Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
I’ve discovered in my 47 years on this earth that some people have a fear of clowns. It actually has a name: Coulrophobia. I am not studied up enough to know why or how this fear develops, maybe from childhood traumas? My childhood was fine. There was Bozo and that’s basically all I knew of clowns, and he was funny. But others of you might first think of the clown from It and for that, I’m sorry… because he’s diabolical.
Anywho, I recently designed a clown for pickleball gear… based on this Instagram video:
It was an idea that didn’t really turn out like I had been hoping. Three stars. A nod to Tennessee with their tri-star state emblem, as seen in the state flag. I even got that design as my first tattoo; Tennessee is special to me. All I could come up with is three stars in line with a color canvas. I chose hot pink because…. yeah.
But translated into print on a hat just wasn’t working. The pink color was not as bright and it’s something about the CMYK color palette.
I tried other sorts of star combinations without being inspired to go further. I had no idea coming up with a design featuring stars would turn out to be a dud. Of course, it won’t be a dud forever, I hope. Just for now. So that idea was shelved and I moved on to another idea featuring everyone’s favorite bird– the pelican. Check back in tomorrow for a walkthrough of a brand new design featuring the coastal bird in my Out of the Wilderness merch store.
This commercial from Totino’s isn’t exactly new anymore but it still airs and when I see it, the phrase “You’re freeeeeeeee!” rattles around in my head the rest of that day. And I mean that in the best possible way. I also like that they didn’t spend a gazillion dollars on making the squirrel uber-realistic. I mean, it looks good, details are well-done, but they didn’t waste time studying the subtle movements of squirrels besides flipping its tail and jumping long distances. It’s meant to be funny, not biologically or scientifically accurate… down to the precise texture of the fur, for instance.
The tension comes to a crescendo as the one guy instructs another to stay still. Then he reaches for a pizza roll instead of helping with the squirrel. It’s silly comedy. But there’s something deeper: Could one of these human characters be the next “Plays With Squirrels”? That’s a Boy Meets World reference, just like this sweatshirt is for the die-hard BMW fan. I wonder if Totino’s has any plans for a follow-up commercial with the squirrel. I’d love to see a sqeaquel.
I didn’t expect to be drawn in so much for a commercial about family lineage. Don’t get me wrong, I love my ancestors but I was never interested in American or world history so by all measures, this commercial should bore me. And yet, I loved it. Ancestry asks viewers a simple question to claim their relevancy in our lives. Check it out…
I can answer their question. We know more about those historical figures and events because it was information delivered to us. All we had to do, for the most part, was just receive the information. On the other hand, since most of aren’t famous with historians or stalkers following our every move, it takes effort and work to find out about our personal histories. That’s where Ancestry comes in to come alongside us in our search. Pretty cool. Specifically about the commercial, though, I’m not sure why they included a clip of Disney and my first thought was wondering how expensive it must’ve been to license a Mickey Mouse video. Then it occurred to me that they used an OLD clip. It’s from “Steamboat Willie” (1928) and as of 2024, that film is public domain. As long as Ancestry’s depiction doesn’t infringe on more modern versions of Mickey Mouse or link Ancestry to Disney in some way, they’re good to go. So to answer my question in the title of this post, Ancestry isn’t bashing Disney.
Printify is manufacturing my ideas for hats, clothing, tech products, and more. I don’t know if they’re tickled to death over on their side of things, but I’m having a ball over here. It started with a few Mahjong accessories. I’d call Mahjong a global game because people all over the world play it. My latest design is the opposite… think: Local. Check out a simple graphic to show your hometown pride and pick out a few items from my store, Out of the Wilderness on Printify. Check out the “local” collection pictured below…
I can also do custom designs for a variety of products so leave a comment below if you have something in mind. Thanks for stopping by today…
Out of the Wilderness 