Dunkin Donuts-related stories
It's not breakfast, it's brokefast!
You know what's strange about Dunkin Donuts' new commercial for their Wake-Up Wrap? It's not the guy who has tightened his belt so much he now looks like an action figure, it's the woman. She's riding the elevator to her office and just holding her wrap and her coffee drink. It's not in a bag and she hasn't taken a bite out of the wrap yet. She's just standing their holding both of them so they look good for the camera. Necessary I guess, just odd.
Spike TV + Dunkin Donuts = a really weird commercial
This is how effective this commercial is: I have no idea who Barry Switzer is (Joel tells me he's a coach that won several big games) but I still laugh every time I see it. It's a joint ad from Spike TV and Dunkin Donuts. Switzer is a crazy old man who jumps out from behind a tree and talks to two guys about taking care of footballs like a baby. Not sure if it sells Dunkin Donuts at all but it makes me remember Spike TV.
[via Adfreak]
Jim Gaffigan: The TV Squad interview - VIDEOS
Actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan has come a long way from driving down the stock price for Hot Pockets. He landed his own short-lived sitcom on CBS, thanks to David Letterman, called Welcome to New York and a co-starring role on the hit TBS' dramedy My Boys, which returns for a third season on March 31.
He also racked up a long resume of funny and dramatic roles on hit shows like Sex and the City, Flight of the Conchords, and That 70's Show. He is also one of the few actors to score appearances on all of the Law & Order series if you don't count the spinoff that hardcore L&O cultists are forbidden to say out loud.
Continue reading Jim Gaffigan: The TV Squad interview - VIDEOS
TV stars dominate Forbes's list of top-earning celeb chefs
You know why Rachael Ray is smiling all the time? She's the richest food star in the world. According to the latest Forbes list of top-earning celebrity chefs, Rachael Ray leads the pack. In fact, of the top 10 names, all but two are TV stars. Therefore, you better believe that all that exposure on Food Network, Bravo, Travel Channel, Fine Living, BBC America, and Fox -- not to mention syndication and appearances on talk shows and demonstrations on the Today Show -- makes a big difference.
Continue reading TV stars dominate Forbes's list of top-earning celeb chefs
More signs of the product placement apocalypse
Ah, product placement. It's a subject that's come up before. We have an award for it, and even as far back as those care free days of 2005, Karina was writing about the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild Of America protesting it. The telling quote from that piece, "Our writers are being told to perform the function of ad copywriter, but to disguise this as storytelling." And isn't that where most of us have always drawn the line in the sand? The placing of products into sets was kind of an understood cost of doing business, but having the writers change scripts to incorporate them was a whole other ball of (Turtle) wax. Unfortunately, those (Foster Farms) chickens have come home to roost.
Continue reading More signs of the product placement apocalypse
Out of the Blogosphere
What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.
- Journalists and politicians react to the death of Tim Russert.
- Will NBC get The Weather Channel?
- Big melons on CNN...giggity-giggity!
- What's going on at The Hollywood Reporter?
- Ah, I knew those songs in Dunkin' Donuts commercials sounded like something from They Might Be Giants.
- Javier Grillo-Marxuach blogs about The Middleman.
- Naveen Andrews talks to E! about Lost.
- Is Rashida Jones going to be in that spinoff of The Office?
- Is there room on TV for two skateboarding dogs?
- Greek gets a new cast member.
Guess what? Rachael Ray doesn't like Dunkin' Donuts coffee either
When Rachael Ray signed on to promote Dunkin' Donuts, it always seemed like the pairing was a curious one. Whatever you may think of her shows or her recipes, almost everything she endorsed up until that time was of reasonable quality. Don't get me wrong, I like DD's coffee -- if I make it at home. But whenever I get it at a store, it tastes like crap most of the time. I don't know if they skimp on grounds, use too much water, or don't clean their coffee machines, but the result is almost always the same weak, bitter brew no matter which store I go to (at least the ones here in New Jersey).So it didn't surprise me to read this piece on New York magazine's website that speculates that Ray Ray doesn't think much of DD's coffee, either.
Continue reading Guess what? Rachael Ray doesn't like Dunkin' Donuts coffee either
Out of the Blogosphere
Is ABC's Dean Reynolds going over to CBS? - There's a Mad Men blog over at AMC's web site.
- Best Week Ever picks the 10 Best Simpsons endings of all time.
- Speaking of The Simpsons, here's an interview with Matt Groening.
- Was Lost really snubbed when it comes to Emmy nominations?
- I saw this commercial last night and I thought it was odd: why is Naomi Campbell suddenly a spokesperson for Dunkin' Donuts?
- Five sitcom dances you can do at your next party.
Katie Couric loves Dunkin' Munchkins
Oh, aren't there more important stories to worry about in these times?
There's a scandal brewing in the TV news and donut-loving communities (I guess it's no surprise that those two different communities would overlap some day). It seems that CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric mentioned how much she likes the Munchkins over at Dunkin' Donuts on her blog, and then Dunkin Donuts sent her "a gazillion of them...boxes...along with crates of piping hot coffee." Of course, this sent bloggers and people who comment on blogs over the edge, accusing Couric of breaking ethical rules and getting paid off.
Calm down, breathe, and think about this rationally. Do you think Couric wrote this so she could get free donuts? Do you really, really think that getting some free food from a local business is going to sway the way Couric covers the company or, um, donuts in general? Alarm clock catastrophe!
At this point I'd just like to say I love the new Lexus.
[via Gawker]
Things I Hate About TV: summer commercials
I wrote about a few of these commercials over at Adjab recently, but I have to mention more of them here because they are really starting to get to me.
Have you ever noticed that TV commercials that run during the summer are particularly annoying? It's not just the actual content of the ads (though that can be quite irritating), it's the number of times that a commercial is repeated during June, July, and August. Toyota can't just have a one or two week sale, they have to have a damn Toyotathon that lasts all summer, so we have to hear that "Let's go for a ride, feel the sunshine, let's go for a ride in the summertime" song 300 times a day. Dunkin' Donuts doesn't just have a few summer drinks, they now have summer drinks for every situation and personality, and America runs because of them, so these ads run 200 times a day.
Now, some of this might be because I get paid to watch TV for a living and watch a lot more of it than most people, but I think that even the most casual TV viewer sees these ads over and over and over again, to the point that they want to change the channel. Have you noticed that summertime ads run a gazillion times a day?
No more Time to Make The Donuts: Michael Vale dies
It's a bad week for "That Guys". On the heels of the death of character actor Vincent Schiavelli comes
word that Michael Vale, best known as Dunkin Donuts' long-running mascot Fred the Baker, has died at 83. He passed away on Saturday due to
complications from diabetes. In addition to the DD ad campaign, where he wearily woke up early every day moaning
"Time to make the donuts," Vale also played sour cream maker Sam Breakstone in another long-running series of
ads for Breakstone's.[Thanks to Tony OB for the tip.]
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