Buick’s “See Her Greatness” Commercials – Genius or Ironic Fail?

Hello and thanks for coming over to this blog post today. I post every day at 1pm central about all sorts of things. Today’s entry is about a series of ads from car manufacturer Buick. The message couldn’t be more culturally relevant. Take a look (more accurately, a “listen”) to this ad…

I know YouTube comments aren’t an official poll, but when the majority of viewers call you out on the irony of your commercials, it deserves a second glance.

The first ad I saw from Buick in their “See Her Greatness” campaign was on Instagram. Unlike the ad above, they actually included video of the amazing basketball buzzer-beater 3-point shot. But to illustrate their point, they VERY ironically didn’t show the shot! Here’s a screen grab of that ad.

The block out the screen to drive home the point that most people didn’t see the women’s basketball game and, therefore, missed seeing the amazing play to win the game. The biggest problem, though? BUICK HAD A CHANCE TO SHOW VIEWERS THE PLAY, BUT THEY DIDN’T! Buick scolds Americans for not paying attention to women’s sports, while simultaneously not showing us why we SHOULD watch women’s sports.

On the other hand, it’s effective in that folks are talking about it. But, to steal a line from “The Bachelor” (which is a failing show, here’s why), I’m not sure people are talking about it “for the right reasons.”

Final Thoughts. I keep coming back to the 90s hit from Alanis Morissette. Buick has a mess on their hands, or at the very least, they have a lot of work ahead just responding to and explaining why they presented their message the way they did. If you want us to see her greatness, you paid for the ad space, so SHOW US HER GREATNESS! Till then, this campaign is 100% like rain on your wedding day.

Amazon’s Wedding Commercial part 2 – More About the Cast and Crew

I recently posted about the actresses and music of this Amazon ad, so for part 1, click here. There’s more to discover about this ad but before that, check out the commercial…

The Director. Directing the shoot for this ad is a man with quite the resume. His credits include Portlandia, Saturday Night Live, Baskets, and more. It’s Jonathan Krisel. He’s also directed commercials for Old Navy, Sony, Dr. Pepper– one of my favorites from Fansville. Find more info about Mr. Krisel on his IMDB page.

So Cheesy. As listed in Amazon’s Wedding Commercial, the part of “Bride” is played by Kristen Lundberg. You might think she looks familiar, perhaps you’ve been to one of her stand-up comedy shows (tour dates here), or you might be thinking of a cheesy ad on TV lately. Starring in this commercial for Grubhub is none other than Kristen Lundberg! Take a look at “Eggzilaration”…

If that’s not it, you might recognize her as a part of the Geek Squad in this Best Buy commercial…

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Amazon’s Wedding Commercial – The Actresses, and the Music! (part 1)

**after reading below, click here for part 2**

Subscribe and Save is the message in one of Amazon’s latest TV commercials, titled “Save the Date.” They present it in a clever way– a bridesmaid telling her bride that it’s OK to be scared of commitment. Sounds familiar!!! My dad sometimes thinks that’s why I’m not married. But did I tell you one of my exes is married? Here’s how I found out. But my dating failures aside, take a look at this Amazon ad then scroll down for more info about the bridal party…

The Bride. Playing the part of future-wifey is actress Kristen Lundberg. She describes her role in a jovial way, “I married Jeff Bezos!” as the caption reads from her post on Instagram. Also, watch the ad again and you might pick up on Kristen’s role a bit more. She didn’t have any speaking lines, but her body language says a lot. From confused to curious, hesitant to hopeful, her eyes and expressions so more than a script could. Be sure to follow her on Instagram here @KristenLundbergerCheese, or check out her website KristensFunnyHair.com. Here is Kristen’s reel.

The Bridesmaid. Fully supporting her friend, the bride, like any good bridesmaid would do is actress Dina Freberg. She must be the “something blue” in the old wedding rhyme, “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” …as she appears in a blue dress to give her bride-friend some encouragement. Dina describes herself as “very funny” and for this shoot, she admits jokingly that she did “a lot of squatting in between takes.” Check out more of her stuff on Instagram here @DinaFreberg.

Find out more about Dina’s professional career on her website DinaFreberg.com.

The Music. It’s subtle, but playing as the soundtrack to this commercial is a very well-known song associated with weddings. It’s “Canon in D (Pachelbel’s Canon)” and here’s a beautiful rendition of the piece.

I don’t have the opportunity to include this in many of my posts, so I’m super happy to include one of my all-time favorite songs related to this commercial. Here’s the Trans-Siberian Orchestra with “Christmas Canon Rock.”

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness

The God in Psalm 19

I have this little book of daily devotions I try to read each morning. I found it at a thrift store for 79¢. I guess publishers in 1996 weren’t feeling super creative because the title is simply, “365 Devotions.” But at least there’s no confusion on what it’s about! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Today’s devotion was good, and usually they all are. Once I finished reading it, though, I wasn’t done. I needed encouragement from Psalms so I randomly flipped to a chapter. Landing on chapter 19, I began to read. The single verse that stood out the most…

“Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule over me.”

It’s so easy for me to get caught up in things I enjoy: photography, camping, planning camping trips, writing, movies, YouTube, Twitter, etc. It’s not like those things are wrong, but when they come before prayer or reading the Bible, or they replace time I could be talking to God, that’s not a good thing. So I love that even David, the legendary king from the Old Testament, was aware of his weaknesses; sins that he participated in with full knowledge. A few verses down from that, and I had no idea this was coming, is a verse that’s part of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs. I’ll share it below. Listen to the bridge (I think?) and you’ll hear, “Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight.” Isn’t that what Christianity is? If it ever feels more complicated, something’s wrong.

My favorite section of chapter 19 is verses 7 through 10. First of all, the 4 verses are very encouraging. That was something I needed this morning. They list some uplifting qualities of God– the instruction of the Lord is perfect, His precepts are right, the fear of the Lord is pure. And what we get from those qualities is a physical reaction and an emotional one… Our hearts are glad. Our eyes light up. I don’t even know if that can be contained in science. God is so much more than our little minds can comprehend!

As I read, I couldn’t help but notice what these 4 verses were saying, as well.

The Lord is perfect! The Lord is trustworthy! The Lord is right! The Lord is radiant! The Lord is pure! The Lord is reliable!

How can we NOT be encouraged by this?? All our hope can be in God, even as we/I feel the pull of our/my natural self towards things mentioned before (entertainment, chasing excitement, pride, endorphins, the rush of new technology, etc) as well as hurtful things. None of those are reliable. They aren’t trustworthy. They aren’t perfect. Internally, I often come back to a thought recorded in the New Testament, “…to whom shall we go?” Only Jesus has the words of life. Among all the great things Jesus is, he’s also…

Perfect.

Trustworthy.

Right.

Radiant.

Pure.

Reliable.

That last one is huge for me. He’s reliable. He’s reliable!!! I have a challenge for myself and for you: Give him a chance today. Just today. If the day ends in utter failure, tomorrow you can try something else. But when we have something weighing heavy on our shoulders, or anxiety about an upcoming decision, tell Jesus about it and find out if he’ll carry it all for us like he’s promised to do.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Silverware vs. plastic utensils when you’re in an RV or camper

Hello! Thank you for coming to my blog today. As you probably already know this post has something to do with spoons, forks, and knives as they relate to camping or RVing. I’ve been camping this year; So far only in Florida because it’s winter and who wants to go north where it’s cold and annoying? Not me! For entertaining camping stories and my favorite photos from the road, check out my Camping Stories page.

OK, the silverware. Not too long ago I was living in an awesome brick house in Nashville. I spent 11 years in that house but then kind of went through a purge phase after I decided to live in a van. Long story short, I DON’T live in a van, I live in a fantastic travel trailer built by Gulf Stream. Living and traveling with a trailer, weight becomes a concern– from the water in the tanks to the food in the fridge, everything weighs something so it’s important to keep things lighter when possible. Forks and spoons aren’t heavy on their own, but together, they’re heavier than you might think. I’ve wanted to swap out my metal silverware for plastic and the other day, I finally found the perfect utensils!

Today, I’m going to weigh both types of silverware so we can see, with accuracy, how much difference there is in the overall weight. First up are the metal utensils.

Total weight of 3 spoons, 2 forks, and 2 knives is 9.8 ounces.

Now on to the plastic ones. Some of these are from Ikea and others, who knows? I picked them all up at a thrift store so they were very inexpensive. I’d highly recommend checking second-hand stores before buying new, even if you’re getting metal utensils.

Total weight of 3 spoons, 2 forks, and 2 knives is 2.5 ounces.

That’s a difference of 7.3 ounces. I know this isn’t much but it all adds up, you know. I also understand I might be seriously overanalyzing things, but it’s rainy and I needed a project.

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness