Oscar Mayer Thanksgiving Commercial Footnotes

Do you find Thanksgiving to be an absolutely stressful time? Does carving a turkey give you anxiety? Does the thought of one more green bean casserole make your skin crawl? Do you hate all things pumpkin, including pie? Then perhaps you’ll be a fan of this Oscar Mayer Thanksgiving commercial promoting its carving board turkey. Let’s hop into this ad!

An Oscar Mayer Thanksgiving Seems Dangerous

The general premise here is that Oscar Mayer’s Carving Board Turkey is just as good as what you eat on Thanksgiving Day. But it’s EVEN BETTER because it doesn’t involve all the chaos the holiday can bring. Here’s a closer look at a few things going on at this family’s household:

In-laws come over because the hotel wasn’t nice to the father (we’ve all been there)
A turkey gets dropped on the floor and then thrown onto the floor (throw it on the GROUND)
The wife threatens to use her knife on her husband simply for asking if dinner was ready (hey, when you’re hangry, you’re not always rational)

The daughter also gets berated for being on her phone during the family football game. This part I can understand. There are plenty of times throughout the day to check your phone. Football (and while driving, and during a movie) are not those times. If I take a ball to the face on my corner route because I couldn’t stop playing Candy Crush (that’s still a game people play, right?), it’s my own fault.

Chris Parnell Narrates Everything

Chris Parnell serves as the narrator for this commercial. Granted, there’s really only about six seconds of narration, but still. The guy seems to have a voice role in everything, whether it’s just about all 564 sketches of Saturday Night Live during his tenure, or animated shows like Archer. Also, other Oscar Mayer commercials, but we’re just focused on this one.

It’s understandable – he does have a great voice. And there’s something familiar about it, probably because I grew up in the 90s and his SNL time was my jam. So I’m glad he’s here.

Can You Guess What Else The Dad Has Been In?

Perhaps you’re like me and thought, “hmm, that dad sure looks familiar.” Well, Ben Weber been in things like The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Sex and the City, but these are not shows I have taken the time to watch.

So I really have no idea where I’ve seen him before. Maybe just in this Oscar Mayer Thanksgiving commercial. He appeared as a hiker in an episode of Six Feet Under, but didn’t get the honor of being killed. That seems like it’d be a fun guest spot. His imdb bio could also use some updating – it says he’s currently starring on the show Everwood, which has been off the air since 2004. Oops.

In any case, enjoy this Oscar Mayer Thanksgiving commercial. And be thankful you didn’t burn your hands on any hot turkeys today! Unless you did, then you have my sincerest apologies.