Weirdest In-Game Ad Phenomenon I've Noticed in a While

Celebrity Cameo Ads. 

They make me feel really weird about life in general. 

Cameo Ads in general, in my opinion, are a pretty strange flex. 

Let me explain where I am coming from. 

So, for the past many years - I honestly have no idea how many... five or six maybe? - I have played this silly "Always Sunny" game on my phone. 

There's no real skill involved, unless you count pattern recognition a skill. 

Cause that's why I love it. 

There are two ways to play the game - the normal everyday game and the events. 

Now, the boring everyday game, I am pretty bored with, because I've played through all the iterations of the game and now they are just repeating. So I've figured out all those patterns, it's just a matter of me recognizing it when I move on to a "new" level. 

But the events can still surprise me sometimes. I love figuring out the rhythm of the new levels, and eventually the patterns that will bring me to the top of the leaderboard. 

Yes, I am ultra competitive about this game. Because of course I am. 

So, most of the game is just clicking on things to increase the "money" (or tokens or mugs of beer or something that goes with the "episode" they are trying to represent. 

But sometimes, if you want to double the "money" you are earning, you can watch ads. 

Which, of course I do. There are a lot of them. And they repeat a lot. 

In the last 4 or 5 months, I've noticed this phenomenon of "celebrities" popping up on these ads, in the form of a Cameo message. 

I don't remember who most of them are - there's some dood from "Suits" with chipmunks cheeks.

But they all follow the same general script:

"Hey, it's <insert celebrity name here> from <questionably famous piece of media> and do you ever just really want to check out and relax? When I want to do that I play Merge Mansion. The best part? There are no ads! NOT ONE AD!"

Followed by some very lame sign off. 

THE IRONY OF THAT AD STATEMENT MAKES ME YELP LAUGH SO MUCH, Y'ALL. 

Here's the thing - not one of them sounds or acts like they really play "Merge Mansion" - it appears to me to be a very obvious money grab. 

Which honestly makes me very sad, because I assume the "celebrities"  have some say in which Cameos they decide to take. 

The one that makes me the most sad is Kate Flannery, aka Meredith from the Office. 

There is a point in her "ad" where she says, "Hey, It's Kate Flannery, Meredith from the Office"

Normal and fine. 

Then she follows it up with another "Hey."

That sad sound is burned into my brain. 

Her Cameo rates start at $190. 

So, when I decided to write this blog, I figured I would have no trouble finding pics or examples of these ads to show you... but I cannot. 

HOWEVER, in researching them I discovered the WEIRDEST other thing. 

Kathy Bates is starring in a series of commercials for 'Merge Mansion'.

Look at this:

How much money does Merge Mansion have? Or conversely how desperate is Oscar Winner Kathy Bates? Or did she do this to make her grandkids happy? Or maybe she's a huge 'Merge Mansion' fan. 

Who knows? 

It's kind of all weird, though, right?