MacDonald Manufacturing Concern

Bob Garfield Watch: Week Three

Now I'm getting scared. No Bob Garfield crankiness for over three weeks. Either the man is a) on vacation, b) seriously ill, or c) locked up within the bowels of Crispin Porter being fed giant breakfast sandwiches until he relents and says that yeah, their creepy "King" spot was actually pretty funny.

Godspeed, Bob. Wherever you are.

Bob Garfield Watch: Where is he?

I always look forward to Monday mornings. Not because it heralds an exciting new week of building brands, but because Mondays give us all another dose of Bob Garfield crankiness.

But alas, he's gone missing these past few weeks. Where are you, Bob? Did the Burger King abduct you and move you to an undisclosed location? Is he making you watch ads that are (gasp) off-strategy?

Until we solve that mystery, enjoy this week's AdAge spots of the week. There's a naked lady up a tree, H.R. Gieger's Alien, and a talking basketball. Never was there a finer assemblage of hallucinogens this far south of Woodstock.

Bob Garfield Reviews the Latest Propaganda.

Enough nonsense for one morning. Let's at least to pretend to talk about ads. Bob Garfield reviews a couple of political ads that evoke 9/11 in this week's AdAge. [Registration required] What bothers me about the Bush ad is not so much the shameless milking of a 9/11 victim for political gain, nor is it the overly "sensitive" piano soundtrack working to pull the tears. What really bothers me is the fact that Bush totally looks like a moose when you shove a camera really close into his face. It's freaking me out a little.

Egg and Homoerotic Subtext and Cheese... and Homoerotic Subtext and Cheese!

If it's Monday, it's another Ad Review from ol' crankypants. Bob Garfield excoriates the new Burger King "Wake up with the king" spot in the latest AdAge. [registration required] He thinks its creepy to wake up to find a man under your duvet wearing a freakishly large plastic head. Me? I call that Saturday morning.

I don't even want to get into the homoerotic subtext here. I could honestly care less. Personally, I think it's the funniest CP+B Burger King ad yet. What really gets me giggling like a schoolgirl is the husky R&B voice over: "egg and meat and cheese... and meat and cheese!" That wins my vote for best VO of the year. And damnit Bob, I'm gonna buy one of these breakfast artergy cloggers just for you.