Tiny Bubbles In The Bowl

Remember those smiling little bubble soldiers from the Scrubbing Bubbles television commercials?

You know, the ones that work hard cleaning your bathtub and sink so that you don't have to? Well they're back with a new product that I checked out via BzzAgent.

I signed up to receive a free sample of the new Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner. We got it last week and have been using it for a while. God, why hadn't they invented these things when I was a bachelor? My apartment would have been sparkling clean. Well, at least my toilet bowl would have been sparkling clean.

Okay, yes, I was disappointed that I didn't get to see those smiling little Bubble Soldiers zip around the bowl and clean (yes, part of me hoped I'd see them smiling while they worked, occasionally looking up and winking at me and saying: "Don't worry, Mark, we're on the case. We'll have this toilet bowl spiffy clean in no time. Your presence and efforts are not needed here. You simply go back into the living room and sit down and relax with that book you've been itching to pick up and get back into."

But even though I didn't get to watch these fun cartoon characters in action . . . (as seen in the TV commercial clip below)




. . . I'm still rather impressed with the simplicity and ease of use with this product.

You simply install it on the side of your toilet bowl and slip in the refill canister (the process takes about 2 minutes). Then, twice a day you step on the little "gas pedal" for about a second to release the little smiling guys into your toilet bowl - the spray covers the entire interior of the bowl (but do be careful, if you stick your head down too low in an attempt to look closely and smile back at the little smiling bubbles you could get a face-full of the cleaner)

About the only disappointing thing about this new product is the fact that my seven year old son Alexander enjoys the simple process of stepping on the pedal and releasing the cleaner.

This means that, while I initially got to enjoy playing with this fun new product, I haven't had a chance recently. Alexander is hogging all the fun.

Yes, imagine this: My son and I are now fighting over who gets to clean the toilet. It's like a dream come true for my wife.

Don't You . . . Want Me . . . Baby?

Except for stations like Treehouse and Playhouse Disney, Alexander doesn't watch much TV. So he doesn't see a lot of commercials.

But, he regularly watches the news with us, (he has an affinity for the weather just like Francine does), and when he sees commercials he is often captivated by them.

One he has seen recently which he just adores is a new Chips Ahoy commercial with four Chunky Chips Ahoy cookies in a convertible all singing the old Human League song "Don't You Want Me?"

It's really cute - four of them are singing the chorus to the song when a giant hand reaches down and plucks them out one by one. Finally, the last one, the driver, is on his own and he starts to sing nervously, his eyes casting all around and he inserts some beautiful dramatic pauses. "Don't you . . . want me . . . baby?"

One thing I love about the commercial is the uncertainly of the last cookie's intent. Is he nervous that all his friends are being eaten and he's not? (IE, "Don't you want me?") Or is he nervous about being eaten, like the last remaining survivor in a bad horror flick? It's funny either way you interpret it. (And yes, perhaps I analyse character intent too often sometimes)



Apart from hearing Alexander and a little buddy of his singing this song in the playground at school, (which was cute and just plain strange at the same time) Alexander regularly perfectly repeats the dramatic pauses the driver sings and giggles each time he does it.

Yes, he doesn't just like the cute silliness of the commercial, but appreciates the subtle things in it, too.

I love how this commercial appeals to the adults like Francine and myself, who fondly remember this song from the 1980's and, of course, the cartoon silliness of the commercial that appeals to children.  Beautifully done. I've since played the entire classic song by Human League for Alexander, explaining to him it was a popular song that his parents enjoyed when we were young. See how cookies and music can bring two generations together?

Oh, and guess what kind of cookies we've recently purchased?

It's That Big Chunk Of Fudge!

I was showing Alexander some of the commercials from my childhood that I still remembered the jingles to the other day via YouTube when a classic Oh Henry! commercial from 1984 popped up in the Suggestion sidebar to the right.  (Yes that good old suggestion sidebar that sucks you in when you meant to only go there and look at a single video)

I had to laugh immediately.

No, there's no jingle, but I remember this like it was yesterday that I first saw it.

Of course, in my memory, the three characters were wrestlers, not circus strong-men who were trying to determine what makes the Oh Henry! bar so big.

But the emotional conviction of the guy in the middle is priceless. His voice is not unlike a character from the classic Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoons. I particularly love the pause the second time he speaks when he says: "It's that big chunk . . . of fuuudge!"



Here's something fun to try the next time you're in a group conversation, meeting, whatever, and everyone is trying in frustration to find the answer to a burning question.

If everyone is getting gridlocked with frustration because the answer is just not coming to anyone you just might break them out of their funk by saying something like:  "What a minute! I've got it. I know what it is!" and then in the deepest voice you can muster: "It's that big chunk of fuuuuuudge!"

Either everyone will think you're nuts or the unexpected intrusion will break the things that are binding everyone as their minds reach around trying to figure out what the heck it is you're referring to. Some, those who are old enough, might even remember the commercial and will talk fondly of old television commercials they liked. Perhaps someone with a strong memory (or who watched a lot of television) will respond by saying:  "I'm telling you, it's all that caramel!"

Who knows, the sudden change in topic might get everyone's minds going enough to see the problem with fresh eyes. Or, being brought back to their childhood with this audio/visual memory, they might approach the problem with a fresh and youthful perspective.

And if not, well, at least you lightened the mood, perhaps made at least one person laugh.

Super Bowl For Non-Sports Fans

About the only time I'm into sports is towards the tail end of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But I admire the hype and build-up to things like the Super Bowl. The event goes far beyond the actual sport, and to the extreme of hoopla to such an extend that even non-sports fans like myself can enjoy and appreciate the excitement around it all.

I'm a BuzzAgent -- BuzzAgent is a word of mouth marketing network that allows me to sign up for campaigns for products and services that I might be interested in, with a chance to get samples for free and earn points towards other products.

I was recently given a chance to share some videos for Chevy Super Bowl commercials -- while most of them are fun and interesting (and man, but do I ever love Tim Allen's voice for commercials -- he does these as well as a radio series for Michegan outdoors, and has a fantastic narrator voice) I've got a few favourites from the batch that I'd like to share here.

This particular commercial, which refers to an upcoming Transformers movie, is a fun one . . . interesting to see it's an ad not just for Chevy, but also for an upcoming film.

However, I was most impressed with some of the social networking features being included in some of the new Chevrolet models. Very interesting to see.

Check out the Chevy App . . . ultimate in remote control . . .

And, of course, there's the ability to use OnStar to check your Facebook news feed . . .

See, there's something in Super Bowl for non-sports fans, too.

In Search Of The Alpha-Getti Gobbler!

For years I've been using a phrase borrowed from a commercial from two decades ago -- one in which three kids are sitting around a table eating Alpha-Getti (alphabet shaped pasta and sauce) and this silly looking monster with spaghetti-like arms comes into the room and warns them that they should be on the lookout for the Alpha-Getti Gobbler, who loves stealing Alpha-Getti (or is it alphagetti?) from them.

The commercial ends with this kid finally putting all the pieces together (well, he actually sees the monster take his bowl of Alpha-Getti, so he's not all that bright until after the fact) and blurts out: "You're the Alpha-Getti gobbler!!!"

The little kid saying: "You're the Alpha-Getti Gobbler!"

I so loved this phrase that I regularly use it when accusing people of something. Of course, I get nothing but strange looks from folks when I do -- mostly people who either don't remember or have never seen the commercial. Oh well, I get enough strange looks each day.

I'd posted about it in April 2007. And blogger Toronto Mike blogged about it, too. I even created a Facebook group about it called "I Remember the AlphaGetti Gobbler." Apart from desperately searching the internet and trying to find a picture or ANYTHING to prove that the Alpha-Getti Gobbler existed, Mike and I also joked about trying to beat each other in Google search results on the Alpha-Getti gobbler. I remember the day when he pushed me aside in the google rankings and I graciously took a back seat to his efforts.

Ryan Barnett, 8 years old, in the Alpha-Getti commercial

Interestingly enough, on my 39th birthday, Ryan Barnett, who was eight years old when he played one of the kids in that commercial, stumbled upon my Facebook group. He also contacted Mike Boon, who never gave up on his tireless search to track down the infamous creature, and sent a video of the commercial we all loved so much which Mike posted to YouTube. See Mike's announcement blog post about it here.

I was able to capture some nice pictures from the video, which I've posted here, and I'm delighted to help share this joyous discovery with the world.


Thanks, Mike. Thanks, Ryan. May your bowls ALWAYS be filled with Alpha-Getti no matter where you roam. And do watch your back guys, you never know when this creature might sneak up and steal it from you.