For my money, the weirder the better.
I’m not exactly sure what tripped my memory of this spot just now, but the moment it came back into consciousness, I had to look it up.
About ten years ago there was a fantastically weird campaign for Rice Krispies Treats that I’m pretty sure I would have caught on Comedy Central (that’s all I watched 10 years ago). The campaign featured all these different things you could use Rice Krispies Treats for but ultimately ended with the tagline “Best When Eaten.”
There was a guy who built himself a girlfriend out of the treats so he could have someone to swim with in his backyard pool, and a couple of others that are escaping memory at the moment. But, the best one was the hair helmet spot (seen below).
For one thing, hair helmets are funny. I knew a guy whose hair highly resembled a helmet, cradling and protecting his substantial melon. Charles Burns used it to great effect on Liquid Television’s Dog-Boy. For another thing, the dance at the end of this spot is one of the all-time best moments in all of commercialdom. Seriously. I think these two have been watching Grill Vogel’s Business Hugs series (also seen below).
The one thing about the web version of the Rice Krispies Treats spot that’s missing is the very end when the tagline came up. In the original version the helmet hair guy took a huge bite out of the product instead of just holding it up to his lips. I remember because I set a still frame of that moment as wallpaper on the discreet flint* I was operating at the time. There was something amazingly copraphagic about that moment (which is why I’m sure there was a re-edit to a less disgusting spot close), but like a fine trainwreck it sucked you in. Didn’t do much for showcasing the product though.
Enough from me. Enjoy “Wig.”
