If you’re an MSNBC junkie you’re going to feel deluged these days by two ads (i.e., advertisers) in particular — those series of singing freecreditreport.com spots starring that guitar-strumming French-Canadian guy Eric Violette, and that amusing Travelocity ad showing the young married couple trying to talk to each other over a loud drilling sound coming from the apartment above.
Here are two other Violette/freecredit ads — the pizza restaurant and driving in the beater. There’s no sign of a Violette bio on the IMDB, but one nonetheless presumes he has a Los Angeles-based agent. I’m saying this because he’s got a nice look and an easy likable vibe that would fit right into under-25 throwaway movies or Entourage or what-have-you.
I’m also running this because I can’t find an embedded copy of the Travelocity ad. It’s a very funny due to the fast timing of the Jewish guy playing the husband (“Really?”), but it’s also pulsing with emotional subtlety. Look at the wife’s face as he tries to speak to her. Is she a little bit sick of him? Could they be on the verge of a divorce? or is she just trying to quietly repress her frustration at the drilling noise? She doesn’t even crack a slight smile at what he’s saying, and he’s hilarious. I’ve seen this ad maybe 20 times and I’ve never tired of it. And who’s the guy?