Saturday, June 13, 1998: One of those beer commercials

[NonsenseWords]

I think I need to watch more beer commercials from the late 90s, because I don't get this. All of today's beer commercials are about how sexy it is to drink beer, how much care goes into the brewing of beer and giving it the proper bottle/case/glass, how much fun people have, about drinking responsibly and having a designated driver, and about how lite beer tastes good but has fewer calories.

'Energy drink' would have made the most sense, but then again, I don't think energy drinks really became so prevalent until a couple of years later. Maybe soda commercial? Because those can be pretty ridiculous loud, too. I dunno.

I am completely thrown off by the last panel. It doesn't do anything for the dialogue, it's just all of a sudden OH HEY WE'RE UPSIDE DOWN! It's... kind of distracting, really, which is probably throwing me from the punchline even more because I just want to know what the purpose of drawing this specific panel upside-down is.

[Arloest]

I just think it serves as a change in visual imagery that's interesting looking, nothing to get worked up over.

[Æron]

I am completely thrown off by the last panel. It doesn't do anything for the dialogue, it's just all of a sudden OH HEY WE'RE UPSIDE DOWN! It's... kind of distracting, really, which is probably throwing me from the punchline even more because I just want to know what the purpose of drawing this specific panel upside-down is.

I think it's a cute side-gag, it adds a little more variety to the visuals in the strip. It's like a standalone punchline drawn in the art instead of written in the dialogue.

Coach "Doorstop", though?

[Happy Rutabegas year]

I definitely like the camera flip in the last panel...


I can't recall beer commercials from the 90s either (I was mostly watching nickelodeon), but I think that probably the closest to what DCS is referencing might be the budweiser radio commercials from the past few years, where they have a mock news anchor announcing amendments that the "man council" (or something) has made to the rules of men... or something like that. it's all about masculinity. Although it seems like those got phased out last year for the "real men of genius" ads instead.

[klimt]

wait, do people actually see things as "upside down" when they are viewing from being flipped like that? i sure as hell have never had that effect.

[NonsenseWords]

No, it's just weird and kind of distracting. I like the visual effect, it just distracts from the joke as opposed to adding to it, or providing a secondary visual gag.

[Cactus Jack]

Maybe the third panel should have been upside down. Less distracting from the punchline.


As for the content, I thought this was the time of the Budwiser frogs. Thats not exactly masculine. Although many beer commercials do subtly, or straight forward say that beer is manly and manly men drink beer.

[Kumquat]

The fourth panel is upside down because Nosdwis is abnormally adamant about not crossing speech balloons.

[Muninn]

I like the flip in the last panel. More comics should have compeltely unrelated random visual gags in them I think, just that extra pinch of weirdness thrown in.

[nickspoon]

I like the flip in the last panel. More comics should have compeltely unrelated random visual gags in them I think, just that extra pinch of weirdness thrown in.

Absolutely this.

[Doc Sigma]

Gentlemen! Behold! No more fourth-panel flip!

[Happy Rutabegas year]

Does this suit you better, NW?

[NonsenseWords]

Does this suit you better, NW?

Yes. Yes it does!

(Christ, I said I LIKED it, it just distracts from the joke. It's an error anybody starting in a storytelling visual medium will make, so it being in an early comic isn't a big deal, it's just not something you should be doing.)

[Maggot Brain]

This makes me want beer. Lots of it.

[osprey]

This makes me want beer. Lots of it.

I want to drink beer in an upside-down perspective.