Viva Viagra TV comercial (totally lame)

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 21 Apr 2008 3:53 pm

Possibly the dumbest advertisement I've ever seen.

CLICK HERE and make sure you have a barf bag handy

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 21 Apr 2008 5:33 pm

As a starving middle aged actor,it was suggested by my agent to try out for that commercial - which I did.It was mandatory to have acting and musical chops.It was a cattle call of around 15 of us and we were taken 4 at a time into a room and play that song on instruments provided. The only guy out of the guys I saw that day to make it into the commercial was the guitar player with the bandana on his head. Those guys made huge bucks cause it went national. I don't know how close I came or why I didn't make the cut.
Maybe my performance was too...stiff.

Richard Sevigny · Post by **Richard Sevigny** » 21 Apr 2008 5:57 pm

Mike;

Wouldn't totally flaccid have been a more appropriate intro to this?

Michael Johnstone wrote:Maybe my performance was too...stiff.

You probably didn't fit their er... demographic. That in itself is probalby something to brag about

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 21 Apr 2008 6:52 pm

I heard that these guys have an album coming out soon called "The Boner Boys". Some of the tunes from their CD-

1.) Ain't it hard
2.) Been up so long, I can't get down
3.) I can't see clearly now
4.) Like a rock
5.) Hold on, I'm coming

Dennis Graves · Post by **Dennis Graves** » 21 Apr 2008 7:18 pm

6.) I've Got Hardaches By The Numbers

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 22 Apr 2008 10:14 am

"It was mandatory to have acting and musical chops."

Mike, by mandatory I'll assume you meant you had to be in Local 47, and a member of SAG. If you were all SAG members, I'm surprised anyone made it in ....

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 22 Apr 2008 1:42 pm

Actually they would probably have preferred non union guys that just had some ability and there's plenty of them in this town believe me. It wouldn't have mattered though because any scabs involved in something that big would have been Taft-Hartley'd into SAG,AFM,AFTRA or whatever with union vouchers.It couldn't have gotten on TV otherwise.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 22 Apr 2008 2:28 pm

SAG Mike, SAG .... I was making a (Viagra) joke.

Larry Miller · Post by **Larry Miller** » 22 Apr 2008 2:58 pm

Klaatu barata nikto

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 22 Apr 2008 6:28 pm

For those of you who might be wondering, "Klaatu barada nikto" originates from the Cold War-era science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). In the film, the phrase, "Klaatu barada nikto," was used by Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) to stop the robot Gort from destroying the Earth. There is no known translation, although "Klaatu" is the name of the humanoid alien protagonist in the film.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 22 Apr 2008 6:34 pm

Sorry - I guess I'm too deep into reality these days. When I see that commercial,it's only depressing because I'm not in it. It represents a lost opportunity to pay off my second mortgage. Maybe I just need existance therapy.

Kyle Everson · Post by **Kyle Everson** » 22 Apr 2008 8:43 pm

It's a nice conversation piece whenever I see it with friends. I got a call the night before the auditions here in Nashville, learned the tune, and went to try out. They told me I was too young

.

I brought an 80-year-old Dobro with me, but that didn't seem to sway them

.

Jim Peters · Post by **Jim Peters** » 22 Apr 2008 9:18 pm

We played name that tune at a gig recently and I did the Cyalis tune with the sliding greasy ninth chord. Most of the guys in the audience knew it right away. JP

Scott Shipley · Post by **Scott Shipley** » 23 Apr 2008 12:59 am

With all due respect, I don't think that any of the participants in that commercial were expecting to get anything in the mail from the grammy committee. It was a GIG and they were PAID, nuff said. Funny though, one of the guys (the guy who yells at the end) is in fact a past grammy nominee.

Niagra falls, Viagra rises.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 23 Apr 2008 3:35 am

I'm with Michael, if I got the call I would have gone in a NY minute. It's a gig, a pretty good one, then it becomes a resume item.

No different than playing "For the Good Times" for the 15,000th time but this time the pay and exposure are in a different league.

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 23 Apr 2008 7:17 am

I can most certainly understand that many of us would be happy to get a high paying gig like this advertisement, but if you actually liked the music and words from this undignified advertisement then that's another matter altogether. I suppose that in the end it's all about the money, and I can definitely relate to that since one certainly needs to pay the bills in one way or another, however I'm sorry to say that I still think this is by far the dumbest commercial I've ever seen. I genuinely feel sorry for any guy who needs Viagra, and am glad that I don't need it in my own life.

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 23 Apr 2008 11:12 am

I kinda felt the setting to be a bit off the wall. Way to hokey. It's supposedly about 2:00 AM in the studio. I could just not picture any of the "Great Ones" tearin' off into song about a pharmaceutical.

For me, the Century 21 and the Home Depot jingles are the ones that make me cry out "MAKE IT STOP!".

Most recently the "Residence Inn" commercials have become EXTREMELY annoying.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 23 Apr 2008 12:17 pm

I like the little rock ditty Home DePot has running.
But, not enuf to pay thier high prices.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 23 Apr 2008 1:04 pm

Mike Shefrin wrote:I can most certainly understand that many of us would be happy to get a high paying gig like this advertisement, but if you actually liked the music and words from this undignified advertisement then that's another matter altogether. I suppose that in the end it's all about the money,:)

I think , for a working Musician or Actor , it's all about the work and in this case, the exposure. Think about how many sessions the GREAT ONES played on that were god awful songs. Think about how many really bad songs those cats played on that we never heard.

I don't think I ever listened to this one all the way thru but I am certainly aware of it . I doubt the players/actors even paid attention to the words. I suspect that when it was all said and done, they goofed on it ( after they left the studio of course).

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 23 Apr 2008 1:20 pm

Very well then....at the risk of sounding defensive, originally all I was actually in fact trying to get across was that for me this ad is obnoxious and stupid. I myself really didn't wish to delve into any other aspects about it, although I do find Michael Johnstone's incidental input (and everyone else's input) to be quite interesting . So kindly allow me to repeat myself so that it's crystal clear, and so that I won't be completely misunderstood here... I JUST DON'T LIKE THE COMMERCIAL. End of story.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 23 Apr 2008 3:11 pm

ok, I agree, regarding the actual message and content, it is REAL dorky ! It may rate as the worst commercial of ALL TIME !

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 23 Apr 2008 3:31 pm

Oh - it's very obnoxious and stupid,extremely lame and I really don't like it either.We can all agree on that. When we were in the green room listening to the track on a boom box and told "Learn This!", we all looked at each other and rolled our eyes.
BTW,the setting is(according to the script I saw)supposed to be in a road house/after hours jam etc. Funny thing is at the end when they all ride off to their wives and girlfriends,it's broad daylight. If they were up all night singing about viagra with the guys instead of home with their wives - what does that tell ya?

Frank Freniere · Post by **Frank Freniere** » 23 Apr 2008 6:27 pm

Mike Shefrin wrote:For those of you who might be wondering, "Klaatu barada nikto" originates from the Cold War-era science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). In the film, the phrase, "Klaatu barada nikto," was used by Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) to stop the robot Gort from destroying the Earth. There is no known translation, although "Klaatu" is the name of the humanoid alien protagonist in the film.

Klaatu was played by Michael Rennie.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 23 Apr 2008 7:21 pm

"Klaatu barada nikto" - simple, it translates as "I'm the chick Klaatu told you about. Don't kill me."

I'm not into modern broadcast TV and commercials, and I almost never watch anything more than the cable news, weather, and the occasional musical event (unless the Red Sox are winning). I skip channels when commercials come on, and view most of what's happening on broadcast TV as a cultural disease. This commercial is just one more piece of garbage on a large pile. That's my opinion of any of it. But - if someone offered me a gig like this with the potential for six figures income for a few days work, I would jump on the plane - at their expense - and do it with a smile. Michael - sorry you didn't get the gig.

But you know what else? There are worse things than this lame commercial, to me:

1. Any daytime-style soap opera - to me, the true root of evil in so-called "modern Western culture".
2. American Idol - from the length of the thread about it, apparently the most popular TV show on this forum.
3. For commercials, "Celebrex good times, come on".
4. Anything on Oxygen or Lifetime.

any of which cause me to throw stuff at the TV and scream in pain. Any more rants? Of course, these are purely my personal opinions, no personal offense intended, any similarity to real personages either living or dead is purely coincidental, and you may now throw stones.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 23 Apr 2008 8:10 pm

I'm not into modern broadcast TV and commercials, and I almost never watch anything more than the cable news, weather, and the occasional musical event (unless the Red Sox are winning).

Same here, Dave. And once in a while PBS or The History Channel. That's it for me. I haven't watched network, commercial TV since I was a teenager... 40 years ago!