If you are like me, most times, when you are watching your favorite TV show, a commercial comes on and you just want to run from the room, screaming.  It is soooo frustrating.  Here you are, totally immersed in whatever crime series, crazy dramedy or reality show you're hooked on, and suddenly any continuity you had is shattered.  Now, I know that many folks use the commercial time to go to the loo or grab a snack - and some just TiVO or otherwise record the show in order to breeze by the commercials and keep to the content.

But that's not really what this blog is about.  Y'see, sometimes, there are commercials which, even if you absolutely totally don't want them to, suck you in.  And when they make a second or third, you find yourself actually sticking around just to see what happens next, even though you know you're getting pitched to.  Even though.

F'r instance...

Back in the 70's, Alice Playten played a kitchen-challenged newlywed in some Alka Seltzer commercials.  People tuned in just so they could see the culinary nightmare she prepared next for her hapless new spouse, whose intestinal fortitude was truly put to the test.  There was such tasty fare as heart-shaped meatloaf, marshmallowed meatballs, poached oysters and scarily giant dumplings.  The commercials didn't improve sales for Alka Seltzer however, despite their popularity, and were soon dropped.

But...

Currently there are a few commercials which might capture your attention.  One which aired last year had Yael Naim singing New Soul for MacBook Air.  Hits for the 'who is that girl' Internet searches rose astronomically.  And a lot of people downloaded the song.  (Okay - so I did, too.  Her whole album, with that song, is on my MP3 player.)

But anyway, that brings me to the two serial commericals about which I am actually blogging today.  (Yeah, I know, takes a while for me to get to the point, right?)

The first commercials I wanted to mention are the 'Flo' commercials for Progressive Insurance.  Stephanie Courtney, the actress and comedienne, plays the strangely curious and exotically bubbly Flo.

C'mon.  You know that everytime some clueless idiot of a car insurance shopper appears in the 'store' you want to see what Flo's going to do to/for them.  Right?  It's surreal.  It's bizarre.  But, it's also a guilty pleasure, too.  You know what I mean: like the dorky guy who sold his watch to his friend and now wants to buy it back with his savings.  Or the sneaky husband  who is buying boat insurance - and his wife is totally surprised/ticked off to discover that they actually HAVE a boat -- and she only finds out when they go through the check out!), or the New Year's song tooted on those ubiquitous (and horribly annoying) holiday noise makers. The weird thing is that after you've seen several commercials, not only do you hope they come on to find out what's next, but you find yourself rating them (as in, which ones you like and which you think were kind of lame - and you could have written MUCH better.)  Admit it.  You do.

Okay - and the second commercial I wanted to talk about is the 'Free Credit Report dot Com' pirate guys.  A French-Canadian perfomer named Eric Violette (the cute, curly-haired guy)

plays the head pirate in all of the commericials, which include singing in a fish-n-chips restaurant (singing for tourists wearing t-shirts), driving a bomb of a car, liiving in the basement of his wife's parents' house, playing at a renaissance faire, etc.  The truth is, while you may have no interest in getting free credit reports, you want to see how low this poor schlub and his friends will go, all due to not only having bad credit, but not knowing they have bad credit.  (And by now, he should know, too!)

The thing is, in this series, the songs, if not brilliant, certainly are catchy.  You almost want to sing along.  (And yes, please note I said almost!)

While I was looking up the 411 on this, btw, I came upon a mondo hilarious blog about this (called, apropriately, I Hate the Free Credit Report dot Com Commercials), in which the writer has a few theories about these guys (miscreants, criminals, murders, etc.) and how it all came about. (And, they have the clips of all the ads, too, which makes this a one-shop stop if you are really into this.

See what happens when you start searching on the Internet for something as silly and mundane as oddball TV commercials???  One thing definitely leads to another, which leads to an oddball blog post.  Total timewaster, but fun. 

Okay - gotta dash.  Have a great day, if not a commercial successful one. 

And apropos of nothing, sing along...

In case you might have ever said to yourself, "Hey, what can I do with a Post-It Note besides leaving myself (or someone else) a note?"  you now have an answer.  This website (P.I.P.) is brilliant.


(Just one sample.  There are lots more.)

Check it out...it's fun!