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
I expect Christmas heartstrings being pulled during holiday commercials from brands like Publix, Amazon, and L.L. Bean. But you gotta be honest right now, you didn’t see an ad from Uber making you cry, did you? And no, it’s not about how little they pay their drivers that’s striking a chord with viewers. It’s family. It’s feelings. It’s Christmas. Of course, the music plays a big part. Check out the commercial then scroll down for more info…
The Song. Music featured in this commercial is “Landslide” covered by James Blake. Talk about the perfect song choice! Here’s the full track…
There was chatter about a controversy, like Skillet didn’t honor the solemness of the traditional Christmas hymn. But who gives a flying flip? Skillet is a metal band. They tuned the song to their style so fans of metal might like a Christmas song more when they hear it that way. What’s the problem? Bands and singers have adapted a million billion songs from one genre to another and some are good, some are terrible. The idea that this one is so bad that some call it “demonic” is absurd and, quite frankly, embarrassing. I grew up as a kid in Baptist churches in the 1980s so I understand that there were rules in church– no smoking, no cussing, no rap or heavy metal music. But it’s 2025 and I think God is a little more complex than that. *sarcasm*
I’m not a metal music fan but I enjoyed Skillet’s interpretation. I might even play it for my Baptist church parents.
If aliens visited earth today, they’d think we had a very weird and passionate obsession with Wicked: For Good and, well, they’d be right. I can’t turn on the TV without some sort of promo for the movie. It’s getting tiresome. In the shadows of the sequel, though, is a holiday called Thanksgiving. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if someone changes it to Wickedsgiving this year. I want to go back to when Thanksgiving was just overshadowed by Christmas. To pay homage to those good ol’ days, I’m going to skip talking about Thanksgiving and get to the point of this post- a new Christmas commercial from Chevrolet! Check it out…
I really wanted to like the commercial. It wasn’t that long ago Chevy had a fantastic Christmas commercial (watch it here) that made me feel everything they wanted me to feel, only missing the mark when I didn’t go out to buy a Chevy that very second. But this new one, it’s a a soft no from me. While it did make me feel things, the overriding emotion was sadness. I’ve edited a few documentaries and the formula we used was to present the “doom and gloom” but then brighten the mood with “joy and hope.” This is where Chevy fell short. Too much auld lang syne, not enough jingle bells. As a viewer posted on Youtube:
As a guy who has owned 16 suburbans (currently 3), none newer than a 2011, I wonder when I watch these wonderful Christmas commercials if it ever occurs to the folks at Chevrolet: “maybe we should try making great cars again?” Instead of just making commercials about “remember when we made great cars?”
It’s a nice commercial. I give it a B- for the reason stated above, plus I can’t stand when they use makeup to make a young person look old. Ugh. It’s 2025 people. Get it together.
Merry Christmas…. and I guess, Happy Thanksgiving, too.
I’m pretty obsessed with wildlife so I’m going to go ahead and mark this Apple commercial is the best one I’ve ever seen. It’s creative and so cute with the little woodland creatures. Well, the not-so-little ones, too. Bears can be cute, right? Yes, yes they can. I have proof as seen in my children’s book “Big and Small, God Made Them All”…
Besides the fact that you could (and should?) buy my book, here’s Apple’s version of cute wildlife, then scroll down for more.
The commercial was also shot on the iPhone 17, too, which probably doesn’t surprise anyone. I mean, what’s the best way to advertise a camera on a phone in a commercial? The ad is a nod to, and pays homage to, “Friends” by Flight of the Conchords.
There’s also a backstage look at the making of the commercial. People continue to fascinate me with their talents, creativity, and skills!
I could bore you with personal anecdotes about each of these pies, but isn’t that why you scroll quickly down other websites to find what you’re looking for without wasting time? So here we go… the top 10 pies for Thanksgiving according to Instacart:
Out of the Wilderness 