Many Christmas spots have the virtue of being short. The downside of this is that by the time I have lurched for the remote to shut the damn thing off it's over already. I've lost track of the thousands of times I've seen the terrible, dumb gingerbread man commercial for Coffee mate. It's only 15 seconds of wrenching stupidity but I've seen it at least six times on an hour long television show.
And the "seasonal flavors" spot has been running for months already this year. As Wynstone pointed out in the Headlines thread, this is much more intolerable this year. All of what we think of as normal behavior is forbidden this year. So perhaps they're been more mercenary than usual with a captive audience.
Wynstone was talking about a different commercial, one that has a few fans around here. I am not one.
There is a slightly longer version of this spot but I keep seeing the 15 second version of this as well. And at least as frequently as the Coffee mate one. There's nothing specifically wrong with this. Playing off the resemblances of the candies to bells is a cute way to tie a very non-Holiday specific product to Christmas. Arranging them in a tree shape as a bell choir with a conductor works.
What ruins it for a grump (not grouch, not Grinch - there are differences) is that the song is aggressively cheerful and is bad enough when it is sung at you by drunken carolers. But bells are a percussion instrument which adds a harshness to the cheer. "Carol of the Bells" might have been more appropriate but that one can be kind of spooky.
But they save the worst for the end. That show-offy, bone-shaking rattling of the last note and then the "whew!" as if I'm supposed to believe a candy is exhausted after annoying me.
And don't get me started on how Black Friday began before Halloween this year. It's a DAY!
Advertising and marketing discussion welcome.
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