Optima Tax Relief, the Movie?

 

Not only is there a playlist that someone set up just in case there are insane people* out there who want to watch almost a FULL HOUR of scofflaws explaining how they were rescued by the consequences of their own actions, but it includes TWENTY-EIGHT EPISODES, presumably each involving a different person's "I committed a felony and kept committing a felony and I was so worried I'd get caught one day" story.

My only regret is that comments are disabled, so I have no way of knowing if anyone has ever watched the entire playlist.  I'm certainly not going to try to do it myself; my rage meter would break way before I got halfway through the "listen to my story about how I got away with being a tax cheat/freeloader, fellow citizens" Tales of Second Chances (which no doubt have turned into a need for Third and Fourth Chances within a few years after Optima Tax provided undeserved "relief.")

*Or maybe someone put this playlist together for the benefit of this page?  If so, um...thank you, I guess?

Just add this to every commercial for pharmaceutical products from now on.

I mean, it won't work most of the time- for example, all of these side effects are still more tolerable to a lot of people than a balanced, sensible diet and exercise- but who knows, maybe a small handful of people out there will think twice before popping a daily pill to deal with something that really isn't a problem but Hey It's Covered By My Insurance So Why Not What Has My Liver Done for me Lately Anyway?

Fun Flashback: Remember this embarrassment from 1988?

 

Yeah, these electronic "labor saving devices" will never catch on....

There's something really sad about seeing the cast of what was, for three or four seasons, the best show of the 1970s (and then went on to be a middling comedy, and then a mediocre comedy, and then an entirely forgettable comedy, as it went on and on before shuffling off the stage* having lasted roughly three times longer than the Korean War that was supposed to be it's setting) pimping for International Business Machines five years after their seminal roles left television.   Someone in the comment section points out that this commercial features the very first appearance of Colonel Potter and Trapper John in the same scene- they never met in the series, so it's kind of strange that they would know each other here.  The absence of Alan Alda is striking as well; no, it's not because he was "too good" to shill for a computer company.  It's because he was already under contract with COLECO, selling their somewhat less successful ADAM system.  Remember that one?  The computer that could only receive power through the printer port, meaning that if the printer broke down the computer wouldn't work?  Me neither. 

*Of course, M*A*S*H left television with the most-watched final episode in television history (more of a tv movie than final episode,) but it really ought to be remembered that the finale was so popular because it was a throwback to the quality and tone of the film and the early seasons of the show, and discarded the weak and often gimmicky scripts and direction of the last third of its run.  

Taco Bell's Sad, Not at all Relatable Commercial

 

This Taco Bell ad is here to remind us that at least one of the ultra-processed garbage grease-and-meat-and-cheese offerings available on it's After Midnight Menu is not just available After Midnight.  It's actually available any time you need to deaden the dull, throbbing pain that is your life with a quick dopamine hit followed by an even bigger crash into the bowels of despair.

So don't save Taco Bell for the usual I Drank Too Much and Struck Out as Usual at the Party binge while sitting alone in the parking lot (please remember that when it's late at night, you might not want to eat this stuff while sitting in the parking lot.  Might be safer to eat it back home, or while driving home.  Actually, the safest option is to not eat it at all, but we're way past that, aren't we?)  America's Favorite Faux Tex-Mex Pig Trough is there for you pretty much any time your soul needs a shot of Novocaine in the form of empty carbs before you head home, alone, again.  

I thought that this was what IHOP was for.  Is the price of pancakes and coffee just too much for the new generation?  Well, what happened to 7-11 and a Big Bite hot dog and bag of chips?  Those used to be the go-to places for the late-night Alone Again, Naturally munchies.  I mean, that's what I've heard.  From other people.  Sad people.  

We ain't really talkin' about cashbacking, Mr. Hart....

 

At least, not as much as we be talkin' about an overrated comedian turned ridiculously successful huckster willing to enthusiastically sell everything from credit cards to gambling apps as long as the Cash Be Backing.  Ain't you ashamed of yourself, Mr. Hart?  Really?  Not yet?

Walmart's terrific commercial for Birth Control

 

Yeah, I want a dozen of these things.  Sure, I do.

Cripes, I won't even own a cat because I don't want to deal with a litter box.  I don't own a dog because I'm not picking up after him on a walk like I'm a servant.   If I had a best friend, they'd take care of their own "leavings," thank you.  But to quote James G. Blaine, "I have no friends, thanks be to god." 

Oh yeah, back to these babies- maybe I'll get myself one when they come out with a model that can use the toilet right out of the box.  Until then, I'll leave others to wipe, wipe, wipe, wipe, and use Walmart Same Day Delivery because before that was invented, pre-toilet trained kids just went naked when Mommy and Daddy irresponsibly forgot to pick up diapers I guess.   Wipe me down?  More like, Count me Out. 

I Don't Understand this Squarespace commercial at all*

 

I guess the "joke" is that if aliens ever show up we won't even notice because we are so glued to our electronic devices we can't be bothered to look up from them.  This "joke" is actually pretty obvious about ten seconds in, but commercials being commercials the "punchline" must be beaten into us for another minute-plus to make sure not only that we get it, but that we get how super-clever and funny it is.

At no point are we supposed to think that maybe this ad is a bit too on the nose, and maybe it's a wake-up call we could use to rethink our devotion to our glowing screens.  The people who made this ad are not calling for any of use to take a mental health break from what is laughingly referred to as "connectivity."  This is a commercial for Squarespace, about which I learned absolutely nothing from the ad but had to find out through a quick Google search that its a program to help you create your own website.  In other words, its a commercial for a program which encourages you to build your own little corner of the Worldwide Addiction Machine that turns us into those funny funny alien-ignoring zombies we were supposed to be laughing at for the entire runtime.  Um, whatever.

*Even after looking it up, I don't understand Squarespace, either.  Is it that hard to build a website?  It's 2024- we are in the third decade of online shopping.  Has it become harder to create a business website as everything else about using a computer has become easier?  What is actually being sold here, anyway?