• by Barbara Lippert , Columnist, October 9, 2024

“YOU’RE SITTING ON A GOLDMINE!”

That’s one of my least favorite ad lines ever written, especially as screamed from the cellar of a house in which a “miner” is at work, picka and all, surrounded by Flintstone-type rocks.

He booms his message in the upward direction of an unwitting elderly insurance policy holder who is sitting in her kitchen, despairing over her bills. 

 The “miner” stationed in people’s basements is part of a series of spots for Coventry Direct, a company that apparently buys back insurance policies for CASH!

EVEN A TERM POLICY!

I don’t like yelling in commercials, especially when it seems like elder abuse.

Is this woman supposed to sense the annoying sound vibrations from several levels below through her derriere?

And are we supposed to laugh that she can’t hear it?

I, and most people, hate screaming in ads.

But I’ve made an exception for this Roku campaign, from agency Fellow Kids and Hungry Man director Dave Laden.

It’s hilarious.

I’ll admit it might get annoying for viewers if it runs in heavy rotation, like Coventry, but the difference is that it’s satire.

It’s a clever concept, and the oddball casting of such insanely shout-y humans really sells it.

The proposition is that Roku’s services solve otherwise exasperating TV-based problems for viewers, problems that might even lead to upper-moderate-to-severe screaming.

And maybe the screaming is funny, too, because these three little problems don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy word.  And yet….

I laughed because I’ve experienced all three, which of course are amped waaaay up past 11 in the spots, especially the one involving the chest-tightening vexation of finding the remote.

Suddenly, it’s the only concern you have in your brain as the dark clouds of frustration descend and you try to figure out who to blame.

That’s the exact scenario in “Where’s the Remote?” The most relatable spot in the bunch, it establishes its weirdo bonafides by showing a dorky family living in an ‘80s-style sitcom-style house.

It opens with dad showing his back 40 as he searches the couch cushions, screaming those three words at the top of his lungs. His wife responds in similar decibels, saying she doesn’t know.

The oversized son, wearing a striped sweater and a milk mustache, holding a cardboard container from the fridge that says “Milk,”  answers by screaming for his little sister  --“Jennnnaaay!” She comes down the stairs, also busting the sound meters and stamping her feet, yelling that she’s only five and not allowed to watch TV.

“Have you guys thought of getting a Roku?” Junior wonders at a volume that’s an ear-pounder.  “It has a lost remote finder!” 

“Thanks for bring that to our attention, son!” the dad screeches. They eventually exchange “I love yous”  at a volume known to cause heart palpitations.

Finally, we get the tagline: “Less screaming, more streaming. Roku.”

A second spot has to do with a couple shattering their vocal chords over the complications of buying a new smart TV, with too many options available.

It turns out that Roku TV simplifies this annoying problem as well..  Once that happens, the wife screams to her daddy,  “Every day with you is a gift!”

A third, titled, “Did you look on the thing?” shows a grown son with his parents on a home visit. The family communicates in a similarly ear-blasting way.

And the weirdly formal and dated living room set-up is like something out of a Diane Arbus photo, making the combo comical.

I do see that because the ads are so loud, in the end, they come full circle, adding to the annoying TV-related problems they are trying to solve.

Certainly, the campaign already has its critics, who have already flooded the site called Communities: Roku with digital pushback that would scream if it could.

One such aficionado speaks for many with this screed: “Whatever ad agency created the 'screaming' commercial should be fired. Are you aware of the great percentage of people that have PTSD caused or triggered by screaming? Just because you can rhyme streaming with screaming doesn’t make for a good ad.... Please remove the commercial. It is quite harsh and harmfully stupid."

Well, that’s what makes a horse race.

Whereas I think “Where’s the Remote?” is a COMEDY GOLDMINE!