I'm a sucker for TV commercials. I even think they should be put on TV DVDs, though I bet some people would hate that idea.

But it got me thinking about all of the great TV commercials we've had for food over the years. After the jump, eight classics. I'm not saying that these eight are the "best" (though some could be), but they're eight that I really enjoy.

Remember those wacky guys who made a miniature log cabin out of meat? Well, they've done it again, this time using a variety of meat products to create a seaworthy vessel to sail the ocean. This time, they've helpfully posted a list of all the products they used to bring their ship to life, so we don't have to wonder what it is. Sadly, this creation is not 100% meat, they were forced to use some pastry dough for structural support. However, the best part of all this is the time lapse video they posted on YouTube to accompany the photo gallery.

I don't eat cake much at all, but for the past week I've had an incredible craving for it. I think I might be pregnant.

To celebrate my buying of cake tonight (yellow, with chocolate frosting), here's a Duncan Hines commercial from the early 80s. I love cake without frosting too, if it's really moist (though I'll happily eat it with frosting too). Is it weird that I remember this commercial like I saw it yesterday, including all the dialogue and camera angles?

Yes. Yes it is. Full commercial after the jump!

Yes, I know it sounds like the name of some psychedelic band from the 60s, but it's actually the concept behind a new TV commercial from Domino's. If you haven't heard, they have a new dessert on the menu, the Oreo Pizza. It's a big dessert shaped like a pizza, only with so many Oreos on it that you get a mustache when you eat it.

Is it me or is the commercial rather ...off-putting? Take a look after the jump and see what you think.

Yes, I know how much we all love Rachael Ray. Or hate Rachael Ray. The fact of the matter is, one way or another, we all have a strong opinion of her. Though I feel bad for her recent marriage troubles, I do find her wildly, annoyingly over-perky. Then again, I could be just jealous of all her success.

Whatever your feelings, this minute-and-half video on YouTube of Ms. Ray making all of her tell-tale sounds of joy while eating is pretty funny.

And annoying.

What's the next best thing to drinking more than 100 beers from around the world? Putting a video up on YouTube of you drinking more than 100 beers from around the world, of course!

russa0 posted this video, a sort of travelogue of his beer adventures. Now, you don't actually see him drinking the beer. He's mostly holding them up and pointing to them, but I don't doubt he drank them all. I haven't heard of 99% of these beers, but then again, I've never traveled out of the U.S. He does have Budweiser though!

[via Gadling]

I'm not talking about the best restaurants in Las Vegas, I mean the cooking of Sin City director Robert Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has created ten short films that tell you how to cook using footage from his movies. Yeah, I know, that sounds a little confusing (if not scary), but it all makes sense after you watch the videos. Rodriguez and his crew are often up late at night (or early in the morning), so they make things like Breakfast Tacos. He even teaches you how to make your own flour tortillas.

For more recipes, check the other videos on the right on that YouTube page.

The playful antics of the rats at a Taco Bell-KFC restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village have probably seen more ink than Taco Bell's recent E. coli outbreak. Their performance has certainly garnered tons of local TV news coverage and as of this writing has more than 800 hits on YouTube.

The good folks over at The Scoop over on the NRN Foodservice Blog reported on the story behind the story the other day via an exclusive interview with the leader of the Taco Bell rats. And quite a scoop it was. They managed to catch the leader before his appearance on Conan later that night. Among the revelations from the interview is the fact that the rats' celebrity like that of most stars was no easy task. They'd been practicing their dance moves for more than two months starting with when they were discovered by the city's Health Department in December.

As one might imagine, the leader describes living in the restaurant as a paradise chock-full of tacos and fried chicken. And he offers up a theory as to why the Health Department allowed the fast-food joint to continue to operate even though a troupe of performing rats had set up shop. They're just too busy with important matters like protecting the public from the trans-fat menace. Never let it be said that New York City doesn't support the arts.

We've all heard of the Five Second Rule, that food rule that says when you drop a piece of food, as long as you pick it up within five seconds it's still OK to eat. Anything more than five seconds then you should throw it away.

This short film (after the jump) by Sam Lehman shows the two different kinds of the Five Second Rule and how it can be misused. If you drop something on the ground, you have to pick it up within five seconds. However, even if you do pick it up within five seconds, the rule should be thrown out if that food landed in...well, you can see in the video after the jump.

By the way, if you think that a lot of restaurants don't serve you food even after a piece of food has been on the floor for more than five seconds, you're crazy.

If you had asked me 15 years ago what I thought the healthiest foods were, I probably would have said salad, pasta, bread, rice, and water. If you had asked me 35 years ago, I probably would have said Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Quisp cereal, pretzels, Pepsi, and Sara Lee pound cake.

We all know better now, of course (for example, Sara Lee pound cake should only be eaten 20 or so times a week), but do we really know what the healthiest foods are? We've talked a lot about healthy foods before, but never like what you'll see after the jump...in video form! The video isn't the best quality, and waiting 30 seconds for the next food to be listed is rather annoying, but the info is interesting. Besides, it's like a game. You can take those 30 seconds to place bets with your friends! What will be next in the video...apricots? Avocados? Broccoli? Read on...

At this point, we all know what happens when you combine Mentos and Diet Coke, but what about combinations of other sodas with other candies? Will they produce similar, or perhaps even more spectacular, results? Thanks to a video linked to by Brian, from Candy Addict, we now know the answer to this subset of life's little mysteries. These film makers bravely tested the following combinations in the name of science: candy corn and root beet, Sweetarts and Sprite and Toucan Toes and milk. Check out the video above to see their results.

I think we'll all sleep a little better tonight, although not quite as good as I'll sleep once I learn where I can get some of those Toucan Toes....

It is easy to get into a breakfast rut. Cereal, fruit and toast are so ridiculously simple to prepare that even on weekends it seems like doing anything else is a bit of a pain. But foods that take slightly longer than opening a box of cereal are also much tastier than cereal, so what we need here is some motivation to get our culinary juices flowing on this morning. The above video is a well put-together music video of pancake making, complete with a pancake-making song that could very well have you singing along as you cook. The pancakes are the thin crepe-like British style of pancake and are served in multiple - tempting - variations that will definitely get you craving a plate of them yourself.

It doesn't include a recipe, so you might want to try out one of our eight favorite pancake recipes or some crepes, so you can experiment with different fillings as they do in the video.

Of course, if you're content with cereal for breakfast, you might just want to skip the video and go pour yourself a bowl right now.

The 64-second video clip above showcases a very appealing looking burger from all angles as it rotates on a mirrored table - the video equivalent of our regular food porn. You wouldn't think that watching a burger would be all that interesting, but the clip is sort of addictive, especially if you're hungry. The actual point of the video is anyone's guess - part of a commercial, something done just for fun? It seems possible that it could be a commercial clip, especially because the poster also has a clip of a burger with flames in the background. Either he does some work for Burger King, or he's just a really big fan.

Any other guesses? Put them in the comments!

Mentos may once have been known as "the freshmaker," but we now know them best for the reaction that occurs when they are submerged in Coke. To cash in on their newfound glory, Mentos has created the Mentos Geyser contest, where entrants will compete to see whose homemade geyser reigns supreme. The videos must be no longer than 2 minutes and have to feature a regular Mentos (not sugar free) being dropped into "a plastic bottle of a carbonated beverage of any brand." There is a video tool kit available to contestants, which contains the Mentos logo, jingle and other graphics that might be useful. Entries must be submitted to YouTube by September 30th, 2006.

Prizes include up to 1000 iTunes downloads, a year's supply of Mentos (320 rolls) and various Mentos merchandise. Not to mention that everyone will have the chance to watch people making soda fountains of their own.

May the best geyser win!

Who misses the McDLT? Ah, for those long lost days of oversized styrofoam packaging. Fortunately, I can relieve the glory days with this fantastic Jason Alexander commercial.

Cruising YouTube is a good way to pass a few minutes (or hours) when you have nothing better to do or simply can't be bothered to get on with your work. You can discover all kinds of interesting video clips - such as commercials from the 1980s. Granted, the commercials were irritating when they first aired, but they have a certain amount of appeal now. It's hard to say whether it's the fact that most of them have jingles/music or that they're simply hilarious. Here are a few more favorites, all worth reliving: