I always thought those Chunky Soup ads with the likes of Mrs. Tomlinson, Hasselbeck, Elway and McNabb, were pretty cheesy but there was still something appealing about them. Well according to the Wall Street Journal, the mamas "have been canned"....

For the past six years, the company has been running a well-received series of ads for its "Chunky" soup that feature National Football League greats and their mothers calling them inside for dinner and serving them soup.

But starting with this NFL season, those moms will be riding the bench. The reason for the change? Campbell Soup says its new research has revealed that the company's target consumers -- men in their 30s -- are finally achieving soup independence.

The new campaign, dubbed "Working Day," features San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson. In one of the series of five ads, which debut when the NFL season kicks off on Sept. 4, Mr. Tomlinson is shown in action on the field as a voice-over describes his job in blue-collar terms.

"Another grueling day on the job," the ad begins. "You're dying to get out of those work clothes. You're hungry. You take a can of Chunky soup. You think about your day. Was I productive? Did I do right by my boss?"

Boooooo! Whether they were cheesy or not, at least they were original. The whole workday lunch thing has been done a thousand times over. Plus, where is Wilma McNabb supposed to get her income from now? Oh that right....her son is an NFL player....nevermind. I'll still miss you though, Wilma.

Campbell Soup Sacks NFL's Mothers (WSJ)

Last year, in EA's Tiger Woods 2008, a Youtuber found a glitch that let you hit off water and dubbed it the "Jesus Shot". Well Tiger Woods would like you to know that the "Jesus Shot" isn't a glitch and that he can, in fact, walk on water. Via You Been Blinded....

Pretty cool if you ask me. That kid is going to be the star of his highschool for about a week now and hopefully he (like us bloggers) can get out of the basement and meet a girl. Huzzah!


Video: Tiger Woods Walks On Water (You Been Blinded)

I Want My BTN found this (new?) Big Ten Network commercial featuring all the coaches of the conference and the unintentional comedy is off the charts. I'll let you watch first and then we can discuss on the other side (make sure you watch until the end though)....

Okay, the obvious comment I wanted to make was that Joe Paterno scares the crap out of me, but then Rich Rod had to go and steal the show. How many people think that he actually uses that, "our helmet's got wings," line for real? (Raises Hand)

Good times for a Michigan Fan I tell ya. Those grubby hands are going to be grabbing mom's brownies in a town near you soon! And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Big Ten's newest ad for the BTN (I Want My BTN)

Okay, Nike has done it again and whoever came up with this idea is a freaking genius. The new campaign is called "Train Like LT" and features LaDanian Tomlinson heading over to Kimbo Slice's house to train the "old school way". Via Yardbarker....

First of all, that car that LT rolls up in is badass. Second, when Kimbo swung the freezer door open, I just lost it. Outside of that "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier" ad, I can't think of one Nike has put out there that hasn't been awesome. Great work again, Swooshers.

First Look at Nike's New "Train Like LT" Campaign with Kimbo Slice (Yardbarker)

This is actually via NBC, so I'm not sure if I entirely believe it, but they have evidently proven me wrong. I had them coming up short of their break even mark ($1 Billion) for months now but they seemed to have reached and passed their lofty goal....

NBC Olympics has surpassed $1 billion in advertising for the Beijing Olympic Games. The announcement was made today by Seth Winter, SVP Sales & Marketing, NBC Sports & Olympics.

"We've always said that the Olympics is one of the most powerful properties in all of television," said Winter. "While we are thrilled with this milestone, we still expect to write more business as the Games begin and great stories continue to evolve."

NBCU's Olympic sales received a boost from its primetime coverage of the U.S. Olympics Trials for Swimming, Gymnastics and Track & Field, which saw ratings increases over 2004 and featured buzzworthy performances from marquee athletes such as Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, Tyson Gay and Shawn Johnson. Advertisers also have noted the recent stellar ratings for the U.S. Open and Wimbledon on NBC, as well as the Super Bowl.

With the help of a John McCain campaign to best Obama and the addition of primetime coverage for popular Sports like Swimming, NBC is back in the black. All the big ones will be there (Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Kodak, VISA, Nike, Google) and don't forget those fancy Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor ads either. I hope the $750K turns out to be worth it.



(Via NBC PR)

Get Ready For A Ton Of "Mummy" Promos During The Olympics (Awful Announcing)

I don't know why I found this ad so funny, perhaps it caught me off guard, but I couldn't stop laughing following this "anything you can do" inspired commercial with the Manning Bros....

Awww! So very cute. I had also planned on doing a review of NBC's preseason opener, but there were so many elements and folks missing that I decided against it. With that said, I thought the broadcast was as good as you can get for your first of the year. They didn't go overboard talking about the Olympics or Brett Favre until the fourth quarter (understandable to do so then) and Michaels and Madden really didn't seem to make any big mistakes. I was also a huge fan of the bump music choices which included Journey, Jay-Z, Peter Gabriel and Guns N' Roses.

Also, Adam Schefter of the NFL Network stood in for Andrea Kremer, who is in Beijing, and did a stellar job. It wouldn't be a bad idea to add him full time, but I think that'd put the on-air talent count at about twenty six. Expect more reviews and recaps as the preseason goes along, and get ready for the return of the Pam Ward Chronicles later this month.

I saw the end of this during yesterday's NFL Live and yesterday was apparently the first airing of this Reebok commercial. The theme is that NFL Players are obviously migrating to training camp, and in the V-formation no less.

I think they're selling something too, but I couldn't figure out what. The music weirds me out, and I have no idea why Laurence Maroney is on a beach, but I'm officially ready for the start of the season. I don't care what you think about Eli, seeing him standing on the BK Bridge is pretty badass.

Obviously with the mass amount of ads that Nike produces not all are going to be winners but I think they've got another hit with this one. This is the "Courage" ad you'll be seeing all throughout the Olympics....

I'm a sucker for good music, a ton of athletes and random flowers blooming, so they had me at the jump. I'm curious if this type of ad is wearing on people or if you're enjoying them as much as me. In the past year we've had the "My Better" one, the Jackson/Merriman "Leave Nothing" one, and the Guy Ritchie "Next Level" one. Keep it coming Nike.

So Coke came out with a new commercial surrounding the Olympics and Lebron and Yao are featured as both a cartoon and their real selves. Via Ball Don't Lie....

That was all things weird and exciting at the same time. It's like a America versus China in everything! See they have Panda Bears and we have Grizzly Bears and we have Eagles and they have Dragons. All I know is that catchy woman singing over the beat is going to be in my head all night now.

YouTube of the Day: Yao and LeBron's Olympic Coke commercial (Ball Don't Lie)

I figured since I just gave you the news that the Frank TV ads were back that I'd give you some good news. No Dane Cook this year! Big League Stew has the ad that will be gracing your television over the next few months on FOX and TBS....

Okay seriously, what was that? I hate to say this but I miss Dane Cook. Well that's not entirely true but if I had to choose between the two I might have to consider picking him over this random dude typing ala a blogger/reporter.

Update: Thanks to the sleuth-like abilities of all of you we learn that the gentleman in the ad is "Spanish" from Old School. Good work.

BLS premiere: the '08 MLB Playoffs ad, now with less Dane Cook (Big League Stew)

There's really no way to prepare you for what you are about to see, so we'll just go right into it. Here's your first look at the Chevy commercial that WGN aired with Lou Pinella and Ozzie Guillen rapping....

Ummmm....wow. I guess there really isn't anything else left to say. The only thing that was missing was Carlos Zambrano and AJ Pierzynski breakdance fighting in the background.

Not much going on this morning before the Playoff (live-blog in a few), so I'm going to pass along this hilarious commercial from the 70s. It's Joe Morgan and Charlie Hustle for Aqua Velva!

I love the music first and foremost, but Pete Rose's singing takes it over the top. Remember, a man wants to smell like a man people.

TGIF, Am I Right Guys? (FJM)

No doubt you've seen those Nutrisystem ads with Dan Marino, Mike Golic, and the great Sean Salisbury. They all talk about how mailed food helped them lose weight and how great it is. Well there's a new sponsor for the company and he wants to give Dan Marino a new look....

Ah Larry the Cable Guy....that act never gets old. Wait, yes it did. About three years ago. Oh well, Dan Marino in a cutoff flannel shirt could never get old.


(Via PFT)

Everyone remember the Kobe jumping the car video that was released on the Internet, well he's got another one out now. This time it's the Black Mamba jumping over a pool of snakes, but not before the guys from Jackass have some fun with the pool first.....

Man, they couldn't have made that look more fake if they tried, but that was still rather entertaining. Keep them coming Kobe.

Kobe and the Jackass crew (Ball Don't Lie)

The Stanley Cup Finals don't get underway until this weekend, but they've already begun advertising for the Pens-Wings series on Youtube. Here's an amazing stop action ad that NHL has put up and will likely be seen on Versus and NBC as well.....

That actually gave me goosebumps. For some reason commercials with old photos or clips always get to me. Good stuff NHL.

(Thanks to CC for sending this my way.)

CBS is really banking on Kimbo Slice for their first and subsequent bouts on the channel, and Bloody Elbow has a first look at two commercials with the fighter.....

You just gotta love the guy. Most MMAers think he's a fraud (he probably is), but to come from nothing and have a network do a CSI: Miami spoof with you is pretty special. Good stuff.

Kimbo Ads (Bloody Elbow)
CBS Walks a Tightrope as It Tries to Make Kimbo Slice a Star (Fanhouse)

I honestly don't mind most of the Lebron James commercials. The lawyer one was funny and the "Lebrons" ones were kind of cute. Well these "Witness" ones aren't funny or cute and they're really starting to creep me out. Here's the latest Nike spot....

I personally think Lebron is lazy and doesn't try as hard as he could, but that's irrelevant here. When did we start comparing him to the second coming of Jesus? This is just a little much for my tastes.

LeBron James' new 'Witness Stand' commercial (Ball Don't Lie)
Witness (Nike Basketball)

This new Shell commercial had me laughing half way through and then dizzy the rest. The spot is for some sort of new gasoline and Kevin Harvick is testing the gas with a pair of scientists in the back, and Harvick is the only one smiling by the end....

I feel sick.

I'm sure a lot of you are like me in that you've been playing Madden since it's inception. Well given the 20th year of the game (doesn't that make you feel old) coming out this August, EA has put together a video of Favre highlights throughout the years....

Pretty intense as far as video game commercials go. I also wonder if Brett Favre is going to just be a Free Agent in the game or if you'll have to unlock him through some complicated skills competition. Let the Madden hype machine commence!

Here is Nike's new spot with Steve Nash as the Sixty Million Dollar Man (with special guest appearances from Raja Bell and Amare) via SLAM.....

Sixty million dollars seems like a waste of money at this point as the Suns are now down 2-0 to the World Champion Spurs. But cool commercial Nike.

Steve Nash: The Sixty Million Dollar Man Video (SLAM)