Furniture mavens Bernie & Phyl are like baked beans & cod – New England traditions. For decades the couple – and their kids – have produced the most toe-curling commercials on Boston television.

Representative sample:

But now – what should we call the reconstituted couple? – Beryl! have gone all Gotham on us, hiring trendy New York ad agency DeVito Verdi (who also produce ads for Herb Chambers and Legal Sea Foods) and airing a new set of Bernie & Phyl commercials that are terminally hip.

Seriously?

Here’s another one.

Look – Bernie & Phyl have earned the right to do whatever they want. But naked guys? Thank goodness they hired an actor for the spot.

Meanwhile, DeVito Verdi’s Boston Massacre of local ad agencies continues, as the New York shop keeps snatching up local icons. From a recent Boston Globe piece:

The head-turning irreverence of the campaigns seems to appeal to Boston sensibilities. DeVito/Verdi now has more clients in Massachusetts than in New York. Besides Chambers and Suffolk [University], Fallon Health, Bernie and Phyl’s, Tribe Hummus, and City Sports have all signed on since last summer.

Of course, that head-turning irreverence doesn’t always work out: Suffolk pulled its ads shortly after they launched, and the Legal Sea Foods campaign has gotten the fisheye from numerous critics.

Still, say goodbye to Bernie & Phyl. And say Pharewell to yet another Boston institution.