When you get down to the brass tacks, bad comedian Eli Manning is not a horrible guy to be around. Hanging out with the real Eli Manning seems about as fun as watching the paint dry at church on a Saturday night. Unless that’s your thing, which is fine I guess.
DirecTV is back with the dual personalities bit to promote NFL Sunday Ticket this year, replacing Rob Lowe with Eli Manning (although we could always just assume this is the grown up version of painfully awkward Rob Lowe). The bad version of Eli Manning would be Bad Comedian Eli Manning, a guy with horrible hair and horrible jokes, but a likeable personality.
I guess my problem with this ad is that bad comedian Eli is supposed to be a worse version of “good” real world Eli, but I’m not buying. Both are going to throw a lot of picks come Sunday, but only one is going to keep it light in the locker room with the most obvious humor you’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. The Real Eli Manning could probably stay at home, watching every single play on DirecTV in stunning HD, while Bad Comedian Eli is out there in the muck, lobbing passes, and cracking fart jokes in the huddle.
Put him on a road trip with Deadbeat Rob Lowe and film it for a new set of ads. Some behind the scenes set of viral videos, showing deadbeat Lowe sucking alcohol out of bar mats and fishing change out of vending machines while bad comedian Eli is lied to by his “agent” and strong-armed for his take of the door while taking a leak at the end of the night.
Then they both travel the land in their Chrysler LeBaron, helping out fellow travelers and getting sweet deals on television packages. Sign me up!
(Via DirecTV)
