The Visa McCaffrey Commercial and Other Commercials I Don’t Like

I like Christian McCaffrey. I like Visa. But I don’t like when someone triples down on being an antagonist. That’s what happens in this Visa credit card commercial featuring McCaffrey and a young 49ers fan. This fan is a student who moves to a new school and it just happens to be in a rival city. Instead of being mature, he throws his 49ers support right in the face of the locals. Not a smart decision if you’re trying to make friends, kiddo. And Visa wants us to believe the 49ers kid is the hero of the story.

It’s very much like someone driving through Tuscaloosa, Alabama with an Auburn flag. Or showing up to your ex-girlfriend’s wedding and saying something when the minister asks if anyone objects to this marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace. Whatever happens next is exactly what you asked for. For the 49ers fan, Visa suggests that spending money is the solution. More 49ers gear! All that’s going to do is add fuel to the fire. These boys are destined for a fight at 3pm on the playground.

But wait, there’s more. Visa doesn’t have the only irritating commercial on TV and streaming at the moment. Here are a few other “winners”…

1. All the Burger King commercials. If I ruled, like the ads claim I do, they’d be banished from the kingdom forever. Or, at the very least, forced to listen to to Taylor Swift music until they wish they’d never been broiled… which is, of course, a reference to one of my favorite commercials of all time where a kid wishes he’d never been broiled. Classic.

2. The Amazon polar plunge commercial. In my experience, shaving your chest has literally no affect on how cold the water feels to your body. Add that to the previous Amazon commercial where a woman stops shaving, and Amazon gets the award for most progressive and most progressively dumb ads out there.

3. The Allstate podcast guy that no one wants to be friends with. When you have so few people that like you, it’s no wonder he has time for so many podcasts.

How do you feel about the 49ers Visa commercial? This kid is doomed, right? If he keeps instigating things with “the bully,” it’s only going to escalate the tension and when’s the last time two guys with that much bravado didn’t get in a fight?

-Out of the Wilderness

Hello Savannah!

Hello Savannah! I walked around Savannah for a few hours before going to a show at the relatively new Enmarket Arena. I brought my camera along and so, of course, I have a few favorite photos.

Before we get to my top favorites, here are a few runner-ups from Savannah, Georgia, October 2023.

-Out of the Wilderness

Hitting someone with a car is not so fun

Someone I know recently was driving– not a Lincoln driven by Serena Williams— in the evening and (accidentally) struck a pedestrian who was crossing the road. Obviously this could be an ongoing issue with insurance for the foreseeable future, which is two things: 1. Annoying and 2. The reason insurance exists. Before going into it further, I should say that both parties (the hittee and the hitter) are OK. It was a low speed accident, thank the Lord!

It was kind of a crazy and weird coincidence that the same day I heard about this hit & (not) run, I was part of a triathlon group meeting and the guest speaker talked about insurance as it relates to vehicle/cycling accidents. One hundred percent because of what he talked about, I came back home and changed a few things about my insurance.

I try to be as safe as possible but it’s impossible to know how other people are going to act on the road. All it takes is one driver glancing down at a TikTok on their phone and boom, an accident happens! The driver of the car would barely notice, but any bicycle rider is going to pay the price no matter who’s fault it is.

Just something else to think about as I continue prepping for future sprint triathlons!

Sprint Recaps: Tallahassee, FL Red Hills / Marianna, FL Freedom Springs / Macon, GA Rock ‘N Rollman

-Out of the Wilderness

United Airlines Commercial – The Yodel, The Voice, and More

This is the first time I’ve written about a United Airlines commercial but I heard the song and couldn’t NOT write about it. Here’s the yodeling ad, then scroll down for more…

The Song. Giving us all the feels is a song called “Yodelay-Hee-Why?” by Wild Earp. Check out more offerings on the band’s website WildEarp.com. I love a good yodel, so here’s the full track for your listening pleasure…

Wild Earp had this to say about the inclusion of his song in the ad…

Since we’re on the topic of yodeling, I first thought of LeAnn Rimes. Here she is singing “I Want To Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart”…

Then I came across a contestant from “The Voice” named Ruby Leigh. I won’t lie, this audition gave me goosebumps. Is that weird?

And to give credit where credit is due, here’s the original version of that song by Patsy Montana from nearly 100 years ago…

-Out of the Wilderness

The Progressive Gold Suit Commercial – The NFL Football Players and More

Two NFL football players show up to a football stadium wearing the same exact gold leather suit. It’s a tale as old as time! OK, I have no idea if gold suits are common on that level of wealth but Von Miller thinks the mistake by Stefon Diggs is offensive, and not just because Diggs plays offense. Miller gets defensive, and not just because he plays defense, when Diggs accuses him of making the fashion faux pas. Take a look…

Fits the Bill. Both of these elite athletes play for the Buffalo Bills. Surely Progressive did some “Digg”ing and bought Sunday afternoon time slots during Bills games. I could go on and “Von” but it’s a smooth move by Progressive, knowing Bills fans are watching, endearing those fans even more to Miller and Diggs, and adjacently, Progressive, too.

Von Miller also has as supporting role in which of these ads? Guess right and get a gold star!

Progressive Red Flag Replay with Kid ‘n Play

Google’s American Gothic Commercial

Chevrolet’s Gay Holiday Commercial

Not Your Friend. I heard from a lawyer recently that insurance agencies are NOT your friends… even if they have funny commercials like this classic exercise ad from GEICO or Doug getting replaced in this Liberty Mutual spot. At the end of the day, we give them money every month and when we call to get it back, they’re very skeptical. Not a very healthy relationship, huh? But I’m guessing Miller and Diggs are friends, and maybe they don’t hate that they’re wearing the same outfit. Best buds forever. Even if the gold on gold on gold is just too extra.

-Out of the Wilderness