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Earl Green took us behind the scenes and explained the source of some Stupid, stupid local advertising:

Not to defend anyone in the making of lousy local ads, but sometimes there's a rift between the sales and production departments who desperately need to coordinate to get this stuff done. I myself have turned out plenty of lackluster spots in my radio and TV careers, but never spots that the clients didn't approve. Some of my worst memories center around a local Indian casino just across the border in Oklahoma, for which I had to produce two spots PER WEEK back around 1995/96/97. Their sales rep at the station voiced the stuff, and in addition to being a lousy writer, he wasn't the greatest voice in the world, throwing all of his tobacco-product-diminished lungpower at the microphone in what sometimes came across as an overly excited death rattle. More often than not, he was trying to cram 40 seconds worth of copy into a 30 second spot, but one time he ran seriously short, and he realized it, so he just shouted "BINGO! BINGO! BINGO BINGO!" to fill out the time, much to my amazement, amusement, and embarrassment. I had worked with this same sales rep when he and I were both in radio, and he once asked me to do "something creative" for a new Mexican restaurant called the Taco Place. I asked him for specifics, what the client wanted in it, etc., and was given only a business card with the name of the restaurant, the phone number, and the address - and an assurance that this was all the sales rep had.

So I did the only thing I could do.

A co-worker of mine and I sang the Monty Python "I like traffic lights" song with new lyrics: "I like the Taco Place. I like the Taco Place. I like the Taco Place. That is what I said.". . . and so forth.

For some reason, the client didn't approve that one, but seemed reluctant to part with any further information about their menu, their specialties, their friendly staff, etc. to help us out. So with a CIA-worthy crackdown on all information about their food, I managed to crank out a stunningly generic spot which mentioned where they were and when they're open, and not much else.

I think they closed three weeks after their grand opening.

Sometimes, you just have to hand the golden winners' cup to the fine minds in the sales department - after beating them about the head with it.