Mr. Sprigg’s Moment Has Come
When people talk about making a mixtape or playlist that represents the soundtrack of their lives, a key ingredient is always missing: commercial jingles.
As a child of the television age, commercials have a bigger house in my medulla oblangata than the Homeowners Association should allow. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with childhood heroes like Dave Winfield, Dan Fouts, Captain Kangaroo and Graham Kerr are Cal Worthington and Earl Scheib. That’s because I lived in San Diego until I was 8.
I was among the many tots in Southern California who thought “Go See Cal” was some form of genetic mutation called a “Pussycow.” All I knew for sure was the pussycow wasn’t at the San Diego Zoo or Sea World, but I pestered my parents to drive me north to Lion’s Country Safari or Marineland. Worthington, who was born right here in Shidler, Oklahoma, created viral video before Al Gore cobbled together the Internet.
I also grew up thinking car owners were constantly in need of steel work and changed their paint jobs as often as Cindi Lauper changed her hair color.
When I moved to Texas, Cal and Earl were replaced by Oscar Snowden. The Big O was Austin biggest and most verbose dealer of Curtis Mathes television, which you may or may not recall was the “most expensive television in America and darn well worth it.”
Once in Oklahoma City, I was happy to find Linda Soundtrak was breaking eardrums here as she had been back home.
And then of course I learned to love the Del Rancho kid, who inspired a similarly aged Mike Hosty to boogie…
and my all-time favorite, the Credit Jewelry cowboy.
In recent years, one local commercial has set itself apart and that is the genius that is Mr. Sprigg’s Barbecue. So, fantastic is the jingle that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay saw fit to mount it on their Funny or Die website, making it a viral superstar.
Just watching it makes me Hongry, Hongry.
The Independent Film Channel has now set up a platform for us to fight for our favorite commercialier and perhaps win $250, which would’ve meant 4.5 paint jobs with 10 bucks in free steel work at Earl Scheib’s back in the day.
IFC’s LoCos Awards was launched following the June 24 debut of “Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings,” which was an original, 10-part docucomedy chronicling two life-long friends (Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal) traveling the country to make epic local commercials for some of the nation’s most deserving small businesses. Together, the duo has created more than 200 web and television spots.
The ad-savvy partners will serve as the final head judges for IFC’s The LoCos after fans whittle down three finalists in each category.
Launched last week, The LoCos enable fans to upload and vote for their favorite local commercials, in 10 categories, through July 20.
The categories are: The Palme d’ LoCo: Best Local Commercial Overall, Best Performance by an Animal or Child, Best Original Song/Jingle, The Jaw Dropper: Most Memorable Special Effect or Set Design, The Star Swipe Award: Best Use of Graphics, The Hammie (Most Overly Dramatic Performance in a Local Commercial), Most Unforgettable Tagline, Best Costume or Mascot, The LoCo Golden Turkey: The commercial most in need of Rhett & Link’s help, The Lifetime Achievement Award: Bestowed upon a memorable, and perhaps even deceased, local advert pitchperson legend.
Web-goers can simply submit a link to any local television commercial housed on YouTube or Vimeo and choose one or more categories for entry. They can vote in any category once a day through July 20. Every day a fan votes, he/she may enter into a sweepstakes to win one of ten $250 prizes, which we hope will be used to help support a local business in their community.
The top three vote-getters in each category will make the finals, which will be announced July 23. Rhett and Link, will determine the winners, who will be announced July 27.
And the next time you’re working the soundtrack of your life, don’t forget Mr. Sprigg’s ribs alway fall off the bo-o-o-o-one but aren’t derived from a Pussycow. And don’t end it with Green Day’s “Good Riddance,” it’s been done to death. Consider “Better Things” by the Kinks.
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