I seriously fucking love this commercial.
I love this commercial because the entire premise of it is that when the conservative father that is dissapointed in his son for his complete lack of interest in sports, and obsession with his drama class, is working late…it’s time for him and mom to go "dish" at the Olive Garden.
You can tell that this young man really gets his mom, and enjoys "dishing" with her in a way that only a young gay boy in the closet truly can.
After this nice relaxing meal, they will make a huge bowl of popcorn and watch as many episodes of Sex In The City as they can fit in before the tyranical patriarc of the household comes home.
Nobody really likes Olive Gardens breadsticks, but the way this young man looks away for a minute before looking back at his mother and exclaiming "oooh, breadsticks", you know he took a moment for himself to really explore the phalic nature of the breadstick and the teenage hormonal flurry it is going to send him into by "choking" one down.
"so, is uh…Donna still in the picture?"
And with a sassy smack of the lips and a coy grin he emits, "maaaaaaybe".
"so, is this…serious?"
"Yeah, this is seriously good!" referring to the meal infront of him and changing the subject, and he laughs and mom laughs, and for a moment the two of them are loving the fact that Dad is gone and they are free to bask in the bond that only a gay boy and his mother can share.
Hahaha…I really do love this commercial. Because everytime it comes on I just sit there and wonder to myself, "They had to have known what they were doing, they had to! What are they doing here? I don’t understand? Are they trying to tell the gay community they are welcome to eat some Italian food at their nice establishment, but only if they remain in the closet? Are they speaking out against the family unit and the Tyrrany provided by conservative fathers and husbands?"
…or maybe they just completely missed it entirely and I am free to laugh and laugh because I really do think this is one of the most awkward commercials of all time.
I’m disappointed that you missed the Oedipal subtext.
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thanks for the nice compliment 🙂 its actually all just sharpi paint marker.. the lines are really skinny and close to each other so it has the illusion of shading. amazingggg pens tho,,, you should give it a shot..theyre really fun. and yeaaaaaaaa its like im an angel during the week,i eat really healthy and go to the gym a few times then i totally bust it up with booze/treats on the weekends ugh
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and ive never seen that commercial!! i think they are definitely welcoming the gay community with open arms here tho. the olive garden by me is seriously ghetto tho so im not sure that will work
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ha! ive not seen it before. all good points you make. *grin*
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I can’t wait to get home so I can watch it in peace. 🙂
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i’m appalled Dane. i love Olive Garden bread sticks. you make me sick and sad. And sad and sick.
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RYN: I LOVE this note! You HAVE to go the Oedipal route with the story (song? song cycle?) and use those words at the end! They DEFINE the cultural change of the past 2000 years!
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I’m going with Wordspinner on this – this has HUGE Oedipal undertones!! I thought it the first time I saw it – first breadsticks, then they plot the old man’s demise over unlimited salad.
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Okay. I always thought this commercial was weird, but I didn’t really know why. I mean, other than it starring two really awkward people. Then I read this. Then I saw it on TV again. Oh my god. You are 100% right. That poor kid is trying out himself.
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HAHAHAHA THIS IS SO 1985!!!! Um yeah, seriously?!?!?! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?! I’m going to go to the OG now because they support gay men coming out of the closet. YEAH!
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Lol oh dear.
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Ha, actually the first time I saw this commercial I thought it was odd how ALL OG commercials only show friends and family eating together, maybe co-workers, but NEVER dates. EVER. Which is weird because they try so hard to make the restaurant look like it’s a classier joint than it really is, but then they market the commercials to families and crap. Another “casual fine dining” failure. What a
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joke. God I’d love to burn OG into the ground today lol.
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I’ve never seen the commercial and I can’t see it at the moment but I have to confess to liking OG’s breadsticks. I like the salad as well. The food itself – not so much.
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Uhh.. I had something witty and awesome to say but I forgot it. This was awkward. blah blah blah. I’d like to interrupt here, though, I LOVE the OG breadsticks, their food is pretty regular and not that great so I don’t care about that. If I’m going its for the SALAD AND BREADSTICKSSssss!! yeEAAAHHhhh!!
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Who’s tossing the salad?
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