The 2011 Joshys: Part III

Parts I and II

The Joshy Grammy Award: Best music in a commercial. These were good ads to start with, but the music took them over the top.

Winner: Buick LaCrosse’s “Garage” featuring “Stars” by Girls Love Shoes

Dashboard looks very nice, voiceover is smooth and informative, and the commercial is stylish all around. But man, the song bumps. “Stars” has been near the top of my Spotify most-played list for a few months now.

Honorable mention: Captain Morgan’s “Ride Home” featuring “The Passenger” by Iggy Pop

Festive, fun, and catchy are a good combination…especially for a summer commercial.

The WTF? Award: The commercials that I watched numerous times to figure out what just happened.

Winner: Old Spice’s Fabio campaign

Bizarre, and didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Apparently Old Spice then had a battle between Fabio and The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, but by that point I stopped paying attention.

Honorable mention: Walmart’s “Yodeling Cat”

The “Yodeling Cat” is creepy and weird. The original is only on YouTube, but clips of it have been used for a current Walmart TV commercial.

The Wild Cards: These commercials didn’t really fit into any of my categories, but they still deserve recognition.

State Farm’s “Empire State of Mind”

Directed by Spike Lee, this would be a strong contender for commercial of the year. Stirring, powerful, and both solemn and triumphant.

Nissan Frontier’s “Landing Gear” and Hyundai Elantra’s “Fog and Smog”

I thought these were both stupid ads, but they were this year’s #1 and #2 posts on my blog, in terms of views and comments.

Well, that’s the conclusion of The 2011 Joshys. Hope you enjoyed it! I’m going to be heading to New York City through New Year’s, so I’ll try to update occasionally, but it won’t be as often.

A Creepy Cat Yodeling For Walmart For Some Reason

Yeah, it’s pretty creepy. Makes me glad that my cat only meows. Why is the cat yodeling? Who knows. The Martin Agency, creator of this ad, must really be into talking/singing CGI animals as evidenced by their Geico work (which I loved). This…not so much.

Commercials I Hate: Walmart’s Christmas Price Guarantee

Gahh. Just awful. So annoying. Although that does pretty much replicate the typical Walmart customer. I think she’s tweaking on meth. Just add pushing, shoving, and total lack of self-awareness, and you’ll have the typical Walmart experience. And I won’t be convinced the recession is over until there’s no layaway.

Bonus link: You just had to know this was coming. People of Walmart!

Walmart’s Not Gonna Take It

There’s no doubt that Walmart is a brilliant retailer. The jury is still out though about whether they’re good or evil. Personally, I hate Walmart. You could go on and on about the reasons: their sketchy employment records, alleged discrimination against women, and the argument that they push smaller stores out of business while selling merchandise made almost exclusively in other countries. But I hate Walmart for a much simpler reason. I’ve found it to be so incredibly inefficient. When there’s 20 checkout lines, more than 2 at a time should be open. I should not be waiting in line for 10 minutes when the store isn’t even crowded and there’s numerous employees just standing and gawking stupidly. Whatever.

Anyway, the tune on this Walmart commercial sounds a lot like Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It”.