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Jun 13, 2008

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry

Check out this Washington State Lottery commercial that everyone's going apecrap over.

I watched it, and I'm all—um... do you think penguins sit around and wonder why they can't fly? In fact, I bet that chicken is all WTF? That is if a chicken brain could muster up a 'WTF' (some of my best friends are chickens so I can say that).

What do YOU think?

Thanks to all Sender-Inner Peeps. All y'all!

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Comments

I'm confused

f
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 05:53 PM

Where's the turkey?

marisol28
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 05:55 PM

Sorry, that was me.

Trying to get a b*#@n.

I'm still in shock over the sheer number of comments from the CNR post (and the fact that I read them ALL)

foxy
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 05:55 PM

Where's the kiwi, mate?

Juniper Jupiter
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 05:57 PM

I loved it!

Mimi
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 05:57 PM

awww.. that totally made me cry! poor little flightless birdies get a chance to fly.. YAY!

nicole
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 05:58 PM

Great. Now I gotta go change my unders and dry off my monitor.

Hee-lar-ee-us!!!!!!

momof2kitties
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:00 PM

Try explaining to anyone how you got penguin poop on the windshield of your car.

I think they are all screaming inside, Nooooooooo. Then, "way cool dude".

Faye
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:01 PM

That was quite possibly the greatest thing I've ever seen. Especially the little penguin with his arms spread out as they're flying.

Quincy
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:06 PM

I like when the penguin lifts out his wings. :) I'm pretty sure penguins don't miss flying since they do such a stellar job at swimming.

Courtney
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:07 PM

I don't get its popularity, esp. with animal lovers. Flightless birds don't know to want to fly and forcing them to do so borders on animal abuse. I just hope the comment over at YouTube saying this was all done with camera work is true.

L
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:13 PM

yeah that TOTALLY made me cry.

but i'm 36 weeks pregnant, so i don't know if i count.

ashley
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:15 PM

Congratulations L, you're the final straw who will keep me from ever clicking on Cute Overload comments again.

I knew it was going to happen one day, and that day has come.

twig
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:20 PM

i think the only one that truly enjoyed it was the penguin.

adoooorable!

juice
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:21 PM

*whispers* I think that was a puffin with the spread wings

foxy
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:21 PM

*IF* it wasn't done with camera work, then I think those animals were completely terrified.

Sarra
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:25 PM

"I'm pretty sure penguins don't miss flying since they do such a stellar job at swimming."
Uh, yeah. Especially since they've, you know, NEVER FLOWN. Awfully hard to miss something they've never experienced.

Bee
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:27 PM

That was the best video ever. The penguin waddling! So cute!!

amy
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:33 PM

Twig-Perhaps you'd have preferred this:

OMG BUUUUURDZ! Soooooooo kewt! :p

L
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:34 PM

That was so adorable! And funny. I was laughing pretty hard seeing those birds sail through the air attached to a person. Especially when he got out the Emu hahaha.

Alexandra
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:36 PM

Aw, twig, just ignore the people with their panties in a bunch.
I thought the penguin or whatever flightless birdie it was was simply adorable....it looked like it was having fun flapping in da bweeze.

lucy's mommeh
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:40 PM

I was waiting to see a pig, but it was just flightless birdies. I liked it nonetheless.

Polly
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:40 PM

Hello everyone! I work in the commercial production industry and I can assure you the commercial was done with green (or blue) screen and camera work. The American Humane Society polices our industry very closely and would NEVER have allowed the real flying of these birds. Now back to the cute. OMG the Penguin was sooo assume, I wish I could hug a penguin.

Des
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:40 PM

I don't think the animals were terrified. The chicken didn't even move, other than to blink it's eyes a little. This tells me that either they weren't scared of flying, or they weren't really flying.

Patty
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:42 PM

in my opinion- those birds TOTALLY LOVED IT! but i'm just goin' by the looks on their faces, not by the 'logic' that flightless birds must hate flying just because they can't do it naturally.

i wasn't born to fly either but i think hang-gliding would be AWESOME, so why wouldn't they?

please- downer people, stop bringin' me down.

(p.s. i'm kinda drunk right now. it's been a long and trying day- trust me, i deserve it.)

temperance
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:44 PM

Wow...I just bawled like a baby.

nads
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:45 PM

Well, if this video is special fx, it's a darn good job... and cool to watch.

If it's real, then who knows? Even flightless birds at one time had flying ancestors. Perhaps as they soar, a little spark deep in their brains says, "Hey, this seems familiar somehow... "

The birds didn't look distressed. They looked quite calm and were looking down at all the sights with curiosity. An upset bird would have been struggling and squawking the whole time.

BoidsGottaFly
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:45 PM

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the commercial was of hawks who had lost their ability to fly? All those poor hawks and eagles in captivity getting a chance to fly again? That's what I want to see.

But the message is not what you could DO if you won the lottery, but who you could be - a flying chicken. Sigh.

Christine
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:50 PM

Honestly dunno if that was bluescreen or real, but the concept definitely qualifies as cute... tho I strongly doubt that an emu would hold still for that unless it was a very socialized pet. Have had dealings with emus, involving scarred fingers. However the chicken I could believe. I once had a pet hen who would happily go anywhere with me... she used to sit in my lap in the car and sing. Never knew before that chickens could sing, maybe it was more like humming. But she liked new things.

Ann M.
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 06:53 PM

Foxy, that's def. a penguin (a Magellanic I think?) Puffins have big orange beaks. I guess they left out the puffin and kiwi gliders? Or maybe they're in the plane, helping to film?
I'm all about animals rights, and I agree w/Temp & Boids... these guys don't look at all stressed. Gosh, the advertisers want us to buy lottery tickets... I'd rather buy a penguin-parasailing ticket.

Katie
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:00 PM

Better commercial: Your odds of winning the lottery are about equal to this penguin flying a hang glider by itself.

Joboo
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:01 PM

That penguin's little flippers were flapping like mad! Definitely the best part! <3

Fegli
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:02 PM

I'm going to take this allegory one step further. Instead of complaining and critizing, why don't you take the time to lift someone up and give them wings...

Jenn
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:03 PM

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly...."

Suda Nim
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:06 PM

Hey Jenn, u got it. This may be a commercial for a lottery but people like it because it suggests much more... like giving both animals and people a chance for widened horizons. I'm with that... it's why I volunteer for and contribute to an animal rescue group. And Big Brothers/Big Sisters is a good choice, too.

Ann M.
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:08 PM

Umm . . . chickens DO fly. Just not very far. But they can certainly flap themselves up into a tree, or over the fence into a neighbor's yard. Still cute. (And Ann M., I have had pleasant emu encounters. No scars, just giant birds batting their eyelashes and begging for head scritches.)

Caity
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:08 PM

Cute video...but what the heck does it have to do with the lottery?

AuntieMame
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:09 PM

Caity, guess I just met the wrong emus. It's like that with men sometimes...

Ann M.
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:12 PM

(neo)
whoa.
(/neo)

Whilst the penguin seemed to have loved it (methinks it was all "I'm flying! I'm flying!", the chicken was definitively (sp? can't spell tonight, t'was one of those weeks) "WTF?"...

...and then there's the emu. I cannot fathom this being real. Did they *really* take an emu up there? I just can't believe it's real.

If it is, I would have liked to see its reaction.

Is there a way to verify if this is real or all special effects?

And for those who think I'm a... er... how do you blokes say it, a "party pooper"?, anyway, I loved the penguin's reaction. It made me smile.


AC

Anonymous Coward
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:19 PM

Penguins *do* fly...they just fly in the water. If you've ever seen film of penguins underwater, you'd agree...that's flying.

alex
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:23 PM

Even if it was just a greenscreen illusion, I loved the little penguin. He looked so happy! :)

Beth
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:25 PM

Aww. That was really nice, with their little harnesses and all. The penguin with its wings out really capped it for me.

So sweet that yes, it made my eyes water a bit.

RJ
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:26 PM

Suda Nim: WKRP reference is ALWAYS a win!!!

Des
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:36 PM

I don't really understand why people are screaming animal abuse or being rude, it was a motto that screamed, help someone. Take your head out of the dirt and fly!

*looks at emu*

Casey
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:37 PM

Whether the penguin and chicken and emu really flew was not the most important thing about the commercial...the fact that it showed humans who wanted to help little flightless animals to enjoy a soaring sensation was what I loved...and the little penguin flapping.
It's awesome, and you won't find anyone who loves animals more than I do.

Daphne Moss
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:38 PM

I loved it, and I totally got it. Some people need surgery to get the sticks out of their butts.

Oh, and the penguin flapping his little wings?? My favorite part!

Lisa
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:44 PM

I think it's wonderful. Hooray flightless birds getting a chance! Love the music.

Kari
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:55 PM

AuntieMame, it's all about the good you could do for others if you win the lottery.
I loved it!

soxfan
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 07:56 PM

It's a lovely commercial, and not just because it is such kick to watch. The message is about winning the lottery, and then doing something to change the world for *someone else*.

By using such a wonderful symbol of people making it possible for flightless birds to soar, it opens the door for people to interpret their own way of how they would rock the world for someone else.

A much more uplifting and spiritual message than a commercial about using lottery winnings to buy bling for yourself...

BoidsGottaFly
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 08:00 PM

That was no puffin, it was a penguin. It would be kind of pointless to bring a puffin up there because they fly just fine already.

nads
 |  Jun 13, 2008 at 08:00 PM

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