Publix Thanksgiving Commercial – No One Smiles This Much

Nobody smiles all the time. Even in the movie called “Smile,” no one was always smiling. In fact, smiling is why I don’t like this Dish Network commercial and now it’s on full display in a new Thanksgiving ad from Publix. Take a look…

All Smiles. In this Publix ad the mom, daughter, and father are smiling in virtually every shot. It’s definitely not realistic and, in fact, it’s creepy when someone smiles that much. Why do you think the Joker was such a great villain? His constant smile was ultra freaky.

Screen Time. If we’re going to be mad at younger generations for always being on their phone, then the same rule needs to apply to these adult women. Think about the dad for a second. All the poor man has is his wife, confirmed when the mother says, “It’s a little quiet, just me and Dad.” So the Dad is in the background setting the table and the only person he can talk to or enjoy the holiday with isn’t even talking to him. Talk about a lonely holiday. Good job, Mom!

The Virus. I know it’s been popular since 2020 to show families and loved ones celebrating holidays separately because of COVID, but there are a couple of problems in the ad if the pandemic is the reason this family isn’t together for Thanksgiving. First of all, no one who has COVID would be as happy as the mom, dad, or daughter (did I mention the smiling yet?). The next thing, if one of them DOES have the virus, they probably can’t taste anything so why are they eating this big meal?

Final Thoughts. Publix is great about putting together heart-warming ads each holiday season. Heck, they even have one of my favorite commercials ever when they aired a Valentine’s Day commercial. But this Thanksgiving ad comes up short. The sentiment is admirable, I guess. The mom and daughter still connecting even though they’re apart but when we break down the why’s and the how’s, it simply falls apart.

How do you feel about the commercial? What could they have done better to pull on our heart strings a little more?

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

The abandoned graffiti skate park

I was pretty pumped to go to the local fair to take photos of rides, lights, and colorful things all around me. Unfortunately I learned when I arrived that it wasn’t open till about 4 hours later. Bummer! It was time to make a new plan so in order to not have a worthless trip, I took a few photos of the fair from outside the fence.

There’s a nice area nearby called Cascades Park so I drove over there for photo potential. I walked around the little lake and found a pedestrian bridge.

After that, a nice fellow asked if I was looking for places to photograph and then told me about a DIY Skate Park, as he called it. It was just a couple of blocks away so I walked up there, having no idea what I was about to see. So much color. So much abandonment. It was incredible.

The area wasn’t fenced off so I walked through the old skate park, who knows how long it’s been there. So much graffiti with artwork, phrases, designs, and color.

I got a few close-ups, too, appreciating the rich and bright colors as well as the extraordinary, no no, the extraTERRESTRIAL things I was seeing.

This was a real treat to see. If you’re the guy who told me about it, thanks! I still need to check out another place he recommended but I’ll keep it to myself until I can get over there for more photos. I’ll leave you with a collage of graffiti images which you can download or purchase on my SmugMug page.

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

college football and Texas forever

Do you remember that line from Tim Riggins on the TV show “Friday Night Lights”?

Today there’s an in-state matchup between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Texas Longhorns. Both teams are ranked in the top 25, TCU in the top 4! So there is a lot riding on the game for them. I’m supporting the Longhorns for two reasons: they’re the underdog and if they win, the Tennessee Volunteers will most likely move up to #4 and I would just jump right out of my britches if my old home state had a team win the championship. I didn’t suspect that I’d feel a connection to the Volunteers after moving from Tennessee last year. But because I no longer fear the spear, my loyalties are up for grabs. Let’s focus on Texas though, before I go on a rant! Actually, I was camping through Texas a couple of months ago and it was pretty incredible. I had no idea I’d see such amazing things. First of all, there were wind turbines EVERYWHERE. Look to the left, there they are. Look to the right, as far as the eye can see.

And then there’s the wildlife. A couple of things I didn’t get a picture of… an armadillo, a horned frog. But I know they exist. I saw a lot of armadillos but never when I had my camera. And another camper said horned frogs DO exist. The first longhorn I saw was on the way to check-in at Village Creek State Park. I passed a small, fenced yard where there was a steer with the longest horns I’ve ever seen. Pardon the low quality of my phone camera…

The wildlife only got better and better from there. Everything from a roadrunner and deer, to bison and prairie dogs. I camped in 7 parks throughout Texas and my favorite was Caprock Canyons State Park. That’s where I snagged my favorite photo of all time. A couple of mule deer resting on the side of a canyon. It was such a special moment. Take a look at the pics below and I hope you enjoy them. Hook ’em horns!

deer at Village Creek State Park
jack rabbit at Mother Neff State Park
tiny dinosaur at Dinosaur Valley State Park
bison at Caprock Canyons State Park
prairie dog at Caprock
deer at Caprock

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

The Amazon Yeti Commercial – The Music, the Yeti, and the Non-Binary

Amazon seems to be releasing Christmas holiday ads regularly since Halloween came and went. There’s this one starring Little Red Riding Hood and this one about hoarding stuff. Also be sure to check their newest ad with a snow globe, it might be there best Christmas commercial ever. Click here for that one. But back to this ad… it features a yeti (the snow creature, not the overpriced brand 😁).

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

The Music. The quirky song used for this commercial soundtrack is “Okay Okay” by Pino D’Angiò.

Christmas Artwork. In the spirit of Christmas, here is one of my latest photo creations. I’ve smushed together 3 different photos to create a great (if I do say so myself 😏) holiday image perfect for framing. That’s where you come in. You can download this photo or have it printed as framed artwork. Your wish is my command! You can find more of my photography in my SmugMug gallery.

The They’s. It appears as though the new socialite yeti appeals to the LGBTQ+ crowd. As the yeti walks through the onlookers, notice who notices it. First is a gay man who looks like he’d pounce on anything with a hole…

As the yeti strolls on, it catches the attention of a person that undoubtedly identifies as non-binary. Not too long ago, characters like this were just part of SNL sketches.

The Yeti. A yeti is part of folklore, kind of like Bigfoot. The portrayal of a yeti in the Amazon ad reminds me of Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf, mostly because there’s no way a hideous creature would ever be accepted in society. People would be freaking out if a huge, hairy monster showed up to a holiday party or was the star of a high school basketball team, not to mention there MUST be rules about that for school sports. So I send my compliments to the cast and crew on a job well done with the costuming! And as you’ll notice in the comments below, the Yeti is played by actor Trevor Newlin (thanks for commenting Trevor!). You can find more of his impressive work (just look at the costume for The Walking Dead, wow) by linking up with his Instagram @Trevor_Newlin.

How do you feel about the Amazon commercial? Does it entice you to use Amazon for your holiday shopping? Chime in with your thoughts and thanks for dropping in…

-Out of Wilderness

Such a train wreck!

Why is it that we love to see train wrecks? I’m not talking about ACTUAL crashes. I mean things like “The Bachelorette,” Tom Brady’s marriage, politicians on the debate stage. Each of those, and there are a million more, are part of pop culture for one reason only: they’re train wrecks and so often we can’t look away.

Creeping Ben Stiller GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

My best guess is that we’re attracted to these dramatic situations because of the following:

This post was originally going to be about music, oddly enough. There are a couple of songs I’ve listened to recently that include the train wreck phenomenon in the lyrics. One is by rapper NF. The other is by the band Needtobreathe. Listen and see if you can pick out the train wreck lyrics…

If you have any insight or comments, chime in below. Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness