Martinex1: As of late, we have been featuring television programs relatively frequently here at BitBA. So today let's take a look at the miniature art form of the era - television commercials. I can remember as a youngster looking forward to a couple of commercials, and perhaps you had the same feelings around those ads and the brands they featured.
Nowadays it seems the airways are clogged with advertisements for drugs and automobiles, but I recall many more ads for food when growing up. From the Jolly Green Giant to the Peanuts hawking Dolly Madison Cakes to the Keebler Elves living in a tree, every commercial seemed to center around culinary delights. My grandfather got a particular kick out of the singing kid in this Oscar Meyer commercial for bologna.
On Saturday mornings, the commercials focused on two things - breakfast cereals and toys. Here is a commercial for the Kenner SSP Smashup Derby! I must have seen this spot a thousand times between episodes of Josie and the Pussycats and Scooby-Doo.
I mentioned food and cereal, and often the commercials for those were quite creative using fun characters, cartoons, and witty scripts. Kellogg's, Quaker, and Post each had their stable of mascots. There were some outliers like Mikey and Life Cereal that were not animated, but I preferred the cartoons including those directed by the famous Jay Ward. Quisp, Quake, and Quangaroos were products I rarely tasted, but I enjoyed their marketing.
There were also local commercials that caught my eye and had me chuckling. Long Chevrolet, a car dealership in the suburbs of Chicago, featured a newsboy reading headlines about the great savings and deals. One commercial deep in the series featured a surprise headline and a hilarious ending (for a grade school viewer).
What commercials stick in your mind from back in the day? Did they feature toys, food, cereal, or other commodities small or grand? Do you have a favorite? And which commercial really got on your last nerve? TV sales pitches are what we are discussing today at BitBA! Cheers!
18 comments:
To this day I still long for that toy that was a "machine gun" that fired small ball bearings at the moving targets. Maybe 2 feet long, about a foot wide. Shot at like a clown's head, maybe a bear... IT was all encased in clear plastic
Anyone recall the name?
Our neighbor friend had one but (of course) he had the type of parents that did not want anyone else in the house, or using their stuff, so all we could do was stand by the screen door in summer and watch him use it. Jerks... (There I feel a little better, lol.)
In 1974 I was up early as usual watching TV on a Sunday morning.
Then the most amazing thing happened: an ad for Planet of the Apes toys! I had just seen a double feature of PotA and BftPotA a few weeks before and was absolutely spellbound. I actually woke my mother up at 6:15am just to tell her.
Needless to say, I never got those toys
Yoyo
Charlie- You're talking about the Marx Electro Shot Shooting Gallery. Those were heavily advertised on Saturday mornings. I never had one either, but it sure looked cool.
Commercials? Oh, so many of them. I liked the soft drink commercials: especially the 7-Up one with "This is a cola nut; this is an uncola nut". Dr. Pepper had some fun ads. And of course Coke had "I'd like to teach the world to sing".
I'll have to check back later after I think of more...
Kudos to the kid in the Chevrolet commercial, there--- Solid energy and volume in his spiel, and then a truly composed and good-natured reaction at the end. Nice!
Totally remember that shooting gallery toy, yep. Coveted it big-time. Never knew anyone that had it. Looking back, you can almost bet that it was the kind of expensive, cumbersome toy that would be fun for about 15 minutes at the very most. . . and then never get played with again. (Sort of like the cheaper slot-car racing sets---)
Jack Gilford had a gem of a classic Cracker Jack commercial that everyone probably remembers: "Pass Along". A one-minute spot in a sleeper-car where he inadvertently becomes the intermediary between a couple of folks sharing a box across the aisle. Effectively it's a charming little silent film. The company was asked to edit it down so they could have a 30-second option as well-- and simply couldn't find a way to do it w/out destroying the whole sequence. In desperation, they doubled the run-speed, keeping the commercial intact--- and it worked perfectly. I distinctly recall being freaked out the first time I saw the sped-up version-- thinking something had gone wrong with the TV or something. Heh.
Place the Quote: "Let's find out: One. Two-hoo-hoo-hoooo. Three. *CRUNCH* ...THREE."
Kellogg's Cocoa Krispies always seemed to have a heck of a time finding a "mascot" character. My personal favorite(s) were Kell & Ogg, a claymation cave-couple, but they really only lasted for a hot-minute, I think.
Anyone notice how "Sugar" went from being a big selling point in kids' cereals in our early childhood, to disappearing from the vocabulary entirely by the time we hit high school? They all used to be: Sugar Smacks; Sugar-Pops/Sugar Corn-Pops; Super Sugar Crisp; Sugar Frosted Flakes; etc, etc. Sugar itself didn't go away, of course, just the word. . .
Recently there've been some FB adds for these "new" ride-able horse/animal toys for toddlers and very little kids. The kids bounce on them, and the spring-action legs and wheels propel them forward a bit. Sound familiar? "Marvel the Mustang. . . He's al-most for-real. . . "
And for local entries, it looks like G.L. Perry Variety Store (Elkhart, IN) doesn't have any extant videos of their ELABORATE stop-motion, merchandise-on-parade productions. Usually themed with the season. Basically a big old family-owned Five and Dime, the spots would feature dancing toys and candy and decorations and housewares, etc, etc. engaged in all sorts of frolic. Looking back, it seems clear that there must have been some family member with a true penchant for creative expression, and probably no head for business operations at all-- so this would have been the best way to keep him/her in the fold. (I may be extrapolating a bit. . . )
HB
"Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?"
"Let's find out. One, two, three..."
Yeah, I recall a lot of those same candy and breakfast cereal commercials, like everyone else - and yeah, the owl's scientific determination of the number of licks to the center of a tootsie pop is a classic.
However, some of the commercials I best remember from the 1970s and early 1980s were for a product I never consumed at the time: beer. I noted this in the comments to last year's post (almost a year ago to the day) about TV commercial slogans/songs that get stuck in your head: two local breweries, Blitz in Portland, OR and Rainier in Seattle, WA had some of the most hilarious commercials. In the '70s especially, the Rainier commercials featured guys who went into the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest to hunt "wild Rainiers" - here's one that even starred Mickey Rooney.
Meanwhile, the best Blitz Weinhard commercials involved a cop at the state border turning away a truck-load of lousy California beer. That commercial was a local hit, and there were a number of follow-ups in which the two hapless beer delivery guys try to get the beer in by sea and even air, and always get flagged down and diverted by that same cop. (There were even t-shirts with the logo of that fake beer, Schludwiller.) The rock radio station I mentioned in Saturday's post, KGON, even did a copy-cat commercial in which 'unnatural' disco is similarly stopped at the state border.
The Blitz brewery's premium brand, called Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve, had some really clever commercials in the early '80s especially. One of the best was
this one with an old West chuckwagon.
Red - thanks! I just checked eBay has those electro Marx games! Christmas gift from Charlie to Charlie???
Yowza - I still remember cigarette commercials too which was often school- yard discussion! “ Winston tastes good like a cigarette should...”
I was Quisp and my brother was Quake! My sister scored me some Quisp for my 50th birthday a few years ago. Still make it I think but only sell on internet?
Those are some great memories you are all demonstrating. Here are some more that stuck with me (but I don’t necessarily remember the exact product):
Morris the Cat selling cat food.
A tiny chuck wagon (Chuckwagon Pet Food?!?) that would get chased by pets and disappear into the kitchen cabinets.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, “You got chocolate in my peanut butter...”
Some kind of spaghetti sauce ad where the mom yells out the window and the boy runs through the city streets to get home in time for dinner.
“Don’t squeeze the Charmin!”
“M&Ms melt in your mouth not in your hand”
Hostess ads with King Ding Dong, Twinkie the Kid, etc. Can you name them all? Cupcake? Fruit Pie?
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing..." (Plop plop fizz fizz oh what a relief it is!)
"Time to make the donuts...Time to make the donuts..."
"It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature..."
"Only you can prevent forest fires..."
The Crying Indian...
And speaking of sugar..."HEY KOOL-AID!!!"
(Sugar, ah, honey, honey
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
Honey, ah, sugar, sugar
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you
(I just can't believe it's true)
I just can't believe the wonder of this feeling to
(I just can't believe it's true)
Ah, sugar, ah, honey, honey
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
Oh, honey, ah, sugar, sugar
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
When I kissed you girl I knew how sweet a kiss could be
(I know how sweet a kiss can be)
Like the summer sunshine pour you sweetness over me
(Pour your sweetness over me)
(Oh, sugar)
Pour a little sugar on it , honey
Pour a little sugar on it , baby
I'm gonna make your life so sweet, yeah,yeah,yeah
Pour a little sugar on it, oh, yeah
Pour a little sugar on it , honey
Pour a little sugar on it, baby
I'm gonna make your life so sweet, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ah sugar, ah, honey, honey
You are my candy girl
And you got me wanting you
Oh, honey, honey, sugar,sugar
Honey, honey, sugar, sugar
You are my candy girl).
Ah, Smash-Up Derby ... I always wanted one of those but never got one. I think I compensated by making my Tonka and Matchbox vehicles get into endless accidents.
Heh, the crying Indian, who was actually an Italian guy...
Morris the cat, by the way, was so dead on. I'm certain that if cats could talk that's exactly what they'd sound like.
I most definitely remember the Oscar Mayer commercial. I don’t remember the Kenner SSP Smashup Derby commercial, do I do remember owning the toys. I’ve never seen the Quangaroos commercial and never heard of it, but it’s a cute commercial. Most of my memories could probably be cereal commercials, like Count Chokula and Fruit Loops. TC jogged a major memory about the Tootsie Roll Pop commercial.
Smash-Up Derby was a hugely favorite toy for a couple of pals and me. We go both sets, in fact. (2nd set was a VW Beetle and a small Ford pick-up, I think). Never, ever used the trademark SSP pull-stick for 'em, though-- just did a couple of fast floor-winds, and let 'em go--- GREAT toys, those.
The KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL ad campaign w/ the crying Indian seems to have come under fire in recent years for a number of reasons-- which makes me kinda crazy. The campaign and that commercial were amazingly effective-- and we ourselves could see the huge difference it made along our own streets and highways in a few short years. Having that figure portrayed by a non-Native American now would be appalling and a non-starter. At that time, however, the go-to was to cast caucasian men who could pass as, I guess, ambiguously ethnic, and give them a dark base make-up. It was a commercial, and those were the casting standards of that era. (And of course some bright-bulb tried to invent a "real" native american identity for the actor-- there's the trouble--).
LOVED the part in that Kool-Aid jingle where the singer's vocal line climbs effortlessly from a gravelly near-bass to a Lou Christie-style falsetto. That was SO flippin' well-done!
Those mindless Hawaiian Punch commercials were rather unnerving with that violent little psychopath, weren't they?
Ooo-- and how 'bout the switch from the impossibly offensive Frito Bandito (tho we didn't realize it at the time), to the surprisingly enjoyable W.C. Fritos, eh? "Ah yes, those CRUN-chy Nuggeeeets. . . yeeees."
Touching on the local beer front--- did anyone else have 1) Black Label, 2) Falstaff, or 3)Blatz beer? (Not sure if there's any consumable that could survive the name of "Blatz"-- I mean, it SOUNDS like a person up-chucking!)
HB
HB, there's no denying the effectiveness of that PSA with the Indian shedding a tear - as well as the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" campaign with Woodsy the Owl and, of course, Smokey the Bear and "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires."
The bigger problem with the guy playing the Indian, who called himself Iron Eyes Cody, but whose real (Italian) surname was Corti, is that he spent his entire adult life (since the 1930s) claiming Native American heritage and on that basis getting roles playing Native American characters in a number of movies and television shows well into the 1980s.
Ha!, you guys nailed most of them.
There's a couple that stick in my mind;
LIFE cereal-"He likes it, Hey Mikey!"
Marathon candy bar. My favorite back in the day. "Nobody eats a Marathon bar quick..."
Faygo- the boat song, talk about nostalgia. "Comic books and rubber bands..."
Ahh, the number of closed-head injuries trying to do the Fig Newton Dance!
"Grab your toe and pull it to your tummy..."
Folgers "Good To The Last Drop"!
Was it Sanka where he would ask for another cup and the wife would think "He never asks for a second cup at home!?!"
"You deserve a break today, so get up and get away..." "Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun!!!"
7-Up "The Uncola!!!"
And I remember the athletes tearing the top off the beer can, well, not the bowlers, but I can't remember the beer...
Edo--- Corti, that's right-- that fella. I mean, I get that it was the common casting practice at the time. . . and his "living" was by passing as a Native American in show business ventures. A lame practice, yup-- and probably more of a remnant of earlier eras of entertainment, where hucksterism was part of the package. I still don't fault the campaign for it of course-- and the ad agency itself wouldn't have had an incentive to be more enlightened at that time. (Yul Brynner of all people made a big show of keeping people in the dark about his ethnic/cultural origins. . . at one point claiming to be a gypsy, of all things. And old Hollywood totally traded on that kinda stuff, of course--)
My wife wants to point out that Board Games made up a good chunk of that commercial fare we've been discussing. Battleship; LIFE; Which Witch; Gnip-Gnop, etc. Yeah?
HB
The KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL ad campaign w/ the crying Indian has have come under fire in recent years? I didn’t realize that. You’re right, HB, that was a great commercial. Very effective. I can’t imagine what is wrong with it, is it because the actor wasn’t Native American?
Some good calls, Prowler. You’re taking me down memory lane!
And yeah, “You sank my battleship!
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