’70s-Something
Time for another ’70s toy commercial from Hasbro and the Duke archive. Like Leggy Fashion Dolls, I don’t believe that the Great Moves party game had a long shelf life. It looks like a Twister with something of a proto-Win, Lose Or Draw spin, only more logistically complex than either. For maximum 70s-ishness, the partygoers include Fred “Rerun” Berry and Roz “Pinky Tuscadero” Kelly!
She’s Got Legs
A couple of months ago, I took all of the Hasbro Toys commercials in the Duke University AdViews Archive and burnt them onto two DVDs for the household to enjoy. As far as I can tell, all of the commercials are from the ’70s. Multiple ads for iconic toys like G.I. Joe, Weebles, Mr. Potato Head, the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine, Charlie’s Angels dolls and Hungry Hungry Hippos make up a big chunk of the set. There are also quite a few delightful obscurities, however, including the commercial below (which I also uploaded to YouTube). According to their Wikipedia page, Leggy Fashion Dolls were on the market for just one year, in 1972-73. Sue, Jill, Nan and Kate dress in different groovy styles, but what they all share in common are their freakishly long legs. Love it!
Byrrh and Fluffo
Yesterday I came across AdViews, an archive of high quality digitized vintage TV commercials, on Boing Boing and seemingly have never left. They have a ton of ads dating from the ’50s up through the ’80s. Although one has to go through iTunes to view them, it’s easy enough to download a huge batch and burn ‘em onto a DVD. That’s exactly what I did with their 100 or so Grape Nuts ads (why I started with Grape Nuts, who knows).
The cereal commercials alone are fascinating. This one shills a Post product called Size 8, a cereal packaged in a uniquely mod swirl festooned cylinder. How very ’60s!
The Coffee Achievers
In honor of National Coffee Day, a series of TV ads Jim Henson did for Wilkins Coffee in the ’60s. In the spots, an embryonic version of Kermit and a Rowlf-voiced creature explain what could happen if we don’t drink up. Man, these are violent — and hilarious.
Huggy Bear Gone Viral
An adorable circa 1983 commercial for Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. What, you never heard of Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear? That’s because the pink ‘n fuzzy toy only exists as a character in the forthcoming Toy Story 3; the commercial is actually a promotional tool from those sneaks at Pixar. Brilliant!
Brooke Shields, She’s A Beautiful Doll
The Brooke Shields doll commercial from circa 1981, spotted yesterday on Jonno’s Twitter feed. Sure beats that weird eyelash-growing medicine she’s hawking these days.
