My favorite running commercial stars a dog, a mid-size terrier mix--dog breed afficiadados correct me please. It's for an insurance company, Travelers I think. Anyway, a blues tune plays in the background, with lyrics that revolve around the words, "trouble" and "worry".

The dog has a bone, a bone that is very important to him and the commercial chronicles his/her attempt to secure the bone. He tries burying it--a cat runs by as he is in the act. The dog peers from and upstars window at the fresh dug hole, he can't sleep, his dreams are nightmares of the precious bone being lost. There are a few variations on the commercial. Sometimes he hides it under a rug, but in most he ends up taking it to a bank, and having it put in a safe deposit box. Still, his dreams are haunted, the blues background builds, and there is no rest until he decides to insure it with the company sponsoring the commercial. It's a good example of a creative commercial that juggles several elements.

My other current favorite is of the surreal, stupid variety. It makes you remember it because it, like commercial country songs, relies on a hook, a phrase, delivered by a thickly-accented Scotsman--thrifty. He uses an oil level dipstick like a whip to slap men across the butt who have voiced a belief that all synthetic motor oils are the same, because they are not, "Thinkin' with your dipstick, Jimmy." He's obnoxious, he's insane. The last person he slaps has actually picked the correct product, but he slaps them across the butt anyway. They protest, "Why did you slap me?" they ask. "Because, that's thinkin' with your dipstick Jimmy," he responds.

The stated object of ads has always been to make you remember the product. Manufacturers believe it doesn't matter why you remember. The spot may delight you, make you cry, make you laugh, or leave a bad taste in your mouth. The thinking has always gone that it doesn't matter, as long as you remember what's being sold. The only person the ad makers fear are those consumers who make a conscous decision to buy or not buy the product based on the fact that they either have tried the product and don't like it, or find the ad offensive, and make a point not to purchase the product based on that. But that portion of the buying public is small, and most of us consumers are "Thinkin' with our dipstick . . . Jimmy!"

I love that little cutie on the Progressive Insurance commercials!

I love the guys in that band on the free credit report .com commercials.


And I love this one.


This is my very favorite right now.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/new-baskin-robbins-ice-cream-and-cake-commercial-funny/1245141686/?icid=V