Coke is back with another AI Christmas commercial

Coca-Cola, the gift that keeps on giving. Last year Coke unveiled a brand new Artificial Intelligence commercial that left viewers bewildered, upset, and NOT full of holiday cheer. You might think they’d sift out what didn’t work and design it better for the 2025 holiday season. But you’d be wrong. Here’s the new gift no one asked for…

Just in the last few months (with companies like OpenAI and their Sora 2 program), AI has wildly improved. And yet somehow I think last year’s Coke Christmas commercial iss better than this year’s. Bizarre (possibly tone-deaf) stuff coming from Coca-Cola, that’s for sure. But in an attempt to endear themselves to us even more this holiday season, Coke recently released a behind-the-scenes “making of the ad” and it’s just making things worse, a feat no one thought possible.

The best part about the ad is the music. Actually, that’s the only good part about the ad. I thought about mentioning the cute wildlife but then I thought about it for half a second more. Why are they all smiling at semi tractor-trailers that have probably killed someone they know? Yes, I’m looking at you squirrels. You just know there are dozens of squirrels that are ILJD* because of those trucks driving by. You’re not alone, squirrel friends. Everyone who watches this ad is lit just decomposing in real time about the lack of social awareness coming from Coke.

*ILJD= I Lit Just Decomposed ☠️

-Out of the Wilderness

I have a DUPR rating! But what does that even mean?

If you would’ve asked me just a few months ago what a DUPR rating is, I would’ve probably tried to be inventive. It’s the hurricane strength level of a house. The probability of an online dating profile getting a date. How brown a banana is. Nope, none of those. It’s a pickleball player’s rank in the world of, well, pickleball! And now I have one. I played a doubles tournament with my sister who is a super DUPR (I made that up, although it might be real, I have no idea), and we got a lot of points, some that lead to winning games.

DUPR stands for Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating. It’s based on opponents rating, wins/losses, and points scored. Even though my sister and I lost more games than we won, in all but one game we had at least 10 points (in games up to 11). So we had a great time and she, her husband (my brother-in-law), and I are starting to check out which tournaments we can sign up for in the north Florida area.

This is not going to take the place of triathlons for me but it’s definitely something fun to compete in. The paddle I used for the first time (Bison Paddles) is great. It came with edge guard and weight stickers, both helping to customize my paddle to my liking.

What’s your pickleball experience? Comment below with your DUPR score and what you enjoy most about pickleball.

-Out of the Wilderness

My first pickleball tournament

For a while, there was cornhole. Then there was (and still is) triathlons. Then adult league softball. Now… a pickleball tournament. I guess it’s true that I love competition. Whether it’s throwing a bag of corn into a hole, swimming around a buoy, playing third base, or hitting a little plastic ball on a miniature tennis court.

I got a new paddle the other day because I can’t go into my first doubles tournament with a wooden paddle. That would just be such a rookie mistake. Of course, I AM a rookie, but you know what I mean. I’m partnering up with my sister who’s got a knack for pickleball. She’s already competed in two doubles tournaments (both with her husband) and a singles tournament where she scored a lot of points.

We’ve been practicing a lot, my sister and I. She’s gotten a lot better over the past few months. I think I plateaued last year. And it doesn’t help that I played 1v1 with my brother-in-law yesterday and he beat me 5 games to *cough, cough* none. Or maybe losing that much and that decisively will help me in the tournament today? I’ll be going in with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder and quite humbly, too.

Details to follow, should be a fun afternoon!

-Out of the Wilderness

World Series Game 7 is Why I Love Sports

Game 7 between the Blue Jays and Dodgers was pretty wild. It went into extra innings and as the score kept creeping up, so did the intensity. At one point, the Blue Jays were just two outs away from being the World Series Champions. As you know by now, the Blue Jays are not the World Series Champions because the Dodgers had a few key hits in the form of home runs in the 9th and 11th innings. Those could have been walk-off home runs for the Dodgers if they were batting at the bottom of those innings but because they were the “visitors,” the Blue Jays batted second.

The most dramatic moments, and two chances for the Blue Jays to become champions, happened in the bottom of the 9th. It was crazy. One out. Bases loaded. The batter hits to the second baseman. If he throws the ball anywhere else besides home, the game’s over (unless they performed a double play). He throws home and beats the runner by a split second. Two outs.

Same inning. Bases are still loaded for the Blue Jays. Two outs. A single wins the game. The batter hits a high fly ball between left and center field. Then a jaw-dropping outfield collision as the two outfielders sprint for the catch. Commentator: “Pages says ‘I’m the Captain now.'” 🤪

I don’t even like watching baseball but this World Series was pretty epic. The Blue Jays also had incredible plays to keep themselves in the game but for me, those two plays were the height of the anxious drama.

-Out of the Wilderness

The Xfinity Rabbit Stop Motion Commercial – The Music and More

Since I was a wee lad, I’ve loved rabbits. I even had one as a pet in middle school. Still miss that gray girl! Or was she a boy? I don’t remember ever finding out. My love for rabbits, I guess it’s because I grew up with a beagle and as an adult I’ve had a family of beagles. The beagles like rabbits for different reasons *I think*. Now there’s a cute little ad from Xfinity featuring stop motion rabbits. Must be a thing because there’s also a music video from Laufey featuring a stop motion bunny. Here’s the Xfinity ad, then scroll down for more…

The Song. The soundtrack of this commercial is called “The Green Grass Grows All Around,” a well-known song (and used in this JPMorgan commercial), this time performed by Louis Jordan. Here’s the full track…

Were you ready for all that cuteness? I noticed only one bunny had a baseball hat on which is a shame because there are two hats that just dropped in my Etsy store. These are 100% original, designed and created by me and my sister (we’re trying a patch hat thing). The rabbits should be wearing them but until then, check out the two designs (more on the way, too) at WildHatDesigns.Etsy.com and pick up a lid for your noggin today!

-Out of the Wilderness