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I love watching old TV commercials because they remind me of Saturday mornings and of a civilized age when you had four channels and when the cartoons told you they'd be right back after these messages, you believed them and you watched the messages because they were fun and if you watched them the cartoons really would be right back and you'd be so happy to see them! So... Ten minutes of 80s commercials after the jump.
5:37 PM on Sun May 18 2008
By ian spiegelman
5,366 views
157 comments
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Things were so much simpler and sweeter back then *sigh*
This is simply magnificent. THANK YOU.
...yep, sweet, sweet memories of the days when we were willing and eager consumerists!
But OMG - Rainbow Brite??? Made me realize with a pang in my heart how long ago my childhood really is.
Who else has childhood commercial memories in black and white?
I can't find the shake & bake commercial where the child says, "And I hauulllped!"
So as soon as I read "when the cartoons told you they'd be right back after these messages", I thought of this:
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@Carol Gardens: Twilight Zone was in B&W, yes?
@hortense: Memories!
@hortense: oh, bless you, Hortense
i really enjoyed this! the tootsie pop commercial is especially classic.
@hortense: And that made me think of this!
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How about these?
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Hungry Hungry Hippos!
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Teddy Ruxpin (great tags with this video)
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Wookies for the bending!
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I had the Princess Leia doll, of course.
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@ian spiegelman: good one!
@ian spiegelman: Ah! Tremendous! And THAT reminded me of THIS:
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The greatest snack food jingle ever:
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And the best/worst rap/soda commercial of all time:
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God, I was gay even then.
This may be a little older but "Hey Good Lookin" never goes out of style.
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And "Where's the beef" of the 80's led to "What's Up"
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Weebles
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I hold a special place in my heart for this one:
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Can't believe nobody posted this yet!
This brings a comrade back...
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This one's for you, Red Rose...
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Can't open it, but I am assuming the phrase "very sneaky, sis" was uttered.
@BalknChain: Schoolhouse Rock! Yes! On the educational tip... How about this?
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@rosaluxembourgeoise: Ahhh, Soviet Fashion.
Hot damn, can't a girl just lazily scroll through the comments anymore? It's like a minefield of time wasting up in here.
So I'm just going to comment on Ian's screen shot - I totally had the Play Doh Fun Factory. I also had some thing where you input nice-smelling, sparkle-infused Play Doh into a contraption and the end result was "A Tisket, a Tasket, a Flower-making Basket". That and Polly Pocket pretty much got me through Age Six.
@TheHonJudgeSmails:
@rosaluxembourgeoise: Funny, I thought it was an ad for the Albanian mass transit system! Li'l Red One.
@Hez: Wow! I haven't seen a Star Wars toy commercial since they first aired. I had the 12-inch Luke. Not what it sounds like.
@luciluce666: Awww, Spuds. Such a shame what happened to him... The rabies and all.
@TheHonJudgeSmails:
Exultant, isn't it?
"Whatever it is I think I see...
Becomes a pair of tits to me!"
@TheHonJudgeSmails: I hope you watched mine, too... it has men's fashion, as well as a RIVETING ad for dimmer switches for all your fancy chandeliers (let's show how you use that AGAIN, in case it was unclear), and an awesome Russian version of the Walkman.
@Phyllis Nefler: I looked everywhere for the Fuzzy Pumper Barber Shop ad, but no luck.
@Phyllis Nefler: I had the Play Doh dentist set... It was soooo awesome!
@tribalpottery: No one is as gay as the kid holding the R.O.B. at the end of the Nintendo ad.
The Rainbow Bright cereal made me remember this one. WARNING: Contains a jingle that will attach itself to you like a wood tick)
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@Hez: The music will haunt my dreams.
@hortense: I'm trying to figure this out: in the Bagel Bites video, at 12 seconds, did that girl just take off her bra? Because that's what it looks like.
Those pervs.
This comment thread has been sponsored by Proctor & Gamble, Mars Bars and the letter Q.
@ian spiegelman: Well, these are from the 90s, but my hand is one of those you see zooming and shooting in these ads and the others from "The Power of The Force" Star Wars action figure series that came out just before the Jar Jar monstrosity was released into the general population. (It's been a few years so I can't remember every shot I did, but I think that's me in the bottom freezeframe.)
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Never let it be said you didn't get to see me give a couple of hand jobs.
@ZiggyStardust: Don't forget Hubba Bubba!
@Hez: You're so lucky!
@BalknChain: I have a "i'm just a Bill" bobble head on my desk at work, I loved him!
@ian spiegelman: Biggest budget and best shoot I ever worked on. By contrast, one shoot for a bath toy had me standing in a tub of lukewarm water all day pulling on a plastic doll's finger to make it 'fart' bubbles. "Hez, can we get the doll's ass more in frame, please? And can we get a bigger fart next time? From the doll?" (Couldn't find the ad, sorry.)
This is why Ian is my favorite Gawker of them all! I maybe a little drunk.
"Prit-tee sneak-ee, Sis!"
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@SpoiledGirlieGirl: And this one:
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@hortense: "If pizza's on a bagel, you can have pizza anytime" was clearly written before we all realized that carbs are the enemy.