FVA's Christmas Ad-Stravaganza 2013 - Part Three of Hopefully More Than One

I was in town last night, doing some groceries, when suddenly I got really angry.

Y'see, for a lot of people, the holidays can be really hard. For me, last night, I think my problem was that I was just tired of being so overwhelmed with all things Christmas.

I love my job so much. I love working in television. It's hard, though, having to listen to the same Christmas commercials over and over and over again. It's almost too much for one person to take. On the drive home, you see all the stores and everything are decorated for Christmas. You listen to the radio, and all you hear are Christmas ads. You go out shopping, and it's nothing but Christmas music.

I'm not a religious man by any stretch, but I understand that Christmas is something more than just all-out commercialism. It has to be. Whatever happened to goodwill towards man? What about taking care of those in need?

As I walked through the grocery store last night, I thought to myself, "There's only one person in the world who really understands what I'm going through. That person is Charlie Brown."



(Did you see how I tied that all together?)

This particular commercial aired 1986, back when CBS had the rights to A Charlie Brown Christmas. (They ended up losing the rights to ABC in 2001, where it has aired every year since)

There was always something about A Charlie Brown Christmas that really resonated with me. As a kid, I loved getting gifts as much as anyone, but even then I knew there was more to Christmas than just getting stuff.

Frosty the Snowman was also featured on this promo. Ol' Frosty and I go way back. Long-time readers will recall how my sister and I used to watch old VHS tapes of cartoons all the time. Well, this was one of them! I love Frosty, but honestly, I haven't watched this one in years.

Well, friends, I'm sorry that I got all preachy on you today. I promise the new year will start with a much more positive attitude from yours truly.

Have a good Christmas, and I'll see you next year.

FVA's Christmas Ad-Stravaganza 2013 - Part Two of Hopefully More Than One

You know who always made the best holiday commercials? If you answered "The fast food industry," you'd be one-hundred percent correct.

I've talked about these commercials time and time again on this blog, but dammit, I've watched a lot of holiday commercials in the last month - A LOT - and none of them are as good as McDonald's or KFC.

It would stand to reason, then, that if McDonald's can make really, really good Christmas commercials, then they should be able to make a really, really good Christmas special. Well, it seems that's not really the case.



Until about fifteen minutes ago, I was not aware that McDonald's had ever done anything like this. This special aired on CBS in 1991 or 1992, and is probably as bad as you're imagining.

Here is the IMDB plot summary:

Ivy, an orphan wants a grandmother and a doll for Christmas. She mistakes a sign greeting her into a town, she jumps off a bus and shouts, "It's me, Ivy!". In the cold she looks for a grandma unsuccessfully. She finally finds a woman who always wanted children and a doll, Holly. Based on the book The Story of Holly and Ivy. 

 Seriously, that sounds terrible.

I wish that I had the stomach to watch this stupid special. I really do. As a grown man with a baby daughter, I have to sit through a lot of stuff for her sake. I love all of you, my dear readers, but not as much as I love her. You can probably find the special on YouTube, but I'm not going to search for it.

If you don't want to search for it, but you want to learn more, I found this helpful review.

That's it for me today. I'll see you again real soon!

Edit from later that night: My wife and I ended up finding this special on YouTube. We got through two minutes of it, then delared it unwatchable.