Creepy ad for DIY Network
Is it just me, or is this a creepy commercial?
| A woman in her pajamas gets something from the refrigerator. |  |
| A man’s voice shouts “HI,” scaring the bejesus out of her. Whatever she got from the fridge flies out of her hands as he towers over her. |  |
| He says, “I’m Paul Ryan, the host of DIY’s Kitchen Renovations.” |  |
| The woman rubs her eyes in disbelief, as if she’s trying to tell herself this is not happening. |  |
| Paul whips out a power drill. He says, “Wanna wake up to the kitchen of your dreams?” |  |
I suspect the ad’s creators were trying to play this as a humorous twist on those commercials where a woman’s fantasy man magically appears, like the lumberjack in the ads for Brawny paper towels, or like Fabio in the ads for I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. This guy is certainly a twist on the typical fantasy man, but not in a nice way. He startles a woman at a vulnerable moment, proceeds to talk about himself while holding a power tool like a gun, and never notices that she looks terrified the whole time. This doesn’t remind me of a Mr. Clean commercial; it reminds me of an episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
It’s possible I’m overthinking this and should just lighten up, since I’m no expert on advertising. It’s possible you could argue that she plays up the physical comedy well enough to make it funny, not creepy. Here’s the whole video, so you can judge for yourself: [Click here to play video]
Update: here’s a follow-up.
