvious?
posted by bongo_x at 2:45 AM on September 23, 2018
I kept waiting for the part where it became a good commercial? Or interesting? Or funny? Or something?
And it didn't happen, so ... huh?
posted by kyrademon at 3:19 AM on September 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
And it didn't happen, so ... huh?
posted by kyrademon at 3:19 AM on September 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
That is the mystery, isn't it? The same commercial produces the most sales despite it being basically mayonnaise. That is entirely the mystery the article posted explores. It offers no explanation, just affirmation of the data-driven truth.
posted by hippybear at 3:26 AM on September 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:26 AM on September 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
"Hey, Good-Lookin, we'll be back for you later!"
posted by Chitownfats at 4:50 AM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Chitownfats at 4:50 AM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
In Rochester, NY we have the House of Guitars commercials that only appear on late-night television. He's the real Easter Bunny, hop hop!
posted by tommasz at 5:48 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 5:48 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
We still have Bob's Discount Furniture ads in NJ, the real Bob is old with white hair, the cartoon Bob is young with brown hair. They are on all day every day on cable.
posted by mermayd at 6:56 AM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mermayd at 6:56 AM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
As a long time Tampa Bay resident since 1972, I've seen enough Sun Setter commericals to last a life time, but I will never get enough of the Tom Stimus/Dusty Rhodes tag team, selling conversion vans, baby!
More Dusty and Tom.
More more Dusty and Tom.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 7:01 AM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
More Dusty and Tom.
More more Dusty and Tom.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 7:01 AM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
My annual television watching is probably less than three hours, so I never saw this commercial. But I'm a Costco member, and Costco promotes Sunsetter awnings pretty heavily. So, since for the past several years I've been researching affordable, long-term/permanent solutions for my hot, blindingly sunny patio, a Sunsetter awning was always in my top three list.
I ended up getting one of those gazebos featured every spring at Costco, because it was actually less expensive than the deluxe Sunsetter awning with the wind sensor (to automatically retract it in high winds when no one is home). Beats the heck out of me that an actual structure is cheaper than an awning, but there it is.
posted by Lunaloon at 7:02 AM on September 23, 2018
I ended up getting one of those gazebos featured every spring at Costco, because it was actually less expensive than the deluxe Sunsetter awning with the wind sensor (to automatically retract it in high winds when no one is home). Beats the heck out of me that an actual structure is cheaper than an awning, but there it is.
posted by Lunaloon at 7:02 AM on September 23, 2018
Folks from the Capital region of NY state will of course be familiar with Billy Fucillo's huge long running ad campaign
posted by dis_integration at 7:11 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 7:11 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
*answers phone, immediately turns to spouse*
"It's Patrick, he bought life insurance"
posted by nubs at 7:57 AM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
"It's Patrick, he bought life insurance"
posted by nubs at 7:57 AM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
Maybe it's just a 'Burgh thing, but it's hard to beat Austin's cleaning products for great music.
posted by tommyD at 8:12 AM on September 23, 2018
posted by tommyD at 8:12 AM on September 23, 2018
> Ugh that sears one. She can’t call sears?
See, back in the time way back way back, it played as "woke", simply because:
- His modish haircut
- He actually listened to her suggestion. His manhood was not impacted, though, because he managed to shoot her that condescending little smirk at the end of "...I'll call now."
posted by Rat Spatula at 8:16 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
See, back in the time way back way back, it played as "woke", simply because:
- His modish haircut
- He actually listened to her suggestion. His manhood was not impacted, though, because he managed to shoot her that condescending little smirk at the end of "...I'll call now."
posted by Rat Spatula at 8:16 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Possibly a dumb question, but: what’s the appeal of an awning that goes away? I understand wanting a shady patio, but what’s a scenario where you’d want the shade gone?
posted by Ian A.T. at 9:36 AM on September 23, 2018
posted by Ian A.T. at 9:36 AM on September 23, 2018
Possibly a dumb question, but: what’s the appeal of an awning that goes away? I understand wanting a shady patio, but what’s a scenario where you’d want the shade gone?
Here in the northeast you don't want a somewhat flimsy awning out all winter covered in three feet of snow.
posted by freakazoid at 9:46 AM on September 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
Here in the northeast you don't want a somewhat flimsy awning out all winter covered in three feet of snow.
posted by freakazoid at 9:46 AM on September 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
You also don't want to block winter sunlight from coming in through your carefully oriented double-glazed equator-facing windows and messing up your house's carefully designed passive solar heating performance.
posted by flabdablet at 9:48 AM on September 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 9:48 AM on September 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
also, in the midwest, an awning like that is prone to go away for good during a bad thunderstorm
posted by pyramid termite at 10:09 AM on September 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 10:09 AM on September 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
I can't hear Beethoven's Fifth without also hearing, "Five ninety nine. Five ninety nine..."
posted by funkiwan at 10:17 AM on September 23, 2018
posted by funkiwan at 10:17 AM on September 23, 2018
The actress seems a bit manic (what the article describes as "weirdly intense").
My mother and I were in a full-page newspaper ad for a county fair that was reprinted in the local newspaper every year for about 7 years. It was a candid action photo of the two of us on the tilt a whirl (no one asked if they could use the photo for a newspaper ad). I was about 3 years old.
I think they kept using it because we both look genuinely happy and excited to be on the ride.
My parents have a sunsetter awning on their house, BTW.
posted by subdee at 10:48 AM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
My mother and I were in a full-page newspaper ad for a county fair that was reprinted in the local newspaper every year for about 7 years. It was a candid action photo of the two of us on the tilt a whirl (no one asked if they could use the photo for a newspaper ad). I was about 3 years old.
I think they kept using it because we both look genuinely happy and excited to be on the ride.
My parents have a sunsetter awning on their house, BTW.
posted by subdee at 10:48 AM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Those awnings are actually really well thought out and useful and I can see why the ad does well. You know its the right company and not some half ass knock off.
The currently popular sail awnings are far less functional in so many ways.
posted by fshgrl at 11:01 AM on September 23, 2018
The currently popular sail awnings are far less functional in so many ways.
posted by fshgrl at 11:01 AM on September 23, 2018
tommyD: "Maybe it's just a 'Burgh thing, but it's hard to beat Austin's cleaning products for great music."
Huh, I've never seen that. It is pretty annoying though.
posted by octothorpe at 11:15 AM on September 23, 2018
Huh, I've never seen that. It is pretty annoying though.
posted by octothorpe at 11:15 AM on September 23, 2018
Is that a rhino ordering a drink? NOPE...
(how has this not been linked yet!)
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 11:28 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
(how has this not been linked yet!)
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 11:28 AM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Once you have a hit, the industry keeps track of you,” he said. Next thing you know, you’re selling water purification systems and interviewing chimps.
The advertising/entertainment industry has a different definition of success than most. I have no hope of interviewing chimps in my profession.
posted by eye of newt at 12:40 PM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
The advertising/entertainment industry has a different definition of success than most. I have no hope of interviewing chimps in my profession.
posted by eye of newt at 12:40 PM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's typical for West Texas that the most ubiquitous TV ads I can remember are for boot stores. In my dying dreams, I will still hear the tinny synth jingle for Woods Boots. And Pee Wee Dalton's has been running ads with the owner having boots tossed at his head for longer than I've been alive. Weirdly, I can't find any of the ads online except for this one en español. "We're out on highway 80 and PLEASE COME SEE US!"
posted by nicebookrack at 1:06 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by nicebookrack at 1:06 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
Ummmm surely this is the greatest commercial ever made?
posted by kaymac at 2:16 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by kaymac at 2:16 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
In the Portland area, we had Tom Peterson, who made a whole slew of commercials for his appliance store chain. I still associate him with Letterman and hanging out in my dorm tv room.
He even had a cameo in "My Own Private Idaho" (my friend Janet and I saw it in a theater in NJ or NY and definitely were the only people in the room who got that reference).
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:47 PM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
He even had a cameo in "My Own Private Idaho" (my friend Janet and I saw it in a theater in NJ or NY and definitely were the only people in the room who got that reference).
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:47 PM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
When I first moved to Portland, it was Tom Peterson (and Gloria's Too!) advertising free hot dogs and haircuts for the kids. As long as you wanted your kid to have his haircut!
I'll have to rewatch My Own Private Idaho just to see what other landmarks I've missed.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 4:45 PM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'll have to rewatch My Own Private Idaho just to see what other landmarks I've missed.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 4:45 PM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
This guy was the regional bantamweight champeen of WTF did I just watch ads in Indiana in the 1980s.
posted by mwhybark at 4:54 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 4:54 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
In Rochester, NY we have the House of Guitars commercials that only appear on late-night television.
I did my undergrad at RIT, and OMFG I remember those ads. In particular, one where, as part of the background antics, there was a guy holding a trumpet to his forehead, face contorted like he was trying (unsuccessfully) to blow that horn with his third eye. It was super creepy and I wonder if I really saw it at all...
(Also, I still have the 12" single remix of TMBG's "Istanbul not Constantinople" I bought there.)
"Hop Hop"
posted by mon-ma-tron at 9:00 PM on September 23, 2018
I did my undergrad at RIT, and OMFG I remember those ads. In particular, one where, as part of the background antics, there was a guy holding a trumpet to his forehead, face contorted like he was trying (unsuccessfully) to blow that horn with his third eye. It was super creepy and I wonder if I really saw it at all...
(Also, I still have the 12" single remix of TMBG's "Istanbul not Constantinople" I bought there.)
"Hop Hop"
posted by mon-ma-tron at 9:00 PM on September 23, 2018
Where I grew up it was the furniture stores that had the ads featuring people with crazy eyes shouting things at the camera repeatedly.
Furniture Factory Outlet always had "DEALS! ... DEALS! ... DEALS!" that we were exhorted to "come down and see." Goins Statewide Furniture thought it best to repeat their name at least once every six seconds.
Both featured jolly fellows with crazy eyes who constantly gesticulated in a circular pattern.
The car dealers and the medical supply stores were always the best for jingles, though. For well over a decade they all used a sing-a-long trope with karaoke-style lyrics shown at the bottom of the screen. One lone holdout refused to do jingles. His commercials all ended with a couple of seconds of silence followed by his name narrated as if the "in a world.." guy was doing his normal overly dramatic intonation but the director thought it wasn't quite corny enough and asked him to make his voice deeper.
posted by wierdo at 11:46 PM on September 23, 2018
Furniture Factory Outlet always had "DEALS! ... DEALS! ... DEALS!" that we were exhorted to "come down and see." Goins Statewide Furniture thought it best to repeat their name at least once every six seconds.
Both featured jolly fellows with crazy eyes who constantly gesticulated in a circular pattern.
The car dealers and the medical supply stores were always the best for jingles, though. For well over a decade they all used a sing-a-long trope with karaoke-style lyrics shown at the bottom of the screen. One lone holdout refused to do jingles. His commercials all ended with a couple of seconds of silence followed by his name narrated as if the "in a world.." guy was doing his normal overly dramatic intonation but the director thought it wasn't quite corny enough and asked him to make his voice deeper.
posted by wierdo at 11:46 PM on September 23, 2018
One aspect I appreciated, and which the article also calls out, is that there's no bumbling incompetent dad angle (or, the opposite, dad makes all the decisions assumption). They are presented as co-equals in wanting a shaded patio. That's something that makes it age well, I think.
posted by seyirci at 9:28 AM on September 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by seyirci at 9:28 AM on September 24, 2018 [3 favorites]
Since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun. I will do the next best thing; block it out!
posted by kirkaracha at 1:09 PM on September 24, 2018
posted by kirkaracha at 1:09 PM on September 24, 2018
Ugh that sears one. She can’t call sears? I’m assuming because he makes the money and she’s not allowed to make such a big purchase with it? Blargh.
No, no, no. He promised he would do it yesterday and he never did. If she went ahead and called Sears then that would be her doing all the emotional labor and the work labor to boot because he didn't fulfill his promise and instead is making her suffer in the heat while he reads the stupid funny section in the paper. He promised to do it yesterday, so he has to fucking Man-Up now and follow through. She fucking pulled that funny section down and told him to grow up and be a man and he LIKED IT.
posted by fantasticness at 9:47 PM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
No, no, no. He promised he would do it yesterday and he never did. If she went ahead and called Sears then that would be her doing all the emotional labor and the work labor to boot because he didn't fulfill his promise and instead is making her suffer in the heat while he reads the stupid funny section in the paper. He promised to do it yesterday, so he has to fucking Man-Up now and follow through. She fucking pulled that funny section down and told him to grow up and be a man and he LIKED IT.
posted by fantasticness at 9:47 PM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Shift it!
I pass this place at least a few times a week...
posted by davejay at 12:01 AM on September 27, 2018
I pass this place at least a few times a week...
posted by davejay at 12:01 AM on September 27, 2018
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posted by Anonymous at 4:20 PM on September 22, 2018