Monday 6 May 2013

Minnesota Twins bobblehead doll commercial: 10 awesome details

The Minnesota Twins consistently produce great TV commercials, and the one for Josh Willingham bobblehead doll day is one of their better efforts. Producers re-created Target Field in bobblehead form and packed it with real bobblehead doll fans in the stands, and showed them watching real bobblehead Twins and Tigers playing in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Of course it's all a tad whimsical — bobblehead dolls don't play for real, silly — but that this commercial presupposes is, what if they did? Here are the 10 best details from the commercial:

10. Talking heads Broadcasting bobbleheads Dick Bremer (left) and Bert Blyleven called the action. When Bremer's bobble spoke, his head bobbled with life-like movement. The Blyleven bobble comes much closer to Bert's likeness than Bremer's bobble comes to his — though it was not circled, nor did it circle anyone.

9. Mmm, ginger bread stadium Target Field looks good enough to eat.

8. Didn't you used to be Roy Hobbs? Does Willingham look like Robert Redford in real life, too?

7. Special effects! The computer-animated baseball whizzing toward home was positively George Lucas-quality.

6. Hand of God And yet, the producers realized that a bobblehead baseball game could only be played with the help of human hands. It reminds me of Mr. Bill. Also, are Willingham's bobble eyes closed?

5. Devious product placement Best Buy, U.S. Bank, Treasure Island and Fox Sports paid big bucks to be included. Corporations! The best part of this shot is the random celebrities who appear in the stands, from Dr. Evil to former Twins manager Tom Kelly, to others that are tougher to identify.

4. It's Shane Mack! There are loads of famous people in the bleachers, including legendary broadcaster Herb Carneal and former outfielder Shane Mack (No. 24). The guy wearing the "Fat Head's" T-shirt and holding the frosty mug is someone, too, but your guess would be better than mine. I might see Billy Gardner and Tom Brunansky, too.

3. There's a bear, manager Ron Gardenhire and Santa Claus to greet Willingham at the plate

2. Pie face And the hand of God reappears.

1. Minnie and Paul shaking hands When are the Twins going to give this bobblehead away? Also: Who's older?

Baseball is in full swing! Interact with @AnswerDave, @MikeOz, @Townie813 and@bigleaguestewon Twitter, along with the BLS Facebook page!



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