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I Got Played by Yoplait
I was watching a TV show I'd recorded, fast-forwarding through the commercials, when an ad for Yoplait Light yogurt caught my eye. I rewound to watch at normal speed. As "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" played in the background, a woman paced in her home and ate yogurt, with the aforementioned garment prominently on a hanger. The message to the female viewer: Start eating Yoplait now and when summer rolls around, you'll have fewer rolls around. The message to the pathetic heterosexual male viewer (that would be me): Hang tight for 30 seconds and you'll see this woman in a bikini. They had me hook, line, and sinker, as the time-lapse months of yogurt-eating reached their inevitable climax. You've tricked me into watching your entire ad, Yoplait, but after this lingering product shot, at least I'll get my sad payoff.
Our protagonist walks past the hanger, and voilà, empty hanger. Cut to our now fully-dressed protagonist getting into her friend's car for a fun-filled day at the beach. Oh, that pesky bikini-top strap—she tucks it back under her shirt. OK, one more product shot, and then I'll finally see the frolicking-on-the-sand conclusion. But no! The commercial was over! Thirty seconds of my life, gone! I felt used. Violated.
But then I thought, well, if she looked great in the bikini, that would be stretching believability too far. Was light yogurt a wonder drug? Or perhaps she was just suffering from poor self-image all along. And if she didn't look good, that's not going to sell much yogurt either. So I was ultimately OK with their directorial decisions.
What I'm trying to say is, I think maybe I'm growing up, just a little bit.
Or else, I'm starting to think like…them.
Posted by Jack Silbert on 01/19/2007 | Permalink
Comments
The one they run in the summer features shots of her at the beach. She walks out of the changing hut with a big inflatable lounging raft thing and hides behind it for most of the ad. I think you get a glimpse of her at the end of that one though.
Um, yeah. We're sad.
Posted by: Ian W. | Jan 19, 2007 1:32:45 PM
Man, you really need to get a life.
Posted by: Laura | Jan 22, 2007 9:28:05 AM
Why are you leaving out the fact that the program you had taped was Baywatch?
Don't worry. I forgive you, silly boy.
Posted by: Jersey Girl | Jan 23, 2007 5:56:52 PM
OK, you Silbert completists: I had taped NBC's 8-to-10 Thursday comedy block, of which I particularly enjoy 30 Rock and The Office. The commercial in question aired during My Name Is Earl, which I also tend to enjoy. I do fast-forward through Scrubs, even though it is likable enough. (And I have just learned that "likeable" is also an acceptable spelling.)
Posted by: Jack Silbert | Jan 23, 2007 11:04:43 PM
Yeah yeah, Must See TV and all that. Zach Braff is okay. Not just because of his stellar good looks, but because...wait for it...he's from Jersey! Jersey Girl feels that anyone from Jersey is likable. Even you, Silberado.
But the British 'Office' is much better than the American. Except that Ricky Gervais amn't from Jersey.
Posted by: Jersey Girl | Jan 24, 2007 9:54:46 AM
When is Carrie's calendar coming out?
Posted by: Rob | Jan 24, 2007 11:54:29 AM
We expect to have the 2007 calendar out by mid-'09.
Posted by: Jack Silbert | Jan 24, 2007 1:37:54 PM
Aside from the fact that this commercial is 2 years old, what bugs me is that bikini would fit that woman if she were 9 months pregnant. . . it's huge.
But it's better than those annoying, "This Yoplait is favorite song on the radio good" girls. Why are they eating Yoplait at a wedding? Why would you bring unrefrigerated yogurt on a road trip?
Posted by: anonymous | Jan 25, 2007 11:53:58 AM
Perhaps Yoplait is getting desperate. Perhaps the only model they could afford, which so happened to be her, had a conspicous scar on her belly from that appendicitis operation. Or a botched tummy tuck.
P.S: Ricky Gervais is overrated.
Posted by: Anne | Jan 29, 2007 2:27:19 PM
You only think that because you live in the UK and have seen lots of Ricky Gervais. I live in the U.S. and sadly have only seen "The Office," so of course I think he's brilliant. We Americans are starved for culture, I guess.
Ialso sympathize more with David Brent than the U.S. Steve Carrell version. That's part of the UK version's charm.
Posted by: Jersey Girl | Jan 30, 2007 4:56:22 PM
