My Favorite TV Commercial Of All Time.

I know, I know, we have been down this road before. I was hoping for something new or something fresh this year from the Super Big Game Bowl (what ever we can call it), but again, I was let down. In fact I have been disappointed since 2002 when, what I believe to be, the greatest television commercial of all time was released.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Terry Tate, Office linebacker.



Reebok made a series of shorts around the Terry Tate character. The acting is great, the effects are good, but the writing is over-the-top without being in your face. I mean seriously, take a look at the name of the company. Also, in the sensitivity training video, pay attention to the name of the HR firm that they hired.

Lester "Mighty Rasta" Speight (the actor playing Terry Tate) did an awesome job. Lines like "you kill the joe, you make some mo", and "you can't bring that weak a** stuff up in this humpity-bumpity" are simply priceless. I don't care how many times I go back and watch this, it makes me laugh every time.

So let me have it. What do YOU think is the best television commercial of all time? What is your favorite spot and why? Try and convince me otherwise and maybe I'll reconsider, but probably not. Until then Terry Tate has my vote for the best TV commercial of all time.

 

Television Commercials done right.

Hello Gang! It's my birthday today and I was thinking about taking the day off, laying on my couch and watching some TV. Then I came to my senses.

I have quite a collection of RSS feeds coming into my Google Desktop and a headline caught my interest a while back and I decided to save the post. It was on Charlie Cook's blog. The post was called "7 Reasons Most Video Commercials are a Waste of Money..." He has some very valid points but I think in order better understand TV's effectiveness you have to point out the differences between the types of commercials and the solution for poor creative.

His seven reasons for TV commercials being a waste of money are right on and can all be tied to creative. If you haven't heard it before, I'll say it again - Creative is key. Properly written, designed and executed ads that get the information across in a clever manner are better retained by a viewer.

I think, to better understand the effectiveness of a TV ad, you need break TV commercials down into 3 categories. Understanding that each category has a different delivery style, they all need to start with a good creative foundation to better convey the message

1. Toma ads.

2. Event/promotion based ads.

3. PSA type ads.

Each type of ad has a completely unique message and production needs to understand the specific delivery requirements for each type of spot.

Toma or Top-of-mind awareness ads are commonly the most creative. Developing these type of spots, a creative director, copy writer and a producer can have the most fun. You're not being pressed to get a bunch of time sensitive and/or price point information into 30 seconds. This gives you more time to send your message is a manner that will grab a viewers attention. Since this type of spot usually has a longer "shelf life" you can dedicate more time to production and concepting.

With event or promotion spots you are required to cram sale dates, calls to action, price points, specials and other need-to-know information into a short amount of time. A higher level of creative is often sacrificed to include the necessary promotional information. However, this doesn't mean that production quality has to suffer. Obviously this type of commercial isn't on air very long, but done right it will do its job and drive traffic.

PSA type spots typically deliver a soft sell and heart felt message. Creative for this type of commercial manifests itself in quality production. Properly written copy coupled with compelling visual is the key to success when producing these type of ads.

Properly executed creative needs to be done right. Think it through. Hire a competent creative director, copy writer and production crew. It may cost a little more than having a local network affiliate produce your commercial, but in the long run, you will get a better product.

 

It is done!

So how many of you watched HBO's final episode of The Sopranos? I did and I must say I had high expectations. For those of you have seen it you know what I am talking about when I say I thought my satellite went out. Then I began to think that someone blew up the restaurant. All of the speculation then turned to disgust. I wanted closure, I needed a better ending.

According to CBS News, Sopranos creator David Chase was in France and unreachable. He knew what the reaction would be to the ending of all non-endings. Admittedly I had my own theories on what was going to happen, including the notion that Tony was going to "turn states" and hide away in protective custody.

Here are a couple of questions that I would like to have closure on? What was the cat doing? Will Sil live? Is there a feature length film on the way?

After reading the blogs and Soprano discussion sites proceeding the abrupt ending, there was all kinds of insight that made me appreciate the ending a little bit more. The ending makes you realize that Tony Soprano will forever be looking over his shoulder. Also, Wiseguys always say that when it is your time, you will never see it coming. Well, we (the fans) surely didn't see this coming. This was a great show with a great run. In closing, what I really want to know is... WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE RUSSIAN that Paulie and Christopher shot in the woods?