Post #58291 by woofmutt on Mon, Nov 3, 2003 11:57 PM

I love TV and I love TV advertising and I love most of you and for some time I figured I'd love to discuss TV ads with some of you in "Beyond Tiki".* Unfortunately I have come not to praise TV ads but to vent and freak out over this new Wal-Mart toy department ad featuring a horrible little gingerbread person named "Gingey" (or something equally imaginitive). Wal-Mart ads are never interesting or creative (maybe they want the ads to reflect their products), but what makes this one stand out is the awful voice characterization for "Gingey"...It sort of sounds like a 2 pack a day 73 year old tone deaf lady attempting to do Mickey Mouse's voice. When I first saw the ad I figured the creature sounded so bad because it was going to be eaten by a Godzilla toy or smashed by a Hulk action figure or impaled on that bouncing smiley face's price slashing fencing foil and that'd be the end of "Gingey". Now I can only assume that some suit somewhere in Wal-Mart land thought the "Gingey" voice actually sounded cute (reminded him of his 2 pack a day 73 year old granny) or his nephew Lenny wanted to break into voice acting.
OK, back to your regularly scheduled life, already in progress.

*Why? Because TV ads are a huge part of our pop culture and most of yous have keen interests in and sharp insights into our big pop world.