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You might know this actor from appearances in Stranger Things and Guy Who Gets a Bunch of Retweets. He’s on the rise. He’s so hot right now. And his Tide commercial is a delight.
It’s funny because the parodies are spot on. I didn’t realize Guy Talking To Camera Situated In The Passenger’s Seat was an overused trope of car commercials, but it absolutely is. Then there’s the Attractive Friends Having Some Yuks At A Bar trope for beer commercials, the Nerd With A Tie Clip insurance commercials ... I’m going to guess they had four dozen possible parodies and whittled them down.
The point of the parody isn’t just to make Tide look like it is smarter than the rest of the class. The point is to make you realize all the clean clothes. Over and over again, they point to the idea that everyone’s in spectacularly clean clothes. A ... commercial that draws attention to the function and value of the product? What a world.
The best part, though, is the kicker.
So, does this make every other Super Bowl commercial ... a Tide ad? I think it does.
This is theft. The people behind the Tide brand have made a calculated effort to steal money from the pockets of other brands, and I’m very much into their roguishness. Because while you’re watching another commercial — Toyota, Pringles, Allstate — there’s a non-zero chance that you’re looking at shirts and thinking about Tide. IT’S GENIUS.
I mean, I buy the Safeway-brand stuff because it’s the cheapest and soap is soap is soap, but, whatever, the ad is clever. Just try not to think about how the clever person who came up with this ad is blackout Don Draper drunk every night because he or she is wasting his or her talents on a Tide ad. Let them celebrate tonight. They’ve earned it. Wait until tomorrow to task them with selling a better-tasting kitty litter.
Is this commercial worth $15.4 million?
I’m literally looking for clean jerseys during the Punt, Pass, & Kick competition. So, yeah, probably. I’m a sucker.