16 things you never thought you’d ask in 2020

Here are just a few things I never thought we’d hear in 2020. Feel free to add to the list by commenting below. Thanks for stopping by!

16 things you never thought you’d ask in 2020

Does Amazon sell face masks? 

Can you please stay 6 feet away from me?

Can you believe Kobe Bryant is gone? 

Is it still March? 

Driving downtown at rush hour? Oh yeah, it’s a breeze! 

What would I do if I won a cruise, a free flight to anywhere, or a party for 50 of my closest friends? Honestly, I might decline 🙂

Does anyone know where I can find some toilet paper? 

Have you seen “Tiger King” yet? 

Justin Bieber is still married???

Kelly Clarkson is divorced?

Someone actually said this??? → “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” – a Democrat running for President

How about them murder hornets, huh?

Wait, what’s that about a dust cloud from the Sahara Desert?

What’s Zoom? (Remember when this guy was caught working from home? This was over 3 years before Zoom meetings were on anyone’s radar)

It’s an election year and people are calling other people racist and sexist? No way! 

Can you believe Charlie Daniels is gone? 

-Out of the Wilderness

10 viruses in music, movies, and books

Awhile back I made a post of movies and music that have “mask” in the title so because the coronavirus just doesn’t seem to be going away, why not make another list? This time it’s all about the word “virus.” Check out the list below of “virus” in popular culture…

Con Air (1997) – starring Nicholas Cage but also John Malkovich who plays Cyrus the Virus.

“Put the bunny back in the box.” (this quote has nothing to do with a virus, but I can’t reference Con Air without including it, know what I mean?)

Contagion (2011) – a virus spreads quickly all over the world.

This film was probably good in 2011, but to watch it for the first time in 2020 and seeing how scarily accurate for how our world is today… it’s freaky. Like, not even funny how accurate it is.

Tangled (2010) – conspiracy article here.

In the film, Rapunzel spends her days locked away in a tower from the rest of the world – or rather, the kingdom of Corona.

The book, “The Eyes of Darkness” (author, Dean Koontz) as revealed here.

Screen Shot 2020-07-12 at 9.41.55 AM

“HUMBLE.” – Kendrick Lamar (2017)

“My left stroke just went viral…” and also a woman in the video wearing a mask.

Screen Shot 2020-07-16 at 3.16.23 PM

Outbreak (1995) – the film is about a fictional virus that spreads to the United States.

Virus (2019) – an Indian film about a virus spreading through the population.

Osmosis Jones (2001) – live-action / animated film about a killer virus named Thrax.

“Spreadin’ (Coronavirus)” – Psychs (2020)

“My Corona” – Chris Mann (2020)

If you have more to add, feel free to comment below. Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

What’s that Latin music in the new Walmart ad? Answers here!

I’ve heard this ad multiple times on Hulu and features the perfect feel-good song for summer, kind of like this one from a few years ago. Catchy it is, but every time I tried to catch it on Shazam, the ad ended before I could get the title! A little research revealed the artist and title but first, here’s the song…

What you just listened to is “Yo Voy Ganao” by Systema Solar. In English the title translates to “I’m Going to Win.” Walmart released the commercial on July 15, 2020 but the song has been out for a long time! Systema Solar released it in 2014 and as of mid-July of 2020, it has over 14.5 million views on YouTube. Check out the official music video below…

Curious about more TV commercial music, check out this ad from Walgreens and as always, thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Jake from State Farm TV ads

No joke, every single time I meet someone named Jake, it takes all of my strength to not say, “Jake… from State Farm?” Every. Single. Time. What this proves is two things:

  1. I had no idea how many people I’d meet with the name Jake
  2. The State Farm ads are funny and memorable

The campaign started with this one…

It’s since been updated to include a new Jake, but the original Jake still peaks out from the next cubicle in the new commercial. These ads are effective for two reasons:

  1. They’re funny
  2. They’re consistent

Another good example of consistency are the commercials from Progressive featuring Flo and Jamie. They’re funny and don’t stray from what’s working, which is the smily and funny Flo and the comedic enigma that is Jamie. Information about Progressive is weaved in nicely as a secondary part of the ads.

An example of ads I don’t understand comes from KFC. Whoever came up with the bizarre idea to have a different “Colonel Sanders” represent KFC over the course of various ads probably wasn’t thinking how confusing it would appear to consumers. Lots of comedians, actors, and even the beloved Reba McEntire portrayed Mr. Sanders over the years and I still don’t exactly understand why. These ads (if you haven’t seen them I’ll include one below) need explanation and in my experience it’s like having to explain a joke. If you have to explain it, it’s not funny. Here’s one of the ads with Jim Gaffigan as Colonel Sanders…

So back to the ads we understand, like these from GEICO, it’s important to be consistent and in the case of State Farm, be funny like “Jake… from State Farm.” I hope they can keep playing off the original ad. Maybe they can even bring the wifey back because she was great with her suspicion… and her perfect use of air quotes, of course. I’d love to see her featured in a follow up ad in some circumstance where the husband is caught talking to an agent again. Good stuff!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

What happened to the viral “candles” video?

Earlier this year my brother-in-law brought up a great question. He asked me if I remembered the video where a dad was asking his children to say something nice to their mom for Mother’s Day. Each kid said something like, “I love you Mom,” or “You’re the best mom!” and then when the camera pans over to the last child, she’s covered in lipstick and says, “CANDLES!” It was quite funny, but you know what it isn’t? Anywhere to be found! 

After he asked me about it I did a little searching and sure enough, it doesn’t pop up on any relevant searches. A video that went viral can’t just disappear, can it? Surely there would be screen grabs of the little girl, and/or other people who saved the video and reposted it but it seems to be gone from the internet. 

So the search continues, and I’d love your help. First, do you know which video I’m talking about? Second, how can it just go poof and be gone? 

This is just crazy and frustrating and I’m determined to find it now. Noboby puts Baby in the corner!

-Out of the Wilderness