Morgan Wallen is Only Getting More Popular

On the eve of a big Friday for Morgan Wallen – a new album being released tomorrow AND a recently announced free concert in Nashville, yes it’s free – the country singer probably can’t help but look back at the wild couple of years it’s been since he was in the news for something other than music. If you remember, he was already somewhat popular with country music fans when a tattle tale neighbor recorded him using “the ‘n’ word” as he was dropped off at home one winter evening. Of course what Morgan did was a pretty bad idea and a bad choice of words, but what a *fun* neighbor to have, right?

Since that unfortunate scene, Morgan Wallen’s popularity has only grown…and grown… and grown. Even when radio stations stopped spinning his music, awards shows blacklisted him, and famous white people everywhere blasted him, his place in country music wasn’t vacated. I guess that old adage might be true, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” coined by P.T. Barnum. Tell that to Will Smith! Oscar Wilde said it this way…

“There’s only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”

oscar wilde

Morgan is definitely being talked about and the numbers below confirm it. Take a look at a few screen grabs showing data from Spotify, Instagram, Shazam, and TikTok since that infamous video recording in late January 2021.

Mistakes aside, for country music’s sake it’s a good thing Morgan Wallen is around, especially when OTHER country music singers *ahem Brad Paisley* are making a joke of the genre. Good luck getting a ticket for tomorrow’s free show. Something tells me it might make the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster fiasco look like a walk in the park.

-Out of the Wilderness

The HomeGoods Commercial – The Music, Choreography, and More!

I really like the timing and editing of this HomeGoods commercial, from the flickering lamps to the spinning cars. It’s a cool commercial and uses a song that’s over 40 years old. Here’s the ad backed by Tom Tom Club’s “Genius Of Love.”

The Music. If the music sounds familiar to you even in 2023, it might be from one of the many songs that sampled it in the following years and decades. The recognizable instrumentation can be heard in Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack,” or more recently Latto’s “Big Energy.” There are a ton of other examples, those are just a few.

The Dancing. Entertaining us with the fun dancing was the responsibility of talent agency BlocLA (check out their work and who they represent here), more specifically choreographer Jemel McWilliams, assistant choreo by Raphael Thomas, Craig Fishback, and Mone. You can find them on Instagram below…

Jemel @JemelMcWilliams

Raphael @Rastafa

Mone @moneswiff

Did you enjoy the ad from HomeGoods? Chime in below and feel free to add any and all of your thoughts below, too. See you tomorrow…

-Out of the Wilderness

The woman and location of Jon Pardi’s “Your Heart or Mine” music video

Just when country music is facing a new low (see Brad Paisley has the dumbest song in country music), Jon Pardi comes along and totally redeems it…

That’s right. A country music traditionalist, if he can be called that, Jon Pardi has released a new video for his song “Your Heart or Mine” and fans are not unhappy about it. Take a look then scroll down for more info…

The Location. The video shot was in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, a beautiful city for the backdrop of the story presented in the lyrics of the song. The opening clips include a beautifully-lit Casa Tres Cervezas, a resort and hotel.

The Actress. Playing Jon’s love interest is Paula Montes. She won Miss World Peru in 2021 and she’s a certified health coach. Check her out on Instagram… @paulamonpas.

Here she is not performing in the video but the shoot probably looked a little like this. Check out more of her stunning photos on Instagram, and follow her, I’m sure she’ll appreciate it!

Do you think Jon Pardi has single-handedly saved country music? Chime in below and I’ll see you tomorrow…

-Out of the Wilderness

Do These Obnoxious Spectrum Commercials Work?

A few new ads from Spectrum highlight a question I’ve had for a long time. In these ads, their spokesman (actor John Hoogenakker, who’s also a voice for Chevrolet) goes around interrupting people as they go about their day. Here’s one such ad…

OK, so I get it that the commercials are meant for humor but in each scene of this ad (and other similar ads, too), he’s disruptive, irritating, and noisy. I don’t want to be part of whatever he’s selling and in this case it’s Spectrum internet. Their latest ad shows actor John getting on an elevator and after briefly talking to the other passengers, he proceeds to press the buttons for every single floor. Strictly and absolutely, this is only funny when Buddy the Elf does it… because it comes from a childlike innocence that’s endearing.

This same action from an adult who knows better is 100% annoying. There are no two ways about it, so can anyone from an advertising background explain how this type of campaign is a good idea? I’m not saying people will reject the idea of getting Spectrum solely based on these ads, but I also don’t see any return on investment, either. I mean, who’s going to watch this commercial and say, “Oh wow, I’ve GOT to go get Spectrum!” No one.

In fact, in regards to the commercial above where he’s interrupting everyone, YouTube comments are a lot more naughty than they are nice, and I must agree.

What are you feelings about the Spectrum commercials? Am I missing something? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll see you tomorrow…

-Out of the Wilderness

Something weird is happening on Twitter

I don’t know what I did to deserve all this attention *blush* but in the last few weeks I’ve been steadily getting more followers daily. I mean, I know I’m pretty awesome but something is suspicious… because… (I’m not that awesome). In fact, I’m basically only on Twitter to provide links to things I write, like today’s post for instance. Or yesterday’s post about Brad Paisley’s embarrassing new country song.

Critiques aside, these new followers have something suspicious in common. See if you can sniff it out from these screen grabs below.

Is this happening to anyone else? The least they could do is ask for my autograph or buy one of my books. I mean, if they really think I’m worth following, then do me a solid, huh!

-Out of the Wilderness