1-800-DRAMA

Instead of taking a more boring route with their advertising, which would be easy to do with their product, 1-800-CONTACTS has been airing some new ads that have a creatively comedic twist.

One wouldn't think comedy and contacts would even go together in the same sentence, much less in a commercial, but the melodrama-heavy spots actually work decently well.

Done in typical soap opera style, the ads lay on the cheese extra heavy and without remorse. The actors over-emote brilliantly delivering lines like, "1-800 contacts?? They can't have my brand, its a special brand! I have special eyes." while looking at some indeterminate point offscreen.

One ironic aspect of the commercials is that the production value actually looks a bit better than your average soap opera soft filter. This seems to be the way that most advertisers are going, as filming in HD is becoming increasingly cheap to do.

Our favorite point in the ad is when the male character says, "My brand! I've been such a fool!" Listen to the way he says the word "brand;" its practically barked out. Probably unintentional, but hilarious. Watch the ad and try not to laugh. You'll fail.

People Love Taylor Swift So Much, Its Creepy.

Indeed, the golden-haired songstress seems to be popping up everywhere recently, and the latest incarnation of "T-Sweezy" is a Sony camera commercial.

The production quality is, of course, excellent seeing as how Sony has more money than they know what to do with. The commercial looks as if it were shot in HD, and it begins with Taylor being shown around what looks like Sony headquarters by some suited representative trying to pitch her the new camera.

They walk down into Sony's crazy basement wonderland, complete with the wheel from Wheel of Fortune and the car from Ghostbusters (which we didn't see until reading some of the comments on YouTube; it only appears for about a second seven seconds in).

To show off the panoramic sweep feature for the camera, rabid fans are lowered down on cables and Taylor takes a sweeping picture of them all, appearing to hold down only one button and simply move the camera across the panoramic area (judging from the fine print at the end of the ad, its undoubtedly more complicated than that).

As the fans are being pulled back up to...well, wherever they came from, one guy just can't let go. He clings to the fence screaming, "NO! NOT YET!" and tells Taylor, "I love you" before being yanked back to oblivion. We know crazy fency guy; we can't get enough either. Restraining order's in the mail, and the ad is posted below.

Iron Man Is Back Up In Your Grill.

Iron Man is back, and the second installment is just as good as the first.

This is the first review of a trailer from Truth In Advertising, but this particular one was so well done that it merits some attention. Everything in it flows quite well, from the music used to the scenes chosen to maximize intrigue.

From the get-go the viewer is meant to understand that everything they loved about the first movie will be making a reappearance in this one.

The trailer opens with clips from Tony Stark's senate hearing dealing with the "Iron Man weapon," as one surly politician describes it. Robert Downey Jr. delivers the same sarcastic, narcissistic, yet endearing performance.

The viewer also gets a hint of this movie's villain, as well as some of the stars contributing their talent to the cast. We get flashes of Don Cheadle as War Machine; Iron Man's silver-suited counterpart, and Scarlett Johansson kicking some serious ass as S.H.E.I.L.D. agent Black Widow. All of this is set to a rock n' roll soundtrack from the likes of AC/DC.

Watch the trailer, posted below as usual, and try see if you can resist the urge to see this movie immediately.

In Case You Haven't Heard, Droid Does. Droid Does A Lot.

Hey, can your phone brush your teeth for you, find a restaurant, solve world hunger, and download music? Droid can.

The commercials for the Droid handset for Verizon Wireless have taken an interesting approach to marketing what is now their flagship device.

They started off vague, with ads simply and ominously espousing what it would be able to do with no release date. The only information given was the name "droid" and a website.

As the launch date drew closer, television spots featuring the phones dropped in capsules from stealth bombers that looked like spaceships fueled the air of mystery and hype while still being purposefully nebulous.

Now that the phone is available in the marketplace, the ads focus more on its function. They come at it in a gritty, no-nonsense way that bears a hint of resemblance to Chuck Norris style mythology. The male announcer's voice is dead serious when he tells you that Droid is a "bare knuckle bucket of does." The message is clear: this phone is the king of badasses. If you don't have it, you're a sissy.

The newer spots use industrial backgrounds and robotic imagery constantly to keep with the image of the Droid being the Terminator/Chuck Norris of handsets, with robotic hands punching in commands on its touchscreen while it sits there looking like a secret government project.

All in all, the campaign was a good one. Verizon created interest and a defined image while never taking itself too seriously. As always, check the ad below.