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'Barack Obama Show' Preview Reveals Just Another Lousy Political Ad

STV — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:15:33 EDT

Within minutes of this post's publication on the East Coast, the Barack Obama infomercial American Stories American Solutions — formerly known as Hole in the Wall: Election Edition — will premiere on NBC, CBS, and FOX. The procrastinators at the Obama campaign waited until this afternoon to unveil the official spot promoting the 30-minute ad, supplying what we think is the first-ever commercial for a commercial in electoral history. As with most mediocre trailers, we imagine that once you've seen this, you don't need to see the rest (hint: talking candidate, stirring music), but you be the judge after the jump: Is it Obama or Pushing Daisies in your 8 o' clock hour?

Obama infomercial trailer released [The Live Feed]

'Time Out, Guys. I Need Some Notes On My New Commercial'

Douglas Reinhardt — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:50:15 EDT

Boomp3.com

High school football coach and digital camera pitchperson Ashton Kutcher called for a time out during the big break to ask his defense line for some feedback on his latest ad campaign. Kutcher was concerned that he was coming off like a slight tool in the latest ads. However, the defense line thought that they should focus on the game since they were only down by a field goal. Kutcher said that he had the game winning play all drawn, but would only give it up after getting some feedback. The That 70s Show star told the guys to be completely honest and brutal with him. The defensive captain speaking for the whole team said, “I don’t know. It’s mildly annoying, but it could be worse. Now, can we get that game winning play?” Kutcher patted the defensive captain on the back and told him to sit the rest of the game out.

[Photo Credit: X17]

*A Call To The Bullpen is a work of fiction. Although the pictures we use are most certainly real, Defamer does not purport that any of the incidents or quotations you see in this piece actually happened. Lighten up, people ... it's a joke.

Seinfeld and Gates: America’s Richest Comedy Team Unleash New Commercial

Nick Malis — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:05:00 EDT

It was just last week that Microsoft unveiled their new advertisement featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates hanging out in a shoe store. Shockingly, you rubes failed to comprehend what this had to do with computers and PCs remained firmly on store shelves. Well, perhaps this latest opus will change all that. In today’s installment Bill and Jerry deign to hang out with regular people in the suburbs. It may be a little less weird than their previous outing, but it’s certainly longer—in fact, it’s a whopping four and a half minutes! We’ve excerpted a choice 30-second cut, but you can watch the entire thing here. If this baby doesn’t get you to put down that Mac and climb aboard the Vista train, nothing will. [YouTube]

Meet Matthew McConaughey, The Creepiest Beef Spokesman In The World

nickm — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Did you stuff your face with enough beef over the holiday weekend? If not, Matthew McConaughey is gonna be mighty pissed off. Check out the new radio spot he recorded for the National Cattleman's Beef Association. You know, the dudes who came up with that "Beef, it's what's for dinner" slogan? Well, they got themselves a brand new golden-haired, A-list pitchman and the results have become a bit of an obsession here in the Defamer offices. Why does it fascinate so? Maybe it's because McConaughey plays up his every vocal tic for maximum effect, like he's trying to lure a small child into a windowless van with some candy. Or maybe it's because their new tagline, "Discover the power of protein in the land of lean beef," is so impossibly vomit inducing (and also a little homoerotic). Or perhaps it's because at the end of the day, Matthew delivers his most convincing performance since A Time To Kill. Whatever the reason, it totally works. I ate like 15 burgers this weekend and couldn't be happier. Listen to the ad after the jump.

[video by Molly McAleer]

Beef, It's What's For Dinner

Brad Pitt Getting Blown

Mark Graham — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:40:00 EDT

· By the WIND, people. Get your minds out of the gutter! Bonus besteverness? Directed by David Fincher. [Creativity Magazine]
· Nerds rejoice! Guillermo del Toro has finally signed on to direct the long gestating LOTR prequel, The Hobbit. He will be spending the next four years (!!!) in New Zealand alternately shooting the film and polishing Peter Jackson's Oscars. [Variety]
· Speaking of hobbits, Elijah Wood's latest movie includes his first on-screen sex scene. Disturbingly, the scene involves spaghetti. No word yet if spaghetti sauce is also involved, but if it were, we hope they used Trader Joe's Organic Vodka Sauce. That's our fave. [Thighs Wide Shut]
· And since we've clearly got sex on the brain, here's video of a topless Mischa Barton straddling what looks to be the poor man's James Van Der Beek. The footage comes from some movie that, thanks to the magic of The Internets, you never have to actually see! [Egotastic]
· And lastly, Amy's Robot asks what could be the most important question of our times (or, at least, the last few hours): "Are you aware that Tina Fey's husband looks like this?" Actually, we did not. [Amy's Robot via Fimoculous]

Marketing 'Baby Mama': Universal Tries The Kitchen Sink Approach

Mark Graham — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:45:00 EDT

Ever since Mean Girls became a runaway success back in 2004, Tina Fey has been riding a wave of near universal acclaim. Her ability to ride that tasty wave of popularity for the last four years without succumbing to any nasty wipeouts has arguably turned her into the Laird Hamilton of the Writers-Turned-Performers circuit. But when Baby Mama hits theaters this weekend, all of that cred that she has built up will be put to the test. Not only has Variety's Todd McCarthy gone on record calling it "exceedingly predictable", but Videogum has been trumpeting the notion that "Tina Fey-Tigue" is about to set in for the last week and some change. Recognizing that this film doesn't exactly fit the mold of traditional studio comedies (namely, in that it stars two female protagonists), Universal has been throwing a bunch of dollars at Baby Mama television advertising over the last few weeks, alternately positioning the film as a Tina Fey Vehicle, a film In Which Amy Poehler Steals The Show and, gasp, as something that even sports-loving, beer guzzling men will dig (specifically, by scoring the spots with The Cars' dude-friendly power pop anthem "Just What I Needed").

While all three of these spots appear after the jump, we thought it would be fun to enlist Defamer's videographer par excellence Molly McAleer to cut a commercial for the film that would play to all the thrill-seeking teens who have made Prom Night one of this spring's surprise B.O. hits (above). Feel free to use our cut, Universal marketing team — all we ask for is a link in return. Enjoy!

Baby Mama as Tina Fey Vehicle:

Baby Mama as a film In Which Amy Poehler Steals The Show:

Baby Mama as something even dudes will like (note the use of 40 Year Old Virgin star Romany Malco):

'Idol' Final Nine Desecrate Hip-Hop In Most Inglorious Fashion Imaginable

nickm — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:25:11 EDT

As Nas famously proclaimed, hip hop is dead. And last night, we found the murder weapon. Behold the Ford commercial from Wednesday's American Idol. It features your final nine American Idol hopefuls rapping. Not singing, mind you, but rapping.

Gaze in open-mawed horror as Run-DMC's "It's Tricky" gets utterly butchered. Feel your skin crawl as Jason Castro shows off his mad dribbling skillz. Mourn for your departed soul as Kristy Lee Cook swats the ball away from a charging black man.

It ain't pretty, to be sure. But if Ford is actually committed to taking the Idol contestants down this road, may we suggest that next week they cover Akinyele's classic "Put It In Your Mouth"? That might be enough to make us buy a Focus.

American Idol [FOX]

Switch to Direct TV Before Kathy Bates Bludgeons Your Feet With A Sledgehammer!

nickm — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:05:05 EST

We've all seen those ads where eerily young-looking versions of actors interrupt their classic movie scenes to hawk Direct TV. But the above installment, in which Kathy Bates reprises her Oscar winning role from Misery, kicks off what we're imagining will be a brand new trend. Instead of interrupting just any old movie scene, Direct TV is gonna start interrupting the most disturbing movie scenes of all time.

Just picture it with us. Dustin Hoffman will tell us about how affordable it is to make the switch from cable while getting his teeth drilled in Marathon Man. Then, Michael Madsen will tell us how easy Direct TV is to set up while slicing off that cop's ear in Reservoir Dogs. But the ad we're most excited about will feature Jodie Foster in The Accused. Right in the middle of that infamous rape scene, Jodie will turn to the camera and say, "Just imagine how awesome this pinball machine would look in high definition!"

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