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
Amazon is using a new voiceover artist for their holiday commercials this year, instead of the British woman we’ve come to know. The VO in this ad introduces us to friends celebrating the holidays with an ugly Christmas sweater party. Take a look then scroll down for more info!
The Song. Party music for this commercial is one of those situations where I don’t know which is the band and which is the song title. But as I researched, I found out. Here’s the full track of “Ante Up” by M.O.P.
Wrap Up. The ad doesn’t really give us anything we don’t already know. Shop Amazon. Get stuff. The commercial also includes the token gay couple, which is obviously important to Amazon since a lot of their ads are “inclusive.” God forbid they not be evolved enough for Americans!
How do you feel about the commercial? Do you know where we can score those mitten costumes? I’m guessing Etsy might be a great place to start. 😉
I’ve been to Los Angeles a handful of times, mostly for work before I was laid off in epic fashion about 8 years ago. This legendary city fits in one main category: Cities I visit but would never live in. I’m thinking of other cities like New York, Miami, Seattle, and the newest addition– Nashville. Ok, yes I lived in Nashville for 16 years but got out probably 5 years later than I should have. It’s a zoo, people. Just visit but think twice about moving there… that is, unless you like gridlock traffic almost all day. If you feel like throwing caution to the wind, though, hire my friend Jonathan Mills as your Nashville realtor. He’ll make sure you don’t get completely bamboozled.
I promise this is a post about Christmas. I guess it’s time to talk about it. THE BEST SAD CHRISTMAS SONG I’VE EVER HEARD. Starting this post off writing about Los Angeles wasn’t an accident. The Christmas song is called “Christmas in L.A.” and I stumbled upon it while I was making a list of sad Christmas songs. I think the reason even a sad song can become a Christmas classic during the happiest time of year is because sometimes those tunes capture the mood more than the cheery ones we all sing along with. Life is messy, even during the Christmas season. I can’t believe this song is 10 years old and I’m just hearing it for the first time in 2023. It’s from The Killers with guest band Dawes and even if you don’t like being sad this time of year, how about the harmonies and the melody in the music? The smooth strum of the guitar, the support of violins and a piano. I could even listen to this without lyrics and love it almost as much. But I can’t get over Brandon Flowers’ voice (The Killers) and Taylor Goldsmith’s, too (Dawes). If you have some time, listen to these 3 different takes on “Christmas In L.A.” and let me know your thoughts in the comments below! First up is the official music video…
Hola! Cómo está? Muy bien! Sometimes you don’t need to know what’s being said to know what’s being said. I’m sort of talking about films and short videos that might not have any talking at all. The one that comes to mind right off the bat is Disney’s Lava. It was clear this was a love story between two volcanoes. I can’t believe I just wrote that. Volcanes in love? Really!? Well, whatever. I might have choked up the first time I saw these two love lavabirds together.
Get read for another heartwarming clip but this time it isn’t two volcanoes. These grandparents might be ancient like volcanoes, but their love for their family is as hot as lava. hace calor! Take a look at the Christmas commercial from Suchard over in Spain…
The transitions going back in time were very creative and clever but what really got to me was the pup. Looks like a pug, and how they give him reverence in the commercial is so touching. Dogs are often cherished in families (healthy families, at least!) and this ad shows that very well. It’s a sentiment shared in these commercials also…
I can’t say what traditions people in Spain have around Christmas but over here in the States, leaving Santa chocolate isn’t common. Neither is leaving Frito Lay chips out for the big guy, but this ad wants to change that. I guess, though, eating chocolate around the holidays is not out of the ordinary. And maybe chips are popular for New Year’s Eve parties.
Either way, dogs are awesome and I love the animated commercial from Suchard!
I’m triggered. We shouldn’t be doing two things at once, no matter what Travis Kelce says in the Pfizer commercial. Instacart gives us exhibit A with their football game and grocery store ad. “I always have great cell coverage at football games,” said no one ever. Even if you have some reception, are you really going on Instacart to order groceries? Get real, puffy coat dad.
Now to clarify, there are at least two versions of this Instacart commercial. In one, and I’m sorry for this, there’s a horrendous song that goes along with it. Watch that one here and again, listen at your own peril. It’s bad. The other version doesn’t include the song, but still has these peculiar puffy coats worn only by the dad and the son.
Who can explain these coats without including George Costanza from “Seinfeld”?
via The Wall Street Journal
There IS such thing as too puffy. Unless you’re Sean Combs. Or a magic dragon. Or a big bad wolf. The father and son are the only people wearing these abnormally thick jackets. Everyone sitting around them has normal, socially acceptable jackets and warm-weather outerwear. So why are they wearing these extra puffy puffer coats?
I haven’t found an answer except that they must be “Seinfeld” fans.
Lots of people are cursing the College Football Playoff Committee, ESPN, Kirk Herbstreet, and whoever else has any responsibility for how the playoffs were fumbled, pardon the pun, this year. The top 4 teams, actually I should say it this way– the 4 teams invited to the playoffs are Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama. I won’t ask how a team ranked 8th somehow propelled up to #4 and the #4 team which won their conference championship and is 1 of 3 undefeated teams in the top 10 dropped to #5 because the answer is undefinable.
There is plenty of unfairness in football. Even on a play by play basis, referees miss calls or make bad calls, players get away with skirting the rules, coaches too (*ahem* Michigan), but it’s just a real shame when the dollar holds more power than fairness. Some call snubbing FSU and UGA a mistake but that word– mistake– implies it was almost accidental. This exclusion was a conscious choice and makes it something way beyond a mistake… it’s practically sinister.
The anger felt by a lot of people is the same way, almost exactly, that I felt when FSU blindsided loyal fans with a venture co-managed by Nike, changing the decades-old logo because that’s what Nike wanted. Was it coincidence that this happened at the height of FSU’s relevance and popularity in the mid-2010s, right after winning the national championship? A new logo meant fans spending oodles and oodles of money but why didn’t they change the logo when FSU’s football team only had 7 wins and 4 losses? What a weird coincidence that the team was coming off a national championship and this huge change happened. The university’s and Nike’s greed was exposed and I haven’t forgiven them for it. Is it another weird coincidence that FSU is having a historic season and now the stadium is about to get an overhaul with the seating, and prices have gone up thousands for season ticket holders?
Obviously I’m still hurt and ticked off. But it has nothing to the guys on the football team this year. I hate that their season is ending in controversy because in the simplest terms: it’s not fair. Maybe it’s a great life lesson but they have the rest of their lives to learn lessons like that. For this moment, what they earned and deserved was stolen and given to a team that didn’t deserve or earn it.
They did everything they could do to make it to the college football playoffs but came up a bit short… by… winning all their games and winning their conference championship. If only they could’ve… won all their games and won their conference champ– wait, this is bizarre. Controversy aside, going 13-0 is so much better than where they were just a few years ago. Remember the “turnover backpack”?
For new FSU fans or anyone just getting into college sports, this backpack was a real thing. If it’s possible to somehow make it less embarrassing, many teams had some sort of gimmick that (I think) started with the University of Miami having a “turnover chain.”
The turnover backpack is one of the worst things FSU has contributed to college football. But now the committee has done something even more embarrassing which will hurt college football for years, possibly decades. But the silver lining is that at least there hasn’t been a turnover backpack seen on the FSU sideline in years.
Out of the Wilderness 