Behind the Scenes

Shot in 2004 during production of Ninja Killface II, Duo Commercial began as another throwaway bit between Brandon J. Snyder and Ray Revello. Brandon became the self-appointed “Duo Blaster,” an aggressively enthusiastic spokesman for an Albertson’s generic-brand soft drink, and the whole thing was filmed with the same basic philosophy as much of the early Dollars & Donuts material: if a joke made everyone laugh, turn the camera on.

The commercial quickly took on a second life at school. Daryl and the others would screen it in class, where its language and general stupidity were not always appreciated by the faculty. That was part of the appeal. For teenagers who otherwise had very little control over what appeared on a classroom screen, making their own movies meant they suddenly had complete control over the content.

Teacher Mary-Liz Guthier was particularly infuriated by it. That tension became part of the fun. The group was not waiting for permission, approval, or anyone else's idea of what was appropriate. They had a camera, editing software, and an audience they could force to watch whatever they made.

The short was remastered in 2022, preserving a particularly concentrated example of the crude, impulsive humor of the high-school years. What had originally been a disposable side joke now survives as an artifact of the moment when making movies also meant discovering the peculiar freedom of having final cut.

Alas, Duo itself is long gone. Dollars & Donuts still occasionally drags it back into the frame, though, hiding cans in the backgrounds of newer shorts as a little relic from the old days. Keep an eye out during The Sadder but Wiser Boy.