The Lazy Gillette Ain’t My Dad’s Razor, Dad Commercial

I’m pretty late to the game writing about this commercial because it’s a few months old now. I still see it on TV or streaming so I thought it might be worth chiming in about it. Have you seen the Gillette commercial starring father/son TikTok duo Joe Mele and his dad Frank? Take a look then scroll down for more…

Kudos to the guys for their success! It’s very cool that they went from (probably) normal lives to becoming TikTok famous and scoring a brand commercial like this in just a few years. Who cares that this reaction video is very scripted and probably not the first time they watched their commercial. It’s a sponsorship so they have to do what they have to do, you know? But Gillette, a national brand with decades of experience and a host of professionals behind their ads, should never and I mean NEVER, let this dialogue line even make into the very first read through:

“It ain’t my dad’s razor, Dad.”

I know what you’er thinking… A line like that should go down in the most sacred texts of history, right? A bonafide winner. I can’t fathom how this made it to air on national TV. Do people just not care anymore? I’m starting to feel a little sick to my stomach.

They were playing off of the well-known sentence: “This is not your dad’s [fill in the blank].” You’ve probably heard Joe Biden use it a time or two recently when referring to the Republican Party…

So how did Gillette get it so wrong? Well, they used the wrong word. The son says “..my dad’s razor” when he should’ve stuck to the way the phrase is always used: “…your dad’s razor.” Problem solved. See how easy that was, Gillette? You can send the consultant fees for my hourly rate ($15,000/hr) to my Venmo… @BenWilder615.

-Out of the Wilderness

The Poppi Soda Commercial – The Music, and A New World Where Coke, Pepsi, and White Men Don’t Exist

I was watching the Grammy Awards last night and my ears perked up when a certain commercial aired. It was for a soda brand that claims it will make brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi a relic of the past. Take a look then scroll down for more…

The Song. I immediately recognized the song because I wrote about it just a couple months ago, an 80s song I’m obsessed with. Click that link to find the name and artist but I’ll say this, the band is also the name of a beer brewed in Nashville, Tennessee. That’s the only hint I’m giving!

The Montage. I love the style of the commercial. Scrolling through a montage of clips from previous decades with things we remember from growing up or just hearing about it from older generations. It’s well put together, and the editing is great. Incorporating their product into the vintage clips was a good idea, too, even though the company is just a few years old. There are mostly positive comments on the YouTube video but one viewer pointed out that there are no white men in the commercial. I didn’t even notice but is anyone really surprised in 2024? Plus, Poppi is based in Austin, Texas and from what I’ve heard, Austin is a little weird.

Coke and Pepsi aren’t going away but this is an effective ad taking on giants in the industry. Especially as people start to care more about what they put in their body, a healthy version of a soda might cause you to sing Creed’s song when you see Poppi on the shelves, accepting it… with arms wide open.

-Out of the Wilderness

Pandora’s Commercial Featuring Halle and Chloe – Did They Change the Original Song?

There’s this song out there that I’ve been listening to kind of regularly lately. So I was surprised to hear it in a commercial because… it’s old! What do you think about the song in the new Pandora commercial:

The Song. To be clear, this version of the song “To Love Somebody” isn’t old at all. It’s by sister singers Chloe and Halle Bailey who go by the name Chloe x Halle. But go back a few decades for this version from Michael Bolton in the mid-1990s.

Well guess what? We can go back even further than that. Here’s the original from The Bee Gees in the 1960s.

Lyrics Matter, Though. Chloe and Halle can sing. No question! I remember their performance of “America, The Beautiful” a few years back and it’s beautiful. This Pandora commercial is for Valentine’s Day, which we all know, but I’m really miffed that they’d pick a song of which they’d need to change the lyrics to make it fit the ad. No. Just no. Notice how the lyrics were changed in a key way…

From: “You don’t know what it’s like to love somebody the way I love you.”

To: “You must know what it’s like to love somebody the way I love you.”

Changing one word changes the entire tone of the song and unfortunately, the bleeding heart in the early versions is lost in the new version. It’s replaced by lyrics that just don’t draw out any detectable emotions. Pretty visuals, fine idea, but just needed a different song choice. They aren’t doing justice to a song that evokes so much heartache, hope, and love.

-Out of the Wilderness

There’s No Vape In Team – The Commercial… Inspired by Saved by the Bell?

This commercial is kind of like the shredded wheat cereal I ate for breakfast. It’s OK at first but the more I eat it, the less I like it. On the surface, this ad is fine. The message is one most people will agree with. But the more I see it, the worse it gets.

Lots At Stake. The wide receiver missed one pass and you’re going to pin all his life choices on it? Even Travis Kelce misses a pass now and then and he’s elite (but can he do two things at once??). I have serious doubts that vaping is what caused the kid to miss the catch. It’s more likely that he just sucks. OK, that was harsh, but he missed an easy pass. His dad must be the coach… “It’s gotta be the vaping because my kid is an athlete.” No. No sir… your son should not be on the team.

Ring, Ring. The ad reminds me a lot of this Public Service Announcement from “Saved by the Bell.” Anyone remember this serious episode where a movie star is on the Bayside campus to shoot an anti-drug commercial but he turns out to be a drug user? Hollywood, man, full of drugged up actors.

… and now I have SO many “Saved by the Bell” questions but I don’t know if they could ever be answered. Like, how did Slater time travel from the future to be a camera operator in this episode?

Will “There’s no vape in team” be the new “This is your brain on drugs” or “I learned it by watching you” or “There’s no hope with dope”? I can see all of that happening and hopefully in 2050, anyone searching for the first person to write about it will land on this post! Then everyone can say… I learned it by watching (reading) you (my post).

-Out of the Wilderness

The Paramount Ad with Patrick Stewart, Drew Barrymore, Creed, and More!

This commercial definitely won’t make you grin. Actually, a better way to say it is that this commercial won’t make you JUST grin. It’ll make you laugh out loud. It’s the Paramount+ Super Bowl commercial! Side note: They’re allowed to use the trademarked name “Super Bowl” because parent company Viacom paid the NFL. If a company isn’t cleared to use it, they come up with other names like “The Big Game” or “Football Championship,” etc. like this Kawasaki Mullet Commercial. I’ve run the play clock all the way down, haven’t I? Here’s the hilariously absurd commercial, then scroll down for more…

The Music. I laughed the loudest not when Creed first started playing in the background, but the shot of them on the mountainside jamming. I just about lost it. Here’s Creed from 1999 with “Higher” (which will be in a future post about my favorite guitar riffs).

The absurdity of the commercial is probably my favorite part. Throwing a child who just so happens to have a football shaped head, the guy from “Reno 911!” and of course Patrick Stewart rudely telling Drew Barrymore to shut her face. I can’t leave out the dig at Tua, too, who apparently isn’t built for the moment (*ahem* NFL playoffs). Other subtle moments: the leather arm band with just one play “Throw the child” and the Reno officer saying “Dang, he’s cool!” To hike the ball, Patrick Stewart says “pip, pip, hike!” Arnold subtly trading his snow cap for a football helmet. Safety first and all that. Another side note: I wonder if #ThrowTheChild will trend on Super Bowl Sunday?

For what it’s worth, here’s the fine print from the ad.

It’s going to be really hard for a Super Bowl commercial to outdo this one. Plus, Creed being part of it… OK, never mind– good luck to all the other companies spending millions. Second place will welcome you… with arms wide open.

-Out of the Wilderness