Nike Shoots, Misses Real Temple City

The original idea, as the Wieden & Kennedy ad agency explained it, was to shoot a Nike commercial about celebrity NBA fans who are forced to seek alternative entertainment during the basketball strike. It would be set “in a fictitious city” called Temple City.

Foul! Wieden & Kennedy discovered that yes, Virginia, there really is a Temple City, out there in the San Gabriel Valley. So the agency had to humbly write to the town to ask permission to use the name.

No sweat, Temple City said. So, during a break in ABC’s “Monday Night Football,” actress Dyan Cannon appeared in a spot observing some fat, bald guys shooting hoops.

“Temple City Over-40 Parks and Recreation Basketball,” she exclaims. “It’s fantastic!”

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ANTS! Temple City’s exposure on ABC was probably the most national attention it has received since 1989, when syndicated radio broadcaster Paul Harvey aired a piece about the town being invaded by an army of ants. The critters chewed up some electrical wires and knocked out traffic signals at several intersections, enjoying what Harvey called “a power lunch.”

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ELECTION DAY DISTRESS SIGNAL? Just as in the primary election, voters Tuesday were given stickers that showed the American flag upside-down and reversed (see accompanying). Some type of commentary on the quality of the office-seekers? Unsettling. Nor was I comforted by the fact that the ballot stubs showed the California state seal resting on its side.

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YES ON NO: I don’t know about you, but after the barrage of radio and TV campaign ads, my attitude toward most candidates and propositions coincided with that of the anonymous soul who tacked a one-word poster on a pole (see photo).

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A LITTLE SENSITIVITY PLEASE! Thomas Edward Wall of Rancho Palos Verdes wonders if “stuffed” was the best word to use in the “Cemetery/Funeral” section of a local weekly (see accompanying).

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DIALOGUE ABOUT DIALOGUE: Many readers, including myself, were puzzled by the top 10 list of all-time movie lines, as recently selected by a group of film experts. Forgettable lines such as “I’ll be back,” by Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator” made the list.

Readers pointed out that the following quotations were omitted:

* “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”--”The Wizard of Oz” (submitted by Monica Vaughn).

* “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”--”To Have and Have Not” (Terri McMichael).

* “I don’t have to show you no stinkin’ badges!”--”Treasure of Sierra Madre” (Gersten Schachne, Chris Koreivo, Dave Kenney and Don Shulman).

* “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”--”Jaws” (Michael Gorfain, Harold Washington Jr.).

* “Round up the usual suspects.”--”Casablanca” (Dennis Erkel).

* “Stella!”--”A Streetcar Named Desire” (Monica Vaughn).

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BRAID ME UP, SCOTTIE: “The Encyclopedia Shatnerica,” by Robert Schnakenberg, says that “Star Trek” star William Shatner has spent as much as $2,000 a month to maintain his hair weave.

Stella!

miscelLAny:

Over the weekend, a colleague noticed this sign on a Woodland Hills convenience store: “All masks will be removed before entering the store. No exceptions.”

Which raises the question: Was the sign posted for Halloween or is it up all the time?