Dos Equis Burns Ukulele in New Commercial

**UPDATE: Dos Equis revised the commercial because of the mistake mentioned below. Check out the revised version here**

The last Dos Equis ad I wrote about features a song that always gets stuck in my head. Have you seen this one? You won’t have to worry about a song in their new commercial because what do you get when you combine a group of friends, a bonfire, and a ukulele? A fall night WITHOUT music because in the ad, the ukulele is just fuel for the fire. Literally. Take a look then scroll down for more info… Note: video has no audio (nothing personal, ukulele lovers)…

The bonfire commercial is setting social media ablaze, too… and NOT in a good way. Most viewers leaving comments on Twitter, Reddit, and elsewhere are blasting Dos Equis for the insensitivity of the ad, plus the lunacy of burning a perfectly good instrument. I understand both sides: On the one hand, there’s always “that guy” who has a guitar at the ready when friends gather on a cool night outdoors. On the other hand, who gives a flip if someone starts playing music at a party? Unless you’re this guy…

If someone brings a guitar (or ukulele), I’d say 9 times out of 10 they can play lots of songs and they’re there to play songs their friends will enjoy. Also, I just used they’re, there, and their, in one sentence. Who’s heating up no now!?

On the surface, the ad is just meant to be a funny take on interpersonal relationships. Group dynamics. Personality types. But from what I’m reading, the commercial isn’t landing exactly how Dos Equis was hoping. The ukulele is historically linked to Hawaii and with the recent wildfires in that state, a commercial like this is just… too soon.

What do you think about the commercial? Do you think musicians and other viewers who are upset at the commercial are overthinking it? Chime in below!

-Out of the Wilderness

Six Sheryl Crow Duets

I heard a new song from Colbie Caillet the other day, a duet with Sheryl Crow. If it makes you happy (get it?), here’s a list of other Sheryl Crow duets from the past few years. Her voice, along with the voices of these other artists, are still sounding so great.

Colbie Caillet “I’ll Be Here”

TobyMac “Promised Land”

featuring Citizen Cope “Lonely House, Lonely Street”

Barry Gibb “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”

Kid Rock “Picture”

Willie Nelson “Be There For You”

-Out of the Wilderness

Golden Bachelor Episode 2 – Hearing Aids and Not One Cat Fight

I’ll kick this off by saying that just a few weeks ago I had no idea I’d be writing about people in their golden years making out but I’m now posting my second, that’s right, my second reaction to “The Golden Bachelor.” First post is here. Is it a parody? Is it a Late Show sketch? Well, it’s neither… but it sure as heck feels like it’s supposed to be funny.

“Grandparents go through the gauntlet of relationships their grandkids face in modern culture. But with hearing aids.”

With that said about golden guy Gary and the women, it’s no fault of their own that it comes across as a comedy sketch. They all appear to be serious about finding love (again) and I applaud their class, maturity, and candor. It’s refreshing in that way compared to The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. I mean, we’re already two episodes in and there hasn’t been a single cat fight.

Do fans enjoy watching grandparents make out? I doubt it. Will there be fantasy suites? No one wants that answer. I’ll also hold to my prediction that this spinoff will go two seasons, enough for there to be a Golden Bachelorette. Something about watching grumpy, old men bickering when they wake up for their 4am breakfast interests me.

How do you feel about this new series? Will it keep it’s momentum in the ratings? What is it that you want to see or definitely don’t want to see?

-Out of the Wilderness

Wish… The Disney Movie Where the Villain is Right?

Disney is releasing a movie next month called Wish. The animated film is about a woman who desperately wants her wish to be granted by the king of the nation in which she lives. This king has the power to grant the wishes of the people but he doesn’t grant all the wishes, only the ones that are good for the people, as a whole, and the country. He’s portrayed as the villain in the trailer, take a look…

Just from the trailer, it appears as though King Magnifico is using wisdom to rule the country. How dare he! If he were benevolent, he’d grant everyone’s wishes and life would be a fairytale. Only, that’s not really how it works. If everyone got everything they asked for, society would be chaos. Remember the movie Bruce Almighty? Bruce (played by Jim Carrey) is given God’s responsibilities and he’s immediately overwhelmed by the number of prayers coming in every minute. Eventually he caves and just starts saying “yes” to every prayer request. This leads to global disorder and everything spirals out of control.

Is this what the protagonist of Wish wants? It’s more likely that the writers of the movie, who suffer from being part of an entitled culture, think everyone deserves everything they have ever wanted. Cool, let’s see how that goes.

So nice they did it twice? Disney’s made another decision I don’t like in this movie. A cute and cuddly goat with an irritating voice. The goat gets a wish granted, giving him a deep, masculine, adult male voice. It no longer feels right to call him adorable, so it’s such an annoying conflict. Disney did the same thing with Disenchanted. The perfect sidekick squirrel in Enchanted turned into a cat with an edgy New York accent. What the heck was that all about? Cute turned into annoying in one sequel.

But what does that even mean? Part of the song lyrics in the trailer go like this, “I throw caution to every warning sign.” I’m a little confused… are they using caution because of the warning signs, or disregarding the warning signs completely (like the phrase goes throwing caution to the wind)? How these lyrics got approved is beyond me.

This will be a great movie unless it’s anything like the trailer.

-Out of the Wilderness

I went back to Nashville as a tourist

It’s been almost two years since I moved out of Nashville, taking a camper van (that ended up being sold and then I bought a travel trailer) down to Florida to be closer to family.

I hadn’t been back to Tennessee since the day I left, that is, until I went back to see a few friends while camping on the shore of Percy Priest Lake. Seeing my friends, my previous neighbors, my house, all of that was really nice. It made the trip worth it. But something I didn’t expect happened. From the moment I crossed into Davidson County, the nostalgia I had for the city disappeared… almost instantly. In the two years since I’d been gone, I thought about Nashville a few times a week, I missed parts of it.

I guess falling out of love with Nashville even years before I left was a real thing. On this camping trip, I didn’t even go near downtown. The closest I got was the campground which is on the outskirts of Davidson County, only venturing south to Antioch (a southern suburb) to see friends.

If this trip wasn’t a confirmation that moving to Florida was a good choice at a good time, then confirmations don’t exist at all. I’ve moved on. Nashville has moved on. Oh gosh, now it’s starting to sound like a break-up. Let’s just say we went our separate ways and it was mutual. 🙂 The best part of my trip to Tennessee was discovering a beautiful campground in Georgia. If you have a chance to camp in Cloudland Canyon State Park a bit north of Atlanta, do it! Check out my gallery for favorite pics from that park…

-Out of the Wilderness