Drop that remote! "Weeds" star Kevin Nealon is hosting "World’s Funniest Commercials," a new TBS special about, well... the world’s funniest commercials.
We spoke with the "SNL" alum about the inspiration for his Subliminal Message Man character, the dangers of cracker consumption—and what the "Weeds" gang is really smoking while filming the show. (At least officially…)
Have you ever appeared in a commercial yourself?
Yes, I have. My first one was Nabisco Country Crackers with Lynn Anderson. It was my first one and I was so excited. And two weeks after the commercial started running, they found copper dust in the crackers so they had to recall the product.
They found copper dust?!
Yeah.
So you were actually involved with a product that was exposing people to toxic levels of copper!
Well, it potentially could have…!
What do you think the criteria for a funny commercial is?
You certainly have to get in a lot in a short amount of time. I think, technically, in a good commercial you should remember the name of the product—but I kind of like the funny ones where you don’t remember the name.
You guys should do a special called 'World's Least Effective Commercials.'
Oh, I’m sure!
Well with "Weeds" and now "Pineapple Express," it seems that marijuana is becoming more mainstream. Do you think there’s a taboo left for TV to tackle?
I think they’re breaking a lot of borders on Sarah Silverman’s show ["The Sarah Silverman Program"]. Nothing is sacred on that show.
I've got to ask: What is that (presumably fake) pot you guys smoke on "Weeds"?
Honeyrose herb. It’s kind of smooth, but if you smoke it too much, you get lightheaded.
With the advent of TiVo and DVRs, TV shows seem to be going the product placement route now. Do you find yourself skipping through a lot of the commercials like the rest of us?
I noticed that on "Weeds" I do skip through commercials. I hate commercials unless they’re funny and creative—I’m a real snob.
A big part of the "Funniest Commercials" is ads that are too risqué for American television. Are we just a little more sensitive here?
I think it used be that they can get away with more in Europe and probably still can, but I think America has really evolved a more risqué style. Commercials actually have to dance around so much; sometimes you can’t understand how they’re tying in the commercial with the product. I did go to school for marketing and advertising, and I was going to work in that field; it’s an interesting craft to come up with something that’s creative in that short amount of time and also please a market of people.
Did your background in marketing have anything to do with the Subliminal Message Man from "Saturday Night Live"?
It did actually. I learned about subliminal advertising through school, and I knew a guy in Hollywood that used to do a thing called ‘tagging’ where he’d sneak words in... That’s how they came up with the subliminal advertising.
Do you find yourself looking at these commercials and seeing how they’re playing with our minds?
I think sometimes, subliminal advertising is like looking at the clouds and trying to make shapes and stuff. You find what you want to find in a commercial and kind of call it subliminal but I don’t think it works. I mean some products play off of that like Absolut Vodka. In these print ads, they would do that kind of stuff, like hide the bottle.
I was just on the "Weeds" Web site, and they have a little character page for you where fans can recreate your character Doug’s look on the show by buying suggested articles of clothing. Have you seen this?
No…
Most of the characters have several items, but the only item for you is a pair of J. Crew Havana Floral Board Shorts. Is that really all I need to get the character down?
Yeah, that’s probably about it!
"World's Funniest Commercials" premieres Tuesday, August 26 at 9pm/8c on TBS.
