Sierra Mist's Ensemble Cast is at it Again for Super Bowl 2007

Thank you Sierra Mist, finally, a funny commercial where no one gets hurt. Jim Gaffigan and Michael Ian Black return for this simple, but funny ad. You can see what I'm talking about below.

Part of what makes the Sierra Mist ad campaigns so funny is their use of the same actors in each ad. This idea of using an "ensemble cast" for advertising probably comes from the early days of radio when stars of radio shows would also do ads for their sponsors.

Sierra Mist's ensemble cast is called the "Mist-Takes" and has changed from time to time. Their style is that of a comedy troupe doing improvisational comedy. In the Sierra Mist commercials, the same characters appear in each ad, but play different roles each time.

Because of the ensemble cast and the comedy routine feel, each of the Sierra Mist ads have a similar look and feel. This enables Sierra Mist to have a recognizabiltiy factor. Once you see the familiar characters, you know it's going to be an ad for Sierra Mist and the ad doesn't have to do a lot of ground work to establish it's product.

While Sierra Mist is targeted at young males, the ads do not exclude women at the cost of reaching their audience: Everyone can enjoy Sierra Mist ads.

Jim Gaffigan's beard comb-over is hilarious and the fact that he's getting fired because of it is even better. But the real laugh comes when Jim stands up and he's wearing Daisy Duke cut-off's and roller skates.

My only complaint about this ad is that it was missing some of my other favorite "Mist-Takes." This leads me to wonder: Are Kathy Griffin, Nicole Sullivan and Debra Wison out of the Mist-Takes? Will they be in future ads? Are we down to just Jim and Michael Ian?

I will be very disappointed if the Sierra Mist ensemble cast has broken up. The Super Bowl ad "Beard Comb Over" did not disappoint and was a great example of why these Sierra Mist ads work. After all, since being released nation wide in 2006 Sierra Mist has surpassed previous lemon-lime soft drink king, 7up, in sales. That's pretty impressive!