I’m a bit of an advertising gourmand.
I know, theoretically, I should have the highest of standards for the industry that has become my life, and I do. But no matter how dedicated I am to high quality and high concept, throw a famous, talented actor in a ridiculous role and watch them act the eff out of it, and I’m sold. Give me silly, and make it extra silly. I like some perfectly cooked salmon and asparagus, and I like some mac and cheese that’s gooey in the middle and crispy around the edges. I contain multitudes.
So every football season, when I start seeing previews for the Fansville campaign (commercials for commercials? Yes, please), I reach for my spork and get ready to binge. And that’s just one campaign that, despite the fact that it’s been running seemingly forever, continues to hold up. Here are some of my favorites that persist in winning my heart over and over again.
Fansville (Dr. Pepper)
I unreservedly love this campaign. Don’t @ me. And not only did I love every… episode? of the first… season?, I was actively hoping for the campaign to return for a second season. With many campaigns — with most campaigns, honestly — that I love, part of me actually hopes it will end quickly and end well, before it gets a chance to grow stale. Give your concept a chance to draw to a graceful close, creatives, so people won’t eventually be rolling their eyes at something you remain convinced is brilliant.
Except Fansville. Give me another season, and then give me another one after that. Keep mining those soap opera tropes until they run out, which they never will. Deliver the silliest lines with the straightest face. Put it in my veins.
You’ve been instructed not to @ me.
Dr. Rick (Progressive)
I’m not worried about turning into my parents because, frankly, I hit Premature Meemaw Life midway through my thirties. (“She’s such a pretty girl, I don’t know why she wears so much makeup” was the first warning sign, but “Iggy Azalea? That’s not hip hop” and “They need to get off our lawn” have both made appearances.) Still, the Dr. Rick campaign from Progressive has been a consistent winner since its launch in spring of last year. The creative team seems to have tapped a bottomless well of funny stuff that some parents do, even if your parents don’t (and, for that matter, that you may or may not do already anyway). And the acting is splendid.
Mayhem (Allstate)
This one I love reservedly, because while I absolutely loved the early executions, I get the sense that the concept as a whole doesn’t really have the energy that’s kept the Fansville campaign going strong. It’s not already on the way out, but like a bag of salad that just doesn’t smell quite right in the fridge, you get the sense that you need to eat it now before it starts to go off.
(Okay, the metaphor got away from me a little there at the end, but you get the idea.)
Maybe it’s the addition of other celebrities to the ads that heralds a potential downturn. I love Tina Fey, and Dean Winters’s overenthusiastic St. Bernard puppy is spot-on, but stunt casting is never a good sign. All of that said, “Mayhem” continues to nail it over and over and over, and I always sit up and pay attention when this dude shows up with bandaids on his face.
In. My. Veins.
As creatives, we’re called upon to be good judges of our own work and whether or not it’s time to just let an idea go already. I hereby declare these ideas to be worthy of holding onto until they crumble into dust. (Well, maybe not “Mayhem.” That one’s on the bubble.) Give me more goofy, more over the top, more earnest actors delivering Oscar-worthy performances in the eternal battle of State vs. Tech. Give me everything, and keep it coming.
Also, yes, sometimes I navigate my phone with my index finger instead of my thumbs. I use Swype, and you can’t Swype with your thumbs. GET OFF MY LAWN.