Oldie but goodie. Funny guy, lol
Excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Hines
Robert Lazarik Hines is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in January 17, 1970.
In 2008, Hines was cast to portray the character Toby Jones in an internet commercial spoof titled Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage produced by Big Dog Eat Child , a Chicago sketch comedy group. The ad featured a real web address and Hines' actual cellphone number and was inspired by the local hard-sell TV commercials the creators- brothers Pedro Castro and Ramiro Castro- saw growing up in Chicago. The two had spotted Hines during a stand-up comedy performance at Chicago's Lakeshore Theater in January 2008.
The Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage video was released in November 2008, and became a viral video sensation, garnering over 700,000 hits in its first two weeks of release. Hines received hundreds of calls to his cellphone from all over the world, with many people believing the spot was advertising a real business.
In April 2009, Big Dog Eat Child released Jones' Good ASS BBQ and Foot Massage , and followed with Jones' Cheap ASS Prepaid Legal and Daycare Academy in November 2009. Subsequent releases have included recordings of actual phone messages left on 'Toby's' voice mail, a series of "Ask Toby" advice videos and spoofs of 'Legal Retraction & Clarification' videos from the 'urban entrepreneur'.
Recognition for the videos (often in competition with real commercials) has often been as wacky as the spots themselves:
- Esquire .com's Daniel Murphy included Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage among "The Five Most Terrifying Local TV Christmas Commercials".
- Jimmy Traina at Sports Illustrated .com named it "Commercial of the Day".
- In the UK, Channel 4 's Rude Tube TV show listed Jones' Big Ass Truck Rental and Storage at #13 on its list of the top 50 viral videos.
- Duncan Riley of The Inquisitor urged his readers to, "Check out the funniest home made commercial of the year."
- Zagat , the famed food and restaurant guide, named Jones' Cheap ASS BBQ and Foot Massage one of "The 8 Wackiest BBQ Commercials".
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