So Billy Corgan and three furniture salesmen walk into a wrestling ring…
Okay, this is no joke. This is the all-too-real scenario Smashing Pumpkins frontman has signed himself to in an ad for Chicago-area furniture retailer Walter E. Smithe. The trio of furniture purveyors, all brothers, are notorious for their corny and often over-the-top commercials, which have featured the likes of Martha Stewart and Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks in the past.
But Billy Corgan?!?! Good Lord, how far you have fallen.
As if the opening musical chairs stint isn’t humiliating enough, his creepy/cheesy laugh and sweater combo are certainly cringeworthy. Along with everything else he does in these 31 seconds. At the very least, Corgan wasn’t doing this for the money; reportedly neither he nor the Smithe brothers were paid for the spot, and a donation of $50,000 was made to PAWS Chicago by the Smithes for Corgan’s cameo. Corgan’s other motive for participating in this ad was to gain recognition for his wrestling promotion company Resistance Pro Wrestling, whose wrestlers are depicted fighting the suit-clad Smithe brothers.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter why it happened and whether it was for charity or not, because it’s just sad.
But not sad enough that you can’t watch it six times over and not chortle to yourself.
P.S. The punny user comments on Youtube are pretty good too.
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All this says to me is that Billy Corgan digs wrestling, cable access television, and cardigans.
The only thing sad about that is that Billy Corgan and I aren’t hanging out right the fuck now.