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

First drafts of iconic movie lines… [the answers]

Earlier this week I posted a few iconic movie lines but not exactly how you remember them. I wrote down how they might have looked in the very first draft of the movie, before a thousand revisions. For this post to make sense, check that one out first here. Then come back to find out which movies the quotes are from. Answers are below!

Movie #1 – Jaws
“The vessel we’re on doesn’t seem to be the best size for what’s happening in the ocean around us at the moment. Now in my experience, we’d have a more favorable circumstance if we sought out a watercraft that wasn’t as small as this one.”

Actual quote: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

Movie #2 – Lord of the Rings

“I’ll nevvverrrr let you go. You’re special and I adores you. My favorite jewelry for always.”

Actual quote: “My precious.”

Movie #3 – Titanic

“The people recently cast their votes and after they were all counted, it appears the majority of voters have made me ruler of all the nations!”

Actual quote: “I’m king of the world!”

Movie #4 – The Godfather

“Talk about great BOGO discounts! As a successful salesman, I know what this guy needs and when I show him the deal he could get, he won’t be able to say no.”

Actual quote: “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

Movie #5 – Dirty Dancing

“How dare you let anyone sit in that chair that’s tucked away where no one can see them. You can’t hide her talent forever so I’m going to rescue her, then dance with her in a racy slash unclean way, and you WILL sit there and watch us.”

Actual quote: “Nobody Puts Baby in a corner.”

Movie #6 – Never Been Kissed

“Please accept my apologies. I planned on being here early but traffic was terrible and I basically hit every red light! Deep down I knew I wanted to be with you but I’m a stubborn man who couldn’t see the forest for the trees. I’m late, but better late than never, right? Now plant one on me!”

Actual quote: “Sorry, I’m late. It took me forever to get here.”

Movie #7 – Jerry Maguire

“Quiet down for a second. Hold that thought because as soon as you walked in I decided, ‘Yes. Whatever he says, yes.’ It’s fine you interrupted my women’s club meeting. We were talking about you, anyway. I’m just glad my husband is home.”

Actual quote: “You had me at ‘hello’.”

How many did you get right? Let me know in the comments below, thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

First drafts of iconic movie lines that got revised before their big screen debut

food snack popcorn movie theater
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Most of us have a favorite line or two from movies we’ve seen. Somehow these iconic moments get etched into our minds and even become part of society in ways no one ever saw coming. I’m thinking of “Show me the money!” from Jerry Maguire, “I’ll be back” from Terminator, and “Alrighty then!” from Ace Ventura. You see, I bet I didn’t even need to list the movie those came from because you already knew, didn’t you?

Well, what if I said these lines were not exactly how the very first script looked for each of these movies? Maybe the Jerry Maguire one was more like, “I need you to display the ability to help me financially so I can take care of myself and my family!” Not quite as memorable. So after many revisions, they get to the heart of what they want the character to say; what they want us as the audience to feel. They found the gold!

So with that in mind, I’ve taken a bit of a leap in guessing what the first script would have looked like for a few iconic movie lines. You will definitely know the movies and the iconic quotes, but here’s your challenge today: based on the scripts below, can you guess the line or the movie they’re from? Just have some fun and please know this is not how these movies came together. I just thought it would be fun to rewrite the lines in a less memorable way than they actually were delivered on the big screen 🙂

[Click here for the answers]

Can you name what iconic quote these scripts refer to, and the movie they’re from?

Movie #1
“The vessel we’re on doesn’t seem to be the best size for what’s happening in the ocean around us at the moment. Now in my experience, we’d have a more favorable circumstance if we sought out a watercraft that wasn’t as small as this one.”

Movie #2

“I’ll nevvverrrr let you go. You’re special and I adores you. My favorite jewelry for always.”

Movie #3

“The people recently cast their votes and after they were all counted, it appears the majority of voters have made me ruler of all the nations!”

Movie #4

“Talk about great BOGO discounts! As a successful salesman, I know what this guy needs and when I show him the deal he could get, he won’t be able to say no.”

Movie #5

“How dare you let anyone sit in that chair that’s tucked away where no one can see them. You can’t hide her talent forever so I’m going to rescue her, then dance with her in a racy slash unclean way, and you WILL sit there and watch us.”

Movie #6

“Please accept my apologies. I planned on being here early but traffic was terrible and I basically hit every red light! Deep down I knew I wanted to be with you but I’m a stubborn man who couldn’t see the forest for the trees. I’m late, but better late than never, right? Now plant one on me!”

Movie #7

“Quiet down for a second. Hold that thought because as soon as you walked in I decided, ‘Yes. Whatever he says, yes.’ It’s fine you interrupted my women’s club meeting. We were talking about you, anyway. I’m just glad my husband is home.”

There you have it! Can you guess which movies these completely made-up first drafts are from? Make your guesses in the comments below and I’ll have the answers tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

“Sony: the One and Only” from the 1970s!

I’ve discovered this about myself over the last decade or so: I love the 70s era in regards to furniture and home furnishings. I also love estate sales because of the wild array of things I can find, things I need, or things I never even knew existed. So naturally, when I came across an ad for an estate sale close to home, I knew I must go. The vintageness was calling my name.

Come Here Fox Tv GIF by loveconnectionfox - Find & Share on GIPHY

So as I walked into this house, masked up and ready to go, I felt really good about what was happening. Wall to wall it was full of my favorite era. And then it happened.

OK, before I tell you why I was so excited I could’ve peed my pants, I guess I should also share that I’ve loved the Sony brand for a long time, most likely due to my introduction to the Walkman when I was an impressionable middle schooler. In fact, the title of this post is Sony’s slogan from the 1970s and I went with it because of what was in a particular room inside this estate sale home.

Cameras, tape players, radios, TVs. It had a little bit of everything. Then as if it could possibly get any better, I found equipment from what I guessed was the 70s AND it was Sony! I immediately held on to a few particular items lest anyone else swoop in and scoop them up. I’ll tell you this: there’s not much worse than hesitating on an estate sale item and right when you decide to go back to get it, you see someone else holding it and buying it. It’s just devastating.

So now I’m the proud new owner of 3 vintage Sony products: a 70s era TV, radio, and clock. Check them out below and let me know what you think!

wp-15944807276221974509145168632811.jpgwp-15944807278667308994186614497575.jpg

I’m especially excited about the TV even though it’s not HD and in fact doesn’t have any signal at all, it’s just a beautiful little thing. The blue is so bright and a great example of the 70s color and style. The clock has the flip-down numbers so that’s neat, along with a working radio. The large radio works and also reminds me so much of the 70s style.

I always highly recommend checking out estate sales so if you can find one in your area, I challenge you to go just for the sake of finding something you never knew you always wanted 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness