"If a commercial like this is going to work, it has to work moment by moment and scene by scene -- and 'Kona Brewing Co. Surf Lesson 30' does."
Constantin Stanislavski, a notable Russian theater actor, is famous for saying, “Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors.” A very true and honest line that has proved true time and time again including days ago when former actor and U.S. Olympic alternate Kelly Slater dusted off his laurels and re-took the stage in a masterful turn.
Slater, standing on a beach to the left of two “braddahs” made famous advertising Hawaii’s Kona Brewing Company, looks both wry and relaxed as the camera focuses on him.
He is wearing a khaki Outerknown hat, khaki pocket t-shirt, teal and grey Outerknown trunks.
The “braddahs” throw him a beer, he catches it while looking straight at the camera and says, “Pretty simple. You gotta catch them before they break.”
Can a slight island inflection be heard in his voice?
Maybe.
Critics are calling Slater’s performance “inspired” and “welcome” with the late Roger Ebert writing, “I’m not a purist when it comes to beer commercials, and with ‘Kona Brewing Co. Surf Lesson 30,’ that’s just as well. If a commercial like this is going to work, it has to work moment by moment and scene by scene — and ‘Kona Brewing Co. Surf Lesson 30’ does. There are all sorts of unanswered questions when the commercial is over, but I’m not inclined to hold that against it. I enjoy beer commercials for the people and predicaments in them, not for their clockwork plots.”
Very true.
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I’ve been hit by a dust cloud! What brand of beer was that again?
“Can a slight island inflection be heard in his voice?”
Yeah, especially when he says the word “break”, heavy cultural appropriation, Sally F. gonna whoop his ass for that nonsense.
Sl8r doesn’t drink.
Whatever you do don’t tell them about low and high pressures affecting the tides also. It’s one of the last “secrets”.
What about local sea surface height anomalies due to warm/cool eddies subtly amplified due to a conjunction with the apogee of Jupiter? If it can effect corn prices it surely has to play a part in ones pop up surely?
What about the tides too high because of all the Val’s.
And wind direction.
Having watched dunes washed into the sea over a twenty year period smashed by a combination of wave action ,localized low barometric pressure and onshore winds ….. the dune busting trifecta .
How is a can or bottle going to break when hitting the sand?
Quantum mechanics ? or possibly the can was wearing Greg Brady’s Tiki around its Ring …… ?
How much beer could Kelly make with the 15 million gallons of water used to fill his wave pool?
I’m guessing learning those lines proved too much for JJF.
I’m thinking the scrotum hair he calls a goatee might be too off putting for the average Kona drinker
He has been putting himself deep into the character of Shaggy from Scooby Doo for the last decade ….. It is the only rational explanation I can find for this tuft of fairy floss on his chinny chin chin ?
Kelly has shilled a lot of beer over the years, especially for a guy who doesn’t really drink much or condone drinking for that matter.
Yep …..more apt to sell seeds , Ice ( baths ) , yoga pants or an international pandemic surf travel guide book ……loosely based on The Prince , by the Italian writer and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli…..
Never heard of Kona Beer but the ad is actually pretty funny. Three Stars.
I always thought that Kona and the prevailing winds associated with the word had negative connotations , at least for surfing ? A bit like calling a beer howling onshore shit …..maybe they should Trade the name ?
Mike’s Mom?
The acting is definitely top shelf at first glance. But a slow mo replay suggests he walks away limping on the wrong foot. Amateur.
A friend with weed is a friend indeed.
Bass Pale Ale…but Yes to Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada as well. Though I rarely drink anymore. Just toke da herb mon. Jah.
Hans Hedemann
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Latest paparazzi shot of
Kelly ‘two-cans’
Aka
Two can Kelly
I hope that beer can doesn’t have a conspiracy inside it,,,,
It’s not full of worms
maggots… I mean magnets.
Every one likes ICY POLE Sticks
Can it be …… and don’t you go fiddling around Pandora’s Box while your down there checking for worms
Zeke Lau just fired his agent
Hi T!
Sierra Nevada hazy little thing. Not good for commenting on BG after six though.
ever try the Bigfoot Ale? 9.6% a bottle…
No never have. I’ll have to try it. I buy Drake’s Beer double ipa denogginizer, that’s also 9.6%. Eight bucks a pint though.
Can’t get over the fact that Kelly picked a twin and trailer fin set up for a commercial. Just different enough that it had to be a deliberate choice. An attempt at a “I’m a soul surfer, but I still rip” kinda statement, no?
Oh fine observation!
Was hoping for backwards fins but I’ll take what I can get.
VALly Slater
You have just won a tube of
K(e11)Y Je11Y for your stick man .
Likely a Flat Earth, Akila Aipa by way of somewhere Peter Schroff would really like ?
So, so deliberate!
You can’t sell the boring “tri fin” to the new Val. It has to be different, or something for them to go on about in the water to the other kook.
Nah they’re just easier to surf wasted.
Possibly better than “ My Dad had a ( well documented ) alcohol problem and I am selling Beer …. “