That one where Edith almost gets raped really creeps me out

5 classic sitcom episodes that are now tragic.

Betty White: "What happens when there's only one of us left?"

Hic

Alcohol ads are not illegal on U.S. TV.

Like Girlhacker, I kind of thought they were, even though I've definitely seen some.

Not as many as when we were kids, though. Remember the Bailey's Irish Cream ads, and Martini & Rossi on the rocks, say YES?

I don't remember this Martini & Rossi ad featuring the World Trade Center -- I remember the embedded one below -- but the WTC ad is eerie to watch now.

N-E-S-T-L-E-S

Stephanie VWL sent these links my way, and hooooow did I not realize how HILARIOUS these were when they first aired? Because I mean, REALLY!

They remind me of nothing less than the Simpsons episode where some artiste makes Homer a Mr. Plow commercial that airs on late-night TV and the family stays up late to watch it, and it's just all randomness, kinda like a cologne ad. And Bart or Lisa asks, "Dad? Was that your commercial?" And Homer says "I...don't know."

It's really a shame this ad was wasted on WHITE CHOCOLATE, which is a contradiction in terms.

Cat on a business trip!

Cat on a business trip! Bless you, Japan. (Via Metafilter.)

Best British ads

I love British commercials. Somehow they always seem smarter and classier than ours -- not difficult considering some American ads, I guess.

My friend Sue went to an exhibition of the best of British ads for her birthday, and shared her favorites.

Who wouldn't want to go down this amazing waterslide?

As God is my witness, I thought penguins could fly.

Monkey and Al get a little crazy.

Some royal monkeyshines

Mini Wheats hot tub

So I just saw the below commercial for the first time, and it kind of cracks me up. Every winter, some food product that should not be served hot tries to wedge its way into the "warm you up" product pantheon, and now it looks like Kellogg's Mini-Wheats is the latest.

I can take or leave Mini-Wheats on a regular day, but there's no way I would eat them with hot milk poured over them. Uck.

Best ads

When I used to do the Test Pattern blog at MSNBC, one of the yearly highlights was my summer commercial contest. This year, Ozzy Osbourne for Samsung won, for that delightful series where he uses his phone to both make himself understood and to find a bathroom in his mansion.

However, those ads didn't even make TIME's Top 10 best ads of the year list. I wonder if they passed them over, didn't think of them, or if Ozzy's ads perhaps started airing in 2008?

TIME has a heckuva lot more Top 10 lists if you like that sort of thing.

Just a few:
--Top 10 apologies, TIGER.
--Top 10 sugary brands chasing kids (now that's a specific list!)
--Top 10 worst team names (ahem, banana slugs is an AWESOME name, says the girl whose all-girls high school teams were the Dollies)

Sell sell sell

Slashfood links to its picks for the weirdest food commercials featuring celebrities.

I've always loved George Costanza hawking the McDLT and its landfill-clogging box, but really, if you're going to pick a Florence Henderson Wesson ad, you need the one where she fries an entire loaf of bread in Wesson. Or did I make that up? Can anyone find it? Maybe Florence isn't in it, but I swear it exists.

Digger has returned

The creepy toenail monster who won the "worst ad" category in my first-ever MSNBC.com commercial contest has a new commercial.

Let's not all shudder at once...

Adult-only ads

My MSNBC commercial contest continues, with an entry about ads that should be R-rated.

I included mention of the Quizno's ad where an oven is talking sexy to a Quizno's employee, and some people in the comments accused me of homophobia.

I can assure you it would have been equally creepy had the voice of the seducing oven been female, and also, I really did not consider the fact that a TALKING OVEN even had a gender. People, I tell ya.

The good, the bad, the ads

I've started up my TV commercial contest again over in my MSNBC.com Weblog, Test Pattern. This is the fifth year I've done it and it always proves to be a lot of fun, but it would go nowhere without reader contributions. So read, think, and contribute! New posts will appear every Monday.

First off: Those weirdly raw Liberty Mutual ads that appear as just snippets from life in a struggling family, the Marlowes.

View-Master rules

Matt at Scrubbles shared this old View-Master ad, which features the most all-star cast of its day: Henry Fonda! Jodie Foster! Christopher "Peter Brady" Knight!

KFC can bite me

KFC has a commercial running now where they claim that you can't buy the ingredients for one of their $10 meal deals and make it at home for less money. Note that they do not claim that you can make it healthier at home. No sense going there.

However, this blogger took on KFC's challenge and beat them at their own game, making a chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy dinner at home for $7.94. Heh, brilliant.

Best and worst ads

My Test Pattern summer commercial contest ended today. Here are the winners.

Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?

Kids who were too young to see "The Breakfast Club" are now remaking scenes from it in a JC Penny ad.

Oh fer misguided nostalgia.

Commercial contest

I've restarted my annual TV commercial contest at my MSNBC.com Weblog. Each summer, we debate the current crop of ads and pick one best and one worst.

Here's the column introducing this year's contest and opening the discussion. (500+ comments, woo!)

And here's today's installment, focusing on four bad ads. Is it wrong that I kinda want to try the Ped Egg now?

Please join the discussion over at MSNBC.com.

When yer hot, yer hot!

Found this Funny Face commercial via a similar one linked at the Waffle Whiffer Zone. Funny Face drink mix and iron-ons, what could be more 1970s?

On the Brink

I pretty much love everything Mimi Smartypants writes, which is a big admission since I am not a slavering Internet fangirl for many people.

But I especially appreciate that she points out a pet peeve of mine...the Brinks Home Security ads where Evil Rapist Burglar Dude boldly smashes into a house where people are home and the wife (it's always the wife, though sometimes Hapless Hubby is also there) is saved by her Brinks alarm.

Besides the stupid things that Mimi so rightly points out about these ads, I have always thought it is lame that Brinks calls the police for her. Like the police would not respond if called by Terrorized Wife or Hapless Hubby, but only when the square-jawed Brinks employee pushes 911.

Hopping to play Atari

The Waffle Whiffer Zone is a fun Weblog about retro and other goofy advertising.

Check out this awesome post there, where the Nestle Quik bunny plays himself some Atari.(Space Invaders!)

I also think it's funny how they never show you just how much Quik powder it takes to get the milk as chocolatey as it appears in the ads. You know it's way more than they claim on the tin (speaking of the tin, look how neat and '80s and clean it looks here).

Wendy's cuts off the braids

Wendy's has dropped their series of annoying TV commercials featuring guys wearing red braids. It's about time. Those ads were bizarre and unclear and had me lunging for the remote.

But why does the AP article insist on referring to braids as "braided pigtails"? Like "pigtails" is an acceptable word referring to a hairstyle, but "braids" isn't?