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Better than testimonials from talking cats. "Read my beak!" says the feisty little spokesparrot for this premium cat chow. "No more birds!" He's out to convince cats that Whiskas is "a heck of a lot more nutritious than a teeny little guy" like himself. Best of all, thanks to brilliant editing, the little guy really appears to be speaking in that weird French accent.
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Lee's Easy Riders
Attention baby boomer: you're not a kid anymore. Lee's ads poke gentle fun at this, ah, growing market. We've all been there. Dad sits down to watch TV in his old jeans and his top button flies off, ricocheting around the room like a bullet. A woman struggling to get into her too tight jeans keeps her date waiting so long that he meets and marries her roommate. If only she'd had Easy Riders . . .
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Windsor Canadian
The old workingman's blues theme is given a comical twist in these black-and- white magazine portraits of frustrating moments. A woman ties her dog to the side of the house; when it lunges, the whole structure collapses. In another, just as a laborer is finishing a perfect sidewalk, a friendly pup trots through the wet cement to visit him. The bottom line: "Fortunately, every day comes with an evening." And a soothing whiskey, perhaps?
. . . AND THE WORST
Bell Atlantic: This half-hour "sitcommercial" about a tiresome family called the Ringers -- actually a home-shopping vehicle for Bell Atlantic with lots of phone jokes -- has been airing weekend afternoons and late nights in Baltimore, and is coming soon to other Eastern cities. The company is threatening to make it a continuing series. What's next? The Carpenters, for Home Depot?