Category Archives: Commercials

Most Racist Commercial… EVER?

Posted on by
Reply


EDIT #3:  Found one from a news broadcast.

EDIT #2:  MIDWEST MARK here again… Pepsi worked quickly to pull as many of these as they could.  I will continue looking for a permenant link that actually works… stay tuned!

EDIT (Midwest Mike): Pepsi is trying to pull this video off the internet completely.  The original video that Midwest Mark posted was pulled by YouTube after a complaint from Pepsi.  I went and found another.  They are trying to get ahead of the storm of controversy that this commercial has created and now they are trying to hide their shame.  Let’s not let them bury this.

With a tip of our hats to Pepsico, Mountain Dew and TYLER, THE CREATOR, they have collaborated, created and delivered (and subsequently/immediately pulled) what might very well be the most racist commercial in the history of television as an advertising medium.  Could it be more racist than the aforementioned Discover Card commercial?  Methinks yes.  Check it out for yourselves:

 

I understand that it’s cool and hip to get a celebrity to create and/or star in a company’s ads, but I’m pretty sure any positive amount of street cred that Mountain Dew was aiming for evaporated in the first 15 seconds.  Are you telling me that not one Pepsico executive previewed this sucker before sending to their marketing channels?  Let’s safely assume somebody got fired for this.

Does it make any difference that TYLER, THE CREATOR is himself black?  That’s way too nuanced for me to wrap my MWTVG mind around, but somebody in TYLER, THE CREATOR’S camp obviously thinks it’s fine with a response to the uproar posted here.

After very recently learning who TYLER, THE CREATOR is (literally about 10 minutes ago), I never realized that commas were appropriate name-punctuation.  I’m considering upgrading to MIDWEST, MARK.  Possibly MIDWEST; MARK?  That’s right, I went straight into semicolon territory… go bold or go home.

Beck Bennett, I Bet you Didn’t Know His Name

Posted on by
1


it's not complicatedI have mixed feelings about AT&T’s It’s Not Complicated series of commercials.  On the one hand, AT&T violates my rule about putting kids with speech impediments on TV.  On the other hand, the adult star of these commercials is very funny.  I’m torn.  I really hate the kids, but I love the guy so, I was doing some research on these commercials to see what others thought about them and I found out something very interesting about the adult star, his name is Beck Bennett and he is from Chicago.

beck bennett

Beck is from the Chicago suburb of Winnetka and is a 2003 graduate of New Trier High School.  He’s a 2007 graduate of USC and has already been a big star on You Tube with the comedy troupe he formed “Good Neighbor”.  The group has been so popular, that they have signed a production deal for a new TV show this fall that is being produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.  Here’s the video that shot Beck and his group to fame:

 

Beck Bennett is clearly a rising star.  The AT&T commercials (which BTW are directed by Jorma Taccone of The Lonely Island), are the most popular commercials AT&T has ever had.  They are currently shooting another series of commercials even as we speak.  The best part (or worst part if you hate child actors) is that the commercials are improvised.  Beck has said that the commercials initially had scripts but that everything that has made it to the air has been completely improvised.  While this leads to the disaster of the kid talking about the werewolf, or the kid talking about wanting more, that makes me contemplate hurling myself in to an active volcano, we also get the brilliance of Beck Bennett reacting to the crazy crap the kids say. I guess to get a bit of genius, we have to put up with the torture of child actors and I’m ok with it as long as we get to see more of Beck’s reactions.

 

We here at MWTVG are fans of midwest actors and we love to promote their activities.  We’ll be looking forward to Beck Bennett in The Good Neighbor Show which will most likely be airing on Comedy Central this fall.

 

 

Volkswagen Beetle Convertible

Posted on by
1


Well played Volkswagen Beetle Convertible.

So I’m sitting in my family room watching NCIS: Los Angeles, which is much better than the regular NCIS, which is still the highest rated show on network TV.  Why do I bring any of this up?  You know how you fast forward and watch for your show to come on and press play?  Well that’s what I was doing and pressed play when I saw this:

It didn’t make any sense to the story that a guy in a ski mask walked into a store like he was going to rob it.  I ended up watching the entire commercial to see what in the heck was happening.  Sure enough it was a commercial.

So hats off to the advertising company that came up with this one.  It’s a rather dark commercial.  Admittedly though, I’m not up to date on all of the armed robbery humor.

5 of the Worst Commercials on TV

Posted on by
10


wendys red headWe love to talk about commercials here at MWTVG.  Commercials are as much a part of TV as the shows are so no TV blog run by professionals (such as ours) can ignore commercials and their impact on us the TV viewer.  Some commercials are good and some are not.  Let’s talk about some that are in the not category.  Here are what I think are 5 of the worst commercials on TV right now.

Continue reading →

Be Like Mike

Posted on by
Reply


michael jordan 50th sports illustrated coverBeing that we are from Chicago and of the age when we were witness to Michael Jordan’s career with the Bulls, we would like to take this moment to join the hordes that are recognizing MJ for his 50th birthday.  We are not a sports blog so I only bring this up because I want to recognize one of the most memorable commercials for a product endorsement by an athlete ever made, the Be Like Mike commercial.

I don’t care who you are or what your level of basketball fandom was back in August of 1991, when you saw the Be Like Mike commercial, you wanted to be like Mike.  Gatorade took a huge risk signing then 28 year old Michael Jordan to a 10 year $13.5 milliion dollar deal outbidding Coca Cola for the right to use Jordan in their commercials.  If you remember, Coke had introduced their answer to Gatorade, Powerade, in 1990.  Signing Jordan would have been great for their brand.  They didn’t get him and the rest is history.

The sparkle has come off Michael Jordan over the years as we have found out more about him and his imperfections and that’s too bad.  When I watch this commercial though, I’m taken back to the time when he was still a hero and we all wanted to Be Like Mike.

Happy birthday, MJ.

Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials of 2013

Posted on by
13


Well another Super Bowl has come and gone and given that the Chicago Bears weren’t in this game, we here at MWTVG didn’t much care about the outcome.  We watched the game tonight for the same reason most of the people watched, for the commercials.  Let’s talk about this year’s batch of Super Bowl commercials.  What did you think?  For me, it was an average year.  I didn’t see any commercials that would make my best ever list, but there were several that were pretty good.  There were a few head scratchers too that I am fascinated any company would pay $4 million or more for their spots.  Let’s get in to it.  Here are the best and worst Super Bowl Commercials of 2013:

Continue reading →

Best Superbowl Commercials 2013

Posted on by
Reply


urlAfter an extremely long Superbowl game that seemed to consist of more blackout than game time, and now in honor of the presentation of the Vince Lombardi trophy, I want to crown the best Superbowl commercial of 2013.

Let me start by saying that the commercials this year were largely piss-poor.  Go Daddy, for instance was downright uncomfortable (especially the psoriasis and smacking sounds) while I thought that Bud Light’s Stevie Wonder voodoo commercials were pretty darn lame.  Coke didn’t do anything at all minus their “race for the Coke” one-off with no updates through the game as there should have been.  Pepsi did nothing at all minus sponsoring the halftime show.  Doritos had a screaming goat and some crossdressing guys, but it felt like it had all been seen before.

So which ones made the cut?  There were more than a couple of keepers here.  Hit the jump to find out! Continue reading →

Midwest Mark’s Superbowl Special

Posted on by
Reply


url

Freshly returned from a weekend getaway up north, I am now all prepped up and excited for SUPERBOWL XLVII.  To be honest I am hardly interested in the game itself, much more jazzed about the yearly batch of over-the-top ads brought by the likes of Budweiser, Doritos, Coca-Cola and XYZ Car Manufacturer.  There’s also bound to be some huge movie trailer premieres (IRON MAN 3!!!), and I will be sure to keep you updated with the latest and greatest during the game.

Seeing as ad time during the Superbowl sells for several million dollars per 30-seconds, I doubt The Usell Guy or Callous Clear is going to have any mind-blowing catapult into primetime… but there is little doubt that this year will be satisfying as ever.

Jump inside for break-by-break recaps of the whole game. Continue reading →

The Best Super Bowl Commercials (so far)

Posted on by
Reply


Tomorrow is the Super Bowl (yes Roger Goodell, I said that word. Come get me) and we all know what that means…it’s time to watch some commercials!  It’s become a time-honored tradition to watch the commercials during the big game, and for most years, the commercials are the most exciting part.  In honor of the big game, and in honor of our love for commercials, we are talking about what we think are the best Super Bowl commercials so far.  Come see if you agree and if we miss one you love, be sure and let us know in the comments (unless you are going to try to tell me that those damn Budweiser frogs belong on this list.  If you think that, keep on moving).

Continue reading →