Well, guess this is a good enough time for a debate about American commercials. If you’ve been living on a submarine the past seven years, you’ve missed out on the newest trends in American humor – the retro-shout-out and the overly-manly schtick. Thanks to shows lilke Family Guy and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, plus a bizzare phenom where the shit of yesteryear becomes hip enough for an Urban Outfitters t-shirt, simply referencing something from the past has become instantly funny. All I have to write is “Remember Jem? She was so hawt, much hawter than Rainbow Brite” and some numbskull is laughing his He-Man boxer-clad ass off. Meanwhile, the metrosexual lamewad has been replaced with the neanderthalic man’s man, as evidenced by the testosterone-driven work of Burger King and Miller . Both trends have sucked originality out of humor, leaving us with Frat dudes wearing Transformers t-shirts and Dane Cook.
These two themes come together in a new Snickers commercial. The spot – Mr. T drives over stuff with a tank and verbally abuses a wimpy soccer guy. Check it out.
I should obviously hate this, right? It has dumb macho themes oozing out every sweat-stained orephus (TANK MUST CRUSH CARS), and features Mr. T, a washed up 80s actor who was doing ATT commercials a few years ago. Everything I hate rolled into one.
But I like this spot. Yeah, Mr. T is overplayed, but this commercial is funny enough to work. Mainly, when the A-Team member hurls the Snickers bar at the weak soccer player, I burst out laughing. Plus, I applaud the company for somehow sneaking the slogan “Get some Nuts” onto the ad. That’s impressive.
Plus, it makes more sense than this. Seriously, what the hell does this mean?