I’d like to know approximately what years you might be referring to. Texaco? See the USA in your Chevrolet? Or newer? Or are you talking “Where’s the beef”?
@PlacidPenguin catching fish is fun. It’s when your ex drags you fishing, time and time again, to different fishing holes that have no fish, that you get disillusioned about the whole thing. I fished better as a teen with pieces of hot dog than he did with all his fancy stuff, lol.
@RiotDemon my dad was a very jealous fisherman. He had this idea that he had “The Sense” and any one who did better was cheating. And everyone did better. I’d caught more fish before I was ten than he ever did.
He got a Bassett hound for his 35th b-day, we took it fishing. Everyone caught a fish that day, including the dog, who dove of the dock after them. Dad didn’t even get a nibble.
I thought I hated fishing for years, but what I hated was his whining. Still love the man, but I’ll never go fishing with him.
Commercials are difficult to grade over differing eras as advertising has changed with the people who are the targeted audience. When I was growing up major manufacturers of commodities often times focused heavily on memorable slogans or jingles.
Ancient Chinese Secret (a 1970’s ad for Calgon laundry detergent set in the store of a dry cleaners store owned by, you guessed it, a family of Chinese descent)
(Ironically, Alka Seltzer had another memorable commercial that was a flop for the company but great for the Italian food industry. The “Mama Mia! That’s a spicy meatball” commercial. No one remembered it was for Alka Seltzer, but it sure sold a lot of spaghetti sauce)
But these days advertising has shifted. While jingles and catchphrases are still present, several ads tend to swing towards pop culture references (the kid in a Darth Vader Costume) or quick stories with a humorous twist to catch our attention.
Many, though, simply talk about how good a certain product is in relation to the competition without jingles or catch phrases. Instead the focus is on awards won, or some sort of memorable image like Chevy Truck’s toolbox ad which shows the aluminum bed of a Ford F150 being pierced by a falling toolbox while the bed of a Chevy Silverado only suffers a dent.
Some ads can also get very political which can offend those who don’t agree with the sentiment or underlying implication.
While I don’t mind some of the humorous variations of modern ads I do miss some of the mainstays of the past like “Don’t Squeeze the Charmin” or “Have a Coke and a Smile.” They were fun, uncontroversial, entertaining, warm and sold the product effectively. I wouldn’t some of those back on the air.
Gary Larson had a Far Side cartoon about ‘Ring Around the Collar’. In The Complete Far Side, there’s a letter from the guy who wrote that slogan.
Re: pop culture references
For a while, Campbell had a commercial with a girl dressed in a Spider-Man costume. Naturally though, the commerical was for soup.
As far as commercials where they talk about awards won, honestly, all of the awards sound the same to me at this point, so that’s kinda pointless for some viewers.
@TheTexasTwister Reciting “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun” would earn you a free Big Mac at McDonalds back in '76. BK’s response was “the bigger the burger the better the burger, the burgers are better at Burger King.” I’ve never liked McDonalds, but give me free food and I’ll remember your jingle for 40 years.
@PlacidPenguin I just assume all awards are bogus self congratulation. True non partisanship is so rare these days you are more likely to see a unicorn.
@moondrake Agreed! Even “respectable” awards tend to focus on something so specific it doesn’t really translate to the real world.
For instance, awards for “initial quality” of automobiles is great, but what does that say about long term reliability? Gas mileage? Or interior comfort & ride? It looks nice and all, but so what?
A food product might tout that it is the “best selling,” but just because something has mass appeal doesn’t necessarily mean it tastes the best or is of high quality.
When you want to sell something, use the an advertiser’s best weapon: the logical fallacy.
Selection bias. You only still remember the great commercials from childhood having forgotten the bland and boring ones. The best are therefore better then the average.
I remember getting up early on Sunday as a kid and because nothing was on TV, I would be lured into whatever Ron Popeil was selling. It could be knives , Showtime Oven, or the Dehydrator. Whatever it was, it would lead to me waking up my parents to tell them we have to get this now before the price goes up!
I hate to say, but we all have nostalgia rose-colored glasses: for every “where’s the beef” there were 5000 boring mattress or tire or furniture sales ads “back in the day,” same as there is today. Not every commercial could be as awesome as the Staples “most wonderful time of the year” or “rubber and man” commercials then, and in fact some were real duds (Infiniti car’s first commercials).
While now we have Allstate’s Mayhem and the Like a good neighbor call-out commercials. Who doesn’t love the one with an agent describing confronting 3 rattlesnakes interrupted when she disappears for another call! And I melt everytime Amazon’s commercial of the priest and the imam shows.
Will this thread some how morph into a discussion about the best Super Bowl TV commercial ever because I’d like an excuse to post the Terry Tate, office linebacker spot.
Nevermind, this is the internet, where thinking before acting is not encouraged.
I’d like to know approximately what years you might be referring to. Texaco? See the USA in your Chevrolet? Or newer? Or are you talking “Where’s the beef”?
@pooflady
/youtube Texaco commercial.
/youtube See the USA in your Chevrolet
/youtube Where’s the beef?
/youtube Spirit of Massachusetts commercial
Kinda deceiving since it shows people having fun catching fish.
@PlacidPenguin catching fish is fun. It’s when your ex drags you fishing, time and time again, to different fishing holes that have no fish, that you get disillusioned about the whole thing. I fished better as a teen with pieces of hot dog than he did with all his fancy stuff, lol.
@RiotDemon my dad was a very jealous fisherman. He had this idea that he had “The Sense” and any one who did better was cheating. And everyone did better. I’d caught more fish before I was ten than he ever did.
He got a Bassett hound for his 35th b-day, we took it fishing. Everyone caught a fish that day, including the dog, who dove of the dock after them. Dad didn’t even get a nibble.
I thought I hated fishing for years, but what I hated was his whining. Still love the man, but I’ll never go fishing with him.
Commercials are difficult to grade over differing eras as advertising has changed with the people who are the targeted audience. When I was growing up major manufacturers of commodities often times focused heavily on memorable slogans or jingles.
I can still remember:
Ring around the collar (Wisk detergent)
Where’s the Beef (For Wendy’s, as noted in an earlier post)
Have a Coke and a smile
Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper, too?
Plop! Plop! Fizz! Fizz! Oh what a relief it is. (Alka Seltzer)
How do you spell “relief?” R-O-L-A-I-D-S
Ancient Chinese Secret (a 1970’s ad for Calgon laundry detergent set in the store of a dry cleaners store owned by, you guessed it, a family of Chinese descent)
I’ve got a headache this big.
Nyquil. The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, aching, coughing, stuffy-head, fever so you can rest medicine.
Don’t Squeeze the Charmin
and so many more…
(Ironically, Alka Seltzer had another memorable commercial that was a flop for the company but great for the Italian food industry. The “Mama Mia! That’s a spicy meatball” commercial. No one remembered it was for Alka Seltzer, but it sure sold a lot of spaghetti sauce)
But these days advertising has shifted. While jingles and catchphrases are still present, several ads tend to swing towards pop culture references (the kid in a Darth Vader Costume) or quick stories with a humorous twist to catch our attention.
Many, though, simply talk about how good a certain product is in relation to the competition without jingles or catch phrases. Instead the focus is on awards won, or some sort of memorable image like Chevy Truck’s toolbox ad which shows the aluminum bed of a Ford F150 being pierced by a falling toolbox while the bed of a Chevy Silverado only suffers a dent.
Some ads can also get very political which can offend those who don’t agree with the sentiment or underlying implication.
While I don’t mind some of the humorous variations of modern ads I do miss some of the mainstays of the past like “Don’t Squeeze the Charmin” or “Have a Coke and a Smile.” They were fun, uncontroversial, entertaining, warm and sold the product effectively. I wouldn’t some of those back on the air.
@TheTexasTwister
Gary Larson had a Far Side cartoon about ‘Ring Around the Collar’. In The Complete Far Side, there’s a letter from the guy who wrote that slogan.
Re: pop culture references
For a while, Campbell had a commercial with a girl dressed in a Spider-Man costume. Naturally though, the commerical was for soup.
As far as commercials where they talk about awards won, honestly, all of the awards sound the same to me at this point, so that’s kinda pointless for some viewers.
@TheTexasTwister Reciting “Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun” would earn you a free Big Mac at McDonalds back in '76. BK’s response was “the bigger the burger the better the burger, the burgers are better at Burger King.” I’ve never liked McDonalds, but give me free food and I’ll remember your jingle for 40 years.
@PlacidPenguin I just assume all awards are bogus self congratulation. True non partisanship is so rare these days you are more likely to see a unicorn.
@moondrake I don’t remember that promotion. I may have been too young. But, as you said, it was a catchy slogan and it sold a lot of hamburgers.
@moondrake Agreed! Even “respectable” awards tend to focus on something so specific it doesn’t really translate to the real world.
For instance, awards for “initial quality” of automobiles is great, but what does that say about long term reliability? Gas mileage? Or interior comfort & ride? It looks nice and all, but so what?
A food product might tout that it is the “best selling,” but just because something has mass appeal doesn’t necessarily mean it tastes the best or is of high quality.
When you want to sell something, use the an advertiser’s best weapon: the logical fallacy.
@TheTexasTwister @moondrake
According to the Wikipedia talk page, it had to be recited within 10 seconds, which make a lot of sense.
@TheTexasTwister “That’s a spicy meatball!” was referenced in The Mask.
@PlacidPenguin The best ever ad for Campbell soup was not an ad but Andy Warhol
No one’s tried to sell me anything with karate chop action in years, so, downgrade.
@nogoodwithnames Or kung fu grip!
LEGGO MY EGGO!!
Selection bias. You only still remember the great commercials from childhood having forgotten the bland and boring ones. The best are therefore better then the average.
@CaptAmehrican
Yeah but leave us our fun.
@CaptAmehrican
PS Selection bias is one of my favorite things, right up there with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
@f00l 1595. yikes.
@pfarro1
I wish.
Little room for creative/interesting ads these days with all pharmaceuticals (and their side effects) being shoved down our throats. ; )
Always want one of these.
Also (cat friendly commercial)
They were way better before every commercial was just twitterisms and/or selfies/facetime
I remember getting up early on Sunday as a kid and because nothing was on TV, I would be lured into whatever Ron Popeil was selling. It could be knives , Showtime Oven, or the Dehydrator. Whatever it was, it would lead to me waking up my parents to tell them we have to get this now before the price goes up!
@DrSayre maybe this is why we all like meh. It is that same limited time deal and knives and speaker docs
@CaptAmehrican @DrSayre
Some (@sohmageek) might make the claim that there aren’t nearly speaker docks though.
Here’s Dan Ackroyd’s famous Ron Popeil parody on SNL.
Posted into the product thread, but this is classic, so:
I hate to say, but we all have nostalgia rose-colored glasses: for every “where’s the beef” there were 5000 boring mattress or tire or furniture sales ads “back in the day,” same as there is today. Not every commercial could be as awesome as the Staples “most wonderful time of the year” or “rubber and man” commercials then, and in fact some were real duds (Infiniti car’s first commercials).
While now we have Allstate’s Mayhem and the Like a good neighbor call-out commercials. Who doesn’t love the one with an agent describing confronting 3 rattlesnakes interrupted when she disappears for another call! And I melt everytime Amazon’s commercial of the priest and the imam shows.
I don’t think I ever even saw one of these things in real life but I can still recite the commercial.
@Moose I got to play once. It was enough.
@Moose I have one of these! I play it with my grandkids.
@Moose Actually played one of these. It was pretty cool from what I remember of them.
Personally, I’d like a poll about TV shows using the same options.
YOU SANK MY BATTLESHIP!!
Will this thread some how morph into a discussion about the best Super Bowl TV commercial ever because I’d like an excuse to post the Terry Tate, office linebacker spot.
Nevermind, this is the internet, where thinking before acting is not encouraged.
@conandlibrarian
Another from Apple
@elimanningface
Fairly accurate list of side effects.
Anybody who’s ever watched TV in Chicago knows this one…
I’d say things have improved in some areas… wait this isn’t a real commercial, oh well.
Palmolive - "You’re Soaking In It"
With Madge (Linda Cook)