Allstate Island Commercial: The Islands, the Truck, the Tea Kettle, and the Hound!

**Note: if you’re looking for more info about the teapot in this ad, click here**

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 Ad
image 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

Song and Band: “Morning Song” Babe Rainbow

While you’re here, take a look at research on other TV Ads by checking the Details About Popular TV Ads page.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Hooked on Big Sky and Hardy Boys? (no spoilers)

There are a couple of new shows out– Big Sky on ABC and Hardy Boys on Hulu. I’m watching both although if you were really dedicated, you could watch Hardy Boys in a binge session because all the episodes are available on Hulu. Big Sky requires patience as each episode airs in real life weekly, then is available on Hulu the day after each individual episode airs.

Big Sky hooked me right off the bat in episode one. In comparing it to Hardy Boys (at least in the sense of ability to hook a viewer), it went from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds flat. Hardy Boys, on the other hand, is more like this bumper sticker:

In other words, I’m still waiting for Hardy Boys to take off and I’m on episode 3. With that said, Hardy Boys has done a great job of setting the tone for what may be ahead; Enriching our knowledge in the background of the characters, and why they care about the journey they are on, or will be on. Big Sky has more of a flashback style in sharing with the audience the background of the characters. Even still, these scenes are short at this point (also 3 or 4 episodes into the series).

One point to note for Hardy Boys is that it’s set in the 80s so there is a strong sense of nostalgia for anyone who lived through that decade… video games, bicycle rides, phones attached to the kitchen wall, etc.

If I had to pick a favorite so far, that’s an easy choice. Big Sky. It’s fast-paced, dramatic, thrilling, and nerve-wracking in all the best ways. It’s also funny at the right times. Great show and I can’t wait to see where they go with it. Hardy Boys has lots of potential but even 3 episodes in, I can’t quite decide if I’m going to love it or not.

Have you been watching either of these shows? If so, what are your opinions? Share in the comments below!

-Out of the Wilderness

I have a new bike! (sort of)

A few weeks ago I scored a monumental find at an estate sale here in Nashville. I can’t really build up any mystery because I definitely titled this post “I have a new bike” sooooo… guess what I found!!!

A couch.

Kidding. I found a bike. My best guess is it’s from the late 70s. Sears. Free Spirit. Here it is.

It’s in surprisingly good shape and is 90% ready to ride. I took it to a local bike shop where I was given the only unfortunate news so far…. they can’t find a tire or tube that would fit this bicycle. The good news? I only need tubes and tires and the bike is good to go. The gears shift. The brakes work. It’s fantastic. After riding with my friends a few months ago, I’ve had a real itch to get back out on a bike, so I’m pumped for this one.

Patience is a virtue since we’re heading into winter but I think by March and April I’ll have new tires and be rockin’ around my neighborhood like it’s 1975!

-Out of the Wilderness

Do football players poop at halftime?

Has anyone ever wondered this, or is it just me? More importantly, does anyone know the answer? I never played organized football so I can’t speak from personal experience. Usually halftime breaks last anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes. That’s plenty of time to remove any uniform or padding that’s in the way, right?

I can hardly believe I’m posting about something so personal, some people might even consider the topic crass. But hey, everybody poops, even football players. You do. I do. We all do the doo.

In the heat of the game, though, CAN a football be calm enough to visit the loo? I know during marathon races there are port-a-potties stationed along the way for personal needs… so maybe if runners do it, football players do, too.

If you have experience in this area and are willing to admit it, do share in the comments below!

-Out of the Wilderness

Why do radio stations still play “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse?

Does anyone else feel weird hearing “Rehab” on the radio?

The song is ironic, to be sure (Amy died of alcohol poisoning), and when she wrote it I’m sure she had no idea her stubbornness of saying “no, no, no” when someone said she should “go to rehab” would end up costing her her life.

I call the song a “celebration of defiance”… and completely in the wrong way. Some things should be resisted, and that resistance should be celebrated. I’m thinking of oppression, government overreach, bullies, etc. There are plenty of songs about overcoming these kinds of difficulties. But I just can’t understand why anyone willingly plays a song by a singer who died from what she is singing about.

I guess, maybe possibly, it can be seen as a tribute to her, as this song is her most well-known hit? I still don’t get it, though. If I were a radio DJ I would refuse to play that song and if I got fired because of it, fine. I would not want to be part of promoting a piece of art that shows arrogance in the face of self-inflicted danger. Perhaps the DJs could play any of her other songs?

I’m not claiming to be perfect or “holier than thou.” I mean, I still listen to Notorious B.I.G. on occasion and most of his songs are about smoking, or women, or guns, and he was shot to death. This is surely ironic, too, but his songs somehow don’t have the same element of naive pride in that one single Amy Winehouse song.

Am I wrong to think this way? Can you shed some light on what I’m missing?

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

-Out of the Wilderness