Education Connect - School in Pajamas

Here we have the infamous EducationConnect.com commercial where the girl talks about going to class in her pajamas:

When they designed this commercial, they had to know that it looks like an ad for a phone sex line, right?

Were the Education Connect people sitting around at a meeting, wondering how to improve their business, when someone said: "You know, the Shake Weight has really kind of cornered the market on ads that guys use as spank bank material.  Couldn't we get ourselves into that mix too?"

One attractive girl in her pajamas later, and we have ourselves an iconic commercial.

Here's a fun game: Try watching the commercial with the sound off and see how long it takes you to figure out that it isn't actually a sex line ad.

Now put yourself in the mindset of a single man, home by himself watching TV one night.  He might be randomly flipping through channels or just watching a random show.  And then, this commercial comes on. 

Here's how he probably reacts:

0:01 - Allright!  Hot chick in bed!  Score!

0:06 - Sweet, she's got a computer.  Webcam!  I'm totally going to that website after this commercial is over.  EducationConnect.com?  That doesn't seem right, but whatever.

0:19 - Wait, why does it say "Earn $1,000,000 More?"  How much does this cost?  This chick is hot and all, but I'm not gonna pay too much to see her.

0:29 - "Free Service?"  That's more like it!  But there's got to be a catch, right?  Like you only get a free preview and have to pay for the "special" content.

0:46 - "Free Success Kit?"  What the hell are they talking about?

0:50 - "Online Schools Scholarhsips, Financial Aid?"  Holy crap, this isn't a sex line ad?  How is this not a sex line ad?

1:02 - Wow, I guess that wasn't a sex line ad.  I feel kinda dirty now. 

Immediately afterwards - Rewinds the commercial and watches it again.

Rating: 4 TVs - While it might not necessarily be doing a great job in educating people about the product, I have a feeling that this commercial does have a very high re-watchability rate.

DirecTV - Opulence

Many people are fans of the DirecTV ad with the rich Russian. (I assume he's Russian, but I suppose he might be from some other Eastern European nation)

Why do people love this commercial so much?  Is it because of the guy's accent?  Is it because of the attractive women?  Is it because they want to have a lifestyle similar to what this guy is enjoying?

While all of that might be nice, I'm fairly certain the reason people love this commercial so much is because of the miniature giraffe.

Why is that minature giraffe so cool?  It's hard to explain, but I have a suspicion that given the opportunity, just about every person in America would get one.  Someone even created a very authentic looking website where people could order their own mini-giraffe.  Quite a few people were upset that it wasn't real.

If you can see past the wonder that is the mini-giraffe, you'll find that there's a lot of other good stuff in this commercial.

At the beginning of the commercial, there are dogs playing poker.  Yes, much like the famous paitning, this guy has arranged for dogs to play poker, complete with the ace hidden between one of the dog's toes. 

I love that painting.  If I had unlimited money, I think I might get a bunch of dogs to play poker too.  And take a look at the way the dog pushes his chips in.  Based on that, I'd say the dogs actually have an idea of what they're doing.  I suppose that if you were going to go to the trouble of getting dogs to play poker, you might as well go all out and train them how to do it properly.

The commercial does lose me a little when the Russian talks about wanting to save money. 

This guy doesn't worry about how much stuff costs!  He had two gold busts made only to reject one of them.  You think this guy is concerned about the cost of his satellite service?

Really, they should have played up the angle that DirecTV is the service for people who appreciate the finer things in life as this guy definitely does. 

I mean, if ordering DirecTV can set me on a path where I too might one day have poker playing dogs and a mini-giraffe, then I might be very tempted to sign up.

Then again, its not like anyone watching this commercial is going to be too worried about what message they're trying to get across.  All people are going to care about is miniature giraffes and how awesome they are.

One final highlight: At the end where it says 'More on the Facing Book.'  Broken English is funny.

Since the first commercial was so popular, this year DirecTV brought us another edition of the opulent Russian.

You may be thinking: How could they possibly improve upon last year's commercial?  I mean, it had dogs playing poker and a miniature giraffe.

Well, they found a way: Having the miniature giraffe run on a miniature treadmill.  Incredible.  Simply incredible.

Rating: 4.5 - Broken English, dogs playing poker, and a miniature giraffe on a miniature treadmill.  These commercials have it all.  The only thing keeping it from a perfect five rating is that I have a suspicion that the writers are already plotting something that will top the miniature treadmill.  Will they succeed?  We can only hope.