A reaction to the first Presidential debate

There’s a reason politics aren’t mentioned in the lyrics of “America the Beautiful” because what we watched last night was not beautiful. Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden had the opportunity to lay out a vision for what they wanted the next four years to look like and all they could do is bash one another. If I had to describe my feelings on the debate in just three words, I’d use these:

Dizzy. Annoyed. Worried.

All Trump had to do was set Biden up and get out of the way. Simple as that. There were moments he had a good setup but he never got out of the way! Joe Biden is consistent when it comes to gaffes and I’m sure most people expected a few during the back and forth exchanges with Trump, but Trump was in full steamroller mode.

I’m a steamroller, baby, I’m bound to roll all over you.

“Steamroller Blues” Elvis Presley

Trump missed a grand opportunity to let Americans see Biden trip over himself on live TV. Next time I hope Trump drops the needless self-promotion and bullying interruptions to give Biden time to talk himself into a corner. At the very least, ask him a tough question or two, get under his skin, then just sit back and let him meander. In defense of Trump, Biden missed the mark also. Resorting to name-calling (clown, disgrace, worst President ever, racist, etc), he failed to inspire any sort of hope in his potential term as President.

To pick a winner in this first debate is like a teacher announcing which of two students got a higher F than the other. Hopefully the next debate will actually include a civil conversation between the two.

What did you think of the debate? Do you think any undecided voters were swayed one way or the other?

-Out of the Wilderness

Microsoft Teams ad featuring Club Yoko “New New”

If you’re looking for Microsoft’s ad featuring a dog dreaming of flying an airplane, you’re ALMOST in the right spot 🙂 Click here for more on that particular holiday ad.

Microsoft has a new commercial promoting their group meeting app they call “Teams.”

The soundtrack is a catchy song called “New New” by Club Yoko. I guess they the song was so nice, they named it twice! “New New” can be heard in its entirety below.

According to Wikipedia, Club Yoko is a side project of singer/songwriter Ruelle and friends. They’ve had another song featured in a Galaxy Note TV ad. That song is called “I Am.”

About the ad itself, there is a series of clips featuring various teams: astronauts, Project Brewder architects, Power Rangers, and synchronized swimmers. I guess you can use Teams in a pool? I wouldn’t try that. In fact, don’t try that!

The ad was dreamt up by the McCann Agency, New York City and according to their bio on their website, they’ve been around for over a century. This agency is also responsible for the very well-known Mastercard line, “There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s Mastercard.”

How do you feel about the ad? Do you like the song choice? Comment below and, as always, thanks for stopping by. Check out more TV Commercial Stats and info on my TV Commercial page here.

-Out of the Wilderness

So what if I let my nails grow sometimes

The other day I realized there are only two reasons why I let my fingernails grow out.

Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com
  1. Softball. The truth is that once they get to a certain length, they become annoying. But there’s a window of time where they are the perfect length for throwing the perfect knuckle ball pitch. Another truth, in slow pitch softball throwing a knuckle ball has very little affect on the batter. In most of the knuckles I’ve thrown the batter gets a decent hit and sometimes, a really good hit. So while throwing this pitch isn’t a game-changer, it sure as heck looks good. That’s about all it’s worth if I’m being honest, except that having three different pitch deliveries may keep the batter on their toes, so that’s a mark in favor of still throwing the knuckle. It takes about a week and a half to get the nails where I like them to have a good-looking knuckle. At the time of this post, my left hand fingernails are the PERFECT length. Unfortunately, I don’t play softball again for five more days… so I’ll have to trim them back a bit so they’re ready again for game day.
  2. Memories. When I was really young on vacation in Florida, one of my grandmothers would clip my nails. For whatever reason, I always wanted her to leave my pinky nails long. I can’t recall why we did that but she was kind enough to clip eight nails and leave the two. Now as an adult I will sometimes leave my pinkies uncut just to remind myself of my awesome grandmother.

Do you have any quirks like that? If you want to share, leave a comment below. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back again tomorrow because I post a new blog every day at 1pm Central!

-Out of the Wilderness

The famous voices behind well-known TV ads

*Check out this link for part 2, an updated list of famous voices*

Undoubtedly, you’ve watched TV ads and thought to yourself, “That voice sounds very familiar.” Well, you’re not wrong on a handful of national commercials. Check the list below and if you’re curious about the British actress behind the Amazon ads, click here for the answer.

Honda – Fred Savage. Some time in early 2015 the well-known star of the 80s TV show “The Wonder Years” began his campaign as the voiceover guy for Honda. You can check out a long list of credits for Fred Savage in this article, and one thing mentioned is exactly why he was hired by Honda:

Savage has a recognizable voice which stirs feelings of nostalgia and comfort for viewers.

Fred’s younger brother, Ben Savage, was the star of “Boy Meets World.” I never let a chance to mention this show go by since it was my favorite of the 90s, and one of my all-time top favorites. Anywho, here’s Fred’s voice in a recent Honda ad…

McDonald’s – Brian Cox. Actor Brian Cox was hired to do the voiceovers for the fast-food chain and viewers immediately noticed the intentionality of the tagline “Bah da buh buh buuuuuh.” Before this the line was delivered in with a tone that suggested a fun and carefree experience. One of the ads focuses on the fries and points out something we’ve all experienced in our fast-food consumption…

Get them the fries. Otherwise your fries… will be their fries…

Brian Cox is a Scottish actor most known for his roles in movies like Braveheart, The Bourne series, and Manhunter, among others. Here’s the french fries ad featuring the voice of Mr. Cox.

Arby’s – Ving Rhames. The well-known actor is most widely recognized for his role in the Mission: Impossible film series and many other movies including Pulp Fiction and Con Air. But with Arby’s his deep, confident voice has helped make the following phrase popular since 2014.

We have the meats.

My favorite movie that includes Mr. Rhames is hard to decide… it’s either Mission: Impossible – Fallout or Con Air.

What do you think about the choice for celebrity voices used in these three ad campaigns? Comment below and as always, thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Bud Light ad featuring a Zamboni and Eric Starczan

If you were trying to find the song title in this ad and who sings it, well, look no further! The commercial is called “The Bud Light Zamboni” and features singer Eric Starczan performing “Towards the Great Divide.” The lyrics in this ad are as follows:

The road is long

and the trail is hard.

But we must go on

We stay strong.

They tag the end with a voiceover by Rafi Silver, who says: When there’s only one way to celebrate hockey’s return, there’s a Bud Light there.

Singer Eric Starczan includes this song on his 2018 album, “The Endless Wave Summer.” It rings of vintage country & western music with Spanish flair and to be honest, when I heard this song for the first time during the Bud Light ad, if pressed I would’ve guessed it was Roy Orbison. But alas, it’s not.

Here is the full song, enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness