Words of Wisdom: Over the next month, Reebok will role out three more four-minute films on its Web site featuring the Terry Tate character. In one of the films, Tate goes on vacation and proves that his skills aren't limited to the office when he notices inefficiency at the hotel and dramatically improves the workplace environment.

I found the above words up this morning, inspiring me to think back a few days. (Why ESPN managed to mispell "role" is beyond me.) Though a review and advice column are due, I thought I'd sneak in a little sugar first. After years of watching television reporters spin the annual super-bowl commercial wrap ups, I decided that they're all bad critics. For some reason reporters are drawn to commercials with

• a) celebrities
• b) lots of money
• c) easy to understand jokes

. This results in buzz being generated about the latest Pepsi ad, or the Willie Nelson H&R Block ad, neither of which were actually laugh-out-loud funny. So it's been with some pleasure that I've noticed the rising star of the commercial world: Terry Tate. Like all good commercials, 'Terry Tate: Office Linebacker' had jack to do with the actual product being hawked. (In this case, Reebok.) This is a play straight from the Bud Light commercials (which are always pretty good, even if the fabled 'Bud Bowl' featuring miniature bottles (bud vs. bud light, of course!) throwing footballs around a tiny field has gone the way of the passenger pigeon.) which tend to minimize the consumption of beer in favor of simple funny formats.

Tate, in his commercial, proceeds to beat the stuffing out of whatever poor soul has been playing solitaire, failing to refill the coffee pot, or lowering productivity. The combination of stooge-like violence with genuinely annoying office habits created an amusing spectacle. (In my mind, both Terry Tate and the Sierra Mist Monkey commercials were clearly the best of the bunch.) In a sign that Reebok had wasted its money, more people remembered the name of the fictional office company, Felcher & Sons, than realized Terry was hawking Reebok products. (What products I can't remember...shoes? The shirt from the spot is evidently being sold online now...but it's a novelty item, not something Reebok normally makes.

In a gesture towards the success of the spot (which I don't really care about, except that if people like it..) more commercials are being created now to show Mr. Tate on vacation or up against a rookie office linebacker. I say bring on the pain.

UPDATE: I added this in the the next post but some people are having a hard time finding it, so here it is: the full, un-edited version of the terry tate movie. It's un-censored, and in quicktime format. So don't let the kiddies see it, but laugh it up yourself! (Okay, some jokers can't even figure out that you're supposed to click where it say "terry tate movie". Some people need to stay away from technology, IMHO!)