The promotional machine behind Epic Movie, yet another "comedy" that mines the pop culture of the last couple years for cheap laughs, is attempting to piggyback on the LonelyGirl15 phenomenon with a series of spoof videos on YouTube featuring Carmen Electra. If you love comedy, then I suggest you click here, stand up, walk out the door, and go to your local comedy club, 'cause Carmen ain't dat funny -- unless fake boobs are funny, which they're not unless you paint clown faces on them. That's just a suggestion if Carmen ever decides to get into stand-up comedy. Call me if you need a manager, C.

[via Best Week Ever]

Wilford Brimley is actually a fine actor, but unfortunately a generation will mostly remember him for his commercial work for Quaker Oats and Liberty Mutual. Unlike other celebrity spokespersons, Wilford always seemed very serious about the product he was pitching. After watching him pitch oatmeal or medical supplies I felt like a damn fool if I didn't go out and purchase those products, despite not being hungry or stricken by diabetes. I would watch his commercials in awe, waiting for him to finally go completely off the script:

Wilford: Okay, seriously, just eat some damn oatmeal. You're not foolin' anybody so just cut the crap and eat it. It's good for you, and you know it's good for you, so don't give me any damn lip. I've been around the block a few times, I know these things. When you're in your 80s you can tell other people what to eat for breakfast, you got it?

I think Wilford's commercials are fine the way they are, but someone found a way to jazz them up:

[via CC Insider]

• If you rub some of the ads the Wall Street Journal is planning to run then you'll be able to smell them. The paper promises that the scented ads will be much classier than the fragrance inserts in glossy magazines.
• It's hard to figure out what the actual advertising angle is to this story about the tabloids coverage of Jennifer Aniston's rumored nose and boob job. Seriously - can anyone tell me how this is news?
• If you like to shop in New Jersey (and who doesn't) you're probably looking forward to the 2008 opening of the Xanadu Meadowlands retail complex (read: mall). To finance the construction it's offering $2.5 billion in naming rights to different areas within the mall.

I think this commercial clip actually comes from an episode of The Tonight Show when Jack Black was a guest. That would explain the audience laughter heard when a young Jack Black pops up on the screen. The commercial is for Pitfall, one of the best Atari games ever. Pitfall helped me improve my running, jumping, swinging and falling-into-things skills. Also, it taught me that if you stand on a crocodile's head, it can't eat you. Also the best way to avoid a rattlesnake is to run straight at it and jump over it. If I ever become lost in the jungle, I should be able to survive with no trouble at all.

[via CC Insider]

The Office is my favorite comedy on television right now. Did you see last night's episode?

Last week, Dwight quit Dunder-Mifflin so his secret girlfriend Angela wouldn't get in trouble for something he did for her, and this week we find out that he got a new job...at Staples! Now, ordinarily this wouldn't be much of a plot to talk about (though on most shows the character wouldn't have gone to work at a real company, they would have gotten a job at some fictional company), but it comes a short time after the episode that had a subplot of one of the Dunder-Mifflin employees buying a special (and real) paper shredder. An episode that had a commercial for the shredder. And now Dwight gets a job at Staples?

Is this going to far, or is everything fair in love and product placement these days?

Yes, I'm one of those people, the ones who watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. I have no interest in football whatsoever.*

I'm a tennis and baseball fan (my brief affair with basketball stopped when the Celtics stopped being good, too long ago to remember), but I never miss the Super Bowl even though on most days I'd rather watch a Sex and the City marathon than watch football. I get involved in the pre-game hype of the commercials, what the ads cost, who is going to advertise when, how many ads a particular company has during the show, and even the post-game analysis the next day, usually in USA Today, where they have people watch the ads with meters and pick their favorites and least favorites (Budweiser wins many years, and I've never understood that). So I'm looking forward to the game in a few weeks, and we'll have full coverage of the ads here at Adjab.

*Of course, if the Patriots make it, this could all change.

The other night I woke up in a cold sweat. Confused and panicked, I began to fumble through the dark, pounding on the walls of my apartment and exclaiming, "won't somebody tell me Keith Partridges favorite cereal?"

That's when an angel flew into my apartment and directed me to YouTube, where I learned that not only does Keith Partridge favor Rice Krispies, but I should also eat the noisy cereal if I want to be like him. Then the angel put on a Batman costume, explaining he was only a part-time angel, and flew out my window.

I was glad to have my mystery solved, but seriously, Keith, what kind of lazy kid has his mother pour milk on the cereal for him? Why don't you just have her feed you in bed, too? My advice to all of you: eat Rice Krispies, but don't be like Keith. Pour your own damn milk.

Thank you.

If you're a music lover and/or a fan of animation like I am, you probably heard the news that Pete Kleinow, guitarist for the Flying Burrito Brothers passed away a little over a week ago. Besides his work as a sought after steel guitarist, Kleinow also worked as an animator for both films and television, including Gumby (he also wrote and performed the theme), Davey and Goliath, Land of the Lost, Gremlins, Army of Darkness and Terminator.

Kleinow did commercial work in the '80s, including spots for Pillsbury, Hamburger Helper, Keebler, Mrs. Butterworth and many others. I've placed some commercials below. There's no way to know if Kleinow worked on these specifically since commercials don't air with credits, but it gives you an idea of some of the icons Kleinow helped bring to life.

I was watching Demetri Martin's new special on Comedy Central last night (funny, as usual). Can someone tell me what the hell was going on with those Microsoft Vista ads that ran throughout the hour? I know that Martin is a spokesman for the product, and he even starred in some of the spots, but they were very confusing and offputting, especially if you tuned into the special halfway through and didn't hear anything about Microsoft Vista.

Actually, the whole idea behind the ads makes me think someone at the ad agency or Microsoft is a Lost fan. The old guy in charge of an odd secret organizations (The Institute For Advanced Personhood), telling you to go to a site that will help you get rid of your clutter, the retro look of the spots, the use of old footage and computers. Very Hanso-ish, very viral. But I wonder if they're too odd to be successful?

• Sirius just paid Howard Stern an $83 million bonus. Sirius just paid Howard Stern an $83 million bonus. Sirius just paid Howard Stern an $83 million bonus. (Nope, saying it over and over again doesn't make it any less surreal.)
• A couple of days ago AdAge interviewed author Jeff Chester about his new book "Digital Destiny," about how marketers have intruded on the privacy of people to an unprecedented level. Now Chester pens this column that summarizes his ideas, including that safeguards on privacy are inadequate and the idea of consumer control is just a facade.
• Glamour magazine is following up its successful Reel Moments short film series with Reel Music. The Reel Music Contest found three relatively unknown female bands and Pink is directing a music video for the winner, a New York band caled Pretty Boys.

Continue reading AdAge in However Long It Takes You To Read This