Apple Trees, Honey Bees and Snow White Turtle Doves

In my life I've had limited television exposure for two reasons, I guess. When I was a child we had an antenna which allowed us to see four channels... none of them at the same time. That doesn't mean I don't remember watching plenty of after school programing which included such shows as Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Get Smart. I recall sitcoms like Love Sidney and Three's Company. I was properly warped by Days of Our Lives and Knots Landing. The best of the best included China Beach and Moonlighting.

So, don't get me wrong. I watched TV, I just didn't have much control over the programs. In the past decade I've had cable and have honored the Thursday night must see TV tradition as I watched shows like Friends and Seinfeld and when I couldn't be there, my VCR could. I had a Survivor kick that lasted a couple seasons, but reality TV has all but killed my interest. One thing I haven't watched in years is a commercial. They really have to sneak their way into my life. I mute the TV, turn the channel, fastforward... generally avoid them except during the Super Bowl which really exists to showcase the commercials.

Recently, people have referred to ads that I hadn't seen until I saw them at the movie theatre. Oddly enough, Brawny paper towels is worried you aren't seeing their ad at home and so they've brought it to the big screen. I love previews at theatres but I am not so sure about commercials for products unrelated to film. That said, there are some memorable ads--ads that I love. I think my adoration exists mainly for Gap ads and various soft drink ads.

There is something about the Gap advertising that works for me.Gap ads are clean, colorful and they typically have good music--like the "Crazy Stripes ad" which used the song "Love Train." Or maybe it's Will Kemp. "Keep it Loose" ad remains my favorite and can still be viewed here.

The younger me smiled when I saw those Sprite commercials that sang "I like the Sprite in You" and the Dr. Pepper commercials "I'm a pepper, you're a pepper... And I actually found a very old journal entry of mine claiming to love the lyrics to a Cherry Coke commercial:

"Life is just a bowl of cherries. Don't take it serious. You work, you save, you worry so, but you thirst for the good life. Drink it in; Let it flow. Life is just a bowl of cherries so live and laugh at it all."

I didn't need to look that up. I remember those lyrics in the same uncanny way I can recall all the words to Sylvia's "Nobody" or Young MC's "Bust a Move." (pretty sure that's nothing to be proud of).

Another memorable ad for me was the "Hilltop Coca Cola ad" which has recently been redone as "Chilltop." The remake (another commercial viewed by me in the movie theatre) has received a lot of bad reviews but I will say, I actually had a warm fuzzy feeling at the mere suggestion of the old, probably equally sickening, commercial (if truth be told). People with taste may not like this new advertising effort for a lot of good reasons, but my first impression was favorable: recognition of the remake, surprise at the memory of the first one, then a longing to hear it again.