Here's a collection of weird commercials, most of which have some celebrity tie-in...
-Mel Tillis for Whataburger (a great Texas hamburger chain); his stuttering is incorporated right into the ad. Nice to see him have a sense of humor...
-Selena for Coca Cola Classic (in English); I know she was pegged as "The Mexican Madonna," but I just don't see it here. She seems too wholesome, but that's probably what Coke wanted...
-Selena for Coca Cola in Spanish ("El Sabor de Tu Vida" which means "The Taste of Your Life"); she seems to have a bit more attitude here than in English, even though Spanish is NOT her native tongue (she grew up in Texas)
-Eddie Murphy for the 1990 Toyota Celica... "Supa Supa!" For years before the internet, it was rumored Eddie had kissed a Toyota in a Japanese commercial, as if that was completely scandalous. As you can see from the ads, they're more confusing than upsetting (since Americans in Japanese ads routinely have to say odd things that will appeal to Eastern ears):
-Philip Michael Thomas for International Psychic Network (1994); no comment
-A commercial break from WCLQ Cleveland, 1985 (I found this while searching for the Hal Artz Auto jingle, which has been stuck in my head for decades. Alas, this is one of those "concept" ads that has no music. I did enjoy the ad inviting me to go bowling, however).
-Shake and Vac (this is a British ad from 1980 that is iconic over there; why they didn't run it here, too, is beyond me)
-Freedom Rock: I have this tattooed on my brain, mainly because the radio at the very beginning is the same one my parents had
-Don Rickles at the Latin Casino: a cute 1975 ad for Mr. Warmth's appearance at the New Jersey nightclub (with Fabian!)
-The Bull was a brand of malt liquor from Schlitz, advertised in the early 1980s. Here, it's The Platters and Kool and the Gang. I've also seen one with The Spinners. I believe I tracked these down because they were parodied somewhere... but I can't remember where!
-Sanyo car stereo commercial (1979): a man abducts women off the street to hear his $500 car stereo installed in a $1000 car. I've never understood their slogan from back then: "that's life." I always thought "that's life" was a lament for when things go wrong (like being abducted into a $1000 econobox)
-Bob Fosse's Dancin' (1978): this is for the show's Broadway run. A much better ad (not currently on YouTube) was made a few years later for the touring company. The athleticism on display is amazing, but I question the "white man trying to sound like Sammy Davis" announcer giving equal parity to Bach, George M. Cohan, Neil Diamond and Melissa Manchester.
-Akai Japanese commercial featuring The Manhattan Transfer: Man, do I hate the Manhattan Transfer's smug, cutesy version of "Birdland." Even if it weren't over-the-top, the lyrics suck and it's riddled with early 80s synths. (The original from Weather Report is only a little bit better). This ad also irritates me because the reel-to-reel (an Akai GX-747) is clearly running backwards. And at this late date, reel tape was pretty much a dead format (for consumers)! At least it appears that The Transfer are trapped in a dungeon in this ad.
-Wings Greatest: a humorous commercial for Paul's 1978 his collection, "Wings Greatest." For those who can't understand why he released this album, a bit of history: he owed Capitol (US) one more album before starting his then-new deal with Columbia Records (which had given him a huge advance, plus the rights to many classic musicals... an empire that would eventually explode in the 1980s and make Paul one of the richest musicians ever even WITHOUT owning the Beatles' song publishing). Paul also wanted to collect a number of his non-album hit singles ("Another Day," "Hi, Hi, Hi," "Live and Let Die," "Mull of Kintyre," "Junior's Farm"). This is also the reason that several obvious hits ("Maybe I'm Amazed," "C Moon," "Give Ireland Back to the Irish," "Helen Wheels," the #1 "Listen to What the Man Said") were left off.
Read bizrre the story here of how the photograph of a chryselephantine statuette of Semiramis made the front cover.
-Grapefruit 45: I have never understood this or what the diet aid actually does, but seeing a guy who looks like a Chicago Bears-training-camp-reject say "that a babe" is classic. Also, the way he refers to past ads makes it seem like there's a whole series of these. Let's see them!
-October 3, 1981 HBO Free Preview: This is not so much an ad as an extended time-filler between movies. It features Squire Friddell (the greatest commercial pitchman of all-time, who did so many Toyota ads), Karen Morris-Gowdy ("special co-star?!"; she was on "Ryan's Hope" and is Curt Gowdy's daughter-in-law) and the bizarre Norm Crosby. I would love to know who thought this group would have chemistry. Gowdy's attempts to be funny with Crosby are painful (and it's all over-scripted). I also don't understand why Oklahoma has to have its own phone number. Was this some weird AT&T pre-breakup thing? Just curious.
-And here's another ad with Norm Crosby, for Red Lobster. He's from New England, so I guess that makes sense:
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