Good and bad commercials
I just thought of this topic as a way to see how the audience feels and what they like in regards to the current commercial spots on TV. I don't really watch much TV (mostly news), but nevertheless I do get to see plenty of commercials during the few hours of TV a week that I do watch (occasionally). Here are some of the ones that I like and dislike:
Top 3 Good Commercials:
1. Celebrex spot with the "Fall" theme – "Aaah fall – the season of vibrant colours, fresh air, walking in the woods, bird-watching... and running". Although detached from reality, I nevertheless find this particular one quite funny. I don’t know exactly what kind of a medication Celebrex is and what it’s supposed to be used for (and even how the fall theme of walking in the woods relates a medication – maybe it’s for arthritis or joint pain???), but I have to say that, to my liking, their creative advertising agents did a good job.
2. Canadian Tire product for backup electricity power – the story unfolds in a family living room beside a big aquarium where a little girl inquires from her daddy about why there are those bubbles floating around in the water, and daddy is just in the process of explaining that the fish are "just like you and me – they need air to breathe" when the power suddenly goes off. Ahahaha – that one actually made me laugh the first time I saw it.  Not bad for a simple idea like that.
3. Royal Bathroom (ultra-soft) Toilet Paper Tissue – it never hurts to see wonderful, beautiful and fluffy (just like snowflakes or goose-pillow stuffing) white kittens happily prancing and playing around in heavenly-like surroundings as they are exploring the pleasantries and joys that the world of soft toilet paper provides. Indeed, anyone who has ever had cats and has a bathroom might have gotten the chance to see that cats actually love to play with toilet paper. My friend has two beautiful cat ladies and once, while they were still kittens, they unrolled quite a bit of that toilet paper roll (even though I suspect it wasn’t Bathroom Royale), so that when he got home, he found toilet paper all over the floor of his bathroom. And me being a cat lover, seeing happy cats on TV is sure to be a treat for my eyes (and soul) . Simply put, those kittens are angelic, and no doubt the best part of the whole commercial. There are other spots like this with the same theme (i.e. cartoon teddy-bear with his outdoor summer toilet hut under a tree, whose branch conveniently serves as a hook for that special roll, or little Timmy (who looks like a creature from those supermarket prepared cookie dough packs), with his little red itchy nose searching for that creamy tissue, but I’m too tired to think of/list them all now).
Top 3 Bad Commercials:
1. Tylenol arthritis pain – "nothing will hold you back" – in the true spirit of the infamous TA slang, I say "WTF?" That piece is the most depressing and sad commercial that I’ve ever seen (or at least seen in a long time, anyway). It’s about an old man who is separated from his wife because he lives in jail, btw. A heartbreaking story about how she brings him a home-made birthday cake *depressed weep* which – instead of the usual rasper – has the magic portion of Tylenol arthritis painkiller – so that "nothing will hold you back" and you can escape happily out into the free world hidden inside a mailbag (how you got there they didn’t show). First of all, ever since the first time I’ve seen it, and every time without fail, watching that piece has made me feel sad – no doubt the melancholic piano music in tune with the sad surroundings has something to do with it – and secondly, that story presents a moral dilemma. If you are in jail for something bad you did and you were rightfully tried and convicted, then you shouldn’t be trying to escape, eh? And if you weren’t rightfully tried and convicted (wrongfully convicted) then it makes it all the more sad that a poor old man like that has to spend his days sad and alone, locked away in cold and unpleasant jail surroundings, doesn’t it? In any rate, the happy winning smile that our hero shines at the very end of the story doesn’t pay for the sadness and perceived suffering in the beginning which the all-cure Tylenol is supposed to help alleviate. As a last note, I wonder who was the creative head behind this one, cause in all honesty, if they consider this as something pleasant or encouraging to watch, then simply put, in my opinion they have a particularly weird taste. 
Stupid commercial # 2: the "lion man" – some sort of modern wild child who was raised by "lions" (apparently his lion parents knew they will get their fifteen minutes of gratitude fame when this guy auditions for TV) and cannot comprehend anything of the modern 20th century life until he sees a car (whew!). This one is so dumb and silly IMO that I won’t even bother to comment it (and besides, I’ve seen it only once). Anyhow, let’s just say that I’m generally allergic to car commercials altogether, but this one, even though it’s posing as a "creative" one, seems to be particularly icky. Heck, even the guy’s wig doesn’t sit good. And only guys can think that cars are the most amazing thing in the world.
#3: Mazda’s "Zoom Zoom" car symphony in red & blue. It’s the one where a guy with his lady girlfriend is chasing after his other friend who borrowed his car and doesn’t wanna return it. Overall, I don’t find this one so particularly bad; it’s certainly better than the "lion man" described above. Just the lender dude’s attitude is annoying. "There he is, that’s him" and the super-Mazda-watch-me-great-car speed chase resembling a logistics operation on a table game board begins and continues – that is, until the winner comes to the Finish line. "Hey Mike (or whatever the guy’s name is), can I have my car back now?" The tone of the voice there is about something akin to a combination of an assertive high-level businessman, an annoyed teenage adolescent who’s just been embarrassingly hit on by a geeky chick in school in front of his friends, and a McDonald’s customer who’s been shortchanged $2.75. I find it kinda annoying. Apart from that however, this clip itself is not so bad. I’ve even enjoyed watching it on a few occasions, although my feelings about it are mixed, so I just put it into this category as a "for instance", since I could not think of anything better (worse) to nominate. I can imagine that some folks might like it though. Vrrrrr.... Zoom Zoom! 
What are your own favourite and not-so-favourite commercials? Which ones do you enjoy and which ones do you despise? How about the ones I chose? Please comment, post, and discuss your favourite pieces and feel free to add your own nominations into both categories.
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