Ads are getting odd. TV tie-ins are no new thing for ads – you can look back more than 50 years and find them – but these are generally designed to promote just the products using the influence of the TV shows.

Now we have a Dr Pepper ad featuring the character of Dr Spaceman (played by Chris Parnell, who also voices Cyril on Archer) from 30 Rock that's promoting both the show and Dr Pepper. That's just confusing.

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Our Joanna does like to talk, as her appearance on Jonathan Ross's show proved beyond contention. Now she's launching a campaign to encourage people to talk more.

Knowing how important it is to make time for a chat, Joanna is encouraging us all to slow down , have a cup of tea, snuggle up on the sofa, and make time for our special calls.

Brits still spend a breathtaking amount of time talking to each other. However, the quality of those conversations is in jeopardy.

Increasingly we’re squeezing in our calls when we’re doing other things, rather than making time for a proper chat with people we care about, and this is damaging relationships and killing quality conversation. Calls made hurriedly in transit (or chit for short) are getting in the way of our chat. These are just some of the findings of a new social study carried out by BT as it paints the UK’s first ‘Talktrait of a Nation’.

As part of the study, people can go to www.talktraits.co.uk and take a quiz to find out whether they are a Happy Chatter, a Duty Dialler, an Evader or even an Unrung Hero.

Here she is in what's obviously her home and not a set, looking exactly the way she does whenever she's on the phone.

Well, blimey. Who knew that the chance to win Julie & Julia and a cookbook would turn out to be the most popular competition and most commented on entry in the entire blog's history? That's amazing.

But it's time to pick one of the 113 entries using the might of the Internet random number generator. I can happily reveal that the winner is…

Continue reading "The winner of the Julie & Julia competition is…"

Blimey, how many generations of Saturday Night Live stars can you get into one, not-especially funny political video? At least three - or is it four? - since here we have Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Jim Carrey, Dana Carvey and Will Ferrell recreating their famous SNL impressions of Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr and Bush Jr respectively (what no Bill Clinton?).

It's all to raise awareness of Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and is directed by Ron Howard, so don't expect big yucks. But Jim Carrey certainly still has what it takes, as does Chevy Chase. After the jump, you can watch a "making of" video and an extended scene with Dana Carvey.

Continue reading "A Saturday Night Live Presidential Reunion: Jim Carrey, Dan Ackroyd, Will Ferrell, Chevy Chase and Dana Cavey together at last"

Whatever you think about UK network Five (eg has no real identity, only shows imports, all its home-made shows are cheap and tacky, etc), this is probably the best thing they've ever done. It's a trailer and pre-programme countdown that features the stars of all the top US imports (CSI, CSI:NY, FlashForward, CSI:Miami, The Mentalist, NCIS). But rather than just use stock footage, with one exception they actually went on all the sets and filmed the stars in-character.

So feast yourself on Simon Baker, Laurence Fishburne, Joseph Fiennes, David Caruso, Gary Sinise, Mark Harmon, Marg Helgenberger et al ganging up together – it's much better than that CSI crossover they did last year, at least.

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Remember those old Old Spice ads from the 70s and 80s? If not, voilà – an aide mémoire:

Rubbish, huh? Well, they've suddenly got a sense of humour in the US, at least:

…although some are verging on the just plain weird.

There are more in the Old Spice YouTube channel. Please don't let them encourage you to wear any Old Spice though (not unless the smell's changed since the 70 and 80s, anyway).

[via @AlexRomeo]

The Superbowl over in the US this weekend proved to be one of the most watched TV shows ever. This year it was on CBS, but last year it was on NBC and as you might recall there was a tie-in commercial to promote Heroes. If you don't, here it is:

However, as you also may recall, despite turning up to film the commercial…

…Ali Larter was edited out, even if you can still see her in it if you look hard.

So, my memory prompted by this year's Superbowl, I asked someone who works behind the scenes if they knew why she'd been chopped out. Their response:

No… we were shocked too when we saw it air and she was out.

The mystery deepens. Solution by next Superbowl?

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It's now been withdrawn in Australia after complaints from around the world (mainly the US), but is this KFC ad racist?

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It is true that it does occasionally rain in Cardiff.