Benjamin Tod Does It Again

The Country Music Association had its annual awards show this past Wednesday. Although I’m no longer working in the country music industry, I still get a kick of out following along and seeing who’s getting the awards and who gets the performance slots on the shows. Unless you live under a rock, you’re aware of Post Malone’s alliance with country artists so it makes sense that he’d have a duet to kick off the show.

If I had to write a summary of the show (and I didn’t watch all of it), I’d say it this way: Country music is gravitating back towards the traditional sound. That’s why Chris Stapleton was a multiple award winner. Other winners were Lainey Wilson, Riley Green & Ella Langley, all of whom are pretty far from pop country.

It’s refreshing to finally see the pendulum swinging back towards country music that cares about instrumentation, leans less on a signature pop sound, and lyrics matter. The era of bro country (which has been over for awhile, of course) and the superficial lyrics that came along with it are taking a backseat to songs and artists with more heartfelt and poetic offerings. There will always be artists clinging to tired formulas (example with link) but then there are artists like Benjamin Tod, who continue to restore my hope in country music.

As I listened and watched his latest music video, it made me happy with the state of country music. Listen to his cover of the Randy Travis duet with George Jones.

Bring back the steel guitar as the featured instrument. Play a fiddle. Strum a banjo! I’m here for it.

-Out of the Wilderness

Bud Light Goes From Brat Summer to Frat Fall – The Shane Gillis Commercial

It starts off like a Bleu De Chanel commercial but when Shane Gillis’s quizzical face appears and not that of Timothée Chalamet, one knows a fragrance ad it is not. Take a look then scroll down for more about Bud Light embracing brat summer frat fall…

“We are all lost.” That could be the tagline of this short sitcom. Shane Gillis is in the wrong place and apparently Andre, the actor who’s supposed to be there, is lost also. This ad isn’t meant to be dissected but there are a few things I’d like to point out.

  1. The narrator says to Shane, “If you’re here, then Andre is [where Shane should be].” But why? Just because Shane is at the wrong location doesn’t mean Andre is, too. And even if Andre went to the wrong shoot location, why would it be the exact sports bar where Shane is supposed to be?
  2. The guitar player strums a chord then stops playing, yet the guitar sound continues in the music.
  3. What does any of this have to do with beer? It’s more like an ad for Buffalo Wild Wings.
  4. Shane says he “just ordered some wings in that other commercial”… This was a bad addition to the ad because even though it’s meant to be funny and not taken seriously, him ordering something from another commercial is just clunky and nonsensical.
  5. Bud Light having “Deez” graffiti so visible was 100% on purpose… because who makes “deez nuts” jokes? Fratty people. The kind of people Bud Light ditched in their effort to embrace the BLTGQ, as the late Phil Valentine used to say. This might be some sort of olive branch offered to the customer base that had a pretty successful boycott.

OK, my analyzing is done. It’s a funny commercial because of Shane in the unfamiliar setting. The spoof of a fragrance ad was great… because those ads are notoriously weird. Shane’s reactions to the snake and the sand are both such a normal, candid take on how most people would respond in a situation like that without a script (if not running away from the snake outright).

Bud Light has obviously distanced itself from its alliance with the softer side of manliness (*ahem* Dylan Mulvaney) and is now dancing with the one who brought them: Rowdy, football-watching folk. Hence all the Texas Longhorns gear. The UT logo is even on one of the Bud Light bottles.

Texas is currently ranked #3 in college football so they picked a relevant team to feature, that was a smart move. UT was just one of 26 different teams on the cans and bottles from a campaign Bud Light ran earlier this year. It’s a complete 180 from that one beer can no frat brother wants to remember.

Yikes.

-Out of the Wilderness

Coldplay Wax On, Wax Off with The Karate Kid – A Music Video

I started the morning off by watching a Gwen Stefani music video for her song “Somebody Else’s” and a lot of people commenting are so grateful to have an anthem to celebrate their TEXIT (exiting a toxic relationship). I love the editing of the video. Colorful, creative, it’s a pretty visual even if I don’t know exactly adore the song itself. Plus, and this is one of my pet peeves I guess, for a person claiming they’ve moved on and their ex is dead to them, the “you” in the song is aimed at the ‘ex’… so you’re over them but yet there’s a whole song written to (not just about them, but directly to…) them? Doesn’t exactly mesh with the sentiment of the song but I’m no songwriter! I’m also not a singer… and neither is Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay. In a brand new music video, Chris loses his voice and needs the help of a… karate champion? Yes, yes he does! Check out the Coldplay music video featuring the Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio.

The story isn’t anything new– someone is pursuing their passion but getting nowhere. Then out of the blue they have the chance of a lifetime and finally their rare talent is seen and appreciated. The reason the plot is often used is because all of us want that story. We want to know what our purpose is. We can relate to someone who’s down on their luck, hoping to find what makes them come alive. For that reason alone, the music video is awesome. What is The Karate Kid if not a story about being your best, finding your purpose, and overcoming adversity? Even though some conspiracy theorists think Johnny (Daniel-son’s arch nemesis) is the ACTUAL “karate kid” because he also overcomes the evil plans of John Kreese of the Cobra Kai dojo, that’s a rabbit trail we’re not going down today, class! The music video is nostalgic. Uplifting. Plus, it’s Daniel-son, so of course it’s great. Shot during a concert in Melbourne, Australia, I bet the audience loved the surprise. In fact, here’s the perspective of one fan who recorded the occasion…

How the video is presented reminds me of another music video that’s stuck with me since I first watched it a couple of years ago. It’s for a somewhat modern Christmas song (and actually, already one of my top favorites) by The Killers and it stars actor Owen Wilson. Watch the “Christmas In L.A.” video to see if it sort of has the same vibes as the Coldplay video.

-Out of the Wilderness

Nütrl and State Farm Bundle-Rooski… Commercials I Mute ASAP

There are a couple of commercials I can’t mute fast enough. I’ve already written about how much I dislike the Jersey Mike’s ads with Danny DeVito. Maybe I’m the problem but that short man has never, ever made me laugh even on “Friends” and “Always Sunny In Philadelphia.”

New additions to commercials I despise– the State Farm Bundle-Rooski with Patrick Mahomes, Coach Reid, and Jake. Something about how Andy Reid keeps repeating “bundle-rooski” as if he’s sped up 1.5x irritates me so much. His voice doesn’t even sound the same each time. It’s weird. Plus the tagline at the end (Jake: “Well…”) doesn’t land as comedy. Maybe if they were to cut the ad just as he starts to say “We—-” it might be more funny.

The next one is the woman in the Nütrl ads. I guess she’s a Saturday Night Live actress but her accent and the way she talks in these ads is SO irritating. I don’t drink but if I did, I still wouldn’t be buying Nütrl.

Danny DeVito, Coach Reid, and the Nutrl girl can go on, git!

-Out of the Wilderness

There’s Something Weird Going On At Coca-Cola

Is Coke going to be the October surprise we never saw coming? Especially because it’s now November! Something weird’s happening with Coke and it’s not just the AI they used in their 2024 Christmas commercial. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s not *that* bad. Take a look here. No one is letting it slide, though. How did executives at the world-renowned brand justify the use of artificial intelligence when their slogan is “the real thing”?

But then I saw another Coke Christmas commercial and thought to myself that they must be putting the AI thing to rest. This new one had real people. Real trucks. Real Santas. But hold your reindeer, it’s not that simple!

The tagline ends in the Spanish language. Awesome! Cool! Me gusto! But as I scrolled the portfolio of videos on Coke’s YouTube page, something odd came to light. There’s barely any English. Anywhere. Their videos are in Spanish, Greek, Hindi, Chinese, Vietnamese, and I only found one that was in English. That’s fine, too. I mean, Coke is a global brand. But wouldn’t it make sense that you’d have at least a few videos/commercials in the most common language in the world? When I’m scrolling their page, I get the same uneasy feeling I had watching Sleeping With the Enemy. Like something sinister is afoot. Either that, or the entire brand is struggling to find its identity…. which doesn’t really make sense because… it’s Coke. A beloved soda for generations.

OK, I’ve decided people need to be fired over there. If not for the strange obsession with Español (their top 17 videos are Spanish), then definitely for their depiction of a typical American Christmas in the ad below. @Dobro271 pointed out very perceptively…

We need something to bring us together this season. It should be Jesus but if not him, we’re looking at you, Coke, so get your act together… rápidamente!

-Out of the Wilderness