Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
You may be wondering, as I did, “Who is this beautiful woman in the Clear Eyes commercial?” They’ve come along way since this…
No offense, Ben Stein 🙂
Back to the woman… she’s supermodel Hilary Rhoda. She has had a long relationship with Estée Lauder, so you may recognize her from ads like this from the early 2010s:
From one of Hilary’s tweets, it appears her deal with Clear Eyes began in October 2020.
You can find Hilary on Twitter here and Instagram here.
I was watching the winter finale of Big Sky last night and a particular song came on that I immediately liked. I won’t go into detail about the show, because I’ve already done that, except to say I hope it’s coming back in 2021. Ratings are not through the roof, but I’ve got my fingers crossed.
[If you’re looking for the music from the February 2021 finale, click here]
If you’re wondering who’s singing the song in Toyota’s “Super Mom” TV commercial… well, I was, too. My curiosity is what lead to this very post. Here’s the ad.
Does that voice sound familiar? Some suggested Alicia Keys or Lisa Mills, and I also thought of Jennifer Hudson. I searched, then I searched some more. I came across a group called The Soul Keys.
I think their sound is close but not quite a match… but SO close, right? More research lead me to find out the music was composed by a production company called Future Perfect. Here is a screenshot of some of the credits from the TV ad.
So while a specific singer isn’t listed, at least we know it was an original composition of the song written by Jamison Roosevelt back in the mid-1960s. If I find out more info, I will update this post ASAP! For more of the credits, click here.
I know you’re probably all here to find out what song is in the ad and I don’t blame you one bit. It’s a cozy song, and you might not believe in a current ad they’d use a song that’s 10 years old, but that’s exactly what happened in Toyota’s “Mailbox” commercial. Take a look:
The song is called “Come Home” by Amatorski from their EP Same Stars We Shared. They’re a Belgian band with a couple of albums and TV/Film soundtrack credits to brag about. Check out their website here.
Back to the Toyota ad… there’s lots of glitter. Like, LOTS of glitter. The little girl, who’s adorable by the way, is making cards for an unknown recipient but with every letter she sends there is nothing received in return. Blasted Post Office!! The letters probably won’t turn up for years.
OK, I spoke too soon. Please forgive me, Post Office. The little girl’s letters actually DID make it to their destination (which we learn is her dad, who is deployed). All her glittery masterpieces are hanging ornament-style on a tree by the mailbox and then her dad emerges from a snowy hideout. It’s a Christmas miracle.
The daughter is played by actress Amari McCoy. The dad is played by Percy Daggs, III, who you might definitely recognize from the Veronica Mars series. The ad was created by media agency Saatchi & Saatchi, who also created this ad for the Toyota Venza.
Toyota shows off two of their vehicles in this ad. The mom and daughter are in a 2021 HighlanderHybrid (MSRP $50,004). Dad appears with a 2021 Tacoma (MSRP $41,810) behind him.
Shell out $91,814 and stock up on glitter and you can make your own Toyota ad this holiday season. But it won’t be as heartwarming or charming as this one. Great job to everyone involved!
If you’ve seen the Allstate commercial with a guy driving around a small island and then wanted to book a trip there, this post is going to help you out! First of all, though, I’m glad you found my site. I do research on TV ads, but I also write about music, dating, and my dogs! (click those links to go there)
OK, back to the ad… I’m not the only one to write about this commercial and I didn’t discover the islands on my own. Check here for my source on which island, or islands, this ad was filmed. A trip to this little group of islands will cost you somewhere in the ballpark of $5,000 USD with travel and hotel on mainland Norway. A 5-night stay at one of the hotels on the small island, the Ona Havstuer, will cost you around 11,000 NOK (Norwegian Krone), which converts to roughly $1,250 (approx. $250/ night). Getting back to the Allstate ad… here is more info:
Ad Title: “Island”
Islands: Ona and Husoy, both in Norway
Aerial still image taken from Allstate Adimage from Google maps, where you can see the same lighthouse from the commercial
Vehicle: mid 1990s Land Rover Defender
Dog: Basset Hound (update: she is a Basset Artesian Normand named Eli, check more in the comments below)
Basset on the window sill
The awesome tea kettle: check here for more about the tea kettle
Out of the Wilderness 