The Mandela Effect: Iron City Beer Edition

A few months ago, we had problems with our washer. Even after the load finished, it continued to run. The only way to stop it was by unplugging the machine. Fortunately, it was still under warranty, so we had someone check it out. He pressed the button, and the machine magically worked again.*

My immediate thought when this happened was a line from an Iron City beer commercial that aired regularly in the Pittsburgh area during the late 80s or early 90s: "Hey, loser, press the reset button!" Unfortunately, I can't seem to find this video anywhere. I remember it taking place in a bowling alley, maybe filmed at Forward Lanes in Squirrel Hill. I contacted Pittsburgh Brewing Company, and they have no record of this commercial. Is this a Mandela Effect thing where people misremember pop culture events? I'm not making this up, am I? Does anyone else remember this?

Pittsburgh Brewing Company did send me an amazing compilation of their commercials from the 1970s going forward. No press the reset button though.

* Running a load shortly after the tech left, the same issue occurred, so pushing the button was not the solution. A new control panel did the trick!

Bate-man

I'm working on two pretty big posts, but since I haven't posted anything this week, I wanted to share my favorite current commercial. 

This is State Farm's complete Batman vs. Bateman:

So much fun!

A Commercial Made For Me

There is a recent Verizon commercial that shares one of my biggest fears: my cell phone not working when I need it most.



The purpose of the commercial is to let consumers know that they can trade in any phone in any condition. That's not what I get from it. What I see is the reason I still use paper tickets for boarding passes at the airport. If I could still use paper tickets for sporting events or concerts, I would do so. I hate the moment when I have to scan my phone to get into a venue. I worry that it's not going to work and that I spent lots of money only to be stuck outside. Fortunately, that hasn't happened yet, but I worry it will.

So thanks Verizon for encouraging me to never use my phone for a boarding pass!

Blue Hair

I'm really glad that I titled my challenge "30 in 30ish" since my goal of publishing 30 blog posts in 30 consecutive days reached a total of 3 days before I missed a day. Maybe 30 in 35 or 40 is more realistic.

Anyway, I was at the grocery store recently and came across this:

I don't have many options for what I can do with my hair, but changing the color is a possibility. Of course, all I could think about was the Progressive commercial where you're trying not to turn into your parents.

(My apologies for posting this version of the video where the guy says blue for 10 minutes. I can't seem to find the original commercial.) 

Is Joe Biden An Iron Man?

You may have seen that Joe Biden visited the Flight 93 Memorial on Friday to commemorate the 19th anniversary of 9-11. He also stopped by Shanksville's volunteer fire department, and according to WTAE (and others), the last time Biden was there, "he joked that he'd bring some beer when he returned." Therefore, he brought "two six-packs of Bud Light and Iron City, along with a Bundt cake and pastries for the crew."

I don't know the size of the fire department, but I'm not sure that 12 bottles of beer is enough. Anyway, Joe Biden (or more likely his staff) deserves credit for bringing a local beer. While Biden said, "I keep my promises" in reference to the beer, perhaps he should have said that "You can't keep an Iron Man down."

If you think that this blog post was simply an excuse to share this 30+ year-old Iron City commercial, I say, how dare you!! (And then I'd say, you're right.)

Photo by Chip Somodevilla - Getty Images

I'm Stuck

I've written this blog long enough to know that you don't care about my writer's block. Or maybe you do. Or maybe I don't actually have writer's block, but it's easier to write that two-word phrase than to explain that I have a lot of blog ideas right now, but that I actually need to sit down to write it. For example, I plan on writing a preview of the upcoming World Cup, which I promise you will enjoy even if you're not a soccer fan. I have another idea about a post about the current state of pop music. Do you have any interest about hearing how I'm about to give up on my fantasy baseball season and being a fire sale since my team isn't very good? Or how I'm playing against Josh this week in my other league? What about a post about the status of my dislocated wrist? (Spoiler: It's doing well.) Maybe an update about the kids? (Spoiler: They can be exhausting.) Is it worthwhile to share my displeasure that FOX canceled the funny LA to Vegas after its first and only season?

Really, I just need to sit down and write a post. In the meantime, I came across this video from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Besides being quite touching, I'm sharing this video because there's a chance that a friend (who I unfortunately I haven't been in touch with in years) is involved in this video. He was the creative director behind several of the What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas commercials, so I hope he's has something to do with this one too.

The Maserati of SUVs

I'm not a car person. I just want something that is reliable and gets me where I need to go. Because of this, I also tend to ignore car commercials. However, I recently saw this commercial for Levante and it got me thinking. I'm at the point of my life where I own and need to drive an SUV since we have three kids. Maybe I've always wanted a Maserati. Now, I can have the Maserati of SUVs!



Of course, the end of the commercial I saw stated that this SUV starts at around $74K. And that's the point where I'm out. I mean, I draw the line at $72K!

We've All Got Places To Go

While my blogging may be limited at the moment, I thought I could still share a video of my current favorite commercial.



From my experiences driving in Delaware, I'm surprised that Washington isn't crossing in front of a toll booth and being asked to pay a toll!

Happy Rosh Hashanah (From Asics?)

I saw this Asics commercial on Tuesday night which seemed extremely appropriate since Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, also concluded on Tuesday evening.



Yes, the guy in the Asics commercial is blowing a shofar. Sure, a shofar is traditionally blown during Rosh Hashanah services, but I guess it could also be a call to action to run up a mountain. Tekiah Gedolah!

So on behalf of everyone here at Sean's Ramblings, Happy New Year!

P.S. It appears that this commercial has been around for months. I just saw it for the first time on Tuesday.

Push It Real Good

Today, I'm giving credit to GEICO for having the best commercial currently on television. If you haven't seen this commercial yet, well, here's your chance.



Nicely done to everyone involved with this commercial. On a semi-related note, we had a "dance party" at our home over the weekend. Salt-N-Pepa's Push It was part of the playlist along with C+C Music Factory's Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) and Groove Is in the Heart by Deee-Lite. However, as a NFL referee might say, upon further review, perhaps The Humpty Dance is not an appropriate song for a three year old (though the video is more tame than you'd think).

Mario Lemieux Freaks Out A Kid

Mario Lemieux is one of the greatest hockey players of all time. He is not one of the greatest commercial actors of all time.



I realize that this video is from 1984, but who thought it was a good idea to have Mario actually pick up the kid?

Unrelated to creepy Mario, did you notice all of the companies listed in the commercial? Thrift Drug, Kaufmann's, Gimbels and even the Civic Arena are no longer around.

h/t to Mr. Brame via @jasonbrame via Deadspin

Unrealistic Head & Shoulders Commercial

If you haven't seen the latest Troy Polamalu-Head & Shoulders commercial, take a look.



I don't have a problem with the guy "borrowing" Troy Polamalu and his hair. My issue is that it seems highly unlikely that a Steelers fan is going to be attracted to a guy still wearing a Tommy Maddox jersey!

Can I Get A Hot Tub?

(Voting for the Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament concludes today, Friday 3/4, at 4:00 PM. Scroll down the page or click here to vote or for more information.)

You've seen this State Farm commercial, right?



It's amusing. A baseball flies through your window, and all of a sudden you get a hot tub, a sandwich, and the girl from 4E. Simply sing a jingle, and poof, you find out what your State Farm agent can do for you. Apparently, this State Farm agent runs an escort service, deli and a hot tub store. Very convenient.

We had a shower leak recently and all our insurance company gave us was some money towards the repairs. I guess I should have switched to State Farm so that I could have got a hoagie.

Scary Or Not

I need your opinion. Is Target's dancing robot Santa scary or not. Please discuss.

Reading Too Much Into a Wendy's Commercial?

I spent most of Sunday at two different sports bars/restaurants watching football. Therefore, I also watched a lot of commercials including the Wendy's commercial below.



I know the guy started it with the "What do you ladies got there?" comment, but the woman on the right just seems mean. She's like the popular, attractive girl in high school who treats people beneathe her on the social scale like peasants. With red hair, maybe she's Wendy herself.

With A Stick

Thanks to PS3 for coming up with a great reply to any argument or debate.



If you happen to have a heated discussion or debate over the next few weeks (this type of thing never happens during the holidays!), use "With a Stick" for the win!

Worst Television Commercial Ever

In one of my first blog entries almost three years ago, I wrote about my dislike of the Dr. Scholl's “Are You Gellin?” commercials. The whole melon, zinfandellin, gellin’ thing really got on my nerves. Fortunately, I have not seen one of these commercials in many months.

Unfortunately, a new commercial has emerged to replace Dr. Scholl’s. That honor goes to Verizon Wireless for its commercial where a father goes around the house handing new phones to his wife and two kids while telling them each individually that they are his number one. He ends the commercial by pulling out a new phone and telling the Verizon / Can You Hear Me Now guy, “saving the best for numero uno.” What the hell is wrong with the dad? Why does he really need to tell everyone that they are his number one? He’s just a lying liar. And what kind of exercising is his wife doing? After an hour of her moving back and forth, she may burn a total of 10 calories. I’m also not a big fan of her fake laugh when the husband tells her that she is his number one. The wife really could the adult version of the robot girl on the syndicated 80s show “Small Wonder.”

Personally, I can’t wait for the sequel to this commercial where the father receives the first bill and flips out at his kids because they sent and received thousands of text messages. Then, maybe the tables will turn and the father will be exposed for the pompous, lying liar that he is.

So please join me in congratulating Verizon Wireless for having the worst commercial ever. This commercial, which seems to air all the time, is making me reconsider Verizon as my cell phone carrier.