Oh, how the mighty have fallen: Ben Curtis, famous just a few years ago as "Steven the Dell Dude," is now a waiter / bartender at Tortilla Flats in New York. Although the Steven ads were hugely popular and generated tons of buzz (and revenue) for Dell, the company eventually dropped the campaign after Ben got arrested for buying pot in 2003 -- shocking no one who actually watched the commercials, but apparently not the message Dell wanted to send the parents fronting the cash for all those machines. Although he's down to slinging drinks, Ben's taking it in stride, saying "There were times when I made boatloads of money as an actor, but here I can be myself." That doesn't mean he's given up the dream just yet: he's hoping to score big with his band, Whale, which he says has "the green light," but has "decided to take a little time off to record our EP and package ourselves properly." Hm, seems like a perfect opportunity to get back together with Dell, actually -- it could use some new music after getting caught using GarageBand's built-in loops in that
XPS One teaser.
posted Nov 8th 2007 3:09PM
This is your Dell....
This is your Dell on drugs.
Most effective anti-drug commercial EVER.
HAHAHA
Thats great man...
Sersiouly though, I like how dell tried to be "hip" with their commercials and it ended up biting them in the ass...
I will admit i boght a dell during that campaign, but subsequently moved on to apple. At least their commercials don't have druggies in them.
When will dell just go under? ther new commericals with teh color laptops SUCKS. I mean jesus, look at the nano and imac commercials, seroisuly they should take a note.
Depends who you ask.
I tried to buy my wife a Mac laptop for her graduate school classes, but she wanted nothing to do with it because of the PC guy and Mac guy commercials; the Mac guy hipster gave her the creeps.
@Bludelf
I will admit i boght a dell during that campaign, but subsequently moved on to apple. At least their commercials don't have druggies in them.
You don't think Eminem has ever used drugs?
What tool buys a computer based on who is slinging it?
@ BludElf
No apple just has ex- druggies who's thinning ponytails are the last vestige of their of their former selves. Their black turtlenecks proclaim to the world "I swear I'm not the man"
Thousands.
What do you think a "fanboy" is??
@BludElf: Never saw the Ellen Feis "switch" commercials I take it. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2-UuIEOcss
err...dude....you don't need to travel to far to see evidence of drug induced brain damage.
Just travel to your nearest Apple store and see the hipster / petuli oil wearing "genius bar" pot-heads.
@Bludelf
What about Ellen Feise? :p
@ BludElf
Yeah, and here's a movie clip with the "Mac Guy" from the Mac vs. PC commercials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaa2X0g9bhA
The way he is looking at the camera in that picture is moderately frightening to me.
"In my spare time, I like to check out teenybopper chat rooms."
/shudder
By the way Engadget....
He's at TORTILLA Flats. Not Tequila flats.
"Dude, you got a daqari!"
LOL!
Good for him for getting on with his life. Good luck.
wait, is that tequilla flats, or Tortilla Flats? Tortilla flats is an interesting place, not half bad is you can make it before the insaney crowds...
It's Tortilla flats.
He's just the Tequila dude.
http://nymag.com/daily/food/2007/11/dell_dude_now_tequila_dude_at.html
Is Tortilla Flats on Greenwich *Street* in the Village? Nice place. I wouldn't mind getting Dude's tortilla.
He got arrested? Really? I thought marijuana was decriminalized in NY state. Must have been his third offense, or > 25g, which is a lot of pot!
http://norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4554
wrong. You still get arrested. But you won't spend the night in jail.
Dude, your getting minimum wage.
Plus tips.
umm. it's actually "you're". How much are you making professor?
Maybe he has a Ph.D in computer engineering and doesn't ever have to spell for shit? Misspelling one word in a comment on engadget doesn't make him an idiot...
That's not misspelling; it's using an entirely different and incorrect word. Or, in other words, it is a homophonic error characterised by using a possessive adjective ("your") when "you're", a contraction of "you" and "are", should have been used.
even being a computer programmer you should know how to spell.. i mean in html.. one and your page is assed up..
Dude, refill my coffee.
I could come up with these all day
Waiters get the best weed.
Not that I'd know.
Because your not a waiter and your weed sucks?
Looks like the Dell Dude has gone the way of Dell... wayyyyy dowwwwwwn. Therefore, it stands to reason that Ellen Feiss will soon be Secretary of State.
I would much prefer Ellen Feiss to the current inhabitant of that office...
Oh, and there was already a band named Whale. Maybe if he weren't stoned, or if he were on a computer that worked, he'd know that!
Yeah, and thats his band dofus.
What's a dofus?
Whale was a Swedish band from the 90s. Do you really not remember Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe?
a dofus is someone who yaps before thinking..errr...kinda like joey
that video was freaky...with the girl in the dress and braces licking the lollipop and looking at torsos of naked men...
baby we love you, baby we love you, baby yea!
definitely looks like the interior of Tortilla Flats, not Tequila Flats
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=215280268
his band is a joke! better find something else to hope for dell dude.
Would be hilarious if this guy hooked up with Ellen Feiss.
That made me laugh out loud (which is not always a good idea in a quiet office).
TK
Hes off Broadway too
[img]http://images.broadwayworld.com/columnpic/joy07.jpg[/img]
http://broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=4575
Dude you band name is taken by the actual band 'Whale'.
Hobo Humpin' Slobo-Babe!
Heh, I still loved the headline of "Dude, you're getting a... -rrested". Priceless.
My favorite joke at the time was, "I thought pot was a Gateway drug!".
What??? An out-of-work actor waiting tables???
I don't think he made boatloads of money. Unless it were an itty-bitty boat.
I don't believe it.
Habeeb it
no, he made boatloads. if he did one national spot he'd do well. that commercial had numerous subsequent versions, which he was paid again on. and he got residuals on each version every time it was shown, in any market across the country. variations of that commercial were played to the point the tag line was a part of pop culture at the time. as to what became of the "boatloads," like Floyd and the phonebook, he likely smoked it.
Hahaha! Oh you guys...
Seriously, how can anyone say Apple didn't have druggies when they had Ellen Feiss.
As for trying to be hip and cool, I don't think he was every really supposed to be either of those. I think he was supposed to be a nerd. The dorky nerd. It was supposed to be funny.
As opposed to, say, Justin Long, who is absolutely supposed to be hip. The cool nerd.
Maybe I'm reading it wrong and it was a complete failure, but still not as obnoxious of one as Justin Long.
"Drugs are mm-kay?!
"..boatloads of cash."
Um, then why are you serving drinks if you were so rich?
(wheezing, inhaling noise followed by a chortle...)
Probably, like 90% of people, he didn't ever manage his money. The average person would be screwed if they lost their job, and that doesn't seem to change with more salary. More money often equates to more bills, cars, credit cards, et cetera. Without any savings it doesn't really matter how rich you are.
I couldn't stand that hippie loser
I wouldn't say "the mighty have fallen." It's not like he got Will Smith, Denzel or Tom Cruise money for his acting. Nothing wrong with living a normal existence.
Agreed. I'm happy to here he's getting on with his life.
Why do I always roll my eyes when someone mentions a "band" and a lame way of saying "we're getting on our feet"? His band will flop.
Dude, where's my drink..?!?!?!?!?!?
Leave the poor guy alone. Pot is hardly even a drug. If you remember, the guy helped an injured woman during the 9/11 attacks. What have YOU geeks done lately?
exactly, pot is less harmful then alcohol, especially in huge amounts. Bing-Drinking your whole way threw college will leave you with half a brain in your 30s. Smoking ounce after ounce of pot and you won't have any brain damage at all.
The Dell Dude is still cool. Pot is cool too.
He's also done other acting work.
Here's him playing a gay guy...
http://images.broadwayworld.com/columnpic/joy07.jpg
I kid you not, I was visiting Los Angeles in 2002 with my brother and his friends and we were in Venice Beach. My brother is Wesley Snipes black and was wearing a Raiders scarf as a doorag under a cap. He looked very gangsta. Anyway, this Dell guy walks up to us and starts chatting us up. I had never seen the Dell commercials myself, but one of my brother's friends says, "Hey, that's the Dell guy."
And before he walks away, the Dell guy asked my brother if he would sell him weed, which offended me because, despite his look, my brother doesn't drink or smoke. Anyway, a few months later, the Dell guy got arrested for trying to buy weed. No doubt from another black man he just assumed was a drug dealer.
@Bludelf
I will admit i boght a dell during that campaign, but subsequently moved on to apple. At least their commercials don't have druggies in them.
Did you forget Ellen Feiss?
DELL HELL
yeah, instead teh have some smug sand francisco sosofolo
i graduated high school with this guy and he was the head of the magic club. shocking to see things aren't coming up aces for him.
I always thought the Dell "dude" was Ethan Embry. It's an honest mistake.
See...
http://tinyurl.com/29d5cg
"dude, you're gettin some hot wings"
"dude, you're gettin some hot wings"
"dude, you're gettin some hot wings"
whoa, 3 times the fun with only one click. whats up with that?
I'm confused, I thought pot was a Gateway drug.
Dude, who got the turkey on rye?
No, it's NOT the corpse of actor/dancer Gregory Hines dug up and sprung to life. It's Jaleel White, aka Family Matter's Steve Urkle TRYING to score some pussy!!!
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tmz.com/media/2007/10/1029_urkel3_spyonvegas.jpg
Dude all of a sudden doesn't look so bad going from Dell pitchman to humble waiter.
Honestly, what a bunch of dumbasses on this thread. At least the guy went out and got a job. How many people do you know of that would rather hold up a sign out in front of wal mart saying they need money becuase they are an out of work anything. My props to the guy for not giving up!