Dick’s Sporting Goods Brings The “Sweet Emotion”

Has the global pandemic increased your desire to venture outside for an adventure? That’s what this lovely ad from Dick’s Sporting Goods seems to suggest. The visually stunning spot shows different people engaged on all different manner of outdoor exercise and the simple words “See You Out There.” It’s buoyed by the sweet sounds of Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.” Nice work.

The Geico Gecko Meets Rocky & Bullwinkle In The Rocky Mountains

The Geico Gecko is waxing poetically about Geico while hiking through the scenic and majestic Rocky Mountains. He starts to say that they must be named after the rocky…when a crossover happens! Bullwinkle suddenly sprints in and says that they just be named after Rocky the flying squirrel. Rocky flies in and tells Bullwinkle they must be named after…then Bullwinkle exclaims “first President George Rockington!” Much befuddlement ensues, as the Gecko says that doesn’t even make sense. Indeed. By the way, Geico just posted this one, but it originally debuted in 2014.

That BMW Commercial With Blink 182’s “All The Small Things”

I didn’t really expect BMW to use one of the most iconic pop punk songs in an ad. But here we are, and Blink 182’s “All The Small Things” is in this commercial for the BMW Summer On Sales Event 2020. It was a pleasant surprise.

That Advil Commercial With A “Praise You” Cover

I’ve been seeing this Advil ad a lot lately. It features images of parents with their young children and concludes with the simple message “we praise your strength.” The song is a cover of Fatboy Slim’s bizarre 1999 hit “Praise You”, performed by Hannah Grace.

Fanapt Asks “How Are You?”

Here’s some trivia. What are the only two countries in the world that allow consumer advertising of prescription drugs? One is obviously the United States, and the other is New Zealand. I don’t write about too many pharma ads on here, but like anything, if I see something interesting I’ll post about it. And this Fanapt commercial caught my eye. Two women share a car ride and one asks the other “how are you?” They pass an ad for Fanapt and the one woman comments that it’s what they’re both taking right now. I’m sure that really happens in real life. Anyway. It’s then revealed that Fanapt is a prescription treatment for schizophrenia (Fanapt sounds like a fantasy sports app, doesn’t it?) And then we see some dramatizations of what their schizophrenia was like. Fortunately, they’re doing much better now. YouTube being what it is, many of the comments are about the attractive women. Anyone know who they are? I’ll try to get a better version up when I find one…but for now, turn your sound up.

Halo Top Says “Stop Shoulding Yourself”

Halo Top has garnered a lot of notoriety in recent years for its unconventional advertising. It’s been dystopian and bleak…but it’s also been critically acclaimed. Their “Ice Cream For Adults” campaign was one of my favorites from 2019. Now Halo Top is back with a new agency (Heat) and a new view on life. It’s a body-positive ad featuring the music of Mama Haze. And judging from the input it’s gotten on YouTube, it’s proving to be wildly unpopular. Eesh.

Will Your Smart Car Stop At Burger King?

Smart cars are smart, but they aren’t geniuses quite yet. A Burger King sign isn’t a stop sign, but this Tesla seems to think it is one. Which makes for a perfect BK ad. Now if your smart car stops at Burger King, you can share a pic or video with the hashtags #AutopilotWhopper and #FreeWhopper. And then a free Whopper will be all yours. Nice, although the offer is apparently only valid today, June 23rd. Here’s a bit more from Ad Age about this unique spot.

HP’s Magic Carpet Ride Of Learning Commercial

I’m writing this post on an HP laptop. It’s a good computer, but I haven’t particularly had any magical experiences with it. Perhaps for that, I need to turn to an HP printer (which I also have here). In this dazzling animated spot, a girl complains about her weather homework to her dad. He then prints off her homework, and the printed sheet becomes a magic carpet ride for them. They have firsthand experiences with clouds, rain, sunny deserts, and a snowy polar scene. It’s a wonderfully whimsical ad, created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners.

Ja Rule Is In This Ridiculous Local Commercial For Papa Cristo’s

Earlier today, I saw Ja Rule was trending on Twitter. I thought to myself, are we still talking about Fyre Festival? Nope, but it’s something even more ridiculous. It’s a low-budget local commercial for Papa Cristo’s in Los Angeles. If you ever wanted to hear Ja Rule struggle to pronounce Greek dishes while wearing an “I Love Greece” t-shirt, today is your lucky day. Hilarious. And here’s some info about why Ja Rule did the commercial (there’s a bigger story).

Liberty Mutual: LiMu Emu & Doug Lament The One That Got Away

Liberty Mutual’s LiMu Emu & Doug are still going strong with their wacky ’70s-inspired hijinks. Here Doug (David Hoffman) chats with LiMu Emu while they’re at a scenic overlook. He says the ones that got away haunt him the most. Then we flashback to an elevator pitch. He tells a shaggy-haired person “you’re not like everybody else” and then talks up Liberty Mutual. Unfortunately, the shaggy-haired guy had headphones in, wasn’t listening, and gets off at his floor. Nooooooo! Poor Doug!