Masterful

In last week's episode of AMC's first original series "Mad Men" a female character wondered aloud why she felt comforted by a male character. He responded that it was because of his deep voice. I've always had an affinity towards etymology and the psychology of language. This got me thinking: who has had the most effect on me, personally, using solely their voice?

If you want to take the easy way out you can go the James Earl Jones route. Sure, my eyes get quite misty every time I hear the baseball speech from "Field of Dreams", but I'm looking for something deeper, something more viceral. Someone along the lines of Thomas Hayden Church is more fascinating to me because his voice, like, say Stanley Tucci's, is subtly comforting. Both men sound like Dads, and really, who could not buy a product your Dad endorses?

Wrap yourself in the warmth and safety of Limpet's voice, after the jump.


Commercials are funny: we're supposed to be persuaded to do what they tell us to, based (usually) on an image of the product and the voice of someone convincing you to buy the product. The ad agencies of today know how to get the most mileage out of this better than any generation before us.

When a company and a voice come together in pure, total harmony, it's something to be admired. In this age of "here today, gone tomorrow" where blogs, celebrities and even news are more fickle than one can feasibly wrap their heads around, it's nice to see a company stick to their guns.

One such company is MasterCard. Did you know that for the past ten years you've been listening to somewhat-notable actor Billy Crudup? He's appeared in only one commercial, which, apparently does not exist on the internet. You probably remember it: two folks scrounging around a gas station late at night and the attendant tries to guess why their there. Yep, that's Billy, and he's been hawking MC for going nigh on ten years now.

I just wanted to take a moment to admire consistency in an ever-changing world. There's so little stability today that I take comfort in it where and when I can, and for the past ten years, Billy Crudup has made me think, "you know what, I should get a MasterCard."

Of course, I'm a Visa man. Always have been, always will be.

So while I admire Billy, and his decade-long attempt to increase the amount of debt I'm in, his efforts have been for naught.

You, sir, are priceless.