Fatherhood

The Ad Council has several PSAs running, including two promoting good parenting by fathers, but this one is my personal favorite. Actually, this is one of my very favorite commercials, period. Who wouldn't love to have a father like this?

I hope this ad inspires a few guys to get over themselves and not be embarrassed to be good parents in whatever form that takes.

Christians

Ah, Christians, what lovely people, they really understand the word of their god.

Thank you, Richard Dawkins, you made my day. If you ever publish a book of your hate mail, I'll buy it.

Hotels.com

Hotels.com has a few pretty good commercials about how hotels get good ratings because of their website. Some even feature well-known actors. This one definitely takes the cake. Absolutely brilliant and you just have to love the guy getting the abs paint-job. Perfect.

Cars.com - Plan B

A funny series of commercials is beginning for Cars.com, where a guy gets a great price on a car because he did his research on Cars.com. He explains to the salesman that he is happy he didn't have to go to Plan B, which is a variety of things, like having a witch doctor shrink the salesman's head, or having the salesman eat brownies laced with horse laxative, or having the salesman fight Glondor inside a stone circle. Funny and clever.

Monster.com

This is my current favorite commercial. There's a perfect job for everyone. This is a perfect commercial. Monster.com has done several very good commercials, including Don't Fight Monday, Find Your Own Path and When I Grow Up, but this one, imo, is brilliant.

Pedigree

I'm behind in my commercial crits and not in the mood to get into one that sucks. I saw a new Pedigree commercial a week or so ago, and it was just as good as all the commercials in this series are. I was almost in tears when I saw this "We're for dogs" commercial for the first time, and I absolutely cried when I saw the first "shelter dog" ad. They still get to me.

There are some funny ones, too, but I haven't seen them on TV here. These commercials are adjusted for use in many markets other than the US, but they all go to the same place. Straight to the heart.

I wish someone would make an ad like these for cats.

9/11

It's been six years since the World Trade Center in NYC was destroyed, and while I don't want to dwell on all the feelings that brings up, I was reminded of another favorite commercial.

Budweiser did a beautiful job with this NYC tribute ad. Without one word of dialog, they pay their respects very effectively. I'm a fan of the Clydesdale series anyway, but this one never fails to bring a tear to my eye. Sentimental fool, perhaps, but so be it. I have to say I try not to watch the "Spot" ad, where the homeless dog gets sprayed with mud and ends up on the wagon. That one reminds me too much of the "Feed the Birds" old woman in Mary Poppins. I can't watch that movie because I can't get around the sadness of that scene.

Trivia note: the actress who played the Bird Woman was Jane Darwell. It was her final role of almost 200 film appearances. She was also Mrs. Dolly Merriwether in Gone With the Wind.

Liberty Mutual

I've been trying to think of a commercial that pisses me off, but frankly I haven't been watching a lot of TV lately, so I decided to go with another one of my favorites. It doesn't hurt that these Liberty Mutual commercials are using music that I think is beautiful. The band's name is HEM.

I've said for years that I don't expect to change the world, but I think I can change MY world. I believe that's a good goal to have. Do the best you can, every day; be completely conscious of how what you say and do and think affects others. Lead by example. Take nothing for granted. Now I know I'm not successful at this every day, but I do make the effort and I do think about it all the time.

And that's what I like about these Liberty Mutual commercials. People are doing the right thing for someone else because it's the right thing to do, not because they expect a reward or anything in return. Someone sees someone else helping a stranger, and it rubs off, and they help someone in turn, and it goes around. It isn't just the person helped who is affected, it's someone who witnesses the act who absorbs the message and acts accordingly. I'd like to believe that the Golden Rule really could work, if only we would all pay attention and walk our talk.

I may not be the shining example I'd like to be, but I do try.