Show Tunes, Smelling Like A Man & Kindling

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Three recent commercials of note: one was sadly missing from my Oscars breakdown, one broke on the scene during the Olympics despite being non-Olympic themed (thus absent from that ad recap) and the last is one of series that has been around for a while and is just downright whimsical.

First of all, the Hyundai commercial set to the sounds of “Sixteen Going On Seventeen,” from The Sound of Music provided a perfect hook for what I am guessing was a large percentage of Oscar viewers. I have not encountered the spot since, instead Hyundai has been using an alternate “New Drivers” spot that features a teenagers making use of a bungee jump/human sling-shot situation. This saddens me as you know that I feel show tunes have a special and mandatory place in the world, especially in figure skating. The commercial is not currently on YouTube, but you can check it out at HyundaiUSA.com.

If you live under rock, it is time to come out and familiarize yourself with the Old Spice “Smell Like a Man” campaign– it is fantastically hilarious.

The commercial stars Isaiah Mustafa, a former pro football player (Raiders, Browns, Seahawks) who retired and decided to get into acting. Mustafah went on the Ellen DeGeneres Show where she made him give a performance, which he attempted to beg out of after dissolving into giggles– but Ellen wanted a recitation, and she got one.

About filming: Part of the amazingness stems from the fact that the spot is done in one continuous shot which took over eighty takes to get down over the course of four days involving set accidents, overcast skies and renegade sweaters.

Lastly, those Amazon Kindle commercials are endearingly whimsical and the artistic design just makes a girl want to do some craft projects themed around good reads.

Don’t act like the recent Nor’easters and other gross weather mayhem hasn’t made you want to read and craft all day under a cosy quilt. Do not lie to me.