Tuesday, December 14, 2010
By gum, I hate this commercial.
Normally I like the Flo commercials for Progressive. This one, however, is completely annoying. First of all because it uses long-outdated cliches about old people: They're grumpy, wear sweater vests, scowl, and spout colorful, outdated lingo. Even more vexing is that the cornball cliches he uses would have been related to a complete generation ahead of him. I'm not even sure that "flibberty flab" ever was an expression. I think the creative team has watched too many movies from the 30s. If this man is, say, 70, he would have lived through Vietnam, the arrival of rock and roll, and a hundred other contemporary events, and not spent his life whittlin' down by the crick. I'm not even sure his father would have said "dagnab it."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Agree. Although I too like some of the Flo commercials, this one really got my (old) goat.
ReplyDeleteI'm 56, but I've always been something of an "old head," preferring to listen to my elders (some of them going back to the 1880s/90s) speak, to watch movies from the 1930s/40s, and to read books from the 19th and early-20th centuries. So I've heard lots of old slang expressions -- and still use quite a few of them -- and am somewhat disposed to believe the "old coot" in the commercial might use them too.
But...
I've never heard "flibberty flab." Perhaps some corruption of "flibbertigibbet"?
No self-respecting crusty old coot would use "dagnabit" as an adjective. It's an interjection. "Dagnabbed," maybe.
If the old guy is saying "skiddly-poo," it's just wrong. Should be "skiddly-doo." I've heard that -- although it's been a while.
Overall, yes, the old guy comes off as cranky and senescent, and I don't like it.
By the way, familiar with the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE)? Listened to one of the editors on Wisconsin Public Radio this morning.
www.dare.wisc.edu
Regards,
Ralph Novy