B List, D List, and Beyond
December 3, 2010 11:06 AM Subscribe
Celebrities do odd commercials, and not just in Japan. (SLYT) The same Norwegian program has brought similar joy (?) to the world before.
Wow. The Philip Michael Thomas to Steve Guttenberg progression was impressive, if almost obvious. But then, bam, Katarina Witt and Tonya Harding. It's like they found 1992's pop cultural dumpster and emptied it out onto a soundstage.
I won't claim to fully understand the Scandinavian sense of humour, but I find it very curious.
posted by gompa at 11:35 AM on December 3, 2010
I won't claim to fully understand the Scandinavian sense of humour, but I find it very curious.
posted by gompa at 11:35 AM on December 3, 2010
The best part is Peter Faulk at 3:23.
Off-topic, but I can never get enough of this Japanese commerical.
posted by BoatMeme at 11:49 AM on December 3, 2010
Off-topic, but I can never get enough of this Japanese commerical.
posted by BoatMeme at 11:49 AM on December 3, 2010
I'm trying to imagine how something like this is actually executed upon.
This is what I'm thinking:
Someone gets the idea. Someone contacts an agency or two that handles a random assortment of B-, C- and D-list celebs for overseas commercial work only (e.g. Jason Alexander ... and Tonya Harding!). "Give us everyone you've got -- we don't really care who. All they have to do is lip-synch the same song. 15 minutes of their time and they get a paycheck. It's a flat fee, no negotiation -- you're either in or out."
Then a camera team travels to L.A., NYC, etc, and films over the course of several weekends. Sometimes, they go to unrelated, pre-arranged events where several of the subjects happen to be showing up courtesy of the agency, so they can grab 3-4 of the people at the same time.
Or perhaps the camera team isn't even there. "You got a greenscreen curtain and decent light? Awesome. Film them yourself. We don't care what they're wearing or how they're made up. Send us the file and we'll take it from there."
Some of the celebs have fun with it. Phillip Michael Thomas needs work, so he dances a little. Kathleen Turner is way, waaaaay baked, so she can barely stand. Some of them don't even bother with a greenscreen, so Pamela Anderson is just sitting in the office somewhere. Fine, we'll use it.
A little After Effects, a little Premiere ... voila.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:01 PM on December 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
This is what I'm thinking:
Someone gets the idea. Someone contacts an agency or two that handles a random assortment of B-, C- and D-list celebs for overseas commercial work only (e.g. Jason Alexander ... and Tonya Harding!). "Give us everyone you've got -- we don't really care who. All they have to do is lip-synch the same song. 15 minutes of their time and they get a paycheck. It's a flat fee, no negotiation -- you're either in or out."
Then a camera team travels to L.A., NYC, etc, and films over the course of several weekends. Sometimes, they go to unrelated, pre-arranged events where several of the subjects happen to be showing up courtesy of the agency, so they can grab 3-4 of the people at the same time.
Or perhaps the camera team isn't even there. "You got a greenscreen curtain and decent light? Awesome. Film them yourself. We don't care what they're wearing or how they're made up. Send us the file and we'll take it from there."
Some of the celebs have fun with it. Phillip Michael Thomas needs work, so he dances a little. Kathleen Turner is way, waaaaay baked, so she can barely stand. Some of them don't even bother with a greenscreen, so Pamela Anderson is just sitting in the office somewhere. Fine, we'll use it.
A little After Effects, a little Premiere ... voila.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:01 PM on December 3, 2010 [5 favorites]
Norway got a lot of Fox programing! (Melrose Place, Baywatch, Married with Children, 90210 -evil Ray Pruitt!!!)
Everytime someone popped I thought "Oh no, it could not get any worse/more obscure!" but it kept getting weirder.
related: This is Norway.
posted by vespabelle at 12:11 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Everytime someone popped I thought "Oh no, it could not get any worse/more obscure!" but it kept getting weirder.
related: This is Norway.
posted by vespabelle at 12:11 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
That was either a greenscreen cutout from Philip Michael Thomas' singing career or he hasn't aged at all since he and Crocket were shooting up criminals in the good old days.
posted by battlebison at 12:29 PM on December 3, 2010
posted by battlebison at 12:29 PM on December 3, 2010
Best weirdass 'what the hell are you doing there?' commercial - Blixa Bargeld of seminal industrial progenitors Einsturzende Neubauten does a series of commercials for German hardware company Hornbach - his speech is just reading items and prices out of their catalog. "Yippy ya ya yippee yippee yay" is their catchphrase.
posted by FatherDagon at 12:29 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by FatherDagon at 12:29 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Off-topic, but I can never get enough of this Japanese commerical.
I just have to agree. That is simply the finest advertisement ever made.
I'm trying to imagine how something like this is actually executed upon.
I imagine something like this:
All right, you poindexters, let's get this right! One: "Hey, hey, kids, I'm Talking Krusty." Two: "Hey, hey, here comes Slideshow Mel" -- again -- "Here comes Sideshow." "Sideshow Mel". Three: [does a Krusty laugh] Budda-bing, budda-boom, I'm done. Learn from a professional, kid.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:31 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
I just have to agree. That is simply the finest advertisement ever made.
I'm trying to imagine how something like this is actually executed upon.
I imagine something like this:
All right, you poindexters, let's get this right! One: "Hey, hey, kids, I'm Talking Krusty." Two: "Hey, hey, here comes Slideshow Mel" -- again -- "Here comes Sideshow." "Sideshow Mel". Three: [does a Krusty laugh] Budda-bing, budda-boom, I'm done. Learn from a professional, kid.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 12:31 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
vespabelle: "This is Norway."
This is awesome.
In high school my best buddy/speech & debate partner* decided that I was a Norwegian wetback. This video adds so much backstory to that.
*Yeah, I was a forensics nerd. What of it?
posted by yiftach at 12:33 PM on December 3, 2010
This is awesome.
In high school my best buddy/speech & debate partner* decided that I was a Norwegian wetback. This video adds so much backstory to that.
*Yeah, I was a forensics nerd. What of it?
posted by yiftach at 12:33 PM on December 3, 2010
Laura Palmer and Audrey Horn from Twin Peaks??? This video gets a thumbs-up from me.
posted by buriednexttoyou at 12:35 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by buriednexttoyou at 12:35 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Audrey Horne, sorry. It's a shame she didn't do her dance.
posted by buriednexttoyou at 12:37 PM on December 3, 2010
posted by buriednexttoyou at 12:37 PM on December 3, 2010
Also, at least Milli Vanilli has prior experience with lip synching.
posted by desjardins at 12:41 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by desjardins at 12:41 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's been a long time since I've seen something so awful, it goes right past ironic laughing and back to WTF territory.
posted by saturnine at 12:50 PM on December 3, 2010
posted by saturnine at 12:50 PM on December 3, 2010
I haven't seen so much pop weirdness gathered in one place since the Ultimate Showdown video (flash, with music)
posted by jquinby at 1:00 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jquinby at 1:00 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. "Awesome" doesn't do it justice. it just kept getting better and better. For some reason it reminds me of Carl Sagan's "Contact." Something about all these crispy little burnt-out stars in purgatory on a stock-footage beach.
posted by turducken at 1:05 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by turducken at 1:05 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Laura Palmer and Audrey Horn from Twin Peaks??
Ben: Leland's daughter was murdered and the Norwegians left.
Jerry: I'm depressed.
posted by naju at 1:25 PM on December 3, 2010
Ben: Leland's daughter was murdered and the Norwegians left.
Jerry: I'm depressed.
posted by naju at 1:25 PM on December 3, 2010
I, too, am in this thread.
posted by Dumsnill at 1:27 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Dumsnill at 1:27 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Cool Papa Bell: I'm trying to imagine how something like this is actually executed upon.
I was trying to figure out how they came upon this particular motley collection of celebrities. I like to imagine the producers started with "You know who's awesome? Roger Moore. Let's get him.". They talk to Roger Moore's people who come back and say "Sir Roger would love to do it. But only if you can get Huey Lewis. The News is optional, but the participation of Huey Lewis is non-negotiable." "Okay," say the producers. "We'll see what we can do." Huey Lewis' agent says "Huey's in but only if you can get George from Seinfeld. He's a huge fan." "Okay, we'll see what we can do." And, so on.
posted by mhum at 1:30 PM on December 3, 2010
I was trying to figure out how they came upon this particular motley collection of celebrities. I like to imagine the producers started with "You know who's awesome? Roger Moore. Let's get him.". They talk to Roger Moore's people who come back and say "Sir Roger would love to do it. But only if you can get Huey Lewis. The News is optional, but the participation of Huey Lewis is non-negotiable." "Okay," say the producers. "We'll see what we can do." Huey Lewis' agent says "Huey's in but only if you can get George from Seinfeld. He's a huge fan." "Okay, we'll see what we can do." And, so on.
posted by mhum at 1:30 PM on December 3, 2010
Missing WTF tag.
Seriously, WTF? How? What? Why? Is there anymore info on Gylne tider that might explain what the point of that was? The IMDB page is not exactly choc-full of details. (Yes, "To promote the 4th season of the show" but, huh?)
It was pretty cool, though, I think.
posted by fartknocker at 2:03 PM on December 3, 2010
Seriously, WTF? How? What? Why? Is there anymore info on Gylne tider that might explain what the point of that was? The IMDB page is not exactly choc-full of details. (Yes, "To promote the 4th season of the show" but, huh?)
It was pretty cool, though, I think.
posted by fartknocker at 2:03 PM on December 3, 2010
I was trying to figure out how they came upon this particular motley collection of celebrities.
I have no idea what the real answer is.
I do know, however, that there are multiple agencies that represent multiple talents for different reasons. For example, Celebrity X may have a theatrical agent, a commercial agent, a publishing agent, a manager, etc. Each of these people or companies have different roles. Alternately, one company could handle all of this.
For example, here's the William Morris talent roster of comedians they represent for stand-up comedy bookings. It's a mixture of people of various levels of celebrity and cachet.
So, I could imagine someone calling William Morris and saying, "Here's an offer to your entire roster." You'd probably never even get to Conan O'Brien's guy at William Morris. But ... the Smothers Brothers? Wayne Brady? Jackie Mason? Heyyyy...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:15 PM on December 3, 2010
I have no idea what the real answer is.
I do know, however, that there are multiple agencies that represent multiple talents for different reasons. For example, Celebrity X may have a theatrical agent, a commercial agent, a publishing agent, a manager, etc. Each of these people or companies have different roles. Alternately, one company could handle all of this.
For example, here's the William Morris talent roster of comedians they represent for stand-up comedy bookings. It's a mixture of people of various levels of celebrity and cachet.
So, I could imagine someone calling William Morris and saying, "Here's an offer to your entire roster." You'd probably never even get to Conan O'Brien's guy at William Morris. But ... the Smothers Brothers? Wayne Brady? Jackie Mason? Heyyyy...
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:15 PM on December 3, 2010
Since Cool Papa Bell has the process for this video all figured out, when are we going to make the Metafilter version of this?
posted by buriednexttoyou at 2:29 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by buriednexttoyou at 2:29 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Well, as the official representative of Norway: "Gylne tider" is a silly nostalgia show featuring semi-forgotten 80s pop-, TV, and movie-stars. The first season was about Swedish ones, the second about Norwegians, and the third (featured here) about English-speakers. That's all it is. Let's talk to the woman who played Audrey in Twin Peaks, and then let's go visit Samantha Fox, before we meet up with Pat Sharp. But yeah, that music video borders more on the actively evil than the harmlessly nostalgic, so I don't know what they were thinking there.
posted by Dumsnill at 2:30 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Dumsnill at 2:30 PM on December 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Dumsnill, thanks for the insight, it makes it a lot less WTFy.
posted by desjardins at 3:56 PM on December 3, 2010
posted by desjardins at 3:56 PM on December 3, 2010
Cool Papa Bell: So, I could imagine someone calling William Morris and saying, "Here's an offer to your entire roster."
That's most reasonable and realistic. But, in my imaginary system, Lou Ferrigno is a huge Terri Nunn fan (who, for some reason, is credited as "Berlin" not "Terri Nunn (Berlin)") and Katarina Witt just really wanted to meet Tonya Harding.
posted by mhum at 4:26 PM on December 3, 2010
That's most reasonable and realistic. But, in my imaginary system, Lou Ferrigno is a huge Terri Nunn fan (who, for some reason, is credited as "Berlin" not "Terri Nunn (Berlin)") and Katarina Witt just really wanted to meet Tonya Harding.
posted by mhum at 4:26 PM on December 3, 2010
The music and all of the vocals in the commercial are from the 1987 song recorded for Ferry Aid. You can see the original cast and video on YouTube. Thus, in the Norwegian version, Rickie Lake is Boy George, the Berlin chick is Kate Bush, etc. The solo performers are listed here, but there are loads of notable people in the chorus you can spot if you want to play The 80's Game.
I'm not sure if the fact it's a dub of Ferry Aid ups or lowers the WTF? factor. It's interesting who is mapped to what voice. In the Norwegian dub, every black male actor is matched to a black male vocalist. But whereas the original includes loads of black women, not a single black woman is in the video and when you compare the two, that starts to get weird.
I still have no explaination for Roger Moore, however.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:34 PM on December 3, 2010
I'm not sure if the fact it's a dub of Ferry Aid ups or lowers the WTF? factor. It's interesting who is mapped to what voice. In the Norwegian dub, every black male actor is matched to a black male vocalist. But whereas the original includes loads of black women, not a single black woman is in the video and when you compare the two, that starts to get weird.
I still have no explaination for Roger Moore, however.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:34 PM on December 3, 2010
"Laura Palmer and Audrey Horn from Twin Peaks???"
I can actually believe that Twin Peaks was a larger hit in Norway than most any other place.
Without any evidence I would guess Finland would be the most fannish because they are so morose.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 5:02 PM on December 3, 2010
I can actually believe that Twin Peaks was a larger hit in Norway than most any other place.
Without any evidence I would guess Finland would be the most fannish because they are so morose.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 5:02 PM on December 3, 2010
Twin Peaks was huge in Norway. No, really, gigantic. To the point where Angelo Badalamenti was dominating the album sales charts.
posted by Dumsnill at 5:15 PM on December 3, 2010
posted by Dumsnill at 5:15 PM on December 3, 2010
I am reasonably certain that everybody involved was told they'd be appearing in a commercial with Roger Moore, and nobody was told they'd be appearing in a commercial with Milli Vanilli.
posted by bicyclefish at 5:57 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by bicyclefish at 5:57 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
Oh. Oh my. Kelly McGillis.
Am I old? What just happened. I watched that video and now all of a sudden I'm old.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 6:09 PM on December 3, 2010
Am I old? What just happened. I watched that video and now all of a sudden I'm old.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 6:09 PM on December 3, 2010
Glenn Close? Really?
Teenage crushes that apparently are still in play: Katerina Witt, Sherilyn Fenn. Not so much: Kelly McGillis, Kathleen Turner.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:33 PM on December 3, 2010
Teenage crushes that apparently are still in play: Katerina Witt, Sherilyn Fenn. Not so much: Kelly McGillis, Kathleen Turner.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:33 PM on December 3, 2010
I think half of the participants were promised this would never end up on YouTube, and the other half (Faustino, I'm looking in your general direction) have added "collaborated with Glenn Close on project for international distribution" to their resumes.
posted by GamblingBlues at 9:45 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by GamblingBlues at 9:45 PM on December 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is so Dorky i don't I should be posting in this...wait... I'm 12 and what is this?
posted by coolxcool=rad at 11:02 PM on December 3, 2010
posted by coolxcool=rad at 11:02 PM on December 3, 2010
Leslie Nielsen's presence makes me a little sad.
posted by Earthtopus at 12:24 AM on December 4, 2010
posted by Earthtopus at 12:24 AM on December 4, 2010
This video has been removed by the user.
Mirror, anyone?
posted by Sys Rq at 10:03 PM on December 8, 2010
Mirror, anyone?
posted by Sys Rq at 10:03 PM on December 8, 2010
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posted by kinnakeet at 11:28 AM on December 3, 2010