Vintage ads: Come back, Grimace!
Posted: Friday, July 13, 2007 6:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:
TV commercials
Let's take a one-day break from hashing over current commercials and go back in time. YouTube is wonderful for many things, but one of them is that it acts as a little time machine, allowing you to go back into your past and revisit videos you have completely forgotten about, from old movie clips to news events to yes, even vintage commercials.
Obviously, none of these Ye Olde Ads are eligible for our contest, but they're sure a lot of fun to watch, even if you don't remember seeing them the first time around. All links below are video links with audio, so have your headphones on if you're at work. And regular warnings apply: YouTube videos can be yanked without notice, so if any of these links go bad, my apologies.
THE EVIL GRIMACE
McDonaldland used to be a terrifically trippy, hippie place. Check out these kids eating from the French fry tree and discovering the Hamburger Patch. But better than that is the Evil Grimace, who doesn't seem so much evil as just stupid. Here's Ronald singing the entire menu, to the tune of "Life Is a Rock, But the Radio Rolled Me" (apparently this was released on a record ... now that takes me back.) Oh, and it isn't a commercial, but this McD's training film from the 1970s is just hilarious. Where are Mike, Joel, and the Mystery Science Theater bots when you need them? (The YouTube comments are racist and foul, for some reason, so skip those.)
PRETTY SNEAKY, SIS
Was there ever a more memorable board game ad than this one, for Connect Four? Those of us of a certain generation can recite "Where?" "Here, di-ag-on-ally!" and "Pretty sneaky, sis." as quickly as we can remember our names. In other game ads, these are some pretty scary Hungry, Hungry Hippos. (One commenter says he used to play the game using Skittles. Hopefully not the Sour ones.) I loved the weirdly, gleefully sexist Mystery Date, but really, those girls should have realized that the Dud was probably going to go on to found Microsoft or something.
HE KNOCKED MY BLOCK OFF
Here's an awesome old Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots ad (and here's Dodge's new twist on the concept). Check this out: A very young Jack Black stars in an Atari ad for Pitfall (now that was a game!). (Confession: I love all old Atari ads, including this old Mario Brothers ad set to the tune of the "Car 54, Where Are You?" theme.) Want your memory jogged about more retro game commercials? Here's a fun list. And if dolls are more your thing, here's the first-ever Barbie doll commercial. Just $3! Think what this model is worth today.
SOME CEREAL, SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD FOR YA
Some commercials just live on in our pop culture years after they stop airing. Here are a few Hall of Famers.
• "He likes it! Hey, Mikey!"
for Life cereal. (And here's a
grown-up Mikey still hawking Life.)
• Coke's turned out some classic ads, from Mean Joe Green to "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing."
• Remember Santa riding the snow drifts on a Norelco razor?
• Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble smoke up for Winston cigarettes. Ya couldn't get away with that today.
Post your memories of retro ads (with links, if you can) in the comments.
