There isn’t much going on in the television world this morning, which is nice because it gives me the opportunity to briefly discuss something near and dear to my heart: this commercial. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know who or what Jackson Hewitt was as recently as two weeks ago. My best guess would have been that it was the name of a linebacker from some small college in the midwest who was rising up draft boards after a strong performance in a bowl game. Then one day, while I was watching a crappy movie or food show (probably), I heard the intro to “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan and was immediately captivated. There’s so much to love: the exuberant dancing and flabby slo-mo arms of the main character (Steve), the awesome high-five at the 0:13 mark, the white lady doing the sprinkler, ALL OF IT. It is 30 seconds of pure joy.
As great as the song selection and Steve’s dancing are, though, neither are the reason this is the best commercial on television. The honor goes to the guy in the blue shirt at the 0:19 mark. He shimmies across the screen making a duck face and pointing at the camera, and, in the process, he steals my heart. I bet I’ve watched his four second chunk of the commercial 50 times over the past couple days. Easy. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable when I say that MTV should reboot “The Grind” with him as the host. He’s a goddamn star.
So kudos to you, Jackson Hewitt. I’m still not exactly sure what it is you do because I’m too delighted by all the dancing to pay attention, but more companies should take your lead and feature people dancing to 90s R&B hits. I’d love to see what Blue Shirt Guy could do with “Motownphilly.”