If you’ve been watching any of the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, chances are you’ve encountered a particularly strange and creepy commercial over and over again. No, we’re not talking about Tim Horton’s onslaught of emotional treacle or even the acting-challenged “We won? We won!” lottery ads. We’re talking about the minute-long promotional spots for something called Trivago.
Honestly, the ads are so distracting we don’t even know what they’re selling. A trivia game about diseases? We have no idea.
Anyway, the cornerstone of these Trivago ads is a middle-aged spokesman who looks like he sleeps in his car and has about two days sobriety under his belt, except he doesn’t even wear a belt — and he tucks in his shirt, which is unbuttoned a little too low for any authoritative figure. We’re also pretty sure he hasn’t shaved or washed his hair for a few days, and his tired eyes have this resigned expression as if to say, “I’ve been through some sh**.”
And we’re not the only ones disturbed and confused by this dude.
Sean Ramsey writes on his blog: “It may be just me, but the Trivago guy looks like he’s been on a three-day non-stop party binge, or at least been sitting at a bar with a glass of whiskey two weeks after his wife left him.”
Mommy blogger Karen Hug-Nagy writes: “My daughter and I googled the Trivago Guy last night because he gets on our nerves every time he’s on. Turns out there’s a ton of stuff out there and we are not the only ones who are mortified by the mere sight of this guy. This is the kind of dude you want to keep your daughter far away from… What middle-aged guy has a 20” waistline? And why is his torso so long? I don’t get it.”
Not surprisingly, someone has already set up a parody Twitter account @TrivagoGuy. “Hi, Trivago Guy here. I’m on your TV, could be in your closet, backyard creeping in your window, I don’t know.”
No word yet on who the real Trivago Guy is or why such a dishevelled dude was chosen as its spokesperson. But as soon as we find out, we’ll let you know. Unless he murders us in our sleep, which is entirely possible.
