Once upon a time in my life — like, maybe 12 years ago? — I didn’t have HBO. I was cheap and broke, but in hindsight it was even more miserable living without The Sopranos, The Wire, Entourage, and all those other gems of mid–aughts HBO, like Rome, Deadwood, and Six Feet Under. I don’t know how I did it, spending Sunday nights watching boring as regular cable rather than the top shelf offerings that have changed television history. Bottom line: HBO has created a programing premium cable product that’s so damn addictive, it’s become a necessity.
But here’s the thing about HBO shows: They’re both titillating and provocative, with the viewership experience often the latter because of the former. HBO isn’t afraid to go there when it comes to kinky sex and the result is… awesome, but not exactly the most comfortable viewing experience when watching a show like, say, Girls or Game of Thrones on the family’s impressive 56 inch TV. It can be especially awkward if Mom and Dad are sitting right there next to you on the couch, looking to constantly interrupt the world you’re indulging yourself in with even more awkward small talk during the sex scenes.
Playing on that experience, HBO has some fun with its new YouTube commercials advertising HBO Go. It’s perhaps the most self-aware advertising campaign I‘ve ever watch. No one wants to watch Marty Hart bang Lousiana’s hottest bar trash while your Mom taps away on her iPad or ogle over Lena Dunham’s frumpy, au naturale tits while your old man comments about how he hopes you don’t disappoint the family by moving to Brooklyn to become a scumbag hipster like Adam.
Then again, your old man is right. He always is…
HBO Go: It’s a gamechanger. Watch the ads below.
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Girls: Awkward Makeout Scene
Girls: Your Body, Your Choice
Game of Thrones: What’s He In?
Game of Thrones: First Cousins
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Happily Married Parents
True Detective: Faithful Dad
True Blood: Appreciation