Tuesday is trash day around here, so I was gathering up all the trash to take it outside for the garbagemen. Afterwards, I went in and replaced the garbage bag in the kitchen, and as I grabbed the box of trash bags, I saw the Hefty logo and immediately said HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY as I remembered an ad campaign they had years ago:
HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY! For those of you too young to remember, there was a whole string of these commercials.
What other commercials stand out years later for you? I also remember the Bud Light “YES I AM” series, and obviously the Wendy’s “Where’s the beef” group, but what others are there?
Redshirt
Motor oil is Motor Oil.
Also: Meow Meow Meow.
Cat Lady
“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing”.
Real Men of Genius on the radio.
Kathy
“The Big Fig Newton.” It had some guy dressed up as a fig that sang a song that is with me to this day, even though the ad ran almost 40 years ago. I remember acting out this ad in front of my 2nd grade class when the teacher slipped out of the room for a minute. Talk about your target audience!
Adrienne
Bud-WISE-errrrr (The ad campaign with the frogs)
geg6
“I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
Gawd, I’m old.
mellowjohn
pretty much anything joe sedelmaier, for wendy’s, for fedex, or whomever.
and i was a fan of hal riney’s until he a) became very formulaic, and b) did reagan’s “morning in america” campaign.
jerry della femina had his moments, too.
CatherineNY
“Try it, you’ll like it. So I tried it. Thought I was gonna die!”
Mondo Gentleman
I dare you to knock this battery off my shoulder.
Cat Lady
@geg6:
Uh, me too, also, too.
drew42
“Less Filling!”
“Tastes Great!”
“Less Filling!”
“Tastes Great!”
“Less Filling!”
“Tastes Great!”
mellowjohn
and bert berdis and dick orkin on the radio, but that may have been a chicago thing. (they also did a superhero spoof serial called “chickenman.”
geg6
Here’s another vintage from my teen/young adult years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0_uhUhqrbk
Lex
@Kathy: Charles Nelson Reilly was the guy.
I also would cite the entire Alka-Seltzer oeuvre, including but not limited to “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing,” and the classic “He likes it! Hey, Mikey!” Life cereal commercial.
And the Miller Lite “Tastes great/less filling” series that ran for years and years.
douglass truth
that’s a spicy meatball…
geg6
@Cat Lady:
BJ mindmeld.
Brachiator
@Cat Lady:
I have absolutely no idea what is being advertised here. Never have.
Reminds me of a famous TV campaign featuring an actor mangling the line “Mama mia, that’s a speecy meatball,” with a jar of pasta sauce in the background. People loved the commercial. Even tried looking for the pasta sauce at their store.
The commercial was for Alka Seltzer. Epic Fail despite the popularity of the ad.
drew42
And the specific “less filling, tastes great” commercial that still sticks in my head:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omB-HVs6sRw
“All we need is one pin, Rodney.”
Leelee for Obama
@douglass truth: The last line of that one: “Speecy spicy, ballsy ballsy!” I thought I’d pass out laughing.
orogeny
From back in the paleolithic era: “21 great tobaccos make 20 wonderful smokes”
Chesterfield cigarettes.
A stupid commercial for an awful product, but the jingle was a guaranteed earworm.
patty gann
it’s shake and bake and i helped!
GReynoldsCT00
“Time to make the donuts”
scav
I only saw it once but it involved a blind taste test between a cola and a tennis ball. Of course, the tennis ball won: they liked the fuzzy taste. The Pepsi lawyers must have flown.
GReynoldsCT00
Double your pleasure, double your fun…
Surabaya Stew
For some odd reason, I remember the commercials for Snausages; even now I affectionately refer to any meat product in a casing as a Snausagage!
Little Dreamer
“I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony…”
Coke, it’s the REAL thing!
PeakVT
There’s no catchphrase, but I’m still fond of the Joe Izuzu campaign.
Brick Oven Bill
Bold Not Harsh.
I’ve worked with the guy who formulated this stuff. You are not allowed to know about it though. It would have been great. But Bold Not Harsh is a pretty good motto.
Frickin’ New York Times.
Punchy
“I’ve FALLEN! And I cant get up!” (for LifeAlert, or some such shit).
What was the product for the commercial were several old ladies are in a car, and the passanger says “Punch it, Margret!” ? Help?
geg6
Bwahahahaha! I was tooling around in YouTube looking at old commercials and found this one I remember well from childhood. Take special note of the tongue on the kid on the right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joDjwtjIQS8
I knocked his block off!
Leelee for Obama
The way-back machine reminds me of the Purolator oil filter ads: Pretty woman with oil smudges on her face, changing the filter. Best line: “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.” That’s a life lesson, see New Orleans, LA levee upgrade price as compared to actual ducats spent after Katrina.
MikeJ
Pronounced “haay-yulped”.
GReynoldsCT00
we’ll see if I can link… loved Joe Boxer commercials
CapMidnight
Next-door neighbor on other side of cheap apartment bathroom medicine cabinets without a dividing wall: “You’re Mona’s kid, aren’t you?”
“Who made the salad?”
“Seven Seas made the salad!”
“My husband–some hot-shot!”
“Honey! We need more Calgon!”
“‘Ancient Chinese secret,’ huh?”
The first Quake cereal (vs. Quisp cereal) spokes-toon: a burly miner and not a scrawny cowboy. I wonder where my glow-in-the dark “Mother Lode” sticker is.
Betsy
Energizer batteries: They keep going, and going, and going…
Rice-a-Roni: The San-Fran-Cisco Treat!
GReynoldsCT00
How about Enjoli perfume? “I can bring home the bacon, fryyy it up in a pan…”
Violet
“Your people call it corn; my people call it maize.”
And the stop pollution PSA with the crying Indian.
Cat Lady
@Brachiator:
It really doesn’t matter, because the beer isn’t the point.
Leelee for Obama
This one still chokes me up.
geg6
@GReynoldsCT00:
See #12 above. ;-)
Another BJ mindmeld.
Little Dreamer
“I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never ever let you forget you’re a man – cuz I’m a woman – ENJOLI”
Cat Lady
@Cat Lady:
Let’s try that again.
Pete
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz – oh, what a relief it is. Alka Seltzer
or
How do you spell relief? R-O-L-A-I-D-S
Man, I shouldn’t have eaten those two calzones last night.
Strawmanmunny
I’ve always remembered the “Anticipation” ad from Heinz. Every time I use a bottle of ketchup, I sing that song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq_5QZDpY1Y
GReynoldsCT00
@geg6:
aw, you beat me to it, with a video yet
Little Dreamer
@geg6:
LMAO, I didn’t click the link and missed GR’s post.
Pete
Also, too.
Nyquil, the nighttime sniffling sneezing coughing aching stuffy head fever so you can rest medicine.
MikeJ
Or relatedly,
kinda young, kinda now Charlie
kinda free kinda wow! Charlie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sn8H42FZcI
Violet
@Strawmanmunny:
Oh, yeah! That’s a great one. I still sing it too, if the ketchup is being particularly slow to come out of the bottle.
cmohrnc
Bud Lite commercial series which depicted it endowing drinkers with some special power [e.g. woman finds she has X-ray vision and is able to see handsome construction worker’s chest, but then realizes she can also see some repulsive lech’s huge paunch].
My favorite from this series is where the special power was the ability to translate dog language into English, and some appealing brown pooch is beseechingly repeating over and over
“Sausages! sausages? sausages! sausages!”
PeakVT
@Little Dreamer: Whenever I hear an old Coke ad, I think of this segment from Eddie Murphy.
scav
what is that terrible one about telling two friends and so on and so on and so on …
dfd
My Buddy! My Buddy! My Buddy and me!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuinqB9z3JI
For the kid with absolutely NO friends.
Comrade Mary
All I could notice about this commercial was UR DOIN’ IT RONG. Yucky leftover food shoved into the same bag that will hold a folded up pizza box?
NO!NO!NO! Food waste goes in the green bin or equivalent for composting, recycling gets bundled separately, and the only thing going in the kitchen garbage can should be dry garbage, like plastic wrapping and rinsed milk bags.
Apart from the value of recycling, which is debatable, I know, separate streams keep things tidier. I put out one bag of dry garbage every two weeks, and 1-2 small bags of kitchen waste can stay in the large freezer until weekly pickup or until I send them to my own compost bin. This is so much better than 2-3 or more stinky bags of mixed garbage, even if you have a relatively cool garage or basement to store them in until pickup. Trust me, the Toronto garbage strike would have been even nastier if we dumped our debris old school.
ellaesther
Here’s what I don’t understand:
Why does the body-builder type have to wear a terrible toupee? And why are his socks yanked up nearly to his ‘nads?
So many questions.
This must have run in the 80s, during most of which I lived in Other Lands, for I have never seen it in all my days. I think I’m better for it, frankly.
Legalize
The Irish Spring ads, when a tough guy would break the bar of soap in half.
Little Dreamer
“…cause Oscar Meyer has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A!”
Funkhauser
@Pete: Nytol will help you get your z’s……
Or was it Nyquil?
Regnad Kcin
If you’re talking persistent memes, I would go with
“they’ll tell two people, and they’ll tell two people, and so on, and so on…”
and the previously cited
“bring home the bacon…”
although neither one of those has huge brand association, anymore.
For sheer brand power, I’d agree with R-O-L-A-I-D-S and Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat, maybe throw in “When it absolutely, positively has to be there, overnight”
GReynoldsCT00
@scav:
Fabrige Organics shampoo
Cat Lady
Actually, this would be a great place to start the Mad Men finale post I’ve been jonesing for since Sunday night. I just have to say, the best part was in that one second when Pete messes his hair to look like he’s sick, and my mind flashed “Beatles”.
And this Volkswagen ad made me drop everything to watch.
MarkJ
The old Lowenbrau jingle still pops into my head on a regular basis:
Here’s to good friends, tonight is kinda special
The beer we’ll pour, it must say something more, somehow
tonight … tonight … let it be Lowenbrau.
I also loved the old Hamms beer commercials with the bear.
From the land of sky blue waters.
Melissa
It’s two! two! two mints in one!
You’ll tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on….
Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day.
catclub
Put a tiger in your tank.
They’re Grrrrrreat!
I can’t think of any other tiger themes right now.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Pete:
r
That was a memorable ditty.
Violet
The Diet Coke commercial with the construction worker. “It’s 11:30. Diet Coke break.” I got a chuckle out of the women’s outfits, hair and glasses. Definitely of it’s era.
catclub
MarkJ @ 61
Of course that brings up Bear Whiz Beer, from
Firesign Theatre.
I saw that ad ONCE twenty years ago and still remember it.
Original Lee
@Little Dreamer: My daughter found that song in her new trumpet book and has been playing it. She was amazed that there were words and that I knew them all.
Redshirt
Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles tomatoes onions on a sesame seed bun!
Original Lee
@Strawmanmunny: Me too. My kids think I’m weird.
AnneS
@Legalize: “Manly yes, but I like it, too!” Also Irish Spring.
Back to Alka Seltzer: “Marshmallow meatballs!”
Really, really old radio commercial for STD prevention: (male voice singing) “I got from Sandy who got it from Paul. He got it from Ernestine who coulda got anywhere at all. Now with all my love I gave it to you. Now that you got it, whatta you gonna do….” Totally freaked me out when I was a kid.
calling all toasters
“Time to make the doughnuts.”
scav
@GReynoldsCT00: well at least I know what product to definitely avoid now! Does that make it a classic anti-ad?
AnneS
@Redshirt: Reminds me of… “Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us…” The have it your way Burger King commercials.
Dave Herman
They don’t say Hanes until we say they say Hanes.
Bartles n James: thank you for your support.
Double double your refreshment, double double your enjoooooyment, oh-ohhh no single gum double freshens your mouth liiiike.. double fresh, double good, come on and double it, doublemint, doublemint… gum.
I’m a big kid look what I can do: I can wear big kids’ pants too. And I can pull them off and on! Mommy, wow! I’m a big kid now.
“Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?” “But of course!”
Hello my name is Crispy, how do you do? Crispy Critters cereal’s entirely new! It’s indubitably, indubitably delicious!
Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!
Randy P
Well, you people have hit pretty much all the ones I could remember, so I’ll just reminisce here for a bit while I rack my brains for some others. Alka-Seltzer commercials have always been fun, going waaay back. The “Hey Mikey” commercial for Life Cereal has to have been from before the Wachowski brothers were born, so I was really surprised to see a reference to it in “The Matrix” (Tank says it after Neo’s first experience with computer learning).
OK, here’s a couple: There was a commercial for some cough product that involved a sumo wrestler or karate fighter pounding on walls and knocking them down as he coughed uncontrollably.
There was an Ikea ad, at least in the Washington, DC market, that talked about their strenuous product testing. It featured a mean opening and closing a drawer hundreds of times as he said “Honey, where are my socks? Honey, where are my socks? Honey where are my socks? Honey, wh…”
Staples has had a bunch of great ones, on radio and TV. One aired on the radio. A voice starts talking dramatically about the Dream of being in business for yourself. “All it takes is a Dream. And the Will to make that Dream come true. And some pencils. And some of those envelopes with the little windows in them. And some…”
There was also a back to school Staples ad that features parents skipping happily through the store with grumpy kids while the sound track plays “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”
Betsy
@Violet:
Ha, I remember that one! Hee! Cracks me up.
geg6
@Original Lee:
That’s hilarious. An old commercial jingle in a music book. And her amazement that you knew the words.
scav
ah, if we’re bringing out the local market classics, Go see Cal, Go see Cal, Go see Call!
AnneS
I am totally not getting any work done here.
Does anyone remember the Burger King commercials featuring Jason Hungry? He was a rich guy who had a bowling alley a limo (in one of the commercials).
Anyway, to this day my Dad will say “Jason Hungry?” if he hears someone say, “I’m hungry!”
Original Lee
“My baloney has a first name…”
Empire Carpets – I remember the tune, but the phone number has changed over the years, so now I get that part all mixed up.
Hellman’s Mayonnaise used to have a very cool commercial where they painted the logo on an egg, put it on a battery-powered minicar chasse, and drove it offscreen.
“Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” (Timex)
The Norelco razor ads with Santa riding around in the razor head.
“Parkaaaaa-ay.” (I do this one with the margerine tub all the time.)
BigSwami
I grew up in Detroit, and for a long time Detroit was not really plugged into the national media scene. We had our own TV shows and our own commercials, and I remember those commercials vividly.
1. One for the Detroit Zoo depicted a zookeeper as a stagehand, and all the animals as performers. “I wanna talk to my agent!” says the flamingo. “Let ME talk to your agent,” says the crocodile.
2. Is that Freedom Rock? Well, turn it up, man!
3. I LEARNED IT BY WATCHING YOU, DAD
Pete
30 years later, and I still get the “Putt-Putt for the fun of it, Putt-Putt for the fun of it…” jingle stuck in my head on a disturbingly regular basis.
Sadly, I have yet to find anything on YouTube.
Fwiffo
“Where’s the beef?”
Actually, my all time favorite is a local bit for the now defunct Highland Appliance – “50 Watts per channel, babycakes.”
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Pete:
Picture if you will an entire busload of 8-year-olds singing that at the top of their lungs, over and over and over and over and over again. It’s a wonder the driver didn’t blow his brains out.
Long John Silver’s
some electronics warehouse I can’t remember anymore
Wendy’s, later appropriated by far too many political campaigns in 1984
Then there were the old Levi’s head-trip commercials, the Union Carbide put-a-live-chick-in-an-insulated-box-and-dunk-it-in-boiling-water-for-60-seconds commercial, the painfully not-getting-it American car manufacturers commercials extolling the excessive size of American cars vs. gas-efficient imports, Ronco ads, and toy commercials that weren’t 30-minute Saturday morning cartoons.
Yeah, I watched way too much TV as a kid.
Leelee for Obama
I especially loved the Dad riding the shopping cart! That one was flippin’ funny.
Violet
“My broker is EF Hutton, and EF Hutton says….” and then the room falls silent and everyone tries to listen in. “When EF Hutton talks, people listen.”
It seems like there were a whole bunch of those commercials besides the one with the girl in the classroom that I’m seeing on YouTube.
AnneS
@Original Lee: “Parkaaaaa-ay.” (I do this one with the margerine tub all the time.)
Hee! I can totally see that!
Reminds me of, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.” Was that Parkay?
GReynoldsCT00
@scav:
I’m not sure it’s still available… was all the rage in the Farah days
Redshirt
Seagrams, Golden Wine Coolers!
They’re wet and they’re dry (Golden Wine Coolers!)
My-My-My! (Golden Wine Coolers)
As sung by Bruce Willis, or “Bruno” as he was known back then.
Randy P
@Randy P:
It featured a mean opening and closing a drawer
That would be a MAN, not a MEAN. Sigh.
Anybody here in the Washington DC area? There are a bunch of good local ones, or at least there were when I lived there. There’s some car dealer whose ads always feature the same voice and an impossibly long series of puns, always on a different theme. There was an ad for some radio station’s ski report, with sound effects, that talked about the easy slopes (swoosh), moderate slopes (swoosh) and expert slopes (“AAIIIIIIIIIIIIII”).
Then there were the Riggs Bank ads, which were hilarious but intended to be taken completely seriously. “We are the most important bank in the most important city in the most important country in the most…” It might actually have gone on to planet and galaxy. Riggs went under in some bank scandal that involved money laundering for Saudis, as I recall.
AnneS
@Grumpy Code Monkey: Loved the old Gap commercials. There was a radio spot in which one of the voices insisted that the “A” in Gap was an “L”. He was from “L”anaheim, CA. And sang, “Fall into the GLP” when it came time for the jingle.
scav
@GReynoldsCT00: :) I’ll dig up its decomposing bottle and refuse to buy it retroactively.
John S.
Ball Buster
“It’s a family game…fun for Children! And for adults, it’s exciting!”
It’s the best worst commercial. EVER.
GReynoldsCT00
@Redshirt:
Oooh! Reminds of Bartles & James “thanks for your support”
Brachiator
@Cat Lady:
Yeah, it does matter. I’ve read stories (and even seen a couple of examples up close and personal) of marketing people suckering clients into paying for ads that did nothing other than demonstrate how clever and edgy the marketing people were, but didn’t do squat for the client.
It’s like dot com companies spending millions on Super Bowl commercials for products and services that no one wanted (or that didn’t even really exist). Some of these commercials are still remembered even though the companies went belly up a long time ago. That’s some kind of irony.
I get that some commercials are memorable or so catchy that they stick with you, but some are also monuments to massive ego and vanity.
geg6
@AnneS:
Chiffon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLrTPrp-fW8
Betsy
“This is your brain. This is drugs. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?”
forked tongue
Here are the mp3 downloads you’ve been waiting for: Sammy Davis Jr. giving “Plop Plop Fizz Fizz” the works!
coyoye bros2
The Uncola
geg6
Well, I just gotta thank Cole from getting me out of my Stupak funk and giving me a reason to goof off today.
Me likey thread.
Will
The 1980s orange and grape Crush commercials really sucked me in as a kid. The commericals really made you want to drink it. And it wasn’t even that good!
Scandi
We used to have a Where’s the Beef board game. Ah, garage sale finds.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Fwiffo: Gah! Thank you, I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember who that was.
“Hello, you! We seek beeeg savinks!” The one rule of 1980s pop culture was that bad Russian accents were guaranteed funny.
Original Lee
“You got chocolate on my peanut butter.” “Well, you got peanut butter on MY chocolate.” (Reese’s)
In DC, there was a series of Riggs banks ads that were variations on the theme music that backed up their other ads. So for example, for the construction loan ad, the theme music was played on tools (saw, hammers, etc.). It was pretty cool, and I always wondered if they had made a CD of it.
CatStaff
That one from the Garment Workers Union:
“Look for the union label, when you are buying a coat, dress, or blouse . . . ”
And the deodorant commercial:
“Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.” What the hell does that even mean?
BigSwami
@Fwiffo:
Today’s a new day, it’s happening in Detroit!
You’re feeling O.K, we’re with you Detroit!
No holding back now
On the right track now
Stand up and tell ’em you’re from Detroit!
We built it better right here in Detroit!
Workin together, right here in Detroit!
We’re at the heart of it
[Channel] 7’s a part of it
Stand up and tell em you’re from Detroit!
You’ve got the spirit, tell, ’em you’re from Detroit!
C’mon let’s hear it, tell ’em you’re from Detroit!
We’re a team that’s home town
There’s no town like MOTOWN
Stand up and tell ’em you’re from Detroit!
Tell’ em you’re from…Detroit!
This thread is making me want to watch Youtube clips of Hot Fudge (Right On!).
Randy P
I keep remembering stuff while reading other people’s memories. I too can easily sing the “Putt Putt” jingle. Heck, I can remember every word of a “Buckle Up for Safety” seatbelt PSA that has to be over 40 years old.
Anybody here from New York and remember the Craaazy Eddie commercials? I grew up in Syracuse (home of the Post-Standard aka “Sub-Standard” that DougJ is so fond of mocking) and when we got cable, we started getting New York stations and seeing those ads. They fascinated me.
I don’t remember what Crazy Eddie sold. All I remember was that his Prices Were Insaaaaane!!!!!!!
Fwiffo
“Da-da-da-DA! Imperial!”
“Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take…”
Betsy
Oh, and anyone who grew up in the greater Houston area will remember Mattress Mac and the Gallery Furniture commercials. Gallery Furniture saves…you…MONEY!!!
donovong
Jeezus, peezus, people.
Want my Coke? Really, you can have it.”
Mean Joe and teh kid!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc0izCGKxP8
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
Mmm Mmm Good,
Mmm Mmm Good,
That’s what Campbell Soups are,
Mmm Mmm Good.
Or how about:
“I’d rather fight than switch” – Tareyton Cigarettes
“I’d walk a mile for a Camel” – Camel Cigarettes (or a very lonely guy)
“LSMFT” – Lucky Strike, Mighty Fine Tobacco
Hey, I’m a smoker who used to like Campbell’s Soup!
Original Lee
OK, I’m not getting any work done AT ALL. Good thing my boss is taking the week off.
“Sorry, Charlie.”
“Ho Ho Ho. Green Giant.”
“Choosy mothers choose Jif.”
Bill H
It too 60+ to get to the Hamms bear? And only one person mentioned him? I am getting terribly old.
There was one of a bump moving through the snow, zigzagging until it reached a snowplow. “How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to the snowplow? Volkswagen.”
jenniebee
Not in this weather
AnneS
@geg6: Thanks! I forgot about the raccoon covering his head!
Rook
If it says Libby, Libby, Libby on the label, label, label, you will like it, like it, like it on your table, table, table, if it says Libby, Libby, Libby on the label, label, label.
And then, of course, there’s “How Many Licks Does It Take To Get To The Center Of A Tootsie Roll Pop?’
And finally, from the early 70s, the old Right Guard commercial where the man on the other side of the medicine cabinet says “Hi Guy!” and would go on to star in the second Bob Neiwhart show as the local sheriff.
Fwiffo
I remember seeing a HILARIOUS local commercial one night when I was staying in New Jersey, maybe it was Crazy Eddie. It seemed to be a pawn shop or something, and it was some sort of “crazy Thanksgiving sale”. He was running around the shop with an axe chopping prices in half (and chopping a guitar and some other merchandise), and there was this really terrified looking turkey blue-screened on to it. It was so cheesy, but SO hilarious.
Some other local Detroit ones… “Mel Farr, SUPERSTAR!” and “Birmingham’s in Troy!”
Leelee for Obama
@CatStaff: I sing that ILG song every once in a while to remind me of what it was like when unions actually had influence. It makes me sniffle. THe best part of it was that they had contest within the union for the lyrics and an actual worker wrote that.
Crazy Eddie sold electronic equipment-an old BF worked there!
AnneS
@CatStaff: OMG, I was humming that union jingle to myself the other day. (Surviving the transit strike….)
Original Lee
Oh, and the city with inferiority complex, Rochester, NY, actually paid Frank Sinatra to record this totally hilarious song, “I’d Really Rather Be in Rochester.” One of the radio stations played it every morning.
Redshirt
“He never asks for a second cup of coffee at home….”
Folgers. It’s the crystals.
Flitterbic
“Schaefer, is the one beer to have when you’re having more than one.”
“B-4” – “Hit”
“D-9” – “Ahh, you sunk my battleship”
“I’m a Pepper, he’s a Pepper, she’s a Pepper, we’re a Pepper. Wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?”
scav
You’re soaking in it!
Skepticat
You’re soaking in it.
Morris the cat
the 1984 Super Bowl commercial introducing Macintosh
Wisk’s ring around the collar
Wednesday is Prince spaghetti night
When there’s a title on the door, there’s a Bigelow on the floor.
Someone’s already mentioned John Cameron Swayze and Timex, and the Alka-Seltzer and EF Hutton campaigns, all fabulous (or at least memorable).
Fwiffo
There was a hilarious take on the Folger’s Crystals ads on SNL.
“We’ve secretly replaced these patients’ life-giving blood with Folger’s Crystals… Let’s see if they’ve noticed.”
Strawmanmunny
Remembered another one. Not as good as the Heinz one but….
“Ancient Chinese Secret”….Calgon along with “Calgon take me away”.
The Calgon take me away made me want to take a bath. So, I could be eating ketchup singing Anticipation while relaxing in a soothing bath. lol
Ash Can
Once upon a time there was an engineer
Choo-Choo Charlie was his name, we hear
He had an engine and he sure had fun
He used Good-n-Plenty candy to make his train run.
Charlie says, “Love my Good-n-Plenty!”
Charlie says, “Really rings the bell!” (ding)
Charlie says, “Love my Good-n-Plenty! Don’t know any other candy that I love so well.”
geg6
@Skepticat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3N_skYSGoY
Man, that was beyond irritating.
Karen
“It’s Shake & Bake and I helped” Lord, that dates me. Or:
“It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your children are” I suppose that was a public service announcement or something.
AnneS
@Ash Can: Now my day is complete.
Joel
I’VE FALLEN AND I CAN’T GET UP!
Randy P
@scav:
You’re soaking in it!
I remember as a kid mocking out some neighborhood girls who were playing beauty parlor and actually soaking their hands in Palmolive.
I told my wife that recently, and she informed me that manicurists actually do use Palmolive this way.
Tell me it’s not so. Please.
AnneS
I just washed my hair, and I can’t do a *thing* with it!
GReynoldsCT00
ZOMG! Remember those hideous Taster’s Choice commercials? With the couple? Like an ongoing annoying soap opera
Tim H
Geico commercials, unfortunately. The cavemen, the narration ones, even one or two of the geckos.
Randy P
“My wife. I think I’ll keep her.”
That one got a lot of grief from the feminists, as you can imagine.
“I’m (name of stewardess). Fly me.” for some airline (Delta?)
That one generated some sparks too. Back when they were still called “stewardesses”.
cleek
How do you handle a hungry maaaan? The Manhandlers !
Fwiffo
“I I love love Double Double Chex Chex…”
“Juicy Fruit is gonna move ya…”
“Bubble Bubble-Eeze, bubble bubble gum”
Fleem
We Make
Holes in Teeth!
We Make
Holes in Teeth!
AnneS
I must get back to work….
“Lunchtime the bell calls, spaghetti and meatballs. Sauce with cheese. It’s Chef Boyardee’s.”
r€nato
I refrain from quoting old, memorable ad campaigns…
…because they often reveal how old I am (not THAT old but the crest of the hill is within sight)
David
I used to see this Cadbury bunny commercial and just laugh and laugh. It isn’t as funny now, but I was quite young then. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw_gEyg7Nt8
scav
@Randy P: I’m the last person to ask on such topics. I’ll add to your general plea for non-reality though.
To add to the stewardess theme, was there really actually something dire involving coffee, tea or a flic of my Bic or am I hallucinating nightmares again?
MarkJ
@ Bill H
I’m not sure Hamms ever acheived national distribution so I think their ads may only have played regionally. I grew up in Michigan and we got them there. They were classics.
Fleem
@Original Lee:
That was Sinatra? Really!?! I had no clue.
The Nik and the Niceguys song “Ra-cha-cha” was much catchier.
AnneS
The old Bic Banana commercials on TV… “don’t write with a peach, your letters will come out soggy and wet!”
Ash Can
Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener
That is what I’d truly like to be-ee-ee
‘Cause if I were an Oscar Meyer wiener
Everyone would be in love with me!
Oh, I’m glad I’m not an Oscar Meyer wiener
That is what I’d never want to be-ee-ee
‘Cause if I were an Oscar Meyer wiener
There would soon be nothing left of me.
(Side note: The guy who wrote that jingle was a neighbor of ours when I was little, and his own kids recorded it for the original animated commercial.)
Will
@Redshirt:
Farley had the last word on those coffee commercials:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4154/saturday-night-live-schillervision-hidden-camera
khead
I often listen to classic Top 40 countdowns from the 80’s on Sunday night here in Balt – all in hopes of wallowing in good memories that might trigger a midlife crisis of some kind…. but this comment thread is even better.
I was sure I was back at my parents sitting in front of the TV after a few of the posts.
Joel
Dan and Dave, of course, with Dan O’Brien failing to qualify for the Olympics because he was trying to set a record during his qualifying pole vaults.
Fwiffo
“The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup”
And this.
Joe Max
“Hey, Culligan Man!!!”
Culligan soft water tanks were everywhere in certain areas of the country. I remember having to ask my dad what “soft” water was, because it all seemed pretty “soft” to me.
shortstop
Oh, no, it hasn’t!
“Five eight eight two three hundred…EM-PIRE!”…
…has been replaced with:
“Eight hundred five eight eight two three hundred…call Empire today!”
Redshirt
BWAK BWAK! Thank you Easter Bunny!
AnneS
Thanks for the gumball, Mickey!
shortstop
Last time he was over, my beloved handyman (a paragon of retro pop culture) and I were singing the old Boy Scouts recruitment PSA from the ’70s:
“Be prepared! Are you ready to take the leeeeeeeead?!”
PurpleGirl
Jello again.
Don’t remember the whole commercial but a google tells me it was Jack Bennie. Goddess I’m dating myself because those ads and his routine was back in the 1950s! And I guess it is his voice I hear Jello again in.
AnneS
Not sure if this is local, but Park’s Sausagages had a commercial that ended with a kid calling, “More Park’s sausages, Mom… Please?”
Redshirt
Army! Navy! Air Force! Marines!
What a great place, it’s a great place……. to start!
shortstop
And how the flight attendants’ union must have loved Continental’s “We really move our tail for you/To make your every dream come true.”
AnneS
@Redshirt: That reminds me of the old, I’m gonna grow my hair one more time (or something) commercials for the Army.
Randy P
@PurpleGirl:
50s are before my time, but I could swear I remember some Jack Benny commercials for gasoline. I think they involved an argument with the attendant because he only wanted $1 worth. Or maybe it was 1 gallon.
Probably in the 60s. Benny died in ’74.
Embee
“two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun”
Leelee for Obama
The blue lake green bean commercial. Cosby says if the kid eats the green beans, he’ll send his sister to the moon. Kid says he’s got 2 sisters. Cosby “they’ll both go.”
elmo
If you think it’s butter,
But it’s not!
It’s Chiffon!
And second the local ad sensation “Go see Cal.”
Cal Worthington and his dog Spot!
If you’re lookin for a better set of wheels
I will stand upon my head to beat all deals!
I will stand upon my head till my ears are turnin red!
Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal!
Hey, can any SoCal people help me with the rest of this jingle? It’s in my head and I can’t remember all of it. It’s an ad jingle, and it ends with,
“Long Beach Freeway, Firestone Exit, Southgate.” What is that ad for?
elmo
Never mind, I remember now! Pete Ellis Ford!!!
And damn you all for giving me endless looping earworms, anyhow.
Michael D.
“I’m NOT gonna pay a lot for this muffler!”
Little Dreamer
@Karen:
Being I had a parent who liked to party quite a lot, I used to say: “It’s 10:00, do you know where your parents are?”
P.S. – no sympathy please, I escaped mostly undamaged.
Lost Left Coaster
Ha ha! As a child I ran around the house chanting “wimpy wimpy wimpy! Hefty hefty cinch sack!” I can still hear it in my head.
I buy the generic brand trash bags, though!
DougL
Taking a wild stab, I’m gonna guess that that was in one of the Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef” variants where the “Where’s the Beef” old lady is tooling around town with two other old lady friends, visiting various other fast food drive-up windows observing, “That’s a nice fluffy bun.” The line above comes when they get fed up with fluffy buns and decide to go to Wendy’s.
Also, before there was FedEx, there was “Helloooo Federal!”
And then way, way back, long before Axe body wash and cologne, there was Hai Karate aftershave and cologne. “Aftershave so powerful, it drives women right out of their minds. You’ll have to fight them off.”
“Edgar… Edgar… this is your tummy Edgar.” “I want Malt-o-meal. Edgar. MALT-O-MEAL!”
Little Dreamer
“I am stuck on Band-aid cause Band-aid’s stuck on me”
Gus
@orogeny:
Tobacco ads are what really separate the old from the young. I remember them bit barely. The dancing Doral boxes and the guy walking a mile for a Camel are two I have dim memories of.
Joe Max
My stepdaughter once accosted Cosby in person (at Enrico’s sidewalk cafe in San Francisco). She was about 4 years old, walked up to his table as bold as can be, pointed at him and proclaimed, “You’re the man who makes kids eat Jello!” The whole table laughed, and he joked with her for a few minutes.
J.D. Rhoades
He’s everywhere! He’s everywhere!
Then there was:
Come mister tally man, tally me banana.
Bic Banana markers for your office or home!
ISTR Geoffery Holder (the laughing voodoo guy from Live and Let Die) doing that commercial.
How about:
Mighty Dog, Mighty Dog.
Mighty Mighty Mighty Dog,
Tastes so good, you knew it would,
Pure Beef Mighty Dog!
I used to sing that to our Golden Retriever as “Needy Dog, Needy Dog….”
Joe Max
“Bubble Club gets you clean,
and Bubble Club is such fun, fun fun, fun,
Bubble Club is such fun!”
“It was Hubert, you little scamp! And now you’re so clean your mother won’t know you!”
J.D. Rhoades
Won’t you fill up, Jack Benny, won’t you fill up…
(To the tune of “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey”)
Milo
I’ve always had great admiration for Dave Clark of the DC5.
Union Carbide was after him for years and years for the rights to “Glad All Over” to hawk their Glad Bags.
I can’t find a good cite, but I recall him being quoted as saying that his songs had been very good to him and he saw no reason to sell them out.
Michael D.
I made my love a sandwich
I used this other stuff
She took one bite and told me
It didn’t taste good enough
And she said “Unh-uh”
“Unh-uh?”
“Unh-uh, you should’ve used Miracle Whip!”
Leelee for Obama
Cola nut…(show lemon) unCola nut. 7-up Commercial
I can’t remember the guys name-but “make 7″ -(Front of shirt)
” Up yours “- ( back of shirt)
J.D. Rhoades
@AnneS:
I heard an Urban Legend that the kid was Neil Young.
J.D. Rhoades
@Leelee for Obama:
That’s the one!
AnneS
“Join the unhooked generation.” TV ads for quitting smoking.
Redshirt
HAHAHAHA! 7 Up. Never had it, never will.
AnneS
@J.D. Rhoades: I am so gonna have to look that up!
Beej
LIFE cereal: Let’s get Mikey. He won’t eat it, he hates everything. He likes it! Hey, Mikey!
This one gets quoted every time I serve something new to the family.
FlipYrWhig
“Pretty sneaky, sis.”
DougL
Which starred a much younger, and less famous Anthony Head, who played Rupert Giles, the librarian in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (He also played a villainous alien-in-disguise school headmaster in the new Doctor Who series.)
Gus
@CatStaff:
Which reminds me of the SNL spoof of that commercial for the marijuana growers union:
“Look for the union label
when you are buying a joint, lid or pound…”
parksideq
Every time I see Kool-Aid at the supermarket, it makes me want to crash through the shelves while screaming “Oh yeah!”
Ash Can
When my mother lived in Florida in the 90s and I’d go down to visit her for Christmas, I saw a TV commercial for Publix grocery stores that would choke me up every damned time because it was so sweet and cool. It consisted of scenes of a grandma cooking up lots of beautiful holiday food in her kitchen, interspersed with scenes of a young couple with small children on a long train ride south. No dialogue at all, just Pat Metheny’s “Last Train Home” playing in the background. It was outstanding.
PS: And YouTube delivers the goods. If you can watch that without feeling a heartstring tug, especially if you’ve ever headed south to visit older family members for Christmas, you may want to check your pulse.
FlipYrWhig
@Leelee for Obama:
Didn’t Geoffrey Holder have a 7-Up commercial where he used to say that their product used “real Jamaican ginger”? “Don’t you feel/ Good about/ [Ah-Ah-Ah!] 7-Up!”
Brachiator
@Gus:
I’ve seen this in documentaries about the history of commercials, and parodied in cartoons. A bell boy walks through a hotel lobby, and shouts out,
“Call for Philip Morris!!”
Comrade Nikolita
They still show that commercial, or if not that commercial, then a newer version of it.
/Hefty Hefty Hefty
Leelee for Obama
@FlipYrWhig: I don’t remember that-just the one I mentioned. And that laugh of his!
Beej
Not a great hook, but once upon a time, Stan Freburg did a commercial for Geno’s Pizza Rolls. The premise was based on a cigarette commercial for Lark cigarettes where a truck drove down streets with a sign that said, “Show us your Lark pack.” The Geno’s commercial was a parody. It took place at a cocktail party and the camera was moving around with a sign that said, “Show us your Geno’s Pizza Rolls pack.” The music was the William Tell Overture. Various commercial spokespeople and celebrity impersonators were at the party. The whole thing ended with the Lone Ranger and Tonto saying, “We’d like to talk to you about that music.” It didn’t run for very long, and trying to describe it really doesn’t come close to doing it justice, but this was the funniest commercial I ever saw. And it was a long time ago. I’m old.
FlipYrWhig
@DougL:
That was part of the reason why I was so shocked that people started to embrace _Buffy_. “What, it’s a good show? C’mon. Isn’t that Taster’s Choice guy on it?”
Little Dreamer
@Ash Can:
When I lived in FL 3 years ago, they were still playing that damned Publix commercial, I think it was about 15 years old at that point.
The Saff
Lucky Strike. It’s toasted.
Oh, wait. That’s from the “Mad Men” pilot episode. Sorry. Suffering MM withdrawl until next summer.
“Reach out, reach out and touch someone.” Ma Bell
Paul Revere and the Raiders = Pontiac GTO
AdamK
When you say, “Pepsi, please,”
You’re putting yourself among
People who like their flavor;
Pepsi’s the taste that’s young.
So go ahead
And drink the drink
That makes you feel
Young as you think —
Pick the right one
The modern light one…
Now it’s Pepsi
For those who think young!
—–
This shit gets in your head and never, ever goes away.
Librarian
The EF Hutton commercials. The Smith Barney ads with John Houseman (“Smith Barney. They make money the old fashioned way- they eaaaarrrrrnnnn it”). The Paine Webber ads -“Thank you, Paine Webber.”
Boudica
Hot dogs…Armour Hot dogs
What kind of kids eat Armour hot dogs?
Big kids, little kids
Kids that climb on rocks
fat kids, skinny kids
even kids with chicken pox….
Leelee for Obama
Speaking of Publix, I love the one with the Valentine Cake that’s really for the Mom, but the kid gets her to help him bake it for a make-believe GF. Gets me every time.
In fact , most Publix commercials are pretty memorable.
Lihtox
I’ve had “I want a clean as real as Ivory, it’s got a real 99 point 44” run through my head whenever I see a bar of the stuff; very annoying.
As a kid (’80s) I loved the “Give me a light. [Somebody hands the guy a light bulb or something.] No, not that kind of light! A Bud Light!” commercials. The one that always comes to mind is one I didn’t even see directly, but was told about: Dracula asks for a Light, and sunlight comes pouring in, and he shrieks in horror “Not that kind of light!” The end of the commercial has a beer can with two fang holes.
FlipYrWhig
I’ve Googled “real Jamaican ginger” and gotten nowhere. But did 7-Up ever have ginger in it? Maybe it was Canada Dry. But then did Geoffrey Holder ever work for Canada Dry? Maybe I just associate all non-cola sodas with Geoffrey Holder.
AnneS
@Boudica: …love hot dogs, Armour Hot Dogs… the dogs kids love to bite!”
Beej
Here’s a link to the short version of that Stan Freberg commercial. There’s also a long version, but I couldn’t find it.
FlipYrWhig
@Librarian:
I remember being completely baffled as a kid about what “EF Hutton” was and why you were supposed to listen to it so intently.
laura
“bacon! bacon! I smell BACON! What’s that Say? I can’t Reaaad!?! Gimmie some of what’s in the bag!”
Turned into a catch phrase for sunday brunch when I was in college.
Randy P
Geeze, this thread is really churning up some old stuff in my mind. Now I’m remembering stuff from Saturday morning cartoons.
M & Ms melt in your mouth. Not in your hand.
As a kid, I couldn’t get enough of one M & M’s commercial. Tough guys playing cards in the old west: “These cards are marked. They’re a mess. A CHOCOLATE mess!”
Also, and this will really date me: You can tell it’s Mattel. It’s swell!
CaseyL
I remember an embarrassing number of cigarette ads, because they had the best ear-worms:
Benson & Hedges, the first of the 100 mm smokes, had an ad with the cigarette getting caught in elevators, revolving doors, etc.
A101 mm cig whose name I don’t remember, but whose ad I do: “A silly millimeter longer: 101. Yeah, yeah, yeah: 101.”
Winston. A truck went around town, filming people with painted-in black eyes who’d ‘rather fight than switch,” to the tune of the William Tell overture.
Non-cigarette ads:
One for a no-fat yogurt, I think it was, that played “music to watch girls by.”
One for another no-fat yogurt where the spokesmodel mocked viewers who criticized her as “She’s nothing but skin and bones.”
And, finally, one of my ALL TIME FAVES was for Metrecal Diet “Cookies.” Not because of the music, but because when the actress bit into the cookie, she could not help grimacing from the taste. I thought about how many takes there must’ve been, how heroically she must’ve tried to not make that face, and how indescribably awful those cookies must’ve been if that little grimace was the best they could do. Never failed to crack me up, I’ll tell you.
Beauzeaux
Head Shampoo is squeezy
So clean and easy
The natural thing to do.
I know my hairs would rather
Have organic lather
So I wash them off with Head Shampoo.
J.D. Rhoades
It strikes me that, for a kid who grew up with only three channels to choose from (four on a clear day), I watched a LOT of damn TV.
Gus
@CaseyL:
I believe the “rather fight than switch” was actually Tareyton.
unspiek
No doubt this dates me horribly:
The Rice Krispies Round
Snap! What a happy sound!
Snap is the happiest sound I’ve found!
You may tap, rap, slap, clap,
But Snap! makes the world go round!
Snap! Rice Krispies!
I say it’s crackle, the crispy sound!
You’ve got to have crackle, or the clock’s not wound!
Geese cackle, feathers tickle, belts buckle, beets pickle,
But Crackle! makes the world go round!
Crackle! Rice Krispies!
I insist that Pop’s the sound!
The best is missed unless Pop’s around!
You can’t stop hoppin’
When the cereal’s poppin’!
Pop! makes the world go round!
Pop! Rice Krispies!
Jon
Perhaps the most persuasive pitch (for his audience) ever: in Alabama, for South Central Bell, Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant looking into the camera and saying “Have you called your momma today? Sure wish I could call mine.”
The use of direct-dialed long distance SKYROCKETED that year. Bear speak, you listen.
Also for those in the old country: there was some sausage with a cartoon pig that had a Mae West voice and said “The HAM makes the DIFF-RENCE.” Which, now that I think about it, is oddly disturbing even if you HAVE read Douglas Adams’ The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe…
Tonybrown74
This commercial was local to the Boston Area (we have Harvard Pilgrim) but it is one of the funniest commercials ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMbmmOJVRj0
0whole1
Don’t squeeze the Charmin.
Mrs. Olsen musical coffee pot…Folgers?
It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky…
It’s not nice to fool mother nature….
This might be more regional: Ideal’s “If you’ve got a passion for fashion…”
*Definitely* more regional: “Space Farms of Sussex, New Jersey.” Over and over again.
Ron
A few I can remember. One was a series of “I must be in the front row!” with Bob Uecker.
And there were the Peppermint Patty commercials. “When I bite into a Peppermint Patty, I get the sensation of…”
One that I think was before my time but never fails to crack me up is the “Schaefer is the one beer to have when you’re having more than one.”
Comrade Mary
Did someone say Stan Freburg?
Cheerios, the terribly adult cereal
Jacobsen Lawn Mowers
Blue Raven
“Smith Barney. They make money the old-fashioned way. They EARN it.”
“Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”
“You deserve a break today…”
The latter two were written by a then-unknown Barry Manilow.
AnneS
@0whole1: And you’ve got a craving for saving, take the wheel of your automobile and swing on down to Ideal.
I always wondered what a quonset hut was when I was a kid.
AnneS
@0whole1: Do you remember commercials for Atco Speedway?
“Don’t you DARE miss it!”
Comrade Mary
More Freburg:
Ray Bradbury for Sunsweet Prunes
And this isn’t an ad, but it’s from the same era and by one of my favourite undervalued comics, who I found via an old LP when I was babysitting. (The first minute is setup and can be skipped).
SiubhanDuinne
Here’s a really old one (from the 1950s):
“Coffee nerves! Coffee nerves!
What’ll I do about coffee nerves?”
“Well, here’s what to do about coffee nerves:
Switch to Instant Postum!”
(Do they even make Postum any more? I think it was made by the Post cereal folks, looked and by all accounts tasted like sawdust, and was highly recommended as an alternative to the caffeinated stuff.)
I also remember when Folger’s was first being introduced to the market. This would have been probably the late ’50s or early ’60s. For weeks, if not months, in advance, there was just a plain line drawing of a mountain on the screen (what became the Folger’s logo) and the announcer’s voice, deep and stentorian, said: “I WILL BRING A MOUNTAIN TO CHICAGO.” I believe there was also a radio version, same line, and perhaps billboards too.
It’s the first “tease” ad campaign I can remember, and it was effective! Nobody had a clue what it meant, but people talked about it a lot.
unspiek
This one dates me even worse:
“Friends…go in to see your DeSoto-Plymouth dealer tomorrow. And when you do, tell ’em Groucho sent you.”
Comrade Scrutinizer
“The music goes zoom zoom
The drummer goes boom boom
and everybody shouts
Hurray for Valleydale!”
SiubhanDuinne
Oh, and do any of you Canadians (or more likely, your parents) remember the Milk-O jingle? Goes something like this:
“How now, brown cow, what’s new with you?”
“What’s new, you ask? Well can I moo! It’s MMMMilk-O! MMMMilk-O! Instant chocolate MMMMilk-O!”
“You say it’s new, and chocolate too?”
“That’s right, little girl, and it’s good for you!”
“Gosh, Mr. Cow, that sounds like fun! I’ll ask my mommy to get me some!”
(Together): “Make it in a pitcher or stir it in a glass, but mmmmake mmmmine with MMMMilk-O!”
That’s New! Instant! Chocolate! MMMMMMMMMMMilk-O!”
damn good mr. jam
shrink to fit and a button-fly too
Levi’s 501 Blues
shrink your own personal pair
a little loose here and a little tight there
Randy P
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yep, they still make Postum. My wife introduced me to it in the 80s and we drank it sometimes as an alternative to coffee. When my Dad heard about it, he thought we were nuts to drink it by choice. He remembered drinking it and hating it (probably during coffee shortages in WWII). We also found out that my Dad’s sister the health food nut is fond of it.
I’m pretty sure they still make it now, though I haven’t had any in 20 years or so.
SiubhanDuinne
Another from early Chicagoland TV:
“When the values go up, up, up.
And the prices come down, down, down —
Robert Hall this season
Will show you the reason:
Low overhead! Low overhead!”
(Of course we always sang it “When the prices go up up and and the values come down down down” and thought we were hysterically funny. Every single time, we thought that.)
anna
Dancing Old Gold cigarette packs, Timex watches “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’ and I HATED Morris the Cat commercials.
Ash Can
@Blue Raven:
I recall seeing him perform a medley of his commercial jingles during a televised concert. When he got to “Give your face something to smile about with Stridex,” his backup singers mimicked teenagers peering at themselves in the mirror and poking at their faces. One of them pantomimed zit-popping, and he yelled “Debbie, that’s disgusting!” at her. It was hilarious.
Tonybrown74
And, the Smart Beep Blind Date Commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CTaKBjd1ww
Journeywoman
“How do you think I got sooo rich?”
The Tidy Bow Man
“Scrubbing Bubbles – we work hard, so you don’t have tooooo!”
“I’m gonna wash that gray right outta my hair”
[smacks head] “I coulda had a V-8!”
The Fruit of the Loom fruit guys (though they’ve been brought back in recent years)
No More Tears!
“What would you do for a Klondike bar?”
SiubhanDuinne
@Randy P: Thanks for the info. I had no idea Postum was still produced. (Not that I would ever have occasion to look for it on the grocery shelves.)
shortstop
When you wear your Levis three-legged jeans…a leg and a leg and a leg!
Just wanted to see if y’all were paying attention.
KXB
From the 80’s
Some painkiller (maybe Bayer) – “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.”
NY Bell – “Reach out and touch someone”
IBM typewriters – “We’re your type”
Sure Anti-perspirant – “Raise your hand if you’re Sure”
Journeywoman
“Clap on! Clap off! Clap on, clap off – the Clapper!”
CaseyL
“No more Rice Krispies!”
…. a man sings, Italian-opera style. Then a woman dramatically enters, bearing a huge bag of the boxed cereal and singing “I got Rice Krispies,” and the man who sang the first line looks wearily into the camera and says, sotto voce, “My mother-in-law…”
SiubhanDuinne
Haven’t read all the posts so maybe someone already made this offer:
“How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?”
licensed to kill time
too many comments/didn’t read yet, but:
“You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!”
and (over chanting/drumbeating Indians):
“From the land of sky blue wa-a-ters….comes the beer that’s more refreshing. Hamm’s the beer refreshing, Hamm’s the beer refreshing, Hamm’s”.
The power of advertising – I can still sing these word for word.
licensed to kill time
Oh, and I’m not old enough to have heard this “live” but had it on a tape mix:
“Come away with me Lucille
In my merry Oldsmobile
down the road of life we’ll fly
automobubbling you and I”
(love the automobubbling)
It was sung by Louis Armstrong in the tape I had.
The Saff
Everytime I hear the ending of “Rhapsody in Blue,” I say outloud, “Come fly the friendly skies of United.”
Little Dreamer
Is it live or is it Memorex?
RandyH
@Punchy:
Toyota Camry.
Dave Trowbridge
My favorite of all time: the Wendy’s Soviet Fashion Show.
Deb T
Okay, here’s a musical one:
“See the USA in your Chevrolet
America is asking you to call.”
Think Dinah Shore, convertible, tailfins.
Redshirt
Reunite on Ice, so nice.
J. A. Baker
This.
PTirebiter
@elmo:
Did Pete Ellis replace Stanley Chevrolet? because that sounds a lot like Molly Bee for Stanley….
Stanley- Stanley- Stanley Chevrolet – 2 blks south on the Santa Ana Freeway, 1-1-9-8-0- E. Firestone…. Stanley Chevrolet whaaaooooo
But I don’t think any dealership spots could ever replace Ralph Williams in the hearts of So Cal late night tv audiences of the 60’s and 70’s .
Rosali
Gee, your hair smells terrific !
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Randy P: Alas, Kraft discontinued Postum in 2007. But according to cooks.com, you can make homemade Postum:
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licensed to kill time
@Comrade Scrutinizer: I used to drink Postum, for some unfathomable reason I can’t remember now (prolly trying to be healthy or something). It pretty much sucked; tasted like the WWII coffee substitute which in fact it was.
Why would you want to make it?
unspiek
Millions of boys of a certain age still, in their hearts of hearts, think Carolyn Jones (as Morticia Addams) was the hottest thing evah. The Addams Family sponsor’s tuneful tag went, “Step up to Dutch Masters, and smile, brother, smile!”
licensed to kill time
Has anyone done “Hotdogs, Armour hotdogs, the dogs kids love to bite” ?
Mouse Tolliver
@Violet: Whatever happened to Lucky Vanous? I can’t believe I still remember Diet Coke Guy’s name. I’m so gay.
“You’re soaking in it!”
“Bounty. It’s the quicker picker upper.”
“When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.”
“Honeycomb’s big. Yeah, yeah, yeah! It’s not small. No, no, no!”
“Byyyy Menin.”
“Milk: It does a body good.”
ChrisB
From all the Mets games of my youth I can still sing all the lyrics to the Reingold beer song:
“My beer is Reingold, the dry beer . . .” Please sing along if you’d like.
And continuing #122 and #218: “Schaeffer pleasure doesn’t fade even when your thirst is done. The most rewarding flavor in this man’s (?) world, for people who are having fun. . . .”
The “short shorts” Nair commercial.
The fast talking Fed Ex guy: “Pittsburgh’s perfect Peter may I call you Pete?”
Was it the Lincoln Town Car that had such a smooth ride that they showed a jeweler working in the back seat (famously satirized on Saturday Night Live with a mohel in the back seat).
I can’t believe I was beaten to the Communist fashion show for Wendy’s: “Swimwear.”
I believe it was Madge at the beauty parlor with the Palmolive dishwater liquid to soak your fingers in. Right?
When I hear about Ivory 99.4% clean I think of Marilyn Chambers.
What a great thread!
BigSwami
Michigan Bell: “Mama? I’m gon’ be a little late…”
Also, Isiah Thomas and his mom for Detroit Edison: “Oh, Isiah!”
Librarian
“Winston tastes good like a cigarette should”
“You can take Salem out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of Salem”
“You’ve come a long way, baby, to get where you got to today/You’ve got the long cigarette now baby/ You’ve come a long long way” (Virginia Slims)
Roland
@Randy P:
Ah, Syracuse.
Are you the right age for the radio ads with the “You know it’s summer when they’re rockin’ in Weedsport” tagline?
That one still comes up every time I’m with the old high school crew.
Mouse Tolliver
@ChrisB:
Yes.
RIP
Grumpy Code Monkey
or something like that…
licensed to kill time
@Librarian: That was “You’ve got your own cigarette now baby!”
Fwiffo
“I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys R’ Us kid…”
Comrade Scrutinizer
@licensed to kill time:
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Self-abuse? (No, not the Prejean variety.)
Thlayli
Crazy Eddie’s was an electronics store (think “Best Buy”). They were renowned for, among other things, holding an annual Christmas sale, like clockwork … every August.
Apparently business wasn’t good enough for the owners, so they started doing a little creative accounting, which led to them doing a little prison time. Needless to say, the company went blooey.
But everyone remembers the ads.
handy
For anyone who lived in Southern California during the late 70’s, early 80’s, there were always these memorable campaigns:
Pete Ellis Dodge, Long Beach Freeway Firestone Exit Southgate!
Fred Rated for Federated!
And of course who could forget the spot for that general appliance and electronics store:
Phil and Jims Phil and Jims Phil and Jims…
Yes, they really were selling a 19″ TV for $438.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@ChrisB: The FedEx fast-talking guy was great, but the “So simple” ads were better. Especially the one with the Chairman of the Board: to this day, I still find myself saying, “Hellooo…….”
shortstop
We’re still big fans of the Wendy’s Soviet fashion show and use it to this day to cheer on the beagle’s all-occasion fur coat: “Dog fashion show! Dayvear, svimvear, eveningvear…” She just ignores us, of course.
licensed to kill time
@Thlayli: That makes me think of that mattress ad from LA where the guy keeps yelling “You’re killing me, Laaary!” in this sort of obnoxious accent. Also, “…or your mattress is FREEEEEEE!”
Immediate radio switch-off.
shortstop
Who else loves to saaaaave big money at Menaaaaards?!
BethanyAnne
I remember the Levi’s monster from the late 80s. Sort of a Godzilla thing that would eat a building, and then had this scream “Grhh Ahh Leviisa!”
BethanyAnne
and Houston Metro’s ad campaign featuring “memory expert” Frank Lee Boring. I *still* know Metro’s number from his mnemonic “Dixie drive your cows in”, 635-4000, hehe.
PurpleGirl
Randy P — I googled it and Jack Benny did commercials for Texaco and he asked for 1 gallon. Some of his commercials began when he did radio and he continued them, with graphics, on teevee when he moved over. Also, they carried them on into the early 1960s. One of the Texaco commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFUEQiObfT8
(Because I sort of remember things, I’ve begun googling before writing a comment.)
khead
“Soft corinthian leather”
We still use “Punch it Margaret” on road trips.
0whole1
@AnneS: No, sorry, Atco doesn’t ring a bell — the Space Farms add was from a NE PA channel when I was 5-ish. Was Atco more NY/NJ area?
0whole1
I think y’all need to lay your hands on the Ben Is Dead nostalgia compilation: http://www.amazon.com/Retro-Hell-Life-%6070s-Afros/dp/0316102822/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257898412&sr=8-1
I have the original zines it was drawn from — one of the issues’ cover had the Hulk reading on the john, wearing rainbow legwarmers.
Donald G
Veering off into the land of Grade Z local commercials, in Dallas (and apparently throughout Texas), there was a broker of low-priced auto-liability insurance whose ads dominated the UHF channels. A sample here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCYz9t8svlE
Earlier, there has been mention of Chicago’s Empire Carpets ads, which put me in mind of the Son of Svengoolie parody ad for Vampire Carpets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gONtHIYimyo
Matt McIrvin
The Crazy Eddie chain actually swiped the INSAAAANE act from a guy named Earl “Madman” Muntz. He was before my time, but my parents remember him.
Anyway, I was surprised to discover from that Wikipedia article that Muntz wasn’t just a spokesman, he was a pioneer of consumer electronics who invented the low-end TV market by making extremely cheap TVs that would still work as long as you weren’t too far from the transmitter.
Matt McIrvin
…Also, Muntz is the guy we have to thank for the practice of measuring TVs diagonally.
CambridgeKnitter
Louis Nye for Accent (a/k/a MSG, as I recall) slapping a chicken to wake it up. He also tried to wake up a salad.
CambridgeKnitter
@Randy P: The Jack Benny commercials were for Texaco. His goal was to drive around town using every possible trick not to burn any gas, including putting sails on top of the car to catch the wind, pull in to the station, ask for a fill-up and be told that his tank was already full. Then he’d say, “Good, didn’t spill a drop.”