Commercialization
Last night, after working for twenty-four hours in a row at my two jobs (including drive time; Happy New Year), I collapsed in front of the tube and watched something we had recorded from late December. It was the funniest commercials of the year. It was amusing enough. Many of the commericials weren't so much hilarious, as just very cleverly done, with some mind-blowing special effects. There was one with some guys going backwards in time, through all periods of human history, and then devolving into mammals, then reptiles, and so on. It was a visual treat, even if it was just selling some beer or something. There was one for an insurance company which showed a bunch of people and vehicles forming sort of a snowball rolling down the street, which was as spectacular as anything in an action movie. There was a really beautiful example of stop-motion animation, in which a bunch of loose coins all over a house rolled together. There was a cute bit with Ellen DeGeneres working with her staff, who were various kinds of exotic animals. These were enjoyable, but not really funny. However, the most hilarious one (although it only came in number six or so with the viewers) was one for some kind of alcoholic drink made with Smirnoff and fruit tea. It was done as a rap song, but with the people in the video fitting the stereotype of very wealthy upper class New England yuppies. It's hard to convey why this was so funny, but it was perfectly done, and the lyrics of the song were wonderfully satiric. Those of you who can watch videos on the computer can follow this link, and click on the one that says "Smirnoff: Tea Partay":
http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,97969,00.html