K-Swiss’s Kenny Powers Ad Campaign

07.11.11 Written by Matt

K-Swiss has a new ad campaign built around the idea of Kenny Powers as the company’s CEO, and I have to admire the balls it took to make a profane fictional character on pay cable the centerpiece of an ad campaign. As “MFCEO,” Powers (Danny McBride) has hired Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel to run the marketing department, UFC fighter Jon “Bones” Jones as head of HR, and “Biggest Loser” coach Jillian Michaels to taunt and yell at people — something that I always enjoy. I also approve of the gratuitous use of attack helicopters, explosions, and women in bikinis.

Other athletes in the new commercials are 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, WWE’s Rey Misterio, UFC’s Urijah Faber, and Olympic hopeful Josh Cox (“Josh, stop not breaking world records”). I found a lot of these videos entertaining, and the campaign is a brazen departure from K-Swiss’s old brand identity, “boring white shoes for people who play tennis.” Videos on the following pages via Ad Week.

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‘Make Some Noise’: New Beasties Vid

04.21.11 Written by Matt

Make some noise if ya with me. The new Beastie Boys video stars Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, and Danny McBride as the Beasties of yesteryear, with appearances by Rashida Jones, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Amy Poehler, Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Jack Black, and more broken glass than any other video this year. Pretty cool. [The Smoking Section]

YIKES. Boyfriend watches his girlfriend get murdered via webcam. As I type this, “Law & Order” writers are already working on an episode based on this story. [Uproxx]

Video: every Blake Griffin dunk from his rookie year. Count ‘em: 214 dunks. In related news, Donald Sterling will trade Griffin to a better team for a new showerhead. [With Leather]

Pictured: KHAAAAAAAAAN!!!! Never not funny. [spiders]

No, computers aren’t learning to feel regret. All right then, so the robot uprising can continue as planned. [Gamma Squad]

Scene Breakdown: Airborne. Wait, didn’t I link to this yesterday? I sure did. Read it again for the first time. [FilmDrunk]

RIP, Restrepo director Tim Hetherington and Getty Images photographer Chris Hondros. Former Marine officer C.J. Chivers is the excellent New York Times journalist on the ground in Libya. His NYT story is dispassionate and informative, but for my money I always prefer the personal account. Check it out on his blog. [CJChivers.com]

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Sex Advice from Kenny Powers

09.20.10 Written by Matt

Few fictional characters exhibit the handsome, suave grace of “Eastbound & Down’s” Kenny Powers. Women are powerless to resist his curly mullet, xenophobic bombast, and the willful self-deception that preserves his phenomenal confidence. So Nerve.com made this tribute of Powers working his magic on women. It’s pretty great, even if it does ignore some of Powers’s greatest assets: the jet ski, and the dental dam. It’s a rubber for your mouth. It’s not that big of a deal, okay?

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Stop Everything: New ‘Eastbound & Down’ Trailer

09.14.10 Written by Matt

"I pretty much transcend race, hombre."

Below is the trailer for Season 2 of “Eastbound & Down,” featuring Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) attempting to revive his pitching career in Mexico. If I were any more excited for this show to come back, McBride would probably have to press charges against me. Hey pal, if you don’t want people looking inside your house, don’t have windows on the first floor.

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‘Eastbound & Down’ Season 2 Preview

09.01.10 Written by Matt

HBO’s “Eastbound & Down” made waves when it introduced one of television’s most quotable antiheroes: washed-up former major league pitcher Kenny Powers (Danny McBride). After a long hiatus — the six-episode Season 1 aired in the winter of 2009 — Season 2 will finally arrive September 26th with Kenny playing for a Mexican pro team, the Charros. Bootlicking sidekick Steve will follow him south of the border, where he’ll also befriend a foul-mouthed midget named Aaron.

For more on Season Dos, put on some skinny jeans and act like you don’t care what VICE has to say.

We can safely say that the season is worthy of the original and is its own different, more somber beast. This is how Eastbound’s co-creator/director Jody Hill described his aspirations during our set visit  in Puerto Rico: “Tonally, I want the season to feel like a cross between Amores Perros and Bad News Bears. The comedy will be similar enough hopefully that it doesn’t throw people, but there are darker elements. And we are shooting on 35mm, so the production design, all the locations, it’s going to have a bigger feel. I think we did a good job at making last season feel like a movie, and more so with this one.”

Amores Perros and Bad News Bears, huh? So I guess Jackie Earle Haley gets attacked by dogs? I like it. Anyway, I’d rather not prattle on about being excited for this “Eastbound” to return, so I’ll leave you with ten minutes of the best of Kenny Powers. That is why I’m better than everyone in the world.

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