Tim Smithe thinks it's the Smithe furniture empire's "prettiest" commercial to date. That may be, but the new spot featuring the three by-now-iconic furniture mavens is certainly not their most inspired bit of marketing lunacy. This newest Walter E. Smithe Furniture spot just now breaking has the three brothers sitting with Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White on a couch in front of Chicago's famed Buckingham Fountain. Though it's hardly a key point in the new spot, the couch on which all are seated is from the company's new Pierre Deux French Country furniture collection.

At the top of the spot we see the three Smithe brothers start mouthing French to each other as subtitles at the bottom of the screen seem to offer a translation of what the boys are saying. But anyone with even a passing familiarity with French will quickly realize what the Smithe boys are saying doesn't remotely jive with the translation -- a gimmick that creates confusion in the mind of the viewer. What's worse,though, is that it isn't funny. In any event, White suddenly mutters something in French too as the camera catches White's famed tumbling team waiting in the wings -- as it were. On cue, they start trampolining over the men seated on the couch. It's a fairly impressive feat -- exquisitely captured against a bright blue sky and the Chicago loop skyline.

But alas, the beauty of these visuals doesn't make up for the fact the commercial lost us at the beginning with all the French-speaking schtick. Still, some good will come out of the spot -- the Smithe brothers are supporting both the Buckingham Fountain restoration and the Jesse White Tumbling Team -- an organization that dates back to 1959, when it was founded as a juvenile delinquency prevention program.

Lew's view: B-

They're back. Well they never really left. We're talking, of course, about the Smithe brothers -- Walter, Tim and Mark -- of furniture fame. They and their often off-the-wall television commercials are nearly always visible on some television station. Tim Smith, the middle brother, orchestrates the advertising for the Walter E. Smithe furniture empire, and he likes to play off of hot popular culture events of the moment. And we mean "popular culture" in the broadest possible sense. Right now, the Chicago Blackhawks are a hot commodity as they remain in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup. So Tim Smithe has seen to it that the latest Walter E. Smithe commercial breaking today is in part designed to cheer on the team, while paying tribute to several hockey Hall of Famers, including Dennis Savard, Tony Esposito and Stan Mikita.

These legendary figures appear on ice in their Blackhawks jerseys alongside the so-called "sofa hall of famers," while a debate ensues about who is going to play against whom. It's all handled with a very tongue-in-cheek touch that stops just short of collapsing into utter silliness, even though the spot does end with the Smithe boys being pulled around the rink by a Zamboni ice resurfacer.