Shaq Gets Small for Pepsi – The Commercial and The Song

I love Shaq! Slam it, jam it, make sure it’s broke. One of his exceptional feats was shattering the backboard on a slam dunk. He was a pro basketball player while simultaneously doing this!! After retiring from basketball he’s become quite the spokesman. He’s also gigantic. When I think of big athletes, I think of Shaq. I think of Refrigerator Perry. Speaking of refrigerators, Shaq wants you to put some mini Pepsi cans in yours. Check out the big man with the little cans in this Pepsi commercial with a reworked song from the 1990s…

The Song. I wish I was a little bit taller. No seriously, I’ve always wished that. But this song is different than my theme song as a teenager. The original Skee-Lo song has revised lyrics for the commercial, now called “I Wish (I Was a Little Bit Smaller)” and I haven’t confirmed this yet but I believe the singer is a guy named it’s by Lee Charm.

Twice As Big. Shaq’s been in a Pepsi commercial before but it was all about bigness. Funny how things change based on what consumers want. We see this with cars a lot, too. Preferences go from huge Ford Excursions to small Chevrolet Blazers in a matter of years. Here’s Shaq’s Big Slam commercial.

Do you wish you were taller? Smaller? Or an entrepreneur like Shaq? Chime in below!

-Out of the Wilderness

State Farm Commercial – Caitlin Clark and the Two Old Pacers

Caitlin Clark is a college basketball player banking shots and banking checks from State Farm as she’s starring in a series of commercials for the insurance company. Check out one of them below where Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler shows up, and two old pacers appear, too…

Reggie Miller is an old Pacer, the Indiana Pacers to be exact, but the clever joke starts with the antique car. The odd looking AMC Pacer was only produced from 1975 to 1980 and the one in the commercial is a 1980 model.

I think they could’ve spent a little more money and/or time on the editing — the transition when each celebrity basketball player appears out of thin air is too basic and simple. I wish they had added more effects in, instead of a generic warp-style cut. Overall though, it’s a good commercial and the way the guy points to Jake from State Farm at the very end made me laugh.

How do you feel about the commercial? Does it live up to the style State Farm has established with Jake from State Farm?

-Out of the Wilderness

Got Milk Commercials, Aaron Burr, and Busting a Gallon of Milk

The “Got Milk?” campaign has been around forever (unlike milk cartons that always expire before you finish them!) and there’s a new satirical PSA featuring Queen Latifah. As a vegan, I can’t really say how good milk is now, but when I was a regular fun person (not a boring, judgmental vegan 🙃) I loved milk. So when the question came up, got milk? my answer was always… umm, what do you think, goofball? No one could shame me out of a tall glass of skim milk. Here’s the ad promoting the consumption of milk and the idea of not being ashamed to drink it, then scroll down for more…

This reminds me of a couple of things. Who can forget the ageless commercial from the 1990s? Aaroooon Burrrrrr!

The star of that commercial, Sean Whalen, said it changed the course of his life. He goes on to explain more in a Facebook post…

Lastly, my college friend Walter and I shot funny videos when we were young and super mature. This has always been my favorite… and it features an unfortunate milk mistake. I promise this was all on purpose. It was so interesting to see how people reacted. Walter, you’re a genius and pulled off this prank flawlessly!

-Out of the Wilderness

College Football – will Thanksgiving weekend be the most dramatic?

When the college football season started, I was pretty sure week 1 (not week 0, whatever that is) was going to be one of the most dramatic, if not THE (like Ohio State says it– theeeee) most dramatic day of college football all season. There were some big wins, one of which was Colorado in Coach Prime’s debut.

But now that we’re almost three months in, THIS coming Saturday will be THEEE most dramatic day of college football. Also, Colorado fell back down to earth after doing really well in the first half of the season. But Prime is still awesome, I’ll fight you about that. Saturday features big time rivalries and because of the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, the top 4 will be shuffled around, no two ways about it. Plus, with Florida State dropping out of the top 4, just because their QB got injured (which the backup QBs and the rest of the second and third string players only went out and scored all 58 of their points that night), some drama is ahead. And you just know, bless their hearts, that the committee is going to move mountains to get Alabama into the playoffs. Put on your Blender brand Prime shades, there’re about to be some explosive things in college football.

-Out of the Wilderness

NFL Football on Black Friday… When Is Too Much Too Much?

When I wrote this post, I had no idea the NFL was actually planning on taking over Friday football along with Sunday, Monday, and Thursday. And remember Sunday sometimes features 930am games and Monday sometimes has doubleheaders. I’ve never thought this in my entire life until this year: The NFL is getting out of hand. I love football, like, really love it, but 4 days a week? I’m about to be offended.

I’ve been reminded more this year than any other before: Football is part of the entertainment industry. The end goal is always money whether that comes in the form of ticket sales, ad revenue, or merchandise. Football is mostly just an entertainment vehicle for commerce. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the #1 online store (Amazon) had a say in which teams are playing this Black Friday (the game is being broadcast on Amazon Prime)…

Since New York is the No. 1 retail market in the country, Amazon noted it would make sense to have a game involving one of the New York teams on a day that is all about shopping.

Is too much of a good thing, a bad thing? I’m beginning to wonder. Although I’ll give it to Amazon, this ad from earlier in the year is pretty funny.

Hey, at half time of the 89 games going on this week, check out my children’s books, both for sale on Amazon (and other online retailers). Perfect for newborns and toddlers up to age 5 or 6. I can even ship you signed copies, just comment below to get the (foot)ball rolling.

Big and Small, God Made Them All

The Brave Bamboo

-Out of the Wilderness