Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph Ring in the Holidays with CP+B, Best Buy

By Bob Marshall 

Winning the prestigious annual designation of being the first brand to launch a national broadcast campaign for the holiday is Best Buy. Teaming with AOR CP+B, the duo have decided that the best way to delude people into putting a Microsoft Surface on their wish lists with the help of four celebrities reading parodies of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” whilst mugging for the camera. If you were watching the World Series on Sunday, these may already look a bit familiar.

Up to bat first are Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph, former co-stars on NBC’s troubled sitcom Up All Night or, to the vast majority of Americans who never heard about that show, “that guy from Arrested Development” and “that girl from Bridesmaids and SNL.” Both consistent show-stealers no matter what project they’re working on, neither phones in their performances for these spots, even though the scripts may be a bit lacking.

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The issue with both of these comedic talents is that they completely make these spots. Now, this isn’t a bad thing. But whenever the camera breaks from them to focus on the spot’s holiday shopping subject, I lose total interest in these ads. In other words: Any time they’re not on camera, I’m completely tuning out until they come back. This may just be my experience, as I’m a big fan of both actors, but we’ll see if upcoming spots in the campaign starring LL Cool J and Jason Schwartzman suffer from the same issue. Still, cheers to Best Buy for getting Arnett and Rudolph on board.

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