Sorry folks: There’s no road report today. Well, okay, there IS one, but it does not include any report about the road conditions. The ‘dog is not planning to leave the mountain today… but I’m going to GUESS that the road conditions are not too bad today. At least from my chalet here in Crestline West, it doesn’t seem terribly cold, wet, or windy.
I’m still going to offer you something today, though: Selfish boasting and bragging! Here’s the story…
About a year ago, I received a call from an agent in Hollywood. At first I thought that my acting talent had FINALLY been recognized and I was about to land the BIG role, but, as it turned out, it was my car that the agent was wooing. He offered me a stack of money if I would bring the car to a shoot.
I showed up the following morning, and found that the car was to be used in a TV commercial for the latest iteration of the “Transformers” movie series, in collaboration with MAACO and Meineke car services. They specifically needed a yellow Camaro of my year and type for a storyline the commercial was to follow. Spent the day on set, had fun, went home and waited to see the car appear on TV.
Unfortunately, this was not to be. Michael Bay (producer/ director of the Transformers movie) did not like the finished commercial. He said he could do better, so he dumped the original commercial and DID create his own. THAT was the commercial that aired on TV. I figured that I’d never see the footage shot that day.
The other day, though, my wife was watching TV. She saw a commercial for MAACO Paint and Body, which included a car that looked remarkably similar to our car. But, she knew we’d never been to MAACO before. However, she mentioned it to me, and was surprised when I reminded her that the Transformers commercial from last year WAS for MAACO, too. We watched TV a little longer, and sure enough, another commercial cycled through (a commercial that was a little different from the first one she’d seen, but still for MAACO), and sure enough: There it was, in all its glory! My car, from that day’s shoot!
It’s a national spot, so I guess now we just need to sit back and wait for the spoils of fame: Groupies, paparazzi, stalkers… maybe our own reality show, or even a sitcom. Of course a calendar, action figures and some posters. Duh.
I’ve included a link to one version of the commercial. The car only gets a few seconds in the bit, but the one and only yellow Camaro that you see is indeed the very same car from which your road reports are gathered!
Oh, about that license plate: No “KDOG” plate for the commercial…. a random fake license plate was fished out of a Santa sack of fake plates, and slapped into place. So… maybe the fans and the paparazzi WON’T find us! It’s a good thing I’ve got MountainReporter.com to toot this horn!