No more need to ask, “What’s the deal with commercials?”

Jimmy Johnson Staff Writer

What’s the deal with television commercials today?

Why should I… Jimmy Johnson Staff Writer

What’s the deal with television commercials today?

Why should I care to watch these boring, rarely funny advertisements?

There are very few funny commercials today — definitely not enough to keep me in my seat when “Pardon the Interruption” goes to a commercial break.

The only time they are watchable is during the Super Bowl and, nowadays, the ones shown during the big game aren’t that appealing — at least, not like they used to be.

But the people at American Express have hit the jackpot in the world of advertising. Instead of having the commercial come to the audience via the television, they thought it’d be a great idea to have the audience go to them, via the Internet, to the commercial.

Who would ever want to take their time to seek out a commercial — and a four-minute commercial at that?

Your answer right now is probably, “Not me,” but you have to reconsider that first notion, because it is actually a good idea. And the way American Express went about it made it even greater.

American Express created a four-minute commercial featuring its favorite comedy duo, Jerry Seinfeld and Superman — or Man of Steel, as he’s referred to in one scene of the commercial.

The two were originally used in a 1998 television commercial for American Express. It received great reviews and, finally, the super-crew is back — this time in a more entertaining role in an Internet-based ad.

The commercial features Seinfeld and Superman going into a restaurant and talking. They then walk down the sidewalk and chat about a theatre review when Seinfeld’s new, boxed-up DVD player is stolen out of his hand. The commercial goes on, but I won’t ruin the ending for you.

The great thing about the commercial is the American Express card shows its face for about five seconds of the whole commercial. It’s craftily advertised and doesn’t disturb the flow of the non-stop comedy.

What’s funny about the commercial? Well, it’s a commercial about nothing. Absolutely nothing. Much like Seinfeld’s ever-famous sitcom that I miss dearly, as do many of my friends. This commercial has all the elements of the show, except no Newman — and Superman is basically Kramer with a red cape.

The four-minute commercial could obviously never air on television — 30-second time slots are expensive enough. So the first commercial in a two-part installment, titled “Uniform,” is now available on the Internet at AmericanExpress.com.

Many are taking time out of their lives to go see this commercial.

I did.

I used to get up during commercials to check my Instant Messenger or heat up some leftover chicken wings still in the fridge from the previous night’s Mad Mex run. But now, I’m getting up to look at commercials.

Boy, American Express has me whipped.

As evidence of the craziness of this, Seinfeld appeared the other night on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central to promote the commercial and talked about upcoming productions with American Express.

This got me thinking. How many talk shows have guests who are promoting commercials? Generally, there are promotions for movies and albums. But commercials?

And by Seinfeld appearing on these shows and promoting the four-minute commercials, he is in essence giving American Express more advertising.

It’s brilliant.

Seinfeld talked about how he made Superman act the way he thought he would. He explained how he thought Superman was all sugarcoated on the outside and that he’s really not with it when it comes to brains.

No matter how smart Superman really is, this makes for a great humor and a great commercial — and maybe a great movie.

But when Seinfeld was confronted with the question of whether there would be a Seinfeld and Superman movie, he responded with his typical, “Eh,” and shrugged — the same way he shrugs off the possibility of another episode of “Seinfeld” being created.

All we, as Seinfeld fans, can do is hope American Express can talk him into doing a 30-minute extra episode of Seinfeld with five to ten seconds devoted to the actual credit card and the rest being about yada, yada, yada.