In these times of despair over political candidates and wars around the world, I wanted to take a loot at something light today. How about funny television commercials?

Old ladies in the snow

I don’t think anyone disagrees with my current favorite. It’s the Amazon Prime commercial with the elderly trio of ladies sledding with some cushions, ordered from Amazon. Many of my friends commented on this during the holidays. Frankly, I’m sorry it’s gone.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and State Farm

I’ve never been a big fan of Mr. Schwarzenegger. He was of the wrong political party for one thing. He cheated on his wife with the housekeeper for another. I’m not a fan of his kind of movies for yet a third. But he’s great on the State Farm commercials where he doesn’t quite get the pronunciation right. They are well done. He does a smash-up job.

I like the Ludacris and JimmyFallon State Farm commercials as well.

How much I’ll like any of them after the 100th viewing I’m not sure. But it costs a lot to make commercials, so I understand why they are repeated often.

Flo and Progressive

Flo and Progressive continue to invent new scenarios. The cast of characters is amusing as are the scenarios.

‘I snore?’

Then, there’s the Jergen’s commercial about the husband’s “sandpaper skin” and what a difference Jergen’s makes. The woman then says, “If there’s was just something we could do about the snoring.” The husband, looking shocked says, “I snore?”

Funny exchange between dad and daughter

How about almond milk and the funny exchange between the dad and daughter. “So you like the almond milk I got you?” he says. She looks at him and says, “What’s going on, Dad?” And after a second or two, they both double over in laughter.

The Jardiance lady

And then there’s Deanna Colón, who starred in the Jardiance commercial for some time. I was a huge fan and was sorry to see someone new. Like many, that song kept reverberating in my head. Probably worked great for Jardiance sales. But the new woman is good too.

Okay, okay, this is supposed to be light

But did you know pharmaceutical companies couldn’t advertise on television until the mid 1980s under the Clinton Administration. I’m not sure how great this is now. But it is good for television advertising revenues. They spend some $5 billion a year on television advertising. And most spend more on marketing and advertising of all kinds than they do on research and development.

And then

Please, Anderson, get some new window replacement ads. I’m sure the Ann Romer ad was great in the beginning. So were some of the others. But they are beyond tired.

I’m also glad to see some competition for Colonial Penn Life Insurance for seniors. While I adored the late Alex Trebek, he went down a notch for doing those Colonial Penn ads. They simply don’t offer much for the price.

As with anything, it pays to shop around and compare.