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Commercials

by Nicholas King
Carolina Week, Sports Anchor/Producer


With college football and the NFL comes more television watching, and in turn, more commercial watching. As I watch all the games, I think it’s official: nobody does commercials like ESPN.

When I see “Flo” from the Progressive Insurance commercials, I feel like anyone who hears her voice more than twice feels like she should have her speaking privileges stripped forever.

The Pizza Hut commercials in which they have the chef making the pizza like it’s on a cooking show, and the people eating at what they think is a real Italian restaurant, in both situations only to find out the food they’re eating is actually made at Pizza Hut, well, they couldn’t make me angrier. Especially the one in which the people are led out of their house blindfolded, only to be led back in to their house, even though they’re convinced they’re at a restaurant. Give me a break. These type of commercials drive me insane.

I could go on like this for paragraphs and paragraphs. 80% of commercials these days make me swear I will never buy the product advertised on the screen. On the contrary, 80% of commercials made by ESPN make me laugh, even when it’s the 10th time I’ve seen them. For example, the “Is it Monday yet?” commercial in which the fat, middle-aged white guy who can’t keep a job finds himself daydreaming about coaching in the NFL is priceless. “I cut the sleeves off because it looks awesome,” a quote in homage to Bill Belichick, is maybe the best line I’ve heard since I watched The Hangover.

Then there’s the “This is SportsCenter” commercials. They’ve been fantastic for years, with ESPN even running a special on them about a year and a half ago. The latest, in which ESPN makes fun of its own coverage of the Brett Favre saga, is one of the best. Deciding whether one lamp or two lamps in the window means he’s back kills me. The best part is, this particular commercial was shot the day Favre announced he would play for the Vikings, and was on air three days later.

I said I could go on for paragraphs and paragraphs about the commercials that drive me nuts. By the same token, I could talk about different great commercials ESPN has produced for just as long.

Thank you, ESPN, for allowing me to keep my sanity during commercials breaks.
 
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