The most mind-bending commercial from Super Bowl XLV last February, this CarMax spot had a peculiar cast of characters: a kid in a candy store, a geek at a robot convention, a mermaid at a swim meet, a wrestler in a folding-chair factory, a hippie in a drum circle, an acrobat in a mattress store, and of course, a customer at CarMax—lucky souls, all, who feel right at home in their environments. All that was missing, really, was the proverbial pig in muck.
This spot isn't really freaky so much as it is completely awesome. But it descends into a hallucinatory phantasmagoria, so it counts. It opens with a man at a Sonic drive-through being told he can get anything he wants on his burger. This sends him careening into a colorful, crazy daydream full of giant Sonic food floating around and Sonic workers making kaleidoscopic Busby Berkeley moves in roller skates. (The Dude's dream sequence in The Big Lebowski reportedly was an inspiration.) The music tops it off—a parody of "You Can Do Magic" by America, with lyrics that are stupidly and comically forced to rhyme. Throw in some wonderfully goofy acting, and you've got the year's looniest fast-food ad. I'll have what he's having.
Orkin has been doing humorously disgusting commercials starring giant insects for a couple of years now. In 2011, the pest-control company added a pair of nasty rats to the mix. These rodents of unusual size were quite musical—they're seen rocking out on guitars in a living room while a family is on vacation. When the homeowners return early, the rats don't scamper and hide. They stand their ground, and one of the rats even hisses, "We could use the boy ... on drums." Only when Orkin shows up do the rodents flee, peeling out hilariously in an old-style race car. A wonderful addition to a pleasantly freaky campaign.
Ah, proctology humor. It's one of the oldest and dirtiest tricks in the book. But this spot for Echo power equipment takes it into even nether-er territory. "I put up with a lot," our hero says, as his backside is investigated by a proctologist in full view of some medical students. "But one thing I won't put up with is outdoor power equipment that always breaks down. So, I use professional-grade equipment from Echo." He then whips out a weed whacker. Sure, it was among the year's crassest, most gratuitously stupid commercials—but intentionally so. Give it a little slack, and it won't hurt a bit.
Speaking of nonsensical—it isn't just candy advertisers who've perfected it. High-fashion advertisers are right there, too. Among the year's most ludicrous fashion-related spots was this loony film from Norway's Bjørg Jewellery in which a woman gets burned at the stake. Why is she burned at the stake? Don't ask why—this is art! (Well, it's artful . . . well, OK, it's just kind of stupid.) For some reason, Bjørg left the disclaimer off this ad: Unless you are certain your friend is a witch, do not try this at home.
The year's craziest celebrity endorsement? It had to be this Coors Light spot with Jean-Claude Van Damme comparing the beer to his frozen crotch. No, seriously. Here's his dialogue verbatim: "My pants froze, and froze hard. So tight. Even thinking about it takes me back. Have you ever seen a man-penguin walk after an intense mating season? Have you? When a man's pants freeze as rock solid as mine—let me tell you, my friends, even that was nothing compared to the ice-cold refreshment of a Coors Light. Man, my pants were tight." Chatting about your tight, frozen crotch and comparing yourself to an oversexed penguin—an interesting second act for the Muscles from Brussels. Points for not taking himself too seriously.
