The Coke Christmas Commercial – Goodwill, Ghosts, and Gatherings

Coca-Cola has created a nostalgic niche in the United States. Just the other day I was in a thrift store that even had an entire shelf dedicated to Coke, and only Coke. When’s the last time you saw that for Pepsi, right? So then is it any surprise that Coke has a warm, family-oriented commercial this season? Check it out below then scroll down for more info!

The Past. Coke had a theatrical ad a couple of years ago that I loved. It was during the height of the pandemic so we saw a lone man braving his way around the world to deliver a letter to Santa. I wrote up a little blog about the ad here.

Ready, Set, Ghost. Speaking of “the past,” this 2022 ad from Coke doesn’t sit well with me. It’s not that I don’t like it. Certainly family is important to me, it’s the entire reason I moved from Tennessee to Florida about a year ago. But the commercial doesn’t show much warmth between the guy cooking and the older woman, who evidently wrote the recipe. Her “interaction” with him is more stern than it is loving. I use the word interaction loosely because, as we see at the end of the ad, the woman is dead. Her spirit lives on through the things, and people, she left behind. That’s a nice sentiment. I wish the ad captured the sweetness of their relationship instead of presenting her as a hard-nosed and strict mother.

Do you like Coke’s contribution to the Christmas commercials this year? Comment below and thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

Unexpected college football game

Part of my Thanksgiving holiday celebration included going to a college football game. It wasn’t part of the original plan but it turned out to be quite fun! The game itself was entertaining but a lot of things happened that were fun, not even including the actual game… like the band, the excitement of the crowd, seeing old friends, and watching the players on the sideline when the cameras weren’t on them. Here is a video I recorded at the start of the game…

We certainly had a good ol’ time and slept well once we got home at 130am.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Top Christmas Commercials

Now…. NOW it’s perfectly fine to share Christmas commercials. Thanksgiving has come and gone so it’s time to air those Christmas ads, sell Christmas decor in the stores, turn on Brenda Lee and Nat King Cole! I can’t wait for the lights, the holiday commercials, the holi—– wait, what’s that!? You’ve already seen Christmas stuff in stores? Holiday ads have been on TV for months!? What in the yellow snow is going on!?

I guess Christmas cheer has extended earlier up the calendar and to be honest, I’m fine with it! Even Christmas commercials seem to be filling up our screens closer to Halloween than Thanksgiving. With that in mind, here are a few favorites from 2021 and 2022. From the commercials below, do you have one you like more than the others? You can also click on each one for a more detailed description of the commercial, including the music, the actors, and more!

Home Depot. It’s a documentary-style commercial featuring the elusive St. Nick.

Publix in the Attic. Always with the heart-wrenching ads, Publix introduces a snowman that brings neighbors together.

Amazon Snow Globe. Amazon hasn’t usually gone with ads that will melt your heart, but with this one they’re right up there with the best of them.

Kohl’s and Not Dolly Parton. This is a sweet ad called “Dance With All Your Heart.” The importance of family, togetherness, and great music.

Merry Christmas!

-Out of the Wilderness

My Beef with Thanksgiving Turkey

Whether you’re with family, friends, or co-workers on this (almost the best) holiday of the year, I hope you have a great day! People have already started with other (the best) holiday festivities – Walmart and many other stores have Christmas decorations up, TV advertisements from major corporations prepping us for Christmas sales, and to be perfectly honest, I’ve been playing Christmas music for weeks. I’ve scanned through all the SiriusXM stations I can find playing holiday songs. I was listening to one of their stations and the guy said this holiday season they have more Christmas stations than ever before. I’m not sure it was necessary but I still fully support it!

I have a Christmas Spotify playlist, too. Click here and it’ll open up in a new window, or directly in Spotify if you’re reading this from your phone.

And now can we discuss what time is acceptable to eat a Thanksgiving meal? For me, lunch is around noon. So why is it that a lot of times the Thanksgiving “lunch” is 1pm or 2pm?What the??? And this holiday, we’re eating at 3pm… it’s ludicrous! It’s unprecedented that I’ll be taking my post-lunch nap BEFORE lunch. Turkeys don’t sacrifice their lives for such foolishness.

*stares into the abyss, deep in thought*

On the other hand, I guess I can take a nap after first lunch and another one after second lunch. I’m kind of liking how this sounds now. Maybe if I play my cards right I can take another nap before first dinner.

*stares into the abyss, wondering when I became an old man who naps all the time*

Fine, Thanksgiving is a nice holiday. But it’s second place behind the best holiday of the year. I love the fall season with cooler weather, the leaves are changing, naps, entertaining football, Turkey Trots, more time with family, and did I say naps yet?

Gobble, gobble, I hope you have a wonderful time. Thanks for trotting by…

-Out of the Wilderness

Amazon Romeo and Juliet Commercial – The Music, the Mic, and More!

Amazon hits a nerve with anyone who has in-law issues during the holidays. Their latest ad highlights the drama between the families of Romeo and Juliet. But with the help of Amazon, a family fiasco is finally finished…

*UPDATE: Who’s the woman behind the British accent in these Amazon ads? Click here*

The Music. There are a couple of songs featured in this commercial. The first one playing in the background is “Greensleeves,” which is the same melody in the Christmas song a lot of us know. Can you name the title of the Christmas version of this song?

The Next Song. The karaoke queens in this commercial are singing “Jiggle Jiggle” by Duke & Jones and Louis Theroux.

The Gold Mic. I can’t quite find the exact microphone used in the ad but Amazon has quite a few that are similar. Check out this one, which will take your karaoke party to royal Shakespearian levels.

Do you have any upcoming in-law anxieties you’d like to share? And what’s that Christmas song from the beginning of the post? Chime in below and thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness