Al Gritzmacher's Blogosphere

Dear Volkswagon,

What’s up with your commercials? You don’t get to punch someone for a Tiguan. And it’s called Punch Bug, not Punch Dub.

What’s with the “dub” business anyway? Dub is a form of music, based on Reggae.

Look, it’s a childish game that we’ve all played, but your marketing department doesn’t get to change the rules to suit your ad campaign. It’s a pop culture thing, and manipulating it to suit your sales ought to be a big flop.

Leave it to Wikipedia to have the whole story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_buggy

And what’s up with the name Tiguan. Tiger and Iguana? Oh yeah, that’s the image I want my car to suggest…

I’ve been using Windows 7 for a while now on several computers and have to admit, I’m pretty happy with it, despite the fact that, even with all the hype, it’s really what Vista should have been, maybe after a service pack.

You must have seen the annoying commercials like the one above, where people seem to think that Microsoft actually listened to them and took their advice on some little nitpicky thing. Well, Microsoft, here’s My Idea (TM). Continue Reading…

In amongst all the self-congratulatory baloney at the Oscars last night, an award was given for Best Short Film. They showed clips of past winners and the films their makers went on to do after they had won this endorsement. It seem that the short film Oscar is the touch of gold for a budding director. Let’s hope so, because I’d like to see more of this…

Logorama

Christmas Commercials Edition

A good trusted spokesperson helps. I can’t decide who I want to buy a car from – Mike Rowe (from Dirty Jobs) selling Fords, or Howie Long (football celebrity) for Chevy. Somehow, though funny-guy Luke Wilson just doesn’t inspire me to switch to AT&T…

I’ve learned that the family that plays video games together, stays together, or so Wal-Mart seems to think. Several of their commercials feature families playing various brands of video games. Seems counter-intuitive to me… since when are video games a wholesome family activity? I guess it’s better than hanging out in the local bar, or tagging City Hall as a family. Continue Reading…

You’ve got to admire the way Verizon is attacking Apple’s iPhone and it’s lousy AT&T coverage. They’re not going to take it like Microsoft…

Despite a lawsuit from AT&T over the red and blue maps, they’ve come right back with this ad that calls the iPhone a “Misfit Toy” – a reference to the place where broken and mis-shapen toy go from the Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer story. Continue Reading…

While watching TV, I’ve learned a few things. No, not from the programs I watch, but from the commercials that we’re hammered with every six-eight minutes. Here’s a few:

October is Ford Truck month. (So was September and so will November be…)

Today’s a great time to buy a new car. (Anytime is a great time, if you’re a car salesman.)

Mac Guy isn’t impressed with PC’s promises about Windows 7. (But forgets that people are having trouble with Snow Leopard.)

25-28mpg is a big deal to some car companies. (Didn’t we get 33mpg from a VW Beetle back in the 70′s?)

Erectile Dysfunction drugs can cause a “sudden drop in blood pressure.” (Yet, some blood pressure medicines cause ED. Maybe they should just give Cialis or Viagra for hypertension?)

If hurt, I should call Dewey, Cheatham and Howe* Attorneys. (I’d much rather call them ambulance-chasers or shysters.) * Not a real law firm. I changed the name because I don’t want to be sued. Of course, someone named Dewey, Cheatham, or Howe might sue me for calling them a lawyer…

It’s been a while since I complained about TV commercials. Does that mean all is good in couch-potato-land? No, it just means things haven’t changed.

But I’ve noticed a new form of commercial lately and it’s – for some reason – particularly annoying to me. Let’s call it the Commercial Introduction. It goes like this:

This episode of Burn Notice is being brought to you by Hyundai.

or…

This weeks CSI Miami is presented by T-Mobile.

Almost every sponsor and show is using this in some combination, followed by, you guessed it, the commercial. Continue Reading…