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Actually, the entire series of ads might make you want to lose your lunch. Sure, watching '90s Superman Dean Cain randomly pop up in people's homes dressed like Bentley from The Jeffersons is a little funny. But it's all over once the "jokes" and the puke start to fly. I'm not sure why Microsoft thought the image of a woman violently vomiting after stumbling upon her man friend's favorite porn site would sell more copies of Explorer 8. View the ad after the jump

News of someone's death always implants a little sadness in my brain, whether its the passing of a major celebrity or some innocent bystander who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Part of it is completely selfish. Someone's passing always reminds me of the frailty of human life and lets me know I'm always one less beer away from reaching the end of my time.

The other part is the projection of my own pain. We've all lost someone close to us and know what that pain feels like when our brain is scrambling to catch up with the reality of that loss. There is someone out there who has to deal with that same pain, whether the person who died was worthy of Catholic sainthood or the Bastard of the Year Award.

With all the Michael Jackson news, let's not forget that another huge star, Farrah Fawcett, also passed away yesterday. All of the obits I've seen of Farrah pretty much start her professional biography with her breakout role in Charlie's Angels. But Farrah was almost 30 when she landed the role as Jill Munroe. A quick look at her IMDb profile shows that Farrah had a number of guest-starring roles well before Aaron Spelling made her a megastar.



Farrah also starred in a ton of commercials in the early '70s, including this famous spot with Joe Namath. Here, the Jets QB is advertising Noxema shaving cream, and Farrah lustily covers his face in the stuff.

More ads after the jump.

This is how effective this commercial is: I have no idea who Barry Switzer is (Joel tells me he's a coach that won several big games) but I still laugh every time I see it. It's a joint ad from Spike TV and Dunkin Donuts. Switzer is a crazy old man who jumps out from behind a tree and talks to two guys about taking care of footballs like a baby. Not sure if it sells Dunkin Donuts at all but it makes me remember Spike TV.

[via Adfreak]

The only part of the "Save Chuck" thing that I haven't been on board with is the fact that Subway is a part of it. Don't like Subway, with their microwaved meat and paltry toppings and lame service. I've always liked D'Angelo though, and in these ads they say why they're better (though they never utter Subway's name - trust me, they're talking about Subway).

[via AdFreak]

This month we're taking a look at celebrities who did TV commercials.

Whenever you get into any profession, you have to start at the bottom. The TV business is no exception. The stars you see in prime time today probably cut their teeth working in TV commercials. Heck, some of them still do TV commercials even after they become big stars (but it's often overseas...shhhhhhhh).

After the jump, a sampling of TV commercials from years ago that star celebrities who are now household names. If you're old enough to remember these commercials, you'll probably say to yourself, "Oh yeah, I remember this ad, but I didn't realize that he was in it!"

Two things about Darren Rovell's CNBC.com story about the famous Apple Macintosh Super Bowl ad shocked me:

• That it aired for the first and only time (at least as an ad, not a cultural icon) 25 years ago today, during the broadcast of Super Bowl XVIII (when the Los Angeles Raiders crushed the Washington Redskins, for you sports fans); and
• That the Super Bowl was once played as early as January 22.

The NFL season has slowly gotten longer and longer, hasn't it? Anyway, Rovell has an interesting interview with Mike Murray, Apple's marketing manager for the then-brand-new Mac. The best thing to come out of the interview was the fact that Apple's board of directors hated the completed ad, which was inspired by George Orwell's novel 1984, and never wanted it to air. But they couldn't sell back their 60-second spot and had nothing else to put there.

So, basically, a lack of productivity on the part of Apple's marketing department allowed us to see what became the most famous Super Bowl ad ever. You can see the ad after the jump.

What do you get the man who has everything?

CBS is running their "CBS Cares" PSAs, and the new ones are quite...something. You've probably seen them. One of them features a bunch of women talking about what to get their husbands for Hanukkah. I think a lot of guys would like a Nintendo WII, but a woman suggests a prostate exam! And no, it's not some sort of sexual foreplay, they're actually talking about making an appointment with the doctor for the guys to have a prostate exam ("honey, wait, you're not talking about role-playing?"). There's a PSA for prostate-exams-as-Christmas-gifts too, because even people who aren't Jewish need them.

Let's talk (again) about commercials we hate.

Or maybe I should say commercials I hate, though I think you'll agree with me on some of these. They run the gamut from silly to ineffective, from dumb to just plain jaw-dropping. Let's start with jaw-dropping.

1. DirecTV's Poltergeist ad. This is...creepy and tasteless. Do the makers of this ad really not know that young Poltergeist star Heather O'Rourke died at a really young age? Even if they didn't (I'm kidding, of course they did), the star of the ad, Craig T. Nelson, is aware of it. So why use footage of her in the ad? It's just bizarre to me. Then again I'm not a DirecTV exec. They must know that what they're doing by using footage of a deceased child star (and a stand-in) to sell satellite TV service.

It looks like Google is taking a step towards having a television station all its own. The Internet search company will be helping NBC Universal sell advertisements for some of NBC's cable stations (including Sci Fi, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC, Sleuth and Chiller).

This is yet another step in the inevitable merger of television and the Internet. It wouldn't surprise me if in the future, Google either acquires a television network (it could be NBC or some other one) or starts one all its own. It's certainly ubiquitous enough in Internet advertising to break into another medium (sort of like Microsoft's strategy).

It does say something that NBC is turning over some of its ad sales to a third party. As the article states, it could be a way of attracting businesses who only advertise on the Internet. It could also be a way of streamlining their business model so they can concentrate on producing shows in a more cost-effective manner (I knew that MBA would come in handy some day).

Industry staple magazine TV Guide will be co-opted by the Walt Disney-owned ABC network for its August 25th issue. The issue will have 21 ad pages, all of which will be promoting ABC. It will also contain a DVD with a sneak-peak at ABC's fall shows.

To me, this willingness of TV Guide to prostitute itself out for an issue is an example of how print media is in decline and how desperate TV Guide must be for advertising dollars. On the other hand, TV Guide is released with such frequency that people will likely forget such an advertisement onslaught by a single network by the following week. If CBS wanted to do the exact same thing the following week, I doubt TV Guide would say "no."

If you're an ABC fan, this issue could become something of a collectible. If you're not, then it'll probably just be annoying. With the existence of the Internet, does anybody even subscribe to TV Guide anymore?

Like last year, we'll be reviewing all of the commercials during the Super Bowl today, complete with embedded videos of each one. Check back to the site often for the latest additions, or check back later for a summary of links to all of the commercials we covered.

Also check out AOL Sports' coverage of the game.

Shocking Public Service Announcements (PSA) are common in Canada. For example, a few years ago in Quebec, we had a TV ad that contained real footage shot during a daring car stunt that went terribly wrong (the teenage driver died while doing the stunt) so that teens would be "scared straight" by seeing how stupid and deadly reckless driving can be.

The latest shocking PSA TV ad campaign comes from Ontario and is called "Prevent It." These PSAs, which have been airing for a while now, feature shocking and gruesome scenes showing what can happen at work if you don't ensure safety is everyone's primary concern.

Early next year NBC Universal will launch Didja.com, a YouTube-like video site made just for advertisers. The site will feature TV spots both old and new, movie trailers and other brand-related stuff. Advertisers will also include special offers and promotions to coincide with their specific channel.

The idea was concocted by executives at the NBC Universal-owned USA cable network, so expect lots of ads for that particular network when the site launches. Eventually, other NBC Universal properties will show up on the site, as well.

Look, we all want old men to have sex, no one's arguing that point, but couldn't Viagra use a different approach with its commercials?

There's one airing right now that shows an older gentleman (not ancient, but probably in his 60s) washing his car. His wife sashays past him, gives him the "I want sex now" look over her shoulder, and steps into the house.