I RATE ADS

Skittles sometimes strays from the :30 and :60 format and releases :45 second cuts of their commercials. In this case, it’s perfect. 45 seconds of that strange and terrible singing is enough to let you know why he thought the trade was a mistake. The scene where he’s sitting in his room in the dark, listening, makes the spot. But then they show a close up of the rabbit. Dumb. I hate animatronic talking animals (unless they’re way over the top fake). And the ending is pretty poor. It would have been better if he had turned quietly away and started walking home with the singing rabbit, accepting his terrible fate. Or if he had thrown the rabbit in a dumpster.

The part when he feeds her the Skittle with his beard makes this one an instant winner. So gentle. So tender. The fact that it ranks slightly high on the creepy scale keeps it from being in the A range.

“Experience. Hahahaha oh, funny.”

“I met a man on the bus today, I shook his hand. He’ll never see his family again. I guess that’s pretty awesome.”

When he goes to answer the phone, then bangs on his desk…classic.

“You two sheep boys, stop that that jibber-jabbin.”

This one makes me laugh, without making me want to vomit.

Creativity Magazine is rolling out their ten most viewed ads of 2007. We’ll be rating each as it comes out. Number 10 on the list was the Skittles “Stable” spot:

Generally, I love Skittles advertising. They some up with some of the strangest shit you’ll ever see and somehow make it relevant to candy. But this one, though funny, is just too strange. Skittles are a food. You put them in your mouth, so in my opinion, the advertising should not make you feel sick to your stomach. While the acting is good and the spot is funny overall, that machine suckling away at that old man’s bare chest is terrible. I have the same reaction to that as to someone sticking their finger in my belly button…nausea. Not what you want people to feel when they think about your food.

jtherkal: “Do you know what a muffin top means?”

Visually defining the term “muffin top” without having to spell out why it’s funny is the brilliant part of this spot. We’ve all seen them. Sometimes they’re unattractive; but there’s something strangely compelling about a girl squeezing into jeans that don’t quite fit. That soft little roll squishing out from the tight suffocating denim. I want to pinch it, bite it, chew on it.

Overall, I don’t know that it makes me want Lifesavers, and I barely even buy “it’s good to be sweet.” But muffin tops are great.

And the guy is tying fly lures? Huh.

sjbooher: I was too busy looking at her muffin top to even know what was being advertised… and isn’t that the goal? A decent youtube clip… a bad ad. F.

jtherkal: I respect your criteria for judging ads, but disagree with your grade.