Set Phasers on ‘Whiten’
Thursday, August 14, 2003Let me tell you how much I love William Shatner. Everything he does these days makes me laugh. It’s the subtle way he seems to be winking at all of us, as if to say, “Yes. That’s right. I’m William Shatner.”
Now, I enjoy his latest All Bran commercials. For those who haven’t seen them, the premise is simple. A young suburban couple is invited to take the “All Bran Challenge,” which we all know is to eat a bowl of the fibrous cereal every day for two weeks. Only in this batch of ads, the challenge includes having Shatner live in their house for that period. Enter the laughs!
But what has me perplexed is the most recent ad I’ve seen. This one is for Crest Night Effects..
In it, a woman applies the product to her teeth and goes to bed in order to let the “whitening power” do its magic. While sleeping, the woman has a dream that she is surrounded by dozens of Highland-dancing William Shatners dressed in sparkly outfits. I am not making this up.
What’s even weirder is that the woman wakes up and is not disturbed in the least. And there is no hint of irony. Crest fails to give us a little nod. They fail to subtly tell us, “Yes. That’s right. William Shatner.” Shouldn’t the woman at least look perplexed or shudder a little?
But Shatner himself is far more knowing. Simply by being there he’s giving us that nod, smiling just for us.
“Yes. That’s right. I’m William Shatner. And I’m dancing.”
Matt says:
Nice. This is taking irony to a new level. Everyone knows that William Shatner highland dancing is really, really screwed up, so why should she give us a nod?
If there is a segment of the population out there that is still saying “Why would William Shatner be dancing like that? I don’t get it. Commercials are too weird”, then perhaps we can just laugh at them as well as laugh at The Shat.
I would love to see that last little wink to the audience, completely dissapear and just let irony do it’s job. We know Shatner, midgets and Mr. T are funny on their own. Just let them be..
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Drexil says:
It could be worse…
It could be a condom ad…
Sheesh. Its a pity that ad will never make it to our country.
Charmaine says:
I LOVE William Shatner, love love love love L-O-V-E him!!! He is TOO funny! I just saw the Crest ‘dance dream’ commercial, and I almost peed my pants laughing. I was raised on Star Trek, and I’ve always looked at Mr.Shatner as a bit of a father-like-figure, as he looks like my dad [if my dad was all Caucasian and not half Indonesian], and he’s funny like my dad. Oh my gawd, but that commercial is great! I got it right away! [I’m so excited right now I can’t focus] I hope he does more:) that’s my little opinion tnx fer listening!
GO SHAT!!!!!!!!
Jinks says:
LOL ... I just saw the add and couldn’t beleive my eyes, so i typed in “william shatner crest” in google and came here… So I guess my assumption was correct. “Yes, that was indeed William Shatner.. and YES it was one of the most mind boggling things I’ve ever seen at 5:30 in the morning”
Brian says:
I THOUGHT that was Shatner...wasn’t sure, had to do a Google search to make sure. Damn that is so twisted!!!!!!!
nomad says:
I’m sick of people bashing Shatner because it seems fashionable.
I think he’s talented, clever, and very funny. E.g. the parody of the movie Seven where he plays multiple roles. That had me howling for many minutes!
Lee says:
I cannot believe the man is all of 73 years old. Not only does he ooze extraordinary vigor, he’s “with it” in a young crowd. His enthusiasm hits the Richter scale when he talks about paintball or his work for charities that enrich the lives of physically or emotionally challenged children.
That’s William Shatner, who appeared on “The Wayne Brady Show” for an entertaining twenty-minute chat. Brady is a fan of “Star Trek” and “T.J. Hooker”. Shatner seems intrigued by his new character in “The Practice”. While talking energetically about “Spplat Attack”, Shatner suddenly clutches his chest, and whispers what sounds like “Oh, sh*t!”, as he feigns a heart attack that makes Brady turn pale. Click this link for a transcript and screen caps…
http://vrrrm.com/tv/WayneB/04/04/ws040422.php?t=28