I know, grammar nerds. You think I forgot the hyphen between "second" and "best". I did not.
The Sedins' new Sportsnet commercial isn't their second-best commercial ever. I can understand why you might be tempted to think that, though. Their classic NHL ad, "Swedish Twins", is amazing. It was, at a time, the best commercial ever. But this new Sportsnet ad is also the best commercial ever. It's a tie. That's how good this ad is, in my opinion. Thus, it isn't the Sedins second-best commercial ever. It's their second best commercial ever. Watch and marvel:
Henrik and Daniel Sedin commercial.
— Jovan Heer (@JovanHeer)
A brief rant: the moment this ad debuted during the Blue Jays game, I rushed to Youtube to find it and rave about it on the blog. It wasn't up yet. What's the thinking on that, Sportsnet? You have a potential viral hit on your hands and you keep it off the Internet? You're severely limiting the effect of this campaign if our ability to view the successful spots is controlled by the ad cycle.
Anyway. It would have been more realistic if Henrik had saucered it, but this a great ad. I'm gonna need a GIF of Daniel coldly salting his fries, stat. I suspect we'll be going to that one a lot.Â
This ad is a lot like watching the Sedins play hockey: it's just not quite the same game everybody else is playing. The other ads in this Sportsnet campaign have been fun, but not particularly funny. It's not really anybody's fault -- hockey stars are typically so wooden, the comedy tends to die at their feet. But not with the Sedins.Â
I'm not saying they're a couple of Swedish Daniel Day Lewises, mind you. They're terrible actors. But somehow, because the Sedins do everything a little differently, their bad acting just works.
Here's the original classic Sedin ad, in which a bachelor party takes a turn, arguably for the better, when the "Swedish twins" turn out to be the Sedins. And then they dance. Oh, do they dance.Â
It's weird. The Sedins can't act for crap, but even onscreen, their chemistry is crystal clear. I'd watch these two in a Hope & Crosby-style road movie. (HENRIK: "Brother. Our train is leaving without us."Â DANIEL: "Let us run to catch it."Â HENRIK: "Yes. And we will sing while we run."Â BOTH SING: "We are singing and running, a pair of twins doing a pair of thiiiiings...")Â
I'll stop.