The GEICO March Madness Ad – The Crying Bandmate, the Country Singer, and More!

GEICO is known for their funny insurance commercials. I know, how can funny and insurance be in the same sentence but from the reemergence of the Caveman to the Billy Blanks workout ad, they are swishing three-pointers with every commercial and since it’s March, of course GEICO had to get in on the madness. Here’s their latest sports-related ad, then scroll down for more…

It’s a full court press of laughter but the buzzer beater was when the band member played her clarinet through sobbing tears. The whimpering sound that proceeded was hilarious. Plus the innocent use of the word “geek” was perfect. One of my pet peeves is when movie or TV show scripts write dialogue for kids but not in any type of way a real child would talk. Having this young actress attack the point guard as a geek is very refreshing in that regard.

Then a music celebrity appears donning an LSU sweatshirt. I can’t find any ties between country/soul singer Breland and LSU but he may have a future in acting because his scene was great. I especially love the way he turns his head at the very end of the ad, as if to tell his friend he better shape up.

Breland performed the national anthem at the Big 12 championship a few weeks back so I’ll end with his well-done rendition…

-Out of the Wilderness

The iPhone Don’t Let Me Go Commercial – The Music and More!

Goodness, what has happened to Kentucky basketball? They’re about as relevant to the NCAA tournament as the color green is to gender reveals. Last night they got beat in an upset by the non-Cinderella team from Oakland University (a college in California Michigan). During that entertaining game I caught a new iPhone commercial and I gotta say that it’s one of Apple’s best ads. Clever, creative, funny, and a fantastic union of visuals with an unusual song. Take a look then scroll down for more info…

The Music. I hardly noticed the subtle variation of the song used in the commercial. In fact, I was halfway done writing this post when it dawned on me that the original song is called “Don’t Let Go,” an uplifting almost Gospel-sounding track. But in the ad the lyrics are “Don’t Let Me Go,” notice the addition of the word me, which really syncs the music with the scrolling photos in the ad. This was a great move as adding “me” gives a different meaning to the chorus. I mean, how many of us have photos in our phone galleries that should be deleted? But some of them, especially the millions of dog photos are begging to not be deleted! I have a handful of photos from a year or two ago that are basically all the same pics of my beagle beagling in a river… but guess where they still are? On my phone.

Back to the music, though. Sharing the spotlight with the iPhone is the funky song called “Don’t Let Go” by Terrace Martin, Mr. Talkbox, and PJ Morton. Here’s the full track from 2019.

And then there’s a less synthesized version by PJ Morton, too. Here’s that one…

Mr. Talkbox shares his cool talents and skills with a version of the song, too. One day in Heaven I hope God allows me to have even half the singing talent that these guys have but for now, I’ll just keep being jealous!

These creative guys are understandably pumped up about Apple using their track. Here are a few posts sharing the excitement.

You can find each of them on Twitter here– @PJMORTON / @mrtalkbox / @terracemartin

Ruff. I laughed the most when the dachshund dog carried the final note. Storage capacity is almost always a factor when people look for new phones. Running out of space is ruff, we all know that. Another important factor is battery life– addressed by Apple in their iPhone karate kid commercial.

What do you think about the ad? Did it make you laugh and most importantly, does it make you want to switch from Android to iPhone… or just go pet your dog?

-Out of the Wilderness

Let’s All Go To The Pantry -The Throwback Commercial from Hulu

I was watching Hulu the other day and a catchy commercial popped up. This is the first time in all my 45 years of living that I remember hearing this little jingle, which is kind of shocking. I’ll reveal why after the ad…

The one I saw had a Reese’s peanut butter cup in it, I swear. Hey, anything with peanut butter and I’m going to remember it. But I couldn’t find the exact ad on YouTube. The one above advertises Hulu and indirectly, Petsmart. But the jingle has been around for ages. Another rendition goes back almost 30 years, this one advertising milk in 1995.

I believe this is the earliest and the original from 1957. It would air in theaters before the feature presentation started.

Funny how things stay the same even when things change. In this case, if you need to use your cell phone in the theater, just go to the lobby! 🎶 But if you need a snack at home while you’re watching Hulu, just go to the pantry. 🎸 I can’t believe the first time I heard this jingle was this year, 2024. Seems like I would’ve caught it any many other points in my life!

Do you like Hulu’s throwback ad? Chime in below…

-Out of the Wilderness

The New Amazon Futbol Commercial – The Music, the Women, and More!

From hair dye to mouth guards, Amazon has just about anything any athlete could ever want, an advantage pointed out in their latest commercial featuring women’s soccer. Take a look then scroll down for more info…

The Music. Set against the imagery of tough, modern women is an mid-20th century song called “A Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl” by Teresa Brewer from 1956. Here’s the full track…

The Grit. The commercial shows women playing soccer (or futból) with tenacity. I’ve always appreciated women who are rough on the pitch, from my days playing adult league soccer to watching my teenage nieces’ high school soccer matches. Who doesn’t like a good old-fashioned donnybrook, ya know?

The commercial also presents clashing ideas of womanhood. And no, I don’t mean the cliché-ridden stereotype perpetuated by Dylan Mulvaney. It’s the idea of a modest (biological) woman from the 1950s vs. the self-sufficient (biological) woman of 2024. The whole “anything you can do, I can do better” movement we’ve seen in the last couple of decades, and I think Amazon did a great job with the yin and yang of what it means to be a woman (as if I know anything about that) in the 21st century.

I believe men and women are different and there’s not really any good reason why both can’t be celebrated. Men are good at some things and women are good at some things. There are areas of life and culture where women excel and other areas where men excel and I think that’s OK. Women are awesome (I can say that because I know a woman) and two things can be true at once… because it’s possible for a woman to have old-fashioned values and still be an ally for women out there fighting for equality globally. I didn’t mean for this to turn into a monologue, or woman-ologue, but here we are! If you have thoughts about the commercial, share below!

Women of the world, you rock~~~

-Out of the Wilderness

Tim McGraw “One Bad Habit” Is One Bad Music Video

He’s a living musical legend and quite an actor, too. Tim McGraw will always be synonymous with iconic country music and even to this very day, decades after his career started, he’s releasing new music. That’s quite an incredible accomplishment only achieved by few. Unfortunately, though, his latest single is as boring as watching a sloth do a marathon. Brace yourself and check out the video, then scroll down for more…

The Song. The word toxic comes to mind as I review the lyrics of the song. He’s bad. She’s addicted. Not really the recipe for a healthy relationship, right? The whole premise of the poorly-executed song is perfectly dissected in a post on Kyle’s Korner blog, I literally couldn’t have said it better so I’ll move right along to the video.

The Video. The video features Tim McGraw and guitarist Adam Shoenfeld in a backstage hallway complete with a few equipment cases, a mic, and a mic stand. I’ll take “Phoning It In” for $500, Alex. I’ve always thought a music video should only exist if it makes the song better. In this case, it definitely does not. I will never understand the point of spending thousands and thousands of dollars for a video people will forget, or even worse, dislike.

Maybe it would’ve been best for the McGraw team to leave this song alone so fans can interpret it in their own way, recalling images of their own love story. But now the track is linked with a video that is very, and I mean very, boring. Decades from now this will be one we can’t remember hearing or watching. So to end this on a positive note, here’s a better nod to Tim and Faith’s relationship… “I Need You.”

-Out of the Wilderness