Exclusive interview! E*Trade baby talks about voicing, writing his 2010 Super Bowl ads (VIDEO)
The E*Trade talking baby was at it again with a new series of ads that debuted during the third quarter of the Super Bowl. Did you know that the baby is now being voiced by stand-up comedian Pete Holmes? I did, and I talked to him earlier today about his nationwide TV ad campaign (fun fact: Holmes also appeared in a Super Bowl ad last year that he and his Front Page Film mates — Matt McCarthy and Oren Brimer — produced themselves for the Doritos contest). This is bigger. Let's roll the first new E*Trade baby ad, called "Girlfriend." "It was an incredibly fun and rewarding experience," Holmes told me. "I got to do the voice, of course, but I got to write the jokes, too. I had a hand in everything. That is to say, they let me have a hand in everything – I even got a writing credit, which is great." Very nice! "It wasn't that much unlike stand-up. I would literally say something and look up from the mic, through the glass and see if anyone was laughing. If they weren't, I'd try something else. Lots of improv. Worked with lots of improvisers, not all of whom ended up in the final versions, but it was a who's-who of improv folk." So they did the baby parts later to match whatever you ended up writing? "Yeah, totally, that's the last thing...
Read More