As you've probably already heard, I loathe most commercials. 99% of them warrant muting... or angry outbursts. In 1997, though, there were two AT&T commercials that made me happy. They each told a cute story that made me care about the people in them. I remembered them not because of some repetitive jingle or obnoxious spokesperson, but because they were interesting, entertaining, and fun.

I have many more good commercials on my old tapes to share in future AJ articles, but for now, let's take a trip back to the spring of 1997...

"Girls Just Want To Have Fun"

Three young girls (ages 11, 5, and 2) are getting ready for another boring day with their babysitter, while their mom gets ready for work. The oldest daughter complains about boredom and expresses a desire for their mom to take the girls to the beach. Mom says she can't; she has a meeting with a "very important client." The middle daughter gets this sad-puppy look on her face and says, "Mom? When can I be a client?" Mom glances at her cell phone and realizes she can talk with her client over the phone. She tells the girls to get ready to go to the beach. The kids squeal and run to put on their bathing suits.

Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" plays in the background as the girls put on suits, grab flippers, and bounce around in inflatable toys. Then they're off to the beach. As for the babysitter? They leave her at home to watch TV, because that's all she ever does anyway. The mom and the kids frolic in the sand & surf. When the mom's cell phone rings, the middle daughter excitedly cries, "Hey, everybody! It's time for a meeting!"

The idea the commercial is trying to get across is that cell phones give you freedom to escape from the office. I'm not sure how great cell phone reception was on beaches in 1997, but I bought the idea. The commercial also says something else -- don't let work keep you from spending time with your kids! Especially if you have daughters. Because they, after all, just want to have fun.

As to why this commercial appealed to me so much, I think it was because it aired during a time in my life when I didn't know when or if I'd ever again get to frolic on the beach and be carefree. And then there's the fact that the kids are all girls. I love depictions of sisters, especially ones who have fun together. Dammit, why didn't I get a sister?



(right click & select "save target as"
to download commercial; mpg; 10 mb)



"Walking After Midnight"

I got online in 1995, and I remember how lame things were back then. There was email, there were message boards, there were chatrooms, and there were dinky little websites where every page had the same buttons and dividers because evidently only one person had a paint program and everyone else loved the "save picture as..." function a little too much. And since my modem was as old as dirt, it would take me five minutes to even get online in the first place. Oh yeah, and it cost $2 an hour to be on there. Those were the days.

So along comes this commercial where this teenage girl has her own computer, scanner, and some kind of awesome sky's-the-limit internet access, and she has fun with it. I envied this girl.

So here's the premise: Larisa Oleynik plays a teenage girl who is dropped off by her boyfriend after a date. They do not kiss, because Larisa's dad is watching from the window. Dad seems nice, but he's overprotective. So Larisa and Boyfriend say goodbye. Larisa goes up to her room, saying goodnight to her dad on the way. The lights in the house go off. Then one small light goes on in Larisa's room. She's turned on her computer.

As Larisa gets ready for bed, she and Boyfriend email each other. He misses her. She misses him. He says he wishes he could see her. She gets out her Polaroid and takes some snapshots of herself making funny faces, scans one, and emails it. The photo reminds Boyfriend of an angel. He searches the internet for a shot of those pensive little cherubs, and proceeds to photoshop Larisa's face onto an angel body and send it back her. Her reaction is a squeal and giggles, which wakes her father. His light goes on.

All the while, the song "Walking After Midnight" plays.

I loved this commercial because I envied the independence Larisa had. She was able to secretly talk to someone on the internet even when she was supposed to be in bed. It was devious. It was awesome. I envied the ingenuity of both these kids.

Larisa's midnight gigglefest over something someone has sent her/said to her over the internet is very familiar. Been there, done that, love it.



(right click & select "save target as"
to download commercial; mpg; 10 mb)





4/20/2006
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