"Moments so perfect..."

I wrote earlier about the Chipotle and True Move H commercials, which have everyone in a tizzy over how compelling, emotional, and controversial they are—which is warranted, these commercials are great.

However, I forgot to mention one of my favourite commercials this year that I discovered while waiting for my dad to give up the TV.

It was serendipitous that the OMEGA Co-Axial Chronometer commercial came on during the break from the U.S. Open (or some type of Open— it's irrelevant). 

“There are moments so perfect, you’d hardly think they were made by humans”

OMEGA takes you on a mechanical tour, and I enjoy the futuristic, utopian characteristics it includes. Very clean, very surreal, and the music “Smiling” by Harry Gregson (but more aptly titled “Tears of Joy”) is a perfect choice that holds the commercial together. It’s dream music, light, soft, and complementary to the graphics.

The graphics remind me of the old Olympic game icons that represented the athletes: lean and strong. I'm assuming these robotic people were meant to look strong and unbreakable—a symbol of the watches endurance, and perhaps even the OMEGA brand itself.

There was also a flame that looked suspiciously like the Olympic games flag during the cycling race, so maybe I’m on to something!

Now watch “the most perfect mechanical watch movement in the world”:

Are we emotional, now?

I’ve seen a lot of good advertisements lately. Well, a lot of good television advertisements.

Chipotle released their anti-mass food production commercial "The Scarecrow" to the tune of Fiona Apple’s cover of “Pure Imagination”—a haunting tune from the 1971 film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”.

It's fantastic.

What I like about the ad is that it doesn’t try to shove the Chipotle brand down your throat; instead, it’s addressing the ramifications of mass food production by imagined competitors.

The style of the ad is similar to Chipotle’s ad last year, "Back to the Start", which won the Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity’s top award.

One of the defining characteristics of these ads, much like the style, is the song choice. Last year, it was Willie Nelson’s cover of “The Scientist”. His raw voice, sounding weary and exhausted, encapsulated the commercial’s message that animal farming was heading in a detrimental direction for the environment and society.

Ready to bawl?

The second ad is for the phone company TrueMove H.

It begins with a young boy, who has stolen painkillers from a pharmacy and is chased out onto the street by the owner. A man from a nearby café witnesses the confrontation and comes to the boy’s aid. He pays for the medicine and has his daughter give the boy some veggie soup as well.

Years later the man from the cafe collapses and is taken to the hospital. As the daughter looks over the hospital bill, she realizes she can’t afford the costs. In desperation, she puts her house up for sale.

The next day at the hospital, she sees that the bill has been paid for. The commercial then reveals that the boy who stole the medicine ended up becoming a doctor and has paid for everything as a thank you for the painkillers and veggie soup.

The tagline: “Giving is the best communication”

Can I get a loud, collective “AWWWWWW”?

Officer Sundae

I wouldn’t consider this story a civilian’s commentary on our police force—it’s more in the league of “you had to be there”.

My friends and I were eating ice cream at Sargent Sundae around 10:30 last night—our lives are TOO exciting. However, the reason for this late night ice cream run was to satisfy my friend’s ice cream itch before he heads back to Toronto despite the fact that he’s lactose intolerant.

After grabbing a pumpkin spiced soft serve, a banana split, a chocolate sundae, and a dip cone, we headed to the tables outside to eat, talk, and make jokes that only we find terribly funny.

Soon after sitting down though, a police car’s lights goes off on Portage Avenue, and both police officers step out and begin shouting.

Back at the table we look at one another, gleefully.

We get up from our seats and circle around, crossing the street to stand in front of Joe Black Coffee Bar because we want the best seats in the house.

The cops have their guns out and are telling the driver and passenger to stay in the car… and I swear… they said something along the lines of “and no one will get hurt!”

Is that a police cliché I heard???

Anyway, three other cop cars soon show up, and the driver emerges from the car.

Now, stereotypically I was expecting a man in his mid-twenties, possibly wearing a baggy sweater and pants, which hang below his butt, but no, it was a girl and she was wearing this cute flowery sundress. I debated whether going afterwards and asking her where she bought it.

My friends and I chuckled at the sight—all these police officers and a girl who could probably fit in their pocket— but we assumed it was just protocol to ask for this much backup.

My friend Emily then proceeded to take a selfie with her phone, the cop car’s lights flashing behind her. We all concluded she should hashtag it an “inconsiderate” selfie.

If you’ve ever watched the finale of Gossip Girl, you’ll understand when I say the ending to this saga was severely underwhelming. The cops all went back to their cars and drove off, leaving the girl to get back into her car and wait till her heart stopped pounding.

We all sighed in disappointment, still unable to determine the cause for this controlled chaos, however it did discredit our theory that this was just an excuse to all get together for ice cream at Sargent Sundae.