TVSquad

I know it puts me in the minority, but I've always loved TV commercials. Sure, the bad ones are bad, but the good ones are art. The Clio Awards (for excellence in advertising) last week, and here's the list of winners. After the jump, some highlights from various categories.

This was a really funny commercial, especially because it was so well-performed by basketball players Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley (Chuck) puts Dwayne into his "Top Five" on T-Mobile, so he can call him anytime. At first, Dwayne is delighted and tells Barkley to go ahead and call him. Flatter soon turns to frustration as Barkley calls to talk game tips, the definition of HD (High Definition), and because he is bored. Wade resorts to ducking "Chuck's" calls and hiding to get away from him.

Maybe you have to see it. It's right under the jump.

Duane Wade is the new hotness, and we all know it. Charles Barkley however thinks he is still the junk after so many years. If only he knew he was actually old and busted. I guess waitresses have a way of letting you know. Duane offers to have Barkley in his fave five (from T-Mobile) and Barkley just thinks he's being a young kid who thinks he's all that, when really it is the way other around.

The waitress asks if Barkley is Wade's dad, which doesn't make Charles all that happy. This ad made me laugh. It seems that someone is always getting the better of Barkley in some fashion, even all the way back to an ad I saw when Charles complains "he broke my coffee cup." At least he is still making money doing ads.

The American Family Association has convinced T-Mobile to pull its advertising from FX because of the adult-themed subjects covered in Rescue Me and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. According to AdAge, Don Wildmon and his supporters in the American Family Association "bombarded" T-Mobile and other advertisers with e-mails to complain about advertising on two programs that the organization does not support (what do they support??). T-Mobile CEO Robert Dotson said the e-mails prompted him to actually watch the programming that they're supporting through advertisements. In a letter to the AFA, Dotson says, "Candidly, some of the choices we have made are inconsistent with who we are and what we stand for." Consequently, Dotson pulled all advertising from FX. So far this year, T-Mobile spent $1.2 million on advertising on FX and it is the network's 21st largest advertiser.

I wonder whether this will backfire on the AFA. Granted, it succeeded in pulling advertising (they got lucky, says Joel over on AdJab). But, this news may cause people to tune in to see what all the fuss is about.