The measure of a town

I used to travel quite a bit for my job, and to amuse myself on the road, I would flip on the TV in my hotel room and take a gander at the commercials for local businesses. You know what I'm talking about: Mattress Maven, Big Joe's Feedbag, Fred's Hardware Store and the like. I always got a giggle from these commercials' "production values." So when I see stuff like the Bob's Discount Furniture ads (we did buy our bedroom set from them, but that doesn't mean I can't laugh at the ads), I often wonder if people are judging Boston by Bob Kaufman.

One of my favorite lazy weekend traditions is to watch the Phantom Gourmet on channel 38. For my out-of-town readers, Phantom is an anonymous restaurant critic who rates local restaurants. The show is on at 11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays and talks about his reviews, all centered around a particular theme: pizza, Chinese food, Italian, desserts, etc.

What does that have to do with local ads? The Phantom is full of 'em related to New England restaurants, food services and even restaurant insurance providers, and it can be a real laugh factory. From bulletproof Boston accents to extreme closeups of plates of food -- I particularly love the ad for Twinbrook Insurance, where the waitstaff meets every possible fate you can imagine, and the dude at the end grabs the phone, saying, "Better call Twinbrook" -- you spend your time alternating between groaning and laughing.

So out-of-towners, don't judge us by our Phantom Gourmet ads. We're better than that. I sweah.