Is this Super Bowl commercial anti-American?

There’s a commercial airing during the Super Bowl and you might not immediately recognize the brand it’s advertising. But the message is still the same. Check out the new “He Gets Us” ad.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s in the Declaration of Independence– you know, the document Ben Gates stole in National Treasure. But the right to the “pursuit of happiness” is a little distorted when we’re not looking at it through the lens of a Biblical faith. When I worked in television, I experienced the same thing a lot of people do in their work. We’re supposed to want promotions and promotions and promotions. I was working as an Associate Producer and I loved it. Naturally, the next step was Producer. I was supposed to want that role. Except that I didn’t. I was content in my role supporting the Producer and taking care of tasks within my job responsibilities. I almost felt guilty about NOT wanting to move up.

The commercial paints a really great picture of life in America. We’re told that we should always want more. Never be content. Always go for more pleasure, more stuff, more promotions. Stepping outside on a clear winter night is a good reminder to take a breath. Look up… as does the woman at the end of the ad. The ad encourages us to recalibrate our mindset. Let go of the idea that we need, want, deserve all the gold the world has. Only Jesus can satisfy what we truly long for… and as soon as I can get that through my thick skull, I’ll let you know. 😉

-Out of the Wilderness

An Introduction to My New Printify Shop

We’re barely into February and this has already been a creative year for me. I’ve completed a few projects for my “day job” as a video editor, debuted a few new hat designs alongside my sister with our joint Etsy project Wild Hat Designs, and most recently I opened up a pop-up shop in Printify. The difference in the two stores I’m part of is this: For our Etsy shop, the products have already been manufactured and it’s strictly for hats. We box them up and mail them when orders come in. The Printify store, on the other hand, is “on-demand” orders so the designs and product mock-ups are out there for anyone to check out. Once an order is placed, the product is created and shipped out. Printify also offers lots of products beyond headwear so it’s been fun to think about designing with other things in mind, not only hats.

I’m very proud to introduce my new Printify store where you’ll find hats (I’m a little obsessed with hat design artwork, can you tell?) and mugs and sweatshirts and socks and tote bags and more. It’s an outlet for my thoughts and ideas to come to life. So far I have products related to Mahjong, football, Olympics, and Saved by the Bell, to name a few.

click here to go to this Zack Attack item

I’ll be adding to this store regularly, although not as often as I write which is every day at 1pm central. Check back tomorrow for another post and in the meantime, stop by the Etsy shop and Printify store to snoop around. I think you’ll like some things you find there!

-Out of the Wilderness

The story of designing a bird…

I designed a bird… and that’s not something I thought I’d be saying this year. Funny how things unfold, isn’t it? Late last year my sister and I started designing hats (WildHatDesigns on Etsy) and it’s been a thrill to come up with original artwork for each product we have. It’s also so affirming when someone believes what we offer is worth buying. Such a cool feeling! In our brainstorming, the game of Mahjong came up. Evidently it’s popular so I started researching and wow, the game sounds really fun but also complicated. Tiles and racks and dice and dragons and pushers… It’s a lot to learn, for sure. But from a design perspective, I already love the “1 Bamboo” tile because, well, I love birds and I love being a bit different. As I understand it, in more official sets this is the only tile with a bird on it. So I wondered if I could make a bird. A few days ago, I think I spent the better part of the whole day working on this bird and I loved every second of it.

In the end, the design is pretty simple so I have no idea where all the hours went when I was working on it. It doesn’t have a name and I don’t even know if it’s male or female but I love my little 1 Bamboo Bird, or 1 Bam as some experienced Mahjong players would call it. Or is it Bam Bird? Birdie Bam? One Bam Bird? Depends on where you live I guess. 😄

I’m so proud of myself for this simple, accomplished task. The icing on the cake for me is that little birdie can be part of your world, too. Want a mug with the bird on it? How about a sweatshirt? Or socks? Check out my Printify store for everything that’s available or just chirp in below to say hi to the bird!

-Out of the Wilderness

Bud Light Keg Super Bowl Commercial is Almost Great

Bud Light’s put the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco behind them, and while a lot of people aren’t running back to the stores to buy Bud again, a few people are LITERALLY running to save a keg in this 2026 Super Bowl commercial. In regards to humor and knowing their audience, I give the ad a 9/10. Watch it below then I’ll follow that up with something I wish they would’ve done to maximize the Whitney Houston moment.

Yeah, but… Good ad, isn’t it? Overall it gets high ratings from me with the exception of one moment where I think Bud Light missed the mark. It’s when Whitney delivers the big vocal crash back into the song… “AAAANNDDD IIIIIIIIII….” What I wish Bud Light had done, and they were SO CLOSE to nailing it, is this: Begin the extreme slow-motion shots right there on that drum beat of that lyrical section. It would’ve been so funny to see the keg bouncing down the hill, people flying through the air or tripping over a twig, all in super slow-mo, in that specific moment of the song/commercial. Eventually they employ the slow-motion effect but it just doesn’t hit like it would’ve if they lined it up with the iconic percussive moment.

In other news… The trio of Shane Gillis, Peyton Manning, and Post Malone was a 10/10 choice. A fine commercial from a brand that’s pretty well distanced itself from earlier marketing mistakes. I think most people have forgiven them. There are, however, beer drinkers that have a different taste and perspective. The best comment/burn/reaction from YouTube viewers comes to us from @eddieyeoman6950.

That’s deep. Alright, wrapping this up… What do you think about the commercial? On a scale of 1 to 10, has Bud Light learned from their previous marketing miscalculations?

-Out of the Wilderness

Camper Life – How May Days Without Hot Water?

While people across the country have more serious problems because of bad winter weather– power outages lasting for over a week from snow and ice storms– in my little world I haven’t had hot water in my camper for almost a week! Not from bad weather, it’s from a leaky tank. My dad and I searched quite a bit and still have no idea where the 6-gallon tank is slowly letting water out– not the pressure relief valve, any hoses, or fittings– but our best guess is that it’s somewhere in the soldering of the tank itself. We tested it a few different ways but decided it probably only dripped water when there was pressure inside, an event we couldn’t recreate with the tank propped up outside of the camper.

Eventually I had to give up on finding the precise source of the problem. I know what the results of the problem were though… water in the camper, a water pump that cycles more than it should, and tons of frustration. The solution became this: Getting rid of the tank altogether and buying a new one. I did some research and in the end I went with a tankless water heater from RecPro.

I’m excited to get this new tank installed as soon as it arrives. I ordered it last week. It was scheduled to be delivered yesterday but it’s been delayed and you might guess why. Bad weather.

-Out of the Wilderness