September 24, 2025 • 45 mins
From silky Pantene hair to the squeaky-clean world of Zest, the 1980s gave us commercials we’ll never forget. This week, we’re diving into six iconic ads that defined a decade. Were they genius marketing, cheesy camp, or a little of both? Join us for a nostalgic trip back to the golden age of TV commercials.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Children of the Eighties is brought to you by Q
one O six point five Internet Radio. You can find
it online at Q one o six point five dot
com or download the app.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome back to Children of the Eighties. I am one
of your hosts, Jim, and I am joined as always
by the lady who always tries to avoid the noid.
It's my co host, Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Right now, I'm trying to avoid the death with my
blood sugars, a little wacky.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Avoid the death. Yeah, you and your diabetics with your
blood sugar.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
There's some weird little like peep in the background. It's
just an alert. I'm on my way out, but that's okay.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Should I start playing Phil Collins take me Home?
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You should?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Oh my goodness, Oh what a fun way to start
the episode. One of us might die, But folks, I
am so dedicated to your listenership to that even if
she dies, I'm gonna keep going and finish the episode
and then I'll call nine one one.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So this is a new way that I can incorporate
death into our podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
You mean you don't have any celebrities that died recently?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
You do, But I'm holding off. I'm gonna do a
whole episode on that.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Oh jeez, well no, no, no, we do that at
the beginning of next year.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
But we've had we've had a string of deaths.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yes, we have, So why don't you just throw them
out there?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Real well, I got other things I want to talk
about today.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
All right, what do you want to talk about today?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
We just got back from an epic weekend in Nashville
celebrating Emmy's twelfth birthday.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
You call it Nashville, some people call it nash Vegas.
To start calling it nasty Ville.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
That you're gonna say, I'm gonna call it the Pits
of Hell.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
No, it's not the Pits of Hell. But it sure
has gone downhill in the last ten years.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Kind of ass, hasn't it. So we went last summer
and you worked while we were there, so you didn't
get to see everything that Emmy and I saw, and
I came back to the hotel when afternoon and I
was like, gem it's Nashville's changed a lot. And You're like, no,
it's just you. You're getting old. You're a fuddy duddy. So
(02:30):
you got to see Broadway this time, and am I right?
Has it changed?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
It has changed. Broadway is still bumping, but man, there
are a lot of people out there. What it used
to look like at night, it now looks like during
the day, and then at night it's just it looks
like it's the end of the world.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Things are falling out of the girls tops and bottoms.
Oh it's yeah, yeah, things are hanging out.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Both in Yeah, the young ladies don't know how to
dress anymore.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I don't feel like sometimes more is better no when
it comes to clothing, yes, okay, But anyways, so we
had a fantastic trip. Emmy has mastered the piano, She's
got a beautiful little singing voice, and now she wants
to learn to play the guitar. So we were able
(03:22):
to get her a guitar while we were in Nashville,
and I'm hoping that's a great memory for her. But
we also had another ulterior motive for going.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
What do we do?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I thought you were still on the guitar thing and
you were going to talk about how you took her
to see Jack White's studio.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Oh, yeah, so I got tickets for us to tour
Jack White's recording studio. We get there and it's in
a little bit of a rough part of town, just
probably an understatement, and so Jim was worried about leaving
his car. So Jim didn't take this well.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
First off, there was no place to park.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
No, there was no place to park. But boy, there
were a lot of people willing to watch your car
for it.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Oh yeah, yeah, yes, for sure, for sure, like those
dudes on Ferris Bueller who watched the Porsche there.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
So it was so awesome. I think I enjoyed it
way more than she did because I think a lot
of it kind of went over her head. But I
didn't realize we had to put our cell phones in
a scramble box, so I couldn't take any pictures. And
you know, me and my memory, it's not good. So
I came back out and went to work today and
(04:39):
I've got like a cool musician friend at work, and
at lunch, I was starting to try to tell him
about the tour, and that's like I've already lost half
of it.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, that's how my short term memory is too. We
had an interesting trip up there. As we drove up
there and we got to meet one of our listeners
and sometimes collaborators, Deaf Dave.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Deaf Dave was in the house.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
He came out of his way to meet us on
our way up there, so we could say hi, take
a selfie, just hang out for a few minutes and
get together. That was a lot of fun. But that
was also the stop where I discovered that I had
driven about two hundred miles with my wallet left on
a ledge back home.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
In the flower garden.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
In the flower garden.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So that allowed me to drive the rest of the.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Tree, which was not good for my heart, for my
blood pressure, for my neck.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Oh bully, I'm a really good driver.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
You have a lead foot, whether it comes to touching
the gas or touching the brake. You hammer on everything.
You're emsy hammer. You're the emsy hammer of drivers.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Go hard and fast or go home.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Well, well that's what you do, and you scare the
tar out of mind.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I know. So I got used to you just like
randomly screaming in the passenger seat next to me. But
I did a great job. I got us around Nashville
safely and back home safely. There were no accidents, no accidents,
no tickets.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
But safely is a word that I wouldn't use. Oh please,
no accidents, no tickets, A fun time was had by all.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, we had a blast.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
But last year around this time, maybe a month after,
we did a show with mister Brian Colburn from My
Weekly Mixtape where we celebrated weird Ale's sixty fifth birthday
by going through some of our favorite eighty songs by him. Well,
guess what we got to see here, see and here
(06:52):
most of those songs on Saturday night in nash Vegas
as Weird All was performing at the Amphitheater there, which
you seem to love more than the Amphitheater that we
have here.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, we have an Amphitheater really close by to us here,
the one in Nashville ten times a better.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, blows it out of the water.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
So this is the third time that we've each seen
Weird Alan concert.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
The first time Emmy saw.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
First time for Emmy. For us, it's our third time.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, because we have such a cool kid. She was
turning twelve, she wanted to go see Weird Alan. I
know Nashville so awesome. Just to watch her during the
show is just incredible. So sixty five years old performed
for what two hours, more than two hours.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
He was dancing, he was moving, he was dressing up,
he was changing costumes. He never slowed down, and he
sounded terrific. He sounded fantastic, and he never did the
like overly chat to buy him some time?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Right, No, no, no, no, he was not nickelback.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
He did not nickelback us, and he did not Paula
abdul Us because he did not have an oxygen.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Well, very true, he'd neither nickelbacked nor abdualled us.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I've impressed with his uh long strength still and his
overall help Like, good job here.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Now, Yeah, he did a good job. It was a
fun show and I and I laughed and so but
that's what was fun.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
There was one downside.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Waiting in traffic after the show, or was.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
There another down that was definitely?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Are you talking about the killer clown that sang first
that made me want to commit suicide? Yes, Oh my gosh.
That guy was awful. I mean, he was a great singer,
but he but the songs that he sang were awful
and depressing and really made me want to hurt myself,
like literally made me want to hurt myself.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Huddle's pity party. It's horrible, folks, it's the name of
this clown. Horrible. Jim got like upset by it, to
the point that I even kind of like, are we
leaving because it took a lot of effort to get
downtown and get here in my seat, and are we
(09:10):
leaving before weird.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Alperfort No, we were never leaving before weird outperforms. Luckily
for you all and the crowd, and actually for Pitiful
or Puddles or whatever his name is Puddle. Luckily for him,
I didn't storm the stage and attack him for singing
his horrible songs. I had my Spectrum app open on
(09:32):
my phone and I was watching the missoo South Carolina game.
Go Tigers, m I z and you're supposed to say,
zo you in the studio, m I z z o
you there you go.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
So Puddle's pity party was very off putting. And didn't
really know never heard of him before, and wasn't quite
sure what to make every want to hear him. But
I realized, because what do I do anytime something new
comes in front of me, I google it. So I
googled Puddles and I actually do know of this guy.
(10:07):
So his name is Michael gear Geary. I don't know Gear,
I think, And you're so good with the names Oh listen,
I'm children of the eighties version of Jessica Simpson. He
actually was the frontman for an Elvis tribute act that
(10:30):
performed regularly in Atlanta back when I was like in
my later teens that I was obsessed with.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
So the band was called King Sized. I think the
show was Elvis Royale, And so I'm like, oh my gosh,
so I am. I'm finally seeing him perform, just not
as Elvis but as Puddles pity party.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Uh, he needs to go back to the Elvis thing
because the clown thing he makes me hate clowns and
be it. Really it really is suicidal music. I mean
it really is.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It was odd, It was definitely odd. But did he
not have a fantastic voice?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
He did? No, he could sing. He could sing, for sure, Yeah,
I was. I was impressed by that. But other than that, yeah,
I could do without.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
So I thought that Deaf Dave had said because Deaf
Dave saw this weird al show in Knoxville, Huntsville, Huntsville,
what like a month or two ago?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, yeah, how about a month and a half ago.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Or so, I thought I must have misunderstood what he said.
I thought he said to get ready that he didn't
do as many of his pride and true hits in this.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
No, what he said was he did a lot of
stuff after the year two thousand, in the year two soon. Yeah,
so that's what he said.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Okay, Well I was. I felt like he hit on
every one of them. The only that I can think
of the top of my head that he didn't do
that I wish he had of was the biggest ball
of twine in Minnesota. Yes, other than that, I mean,
did he not just.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
He hit most of them? Yeah, he does a little
like twelve or fifteen song medley, so he can hit
you know, yeah, all the decades and make all the
fans happy.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
He even put on the fat suit and did and
did fat. I'm fat, I'm fat. I know it, you
know it. I think he knows it too.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, he was pretty fat.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Well, we had fun.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Now back to reality, Yes, now back to reality, which
sometimes feels like that clowne life that I live to live.
That's what I sing every time we get back from
vacation and you guys get mad at me. But hey,
it's catchy for a reason. So are you ready?
Speaker 1 (12:52):
I'm ready?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
All right, here we go.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
This is a podcast that looks back on the decade
of the nineteen eighties. We talk about things that were
important to us as children and what we look back
on with fond memories as adults. Ultimately, this is a
nostalgia podcast.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
It is, and we today are getting nostalgic. We're doing
another commercials episode, Commercials Episode number three. We've done two before,
and we're talking about some iconic commercials again from the eighties.
So you want to remind some of the folks of
the commercials, some of the commercials we did in the past.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Okay, so we have done Where's the.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Beef, Where's the Beef, Clara Old Lady Clara with their
Wendy's commercial, Body's.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Commercial, which might be kind of the biggest and most
popular eighties TV commercial. I think at least you think so.
I think so. Time to make the Donuts?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah we did. We talked about the donuts guy, time
to make the donuts.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Dunking donuts. What about the micro machine guy?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, I talked real fast. Yeah, I can't keep up
with him.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
And then we I think we also mentioned Joe Asuzu.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
We did. We mentioned Joe Asuzu. We've done Domino's avoid
the nooid. Yes, as much as we thank our listeners
for their support, maybe we don't think them as much
as Bartles and James think us for our support. Also,
one of those earworms who wear short shorts, we covered
nare that Nair commercial? Because you know those earworms kind
(14:32):
of get into Yeah that thing did stinc didn't? But
that commercial stuck in your head, didn't it. You can
still sing it yes to this day. So those were
some fun ones that we did in the past, and
we're going to get to a few more today. Are
you excited about this one?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I'm excited. So I kind of went down the path
and I sort of had a theme going.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
And I joined that theme.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
You did?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
I did join that theme. You don't know what I'm doing?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Do you have no idea?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah? I saw your theme and I already had one
or two in mind anyway, and so I was like,
you know what, I'm just going to take that theme
and I'm just going to run with it as well. Okay,
what do you think about that?
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I love it?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
So are you going to tell the folks your theme?
Are you just going to try and make them guess it?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
So?
Speaker 1 (15:15):
No, I'm gonna I'll go ahead and share with them.
So my thought going into this episode was to come
up with brands or products or commercials that would have
spoke to my mom when she was my age.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Uh huh.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
And so that's where I came up with my commercials from.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
See and I felt like your commercials were very household oriented. Yeah,
and so therefore I also went with a household oriented commercials.
I love it that I chose. So this should be fun.
Are you ready to get to the meat of the story.
Let's do it all right, I will let you start first.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Now, do you have the audio clip that you'll play
a little bit of the commercial? I do?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I do.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I'll play the whole commercial.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Oh, you're gonna play the whole line.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I wondered if you wanted to introduce it first?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Do you care where I start? Uh No, you can
start wherever you want to start.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So I am starting with a brand called the cow Gone.
It originally was invented as a water softener, but by
the time that the late seventies and early eighties came around,
they had transitioned into bath products. And that is where
this commercial comes into play.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Cow Gon take.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
Me Away, Indulge yourself in Calgon luxury and caw Gon
softening for you. It's like no other bad experience. It's
kel Gon lose yourself in luxury.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
That I feel like I need Kalgun every day.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
I know me too. The Calgon take Me Away campaign
debuted in nineteen seventy eight, and it quickly became a
phrase that became like a cultural catchphrase for the eighties. Yes,
it was often used jokingly by people, not just women,
but just like what you just said, by just like
(17:23):
people wanting to escape their everyday life. So the campaign
was so effective that it ran in different variations well
into the nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
You know what, I needed Kalgun to take me away
by that stupid clown sender.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Aha, So I feel like I remember this, But the
opening lines of some versions of this commercial started something
like the traffic, the boss, the baby, the doll. Yes,
before then the woman knows Kelgon take me away.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Listen. There's dozens of commercials that you could do and
that I could have picked from, and I picked this
one because you hear the phone ring, and you hear
the dog bark, and you hear the kids, right, you know,
whining in the background, and the ladies just like she's
just reached her limit. And I've been there every day
for the last six months, and so I get it.
(18:19):
And so that's why I chose that. But I do
want you to know you can finish Calgun here. But
cal Gon wasn't just a bass soap. It was also
a laundry detergent. Do you remember that old commercial where
the guy or the lady went in, They were like,
how do you get my clothes so soft? And it
was like a laundromat and the Chinese guy's like ancient
(18:39):
Chinese secret. Yes, but that was cal Gon.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
So I started to bring that up, but that actually
didn't age well because the Asian actor, it was very
like he was very stereotypical, and today it would be
he was considered maybe.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
But his wife wasn't very stereotypical because she would just
laugh and she'd be like an ancient Chinese secret. He
uses col.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Guy, But I don't remember that, So I found that
in my research. Okay, but I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I mean, if somebody's saying it's very stereotypical, I think
the guy was playing along right, like I don't think. Yeah, no,
I'm gonna disagree. With that.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Okay, that's fine. So and if you remember when it
then cut to the lady in the bathtub, she wasn't
just simply taking a bubble bath in your standard nineteen
eighties bathroom. She was usually like her surroundings were luxury decoration.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, no, no, she looked like a Julius Caesar taken
a bath exactly. I mean, not her hair cut, but
just like a bath that he would like to take, right.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yes, So she didn't have the Caesar.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
She didn't have the Caesar cut.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Oh gosh. So that's just one that I don't know.
For some reason, I still think about it a good
bit today. And I remember as a kid, my mom
always laughing at that commercial. And so that was like
the first one I wanted to put on the list
for today.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Well, that's a good one because it certainly sticks with you.
And like you said, it started in nineteen seventy eight,
but it ran through all throughout the eighties, and just
about anybody who grew up at that time knows the
phrase Calgon take me away. So I love the fact
that you went with that.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I thought this was interesting talking about how they started
as like a detergent or a water softener. The word
calgon comes from calcium gone, which is a reference to
it removing the calcium.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Well, it sounds to me a little bit in.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
The products, so the soak could work like a.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Lot of these ladies that took the bath in probably
have osteoporosis, you know, maybe because it's taken away the
calcium from their bones.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
That are call saul.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
You think?
Speaker 1 (20:55):
So?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
All right? Well you went with a bathroom kind of
bad thing there. I'm gonna stick with that theme here
you ready.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Test fully clean.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Zest announces a whole new kind of clean.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Yes, fully clean.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
You're not fully clean unless zestfully clean.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Introducing new improved Zest the odorant bar. First, it loves
you clean, then it rinses you cleaner.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Look at me? Do I look clean to you? Surprised?
I'm not fully clean unless.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
I'm zestfully clean. This is what happens with soaked so
please a sticky film on you that won rins away.
But Newses leaves no sticky film. It rintses you fully clean.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Holy kind of clean Zest fully clean.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Zest fully clean.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You're not fully clean unless you est fully clean. That
last guy, he was going for it. He was all
into it. It's an earworm, right like this, it just
stuck with you. You knew that, you knew the as
it went along. You're not fully clean unless you're zest
fully clean. The ads like leaned hard into that, right.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And they're so happy they are.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
They act as if they just discovered the meaning of life.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Like you want to use zes because you want to
be that happy?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Yes, And that's what they're saying, is somebody hopping out
of the shower. They're upbeat, they're wrapped in a towel,
they're grinning like they just discovered the meaning of life.
Only really it's just Zes soap. But they got very
high energy.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Why do I feel like at the end of the commercial,
like the actor looks at the camera and smiles and
his perfect white teeth and it does that.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Little twinkle, yeah twinkle, no, no, no, no, he was
still in the shower and.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Just that's fully clean. He's happy.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
He was super happy.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Is that what you need? Do you think you need
some zest?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Maybe? But here's the thing they talked about, how regular
soap leaves a film on you. I've only noticed that
when I used the soap in hotel bathrooms.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, no, I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I don't think soap sticks to you. So I don't
know what they were lying about there. But it was
still a ketchy commercial, lots of bold colors, cheerful bathroom scenes,
people laughing, but hammered that slogan into your brain, zest
fully clean. I still sing it to this day, bouncy catchy,
repeated over and over and over again. You know, it's
(23:21):
not an ordinary soap. You're not clean unless you use Zest.
So all you dirty folk out there that use Dove
or whatever, you need to switch over to Zess. But
you know, like you said, you're talking about the target audience,
right parents. Yeah, maybe some athletes, because there was an
early athlete commercial there, but anyone who wanted to look
(23:42):
energized and squeaky clean. Maybe I need some Zest in
the morning. I drag a little bit in the morning
rather than coffee. Maybe I need to get zest fully clean.
So there was an ad from nineteen eighty two that
featured three basketball players in a locker room setting and
they're comparing regular soap versus Zest, and they've got soap
(24:03):
on one arm and Zest on the other, and they
do like a test to show weird which one rints
is cleaner? Right?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
How can you tell though? Once you rinse the soap off? Like,
what's well?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I mean they showed the you know, the sliding glass door.
The lady was like, do I look cleaning? You think
she does? And all of a sudden she slides it
open and she looks cleaner and brighter. I think they
just used a film screen on the camera. Yeah, but
the slogan was coined by James J. Jordan Junior, who
was a creative director and admin at BBD O for
(24:36):
J for J James j Jordan Junior, who I didn't
I didn't catch on that, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
That's what his friends and family.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
So do you remember that commercial?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Oh of course I do.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Did you guys ever buy Zest? No, you guys were
a Dove.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Family dial Dial soap Dial. That's My mom had one
soap and to this day that's the soap I have
to use. So she convinced me as a small child,
if I used any other soap, bad things would happen,
and that was not a chance I was willing to take.
I remember when I moved out and got on my own,
(25:11):
I went and bought like dove soap, and I had
some kind of reaction to it, and she was basically like,
I told you so.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Mama's no. So I'm gonna force you to get some
zest and I'm gonna see if I feel terribed. You
don't have to use it. I just want to see
if I feel any cleaner using it. You've got the
plain white dial. I want some of that green and
white ocean looking.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Ze, you know, bath and body works and stuff like.
I will go buy their candles till the cows come home.
I will never buy their soap or anything. And I
try to tell emmy all the time, do not use
that her fumey crap, because Grandma always said not to.
And Grandma knows.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
We're gonna get some zest fully clean in this. That's
what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Oh my gosh. I always like when you say zest,
I do. I do see like color. I see green
and blue and red, just like you're in the Caribbean.
The primary red. There's a red. No, I see like
a red like stripe or something. I don't know if
you see red.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
There's no red.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I'm telling you you're seeing red right now.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I'm seeing red because you're saying, you see red when
you see zest and you don't you see the Caribbean sea. Okay,
in the Caribbeans like pirates. No, no, stop stop with
the red. There's no red.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Oh my goodness, are you done?
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I'm done?
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Okay, I'm ready for my next one?
Speaker 2 (26:40):
What is your next one?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Palm Olive was famous for a commercial that they did
in the nineteen eighties. Why are you giving me that look?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Because you just pronounced that palm olive as if it
were two separate words, when we know you put it together.
It's Paul Malive. It's not Paul Olive. It's not an
olive that you put in your hand.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Okay, try that one again.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
What do you mean trying again?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Okay, Paul Olive, there you go. Famous for commercial that
he did in the nineteen eighties with a pitchwoman named
Madge the Manicurist. Madge, Meet Frank my cat. O Frank
my cat.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Oh those hands look like something Frank dragged in. We'll
I try everything and use palm ola dish washing liquid.
It softens your hands while you do the dishes.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
You're soaking in it. Dishwashing liquid is palm olive.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Mild more than mild, makes loaves of SuDS at last, and.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
No kidding, palm olish soften his hands while you do
the dishes, Madge.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Paul Mallin's great, you're an angel.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Well, it's my halo on straight.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
So I love that Gimmer. I don't know why. Madge
was played by actress Jan Minor. So The commercial revolved
around a woman in a beauty salon complaining about how
harsh her dish washing soap is on her hands, and
Madge comes along and she always uses the tagline tough
(28:20):
on grease, soft on hands. The twist to the story
is the client is usually already soaking their fingers in
the palm olive, and Madge always then says, you're soaking
in it.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Oh, I don't remember that.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
You're soaking in it because she's given him a manicure.
So Magshaw became one of the longest running brand spokes
characters in advertising history, appearing from Listen to This the
nineteen sixties through the early nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Really, yes, she's been around as long as the Cow's
on Chick fil A.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Do you remember when the Cows first came out? I do,
back in like what was it the mid nineties. Yep,
So back in the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, the women
were the ones washing the dishes.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yes, now the dishwasher washes the dishes.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Thank the Lord. So do you remember that commercial?
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I do remember that commercial. I remember all those commercials.
I do want to say that I always got I
don't want to say I always got them confused, but
they kind of run together in my head. Madge and
the lady that did the brawny commercials. Yes, they're very
similar to me, kind of like weird Alan Howard Stern what, Yeah,
(29:52):
very similar to me. So they stick out because again,
as children of the eighties, we had like three channels,
so you're always watching the commercial that came on. We
didn't have DVRs. But it wasn't something that I really enjoyed.
It was just it's just a part of my childhood.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So these two so far, the two commercials that I've
talked about, both sold a mental break from reality and
escape into some kind of like a little fantasy and
a moment of peace. Okay, I can I can the
wives and moms out.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I can get on board with that. So you're going
with the moments of peace for moms and I'm going
with the jingles. So my next one is also a
famous jingle, but it also has to do with home products.
Kids and moms both approved of this. Do you remember
band aids?
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Yes, I am stuck on band Aids because band Aids
stuck on me.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
I am stuck only.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
Band Aid brandit. He's a bandages from Johnson and Johnson
have our super stay on it.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
He's in.
Speaker 5 (31:10):
You'll notice the difference because it stays on you better
than anything else you can buy.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
What do you think about that one?
Speaker 1 (31:20):
What does what? Do the kids sing? There in the
middle of the.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Commercial they were talking about how band aids stick on
them even though they're in.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
The bathtub, because it was just sounded like.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Yes, it was two little twin boys and they were
singing about how band aids stuck to them even while
they were in the bathtube.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
There's nothing that little kids like more than a band aid.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Yes, So any little kid gets hurt and they're crying
and they've got a scrape or they've got a cut
or whatever, you stick a band aid on them. And
it was like as if you've given them morphine. Yes,
they're going up and going and running around like easy
pre band aid. They're acting as if they got chainsawed
(32:05):
their leg off. Post band aid morphine. Everything's great. So
that commercial again, it's one of those things. It just
sticks in your head, right. It's usually happy kids running, climbing,
playing outside, scrape knees, little cuts, Moms you know, putting
(32:27):
the band aids on their kids. Do a little close
up there. The kid would try to peel off the
band aid, tugging at it, only to show that it's
still sticking. Right. The jingle I am stuck on band
aid brand because band aids stuck on me, extremely catchy,
childlike tone. There was actually one commercial that I wanted
(32:49):
to pull but I couldn't find it again after I
pulled it up and didn't record it. It was just
all kids singing it. Wasn't that cheesy guy at the
fire truck you know who started singing it. Yes, yeah,
Chester wasn't singing that, but yeah, they just reinforced the
message to repetition singing it several times. Band aids durable
(33:10):
and it's reliable because it's staying on through play, through water,
through any other kind of activity. But it's not just
a bandage it's a band Aid brand bandage, right, and
so they leaned on that brand loyalty so much that
basically band Aid has become the generic for any kind
of adhesive bandage.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Right. No, we ask for a bandage, just.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Like we asked for Kleenex. Right. Some of those has
just you know, taken over. And so the target audience
for this was parents, and really especially moms, because let's
be honest, we're talking about the eighties. Moms are often
shown applying the bandages right there. Moms are usually taking
care of the kids. Dads are just like, you know,
rub some dirt on it. You'll be fine even if
(33:58):
you get an infection. But band aids were a household
staple and still are to this day.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Absolutely, I always loved me a good band aid, especially
after the tricycle accident of eighty four.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yes, but this is certainly one of the most memorable
children's ad jingle of the nineteen eighties. And I got
a fun fact.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
For you, Oh bring it.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
The melody was originally written by Barry Manilow in the.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
CT Are you serious? I had no idea? That's cool?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yep, And just like zes jingle, band Aid ran that
same slogan for years and years and years and have
embedded it into the zeitgeist.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
I wonder does he get money every time they play
that commercial or does he did he just get one
time payment upfront for it.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
I don't know. I bet he gets money every time.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
I hope, so, I hope.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
So A few cents here, a few cents there. Yep,
all right, that's all I have on the band aids.
So I guess you've got your next one coming up.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
My third and final Panteen had a very famous commercial
in the nineteen eighties that's still often remembered today.
Speaker 4 (35:18):
Don't hate me.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Because I'm beautiful.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
I used to be a joke dry split in. Then
I discovered pantin. Panteen has this pro vitamin formula that
actually strengthens your hair from inside. It's incredible, even with
everything I put my hair through books so healthy, strong, shiny.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Listen, it won't.
Speaker 4 (35:40):
Happen overnight, and it will happen part serious.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
You'll see. So I do want to say before you
get going that she must have been talking to women
about don't hate me because I'm beautiful, because I can
speak for every eighties little boy, and none of them
were hate on Kelly LeBrock.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
So let me just say I picked this commercial not
because my mom related to it or because I related
to it. I'm picking it for the absurdity of the
whole ad and the campaign in itself. So the line,
debuted in nineteen eighty six, is part of Panteen's US
(36:23):
relaunch with their pro Vitamin B five formulas.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
Do you like?
Speaker 1 (36:29):
At some point she was like, it won't happen immediately,
but it will happen over time. What a bunch of
you know what bogwash. One of the best known faces
of the campaign was Kelly LeBrock, who had just become
famous as the dreamgirl in Weird Science. So this ad
(36:50):
is so off putting to me, but it's very memorable. Yes,
So I had to pick it, or I felt I
needed to pick it to kind of balance out my
love for the other two. So the slogan became so
famous that it was often mocked and it still is
(37:11):
for again for its absurdity, and it was even parody
on different TV shows in different sitcoms. So in some
international markets, the exact line didn't translate well, so localized
versions were created. For example, in the UK, the ads
(37:31):
leaned more heavily on the science of Providamin's angle rather
than the aspirational beauty line. Oh yep, So despite the backlash, if.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
I had known that, I would have went Flintstone Kids
after this.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Despite the backlash, the line dramatically increased sales, and Pantein
became one of the fastest growing premium shampoo brands of
the nineteen eighties. Even decades later, marketing analysts still cited
as a case study in branding success.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Well, I don't want any of my listeners to hate
me because I'm beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
That's exactly what's going on.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Uh did you ever use panteine?
Speaker 4 (38:14):
No?
Speaker 2 (38:14):
I don't think that we did either. But it's an
iconic commercial because everybody remembers that, don't hate me because
I'm beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Like they lean their head back and they swish their
hair un you know, and it's like, how can you
not just want that lush, shiny hair.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
What didn't she end up marrying Steven Seagal Stephen Siegel?
Oh gosh, poor thing, I know, I think so.
Speaker 1 (38:41):
Well, then she got her.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Come up, Ah boy, all right, so we have gone
here you went with? What did you go with? You've
got pantein, which is a shampoo. You've got pow molive,
which is a dish soap that you.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Can also be used for manicures when you do your nails.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
And you've got cow gun, which is like what a
bass soap, a bubble bag of Okay, so you've got
a certain shower thing here, right, And then of course
I had the zest soap and I got the band
aid which stuck on in the showers. So we've got
it in the showers. When you get out of the shower,
(39:28):
what's the first thing you do besides drying off? Hopefully
you're drying off in the shower after you turn off
the water. You're not getting out and stopping water all
over the floor. Better not be so after you. After
you do that, what's the first thing you do? You
put on some deodorant. You got it, you know it.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
You feel confident, secured. If you want to feel confident,
raise your head. If you want to feel secure, raise
your hand. If you want protection that helps you feel
dry all day, raise your hand and reach for sure.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
When was the last time you thought about that?
Speaker 1 (40:20):
I'm immercial. Probably nineteen eighty seven, but I bet.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
You remembered every single word of that song, didn't you.
I'm all about the jingles. The jingles just stick with you.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
So love it, and I love just the hokiness of
the whole.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Oh absolutely so. These were everyday people in social settings, offices, dates, classroom,
sports parties. The big moment usually came when someone confidently
raised their arm, either to hail a cab, to wave,
to cheer, or maybe just a stretch. And they didn't
have to worry about you seeing sweat marks or them
(40:56):
having odor. Yep, right clean, bright, slightly glamorous lighting often
showed both men and women, reinforcing that Sure was for everyone.
The jingle raise your hand, raise your hand of your
shirt catchy sing a long style with strong repetition, just
like both of the other ones, and the hook was
(41:18):
tied directly to the physical gesture of lifting your arms,
making it super visual and easy to remember. They wanted
you to have confidence, right, I love it. It positioned
itself as the deodorant and anti person that gave you
the confidence to raise your hand without embarrassment. Built around trust,
you could rely on Sure to prevent odor and sweat
(41:40):
all day, and it was distinct from competitors like Secret,
which was marketed mainly to women, or old spice, which
is marketed mainly to men. Yep, you know everybody used it.
Everything was about freedom to move, not being held back
(42:02):
by being self conscious. And I really love the ending
of the commercial where even the statue of liberty of
the torch you ever? You sure, I honestly do not remember.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
You know what? My dad I probably did ban.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Remember I do remember, man, That band may have been
the first one that I ever used. My me Moll
bought me band. He always used it with the roller ball, Yes, yes,
the rollerball. Sometimes I'd like to go back to the
roller ball. I'd also like to go back to the
roller derby, right. I love the little trip down Memory Lane.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
Yeah, it's just one of these commercials, even if they're ridiculous,
they just it puts a smile on my face.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
It doesn't put a smile on you know why, because
you go back to a time where there was innocence.
Life hadn't started throwing kidney punches at you. Yet everything
in a commercial is almost always half Yes, I've always
said I just want to live in a commercial.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
All the time.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
If I could live anywhere, it would be a commercial.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Because they're always having a good time. I don't care
if they're selling corps light, or if you're confident because
you got the right deodorant on, or if you just
fell and scraped up your knee and it feels like
somebody chainsaw you off from the femural artery on down.
You're you're happy because Mama stuck a band aid on.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
You and you're gonna be good.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Yeah, absolutely, So what do you think of our list here?
Speaker 1 (43:31):
So quite honestly, it just made me want to go
out and find some more to so we can do
another other episode.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Yes, yeah, these episodes are so funea. I was gonna say,
maybe we'll come back around here real quick and do that.
You know, October is coming up. Oh, we got a
month long of Halloween stuff come up.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
We're gonna be busy in October.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
We're gonna have a lot of fun doing that. So yeah,
let us know what you thought of our list. Let
us know if any of these commercials brought back any memores.
We love hearing from our peeps.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
And before you tell us we left somebody out or
we left a commercial out, go back and listen to
the previous two episodes where we do commercials. Yeah wow.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
One of those episodes was who Wears Short Shorts? And
I believe the other one was Where's the Beef?
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (44:20):
So yeah, go back and listen to those. See what
you think about those great plug there, Missie. You hey,
it's almost sound like a professional.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
I know some days I do.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
So if you don't mind, go ahead and hit that
subscribe button so you're guaranteed to never miss a show.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
And as always, we would love if you would reach
out and find us on social media. We are on x, Instagram, Facebook, what's.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Our handle at Children of Underscore Eighties or you can
always email us Children of the nineteen Eighties at gmail
dot com. But most importantly tell somebody own a friend. Yes, Well,
until next time, I'm Jim.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
And I'm Lindsay and we are Children of the Eighties.
See you next Wednesday.
Children of the Eighties is brought to you by Q
one O six point five Internet Radio. You can find
it online at Q one o six point five dot
com or download the app.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome back to Children of the Eighties. I am one
of your hosts, Jim, and I am joined as always
by the lady who always tries to avoid the noid.
It's my co host, Lindsey.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Right now, I'm trying to avoid the death with my
blood sugars, a little wacky.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Avoid the death. Yeah, you and your diabetics with your
blood sugar.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
There's some weird little like peep in the background. It's
just an alert. I'm on my way out, but that's okay.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Should I start playing Phil Collins take me Home?
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You should?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Oh my goodness, Oh what a fun way to start
the episode. One of us might die, But folks, I
am so dedicated to your listenership to that even if
she dies, I'm gonna keep going and finish the episode
and then I'll call nine one one.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So this is a new way that I can incorporate
death into our podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
You mean you don't have any celebrities that died recently?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
You do, But I'm holding off. I'm gonna do a
whole episode on that.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Oh jeez, well no, no, no, we do that at
the beginning of next year.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
But we've had we've had a string of deaths.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yes, we have, So why don't you just throw them
out there?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Real well, I got other things I want to talk
about today.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
All right, what do you want to talk about today?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
We just got back from an epic weekend in Nashville
celebrating Emmy's twelfth birthday.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
You call it Nashville, some people call it nash Vegas.
To start calling it nasty Ville.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
That you're gonna say, I'm gonna call it the Pits
of Hell.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
No, it's not the Pits of Hell. But it sure
has gone downhill in the last ten years.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Kind of ass, hasn't it. So we went last summer
and you worked while we were there, so you didn't
get to see everything that Emmy and I saw, and
I came back to the hotel when afternoon and I
was like, gem it's Nashville's changed a lot. And You're like, no,
it's just you. You're getting old. You're a fuddy duddy. So
(02:30):
you got to see Broadway this time, and am I right?
Has it changed?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
It has changed. Broadway is still bumping, but man, there
are a lot of people out there. What it used
to look like at night, it now looks like during
the day, and then at night it's just it looks
like it's the end of the world.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Things are falling out of the girls tops and bottoms.
Oh it's yeah, yeah, things are hanging out.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Both in Yeah, the young ladies don't know how to
dress anymore.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I don't feel like sometimes more is better no when
it comes to clothing, yes, okay, But anyways, so we
had a fantastic trip. Emmy has mastered the piano, She's
got a beautiful little singing voice, and now she wants
to learn to play the guitar. So we were able
(03:22):
to get her a guitar while we were in Nashville,
and I'm hoping that's a great memory for her. But
we also had another ulterior motive for going.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
What do we do?
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I thought you were still on the guitar thing and
you were going to talk about how you took her
to see Jack White's studio.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Oh, yeah, so I got tickets for us to tour
Jack White's recording studio. We get there and it's in
a little bit of a rough part of town, just
probably an understatement, and so Jim was worried about leaving
his car. So Jim didn't take this well.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
First off, there was no place to park.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
No, there was no place to park. But boy, there
were a lot of people willing to watch your car
for it.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Oh yeah, yeah, yes, for sure, for sure, like those
dudes on Ferris Bueller who watched the Porsche there.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
So it was so awesome. I think I enjoyed it
way more than she did because I think a lot
of it kind of went over her head. But I
didn't realize we had to put our cell phones in
a scramble box, so I couldn't take any pictures. And
you know, me and my memory, it's not good. So
I came back out and went to work today and
(04:39):
I've got like a cool musician friend at work, and
at lunch, I was starting to try to tell him
about the tour, and that's like I've already lost half
of it.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, that's how my short term memory is too. We
had an interesting trip up there. As we drove up
there and we got to meet one of our listeners
and sometimes collaborators, Deaf Dave.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Deaf Dave was in the house.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
He came out of his way to meet us on
our way up there, so we could say hi, take
a selfie, just hang out for a few minutes and
get together. That was a lot of fun. But that
was also the stop where I discovered that I had
driven about two hundred miles with my wallet left on
a ledge back home.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
In the flower garden.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
In the flower garden.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
So that allowed me to drive the rest of the.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Tree, which was not good for my heart, for my
blood pressure, for my neck.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Oh bully, I'm a really good driver.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
You have a lead foot, whether it comes to touching
the gas or touching the brake. You hammer on everything.
You're emsy hammer. You're the emsy hammer of drivers.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Go hard and fast or go home.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Well, well that's what you do, and you scare the
tar out of mind.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I know. So I got used to you just like
randomly screaming in the passenger seat next to me. But
I did a great job. I got us around Nashville
safely and back home safely. There were no accidents, no accidents,
no tickets.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
But safely is a word that I wouldn't use. Oh please,
no accidents, no tickets, A fun time was had by all.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, we had a blast.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
But last year around this time, maybe a month after,
we did a show with mister Brian Colburn from My
Weekly Mixtape where we celebrated weird Ale's sixty fifth birthday
by going through some of our favorite eighty songs by him. Well,
guess what we got to see here, see and here
(06:52):
most of those songs on Saturday night in nash Vegas
as Weird All was performing at the Amphitheater there, which
you seem to love more than the Amphitheater that we
have here.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, we have an Amphitheater really close by to us here,
the one in Nashville ten times a better.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, blows it out of the water.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
So this is the third time that we've each seen
Weird Alan concert.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
The first time Emmy saw.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
First time for Emmy. For us, it's our third time.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, because we have such a cool kid. She was
turning twelve, she wanted to go see Weird Alan. I
know Nashville so awesome. Just to watch her during the
show is just incredible. So sixty five years old performed
for what two hours, more than two hours.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
He was dancing, he was moving, he was dressing up,
he was changing costumes. He never slowed down, and he
sounded terrific. He sounded fantastic, and he never did the
like overly chat to buy him some time?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Right, No, no, no, no, he was not nickelback.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
He did not nickelback us, and he did not Paula
abdul Us because he did not have an oxygen.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Well, very true, he'd neither nickelbacked nor abdualled us.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I've impressed with his uh long strength still and his
overall help Like, good job here.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Now, Yeah, he did a good job. It was a
fun show and I and I laughed and so but
that's what was fun.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
There was one downside.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Waiting in traffic after the show, or was.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
There another down that was definitely?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Are you talking about the killer clown that sang first
that made me want to commit suicide? Yes, Oh my gosh.
That guy was awful. I mean, he was a great singer,
but he but the songs that he sang were awful
and depressing and really made me want to hurt myself,
like literally made me want to hurt myself.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Huddle's pity party. It's horrible, folks, it's the name of
this clown. Horrible. Jim got like upset by it, to
the point that I even kind of like, are we
leaving because it took a lot of effort to get
downtown and get here in my seat, and are we
(09:10):
leaving before weird.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Alperfort No, we were never leaving before weird outperforms. Luckily
for you all and the crowd, and actually for Pitiful
or Puddles or whatever his name is Puddle. Luckily for him,
I didn't storm the stage and attack him for singing
his horrible songs. I had my Spectrum app open on
(09:32):
my phone and I was watching the missoo South Carolina game.
Go Tigers, m I z and you're supposed to say,
zo you in the studio, m I z z o
you there you go.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
So Puddle's pity party was very off putting. And didn't
really know never heard of him before, and wasn't quite
sure what to make every want to hear him. But
I realized, because what do I do anytime something new
comes in front of me, I google it. So I
googled Puddles and I actually do know of this guy.
(10:07):
So his name is Michael gear Geary. I don't know Gear,
I think, And you're so good with the names Oh listen,
I'm children of the eighties version of Jessica Simpson. He
actually was the frontman for an Elvis tribute act that
(10:30):
performed regularly in Atlanta back when I was like in
my later teens that I was obsessed with.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
So the band was called King Sized. I think the
show was Elvis Royale, And so I'm like, oh my gosh,
so I am. I'm finally seeing him perform, just not
as Elvis but as Puddles pity party.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Uh, he needs to go back to the Elvis thing
because the clown thing he makes me hate clowns and
be it. Really it really is suicidal music. I mean
it really is.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It was odd, It was definitely odd. But did he
not have a fantastic voice?
Speaker 2 (11:09):
He did? No, he could sing. He could sing, for sure, Yeah,
I was. I was impressed by that. But other than that, yeah,
I could do without.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
So I thought that Deaf Dave had said because Deaf
Dave saw this weird al show in Knoxville, Huntsville, Huntsville,
what like a month or two ago?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, yeah, how about a month and a half ago.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Or so, I thought I must have misunderstood what he said.
I thought he said to get ready that he didn't
do as many of his pride and true hits in this.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
No, what he said was he did a lot of
stuff after the year two thousand, in the year two soon. Yeah,
so that's what he said.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Okay, Well I was. I felt like he hit on
every one of them. The only that I can think
of the top of my head that he didn't do
that I wish he had of was the biggest ball
of twine in Minnesota. Yes, other than that, I mean,
did he not just.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
He hit most of them? Yeah, he does a little
like twelve or fifteen song medley, so he can hit
you know, yeah, all the decades and make all the
fans happy.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
He even put on the fat suit and did and
did fat. I'm fat, I'm fat. I know it, you
know it. I think he knows it too.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, he was pretty fat.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Well, we had fun.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Now back to reality, Yes, now back to reality, which
sometimes feels like that clowne life that I live to live.
That's what I sing every time we get back from
vacation and you guys get mad at me. But hey,
it's catchy for a reason. So are you ready?
Speaker 1 (12:52):
I'm ready?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
All right, here we go.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
This is a podcast that looks back on the decade
of the nineteen eighties. We talk about things that were
important to us as children and what we look back
on with fond memories as adults. Ultimately, this is a
nostalgia podcast.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
It is, and we today are getting nostalgic. We're doing
another commercials episode, Commercials Episode number three. We've done two before,
and we're talking about some iconic commercials again from the eighties.
So you want to remind some of the folks of
the commercials, some of the commercials we did in the past.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Okay, so we have done Where's the.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Beef, Where's the Beef, Clara Old Lady Clara with their
Wendy's commercial, Body's.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Commercial, which might be kind of the biggest and most
popular eighties TV commercial. I think at least you think so.
I think so. Time to make the Donuts?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yeah we did. We talked about the donuts guy, time
to make the donuts.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Dunking donuts. What about the micro machine guy?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, I talked real fast. Yeah, I can't keep up
with him.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
And then we I think we also mentioned Joe Asuzu.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
We did. We mentioned Joe Asuzu. We've done Domino's avoid
the nooid. Yes, as much as we thank our listeners
for their support, maybe we don't think them as much
as Bartles and James think us for our support. Also,
one of those earworms who wear short shorts, we covered
nare that Nair commercial? Because you know those earworms kind
(14:32):
of get into Yeah that thing did stinc didn't? But
that commercial stuck in your head, didn't it. You can
still sing it yes to this day. So those were
some fun ones that we did in the past, and
we're going to get to a few more today. Are
you excited about this one?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I'm excited. So I kind of went down the path
and I sort of had a theme going.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
And I joined that theme.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
You did?
Speaker 2 (14:54):
I did join that theme. You don't know what I'm doing?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Do you have no idea?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah? I saw your theme and I already had one
or two in mind anyway, and so I was like,
you know what, I'm just going to take that theme
and I'm just going to run with it as well. Okay,
what do you think about that?
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I love it?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
So are you going to tell the folks your theme?
Are you just going to try and make them guess it?
Speaker 4 (15:15):
So?
Speaker 1 (15:15):
No, I'm gonna I'll go ahead and share with them.
So my thought going into this episode was to come
up with brands or products or commercials that would have
spoke to my mom when she was my age.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Uh huh.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
And so that's where I came up with my commercials from.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
See and I felt like your commercials were very household oriented. Yeah,
and so therefore I also went with a household oriented commercials.
I love it that I chose. So this should be fun.
Are you ready to get to the meat of the story.
Let's do it all right, I will let you start first.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Now, do you have the audio clip that you'll play
a little bit of the commercial? I do?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
I do.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
I'll play the whole commercial.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Oh, you're gonna play the whole line.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I wondered if you wanted to introduce it first?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Do you care where I start? Uh No, you can
start wherever you want to start.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
So I am starting with a brand called the cow Gone.
It originally was invented as a water softener, but by
the time that the late seventies and early eighties came around,
they had transitioned into bath products. And that is where
this commercial comes into play.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Cow Gon take.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
Me Away, Indulge yourself in Calgon luxury and caw Gon
softening for you. It's like no other bad experience. It's
kel Gon lose yourself in luxury.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
That I feel like I need Kalgun every day.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
I know me too. The Calgon take Me Away campaign
debuted in nineteen seventy eight, and it quickly became a
phrase that became like a cultural catchphrase for the eighties. Yes,
it was often used jokingly by people, not just women,
but just like what you just said, by just like
(17:23):
people wanting to escape their everyday life. So the campaign
was so effective that it ran in different variations well
into the nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
You know what, I needed Kalgun to take me away
by that stupid clown sender.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Aha, So I feel like I remember this, But the
opening lines of some versions of this commercial started something
like the traffic, the boss, the baby, the doll. Yes,
before then the woman knows Kelgon take me away.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Listen. There's dozens of commercials that you could do and
that I could have picked from, and I picked this
one because you hear the phone ring, and you hear
the dog bark, and you hear the kids, right, you know,
whining in the background, and the ladies just like she's
just reached her limit. And I've been there every day
for the last six months, and so I get it.
(18:19):
And so that's why I chose that. But I do
want you to know you can finish Calgun here. But
cal Gon wasn't just a bass soap. It was also
a laundry detergent. Do you remember that old commercial where
the guy or the lady went in, They were like,
how do you get my clothes so soft? And it
was like a laundromat and the Chinese guy's like ancient
(18:39):
Chinese secret. Yes, but that was cal Gon.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
So I started to bring that up, but that actually
didn't age well because the Asian actor, it was very
like he was very stereotypical, and today it would be
he was considered maybe.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
But his wife wasn't very stereotypical because she would just
laugh and she'd be like an ancient Chinese secret. He
uses col.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Guy, But I don't remember that, So I found that
in my research. Okay, but I don't remember.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
I mean, if somebody's saying it's very stereotypical, I think
the guy was playing along right, like I don't think. Yeah, no,
I'm gonna disagree. With that.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Okay, that's fine. So and if you remember when it
then cut to the lady in the bathtub, she wasn't
just simply taking a bubble bath in your standard nineteen
eighties bathroom. She was usually like her surroundings were luxury decoration.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Yeah, no, no, she looked like a Julius Caesar taken
a bath exactly. I mean, not her hair cut, but
just like a bath that he would like to take, right.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yes, So she didn't have the Caesar.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
She didn't have the Caesar cut.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Oh gosh. So that's just one that I don't know.
For some reason, I still think about it a good
bit today. And I remember as a kid, my mom
always laughing at that commercial. And so that was like
the first one I wanted to put on the list
for today.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Well, that's a good one because it certainly sticks with you.
And like you said, it started in nineteen seventy eight,
but it ran through all throughout the eighties, and just
about anybody who grew up at that time knows the
phrase Calgon take me away. So I love the fact
that you went with that.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I thought this was interesting talking about how they started
as like a detergent or a water softener. The word
calgon comes from calcium gone, which is a reference to
it removing the calcium.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Well, it sounds to me a little bit in.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
The products, so the soak could work like a.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Lot of these ladies that took the bath in probably
have osteoporosis, you know, maybe because it's taken away the
calcium from their bones.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
That are call saul.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
You think?
Speaker 1 (20:55):
So?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
All right? Well you went with a bathroom kind of
bad thing there. I'm gonna stick with that theme here
you ready.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Test fully clean.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Zest announces a whole new kind of clean.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Yes, fully clean.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
You're not fully clean unless zestfully clean.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Introducing new improved Zest the odorant bar. First, it loves
you clean, then it rinses you cleaner.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Look at me? Do I look clean to you? Surprised?
I'm not fully clean unless.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
I'm zestfully clean. This is what happens with soaked so
please a sticky film on you that won rins away.
But Newses leaves no sticky film. It rintses you fully clean.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Holy kind of clean Zest fully clean.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Zest fully clean.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You're not fully clean unless you est fully clean. That
last guy, he was going for it. He was all
into it. It's an earworm, right like this, it just
stuck with you. You knew that, you knew the as
it went along. You're not fully clean unless you're zest
fully clean. The ads like leaned hard into that, right.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And they're so happy they are.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
They act as if they just discovered the meaning of life.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Like you want to use zes because you want to
be that happy?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Yes, And that's what they're saying, is somebody hopping out
of the shower. They're upbeat, they're wrapped in a towel,
they're grinning like they just discovered the meaning of life.
Only really it's just Zes soap. But they got very
high energy.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Why do I feel like at the end of the commercial,
like the actor looks at the camera and smiles and
his perfect white teeth and it does that.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Little twinkle, yeah twinkle, no, no, no, no, he was
still in the shower and.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Just that's fully clean. He's happy.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
He was super happy.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Is that what you need? Do you think you need
some zest?
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Maybe? But here's the thing they talked about, how regular
soap leaves a film on you. I've only noticed that
when I used the soap in hotel bathrooms.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, no, I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
I don't think soap sticks to you. So I don't
know what they were lying about there. But it was
still a ketchy commercial, lots of bold colors, cheerful bathroom scenes,
people laughing, but hammered that slogan into your brain, zest
fully clean. I still sing it to this day, bouncy catchy,
repeated over and over and over again. You know, it's
(23:21):
not an ordinary soap. You're not clean unless you use Zest.
So all you dirty folk out there that use Dove
or whatever, you need to switch over to Zess. But
you know, like you said, you're talking about the target audience,
right parents. Yeah, maybe some athletes, because there was an
early athlete commercial there, but anyone who wanted to look
(23:42):
energized and squeaky clean. Maybe I need some Zest in
the morning. I drag a little bit in the morning
rather than coffee. Maybe I need to get zest fully clean.
So there was an ad from nineteen eighty two that
featured three basketball players in a locker room setting and
they're comparing regular soap versus Zest, and they've got soap
(24:03):
on one arm and Zest on the other, and they
do like a test to show weird which one rints
is cleaner? Right?
Speaker 1 (24:08):
How can you tell though? Once you rinse the soap off? Like,
what's well?
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I mean they showed the you know, the sliding glass door.
The lady was like, do I look cleaning? You think
she does? And all of a sudden she slides it
open and she looks cleaner and brighter. I think they
just used a film screen on the camera. Yeah, but
the slogan was coined by James J. Jordan Junior, who
was a creative director and admin at BBD O for
(24:36):
J for J James j Jordan Junior, who I didn't
I didn't catch on that, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
That's what his friends and family.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
So do you remember that commercial?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Oh of course I do.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Did you guys ever buy Zest? No, you guys were
a Dove.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Family dial Dial soap Dial. That's My mom had one
soap and to this day that's the soap I have
to use. So she convinced me as a small child,
if I used any other soap, bad things would happen,
and that was not a chance I was willing to take.
I remember when I moved out and got on my own,
(25:11):
I went and bought like dove soap, and I had
some kind of reaction to it, and she was basically like,
I told you so.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Mama's no. So I'm gonna force you to get some
zest and I'm gonna see if I feel terribed. You
don't have to use it. I just want to see
if I feel any cleaner using it. You've got the
plain white dial. I want some of that green and
white ocean looking.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Ze, you know, bath and body works and stuff like.
I will go buy their candles till the cows come home.
I will never buy their soap or anything. And I
try to tell emmy all the time, do not use
that her fumey crap, because Grandma always said not to.
And Grandma knows.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
We're gonna get some zest fully clean in this. That's
what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Oh my gosh. I always like when you say zest,
I do. I do see like color. I see green
and blue and red, just like you're in the Caribbean.
The primary red. There's a red. No, I see like
a red like stripe or something. I don't know if
you see red.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
There's no red.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
I'm telling you you're seeing red right now.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I'm seeing red because you're saying, you see red when
you see zest and you don't you see the Caribbean sea. Okay,
in the Caribbeans like pirates. No, no, stop stop with
the red. There's no red.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Oh my goodness, are you done?
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I'm done?
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Okay, I'm ready for my next one?
Speaker 2 (26:40):
What is your next one?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Palm Olive was famous for a commercial that they did
in the nineteen eighties. Why are you giving me that look?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Because you just pronounced that palm olive as if it
were two separate words, when we know you put it together.
It's Paul Malive. It's not Paul Olive. It's not an
olive that you put in your hand.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Okay, try that one again.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
What do you mean trying again?
Speaker 1 (27:18):
Okay, Paul Olive, there you go. Famous for commercial that
he did in the nineteen eighties with a pitchwoman named
Madge the Manicurist. Madge, Meet Frank my cat. O Frank
my cat.
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Oh those hands look like something Frank dragged in. We'll
I try everything and use palm ola dish washing liquid.
It softens your hands while you do the dishes.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
You're soaking in it. Dishwashing liquid is palm olive.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Mild more than mild, makes loaves of SuDS at last, and.
Speaker 6 (27:46):
No kidding, palm olish soften his hands while you do
the dishes, Madge.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Paul Mallin's great, you're an angel.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Well, it's my halo on straight.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
So I love that Gimmer. I don't know why. Madge
was played by actress Jan Minor. So The commercial revolved
around a woman in a beauty salon complaining about how
harsh her dish washing soap is on her hands, and
Madge comes along and she always uses the tagline tough
(28:20):
on grease, soft on hands. The twist to the story
is the client is usually already soaking their fingers in
the palm olive, and Madge always then says, you're soaking
in it.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Oh, I don't remember that.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
You're soaking in it because she's given him a manicure.
So Magshaw became one of the longest running brand spokes
characters in advertising history, appearing from Listen to This the
nineteen sixties through the early nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Really, yes, she's been around as long as the Cow's
on Chick fil A.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
Do you remember when the Cows first came out? I do,
back in like what was it the mid nineties. Yep,
So back in the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, the women
were the ones washing the dishes.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yes, now the dishwasher washes the dishes.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Thank the Lord. So do you remember that commercial?
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I do remember that commercial. I remember all those commercials.
I do want to say that I always got I
don't want to say I always got them confused, but
they kind of run together in my head. Madge and
the lady that did the brawny commercials. Yes, they're very
similar to me, kind of like weird Alan Howard Stern what, Yeah,
(29:52):
very similar to me. So they stick out because again,
as children of the eighties, we had like three channels,
so you're always watching the commercial that came on. We
didn't have DVRs. But it wasn't something that I really enjoyed.
It was just it's just a part of my childhood.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So these two so far, the two commercials that I've
talked about, both sold a mental break from reality and
escape into some kind of like a little fantasy and
a moment of peace. Okay, I can I can the
wives and moms out.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
I can get on board with that. So you're going
with the moments of peace for moms and I'm going
with the jingles. So my next one is also a
famous jingle, but it also has to do with home products.
Kids and moms both approved of this. Do you remember
band aids?
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Yes, I am stuck on band Aids because band Aids
stuck on me.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
I am stuck only.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
Band Aid brandit. He's a bandages from Johnson and Johnson
have our super stay on it.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
He's in.
Speaker 5 (31:10):
You'll notice the difference because it stays on you better
than anything else you can buy.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
What do you think about that one?
Speaker 1 (31:20):
What does what? Do the kids sing? There in the
middle of the.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Commercial they were talking about how band aids stick on
them even though they're in.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
The bathtub, because it was just sounded like.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Yes, it was two little twin boys and they were
singing about how band aids stuck to them even while
they were in the bathtube.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
There's nothing that little kids like more than a band aid.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Yes, So any little kid gets hurt and they're crying
and they've got a scrape or they've got a cut
or whatever, you stick a band aid on them. And
it was like as if you've given them morphine. Yes,
they're going up and going and running around like easy
pre band aid. They're acting as if they got chainsawed
(32:05):
their leg off. Post band aid morphine. Everything's great. So
that commercial again, it's one of those things. It just
sticks in your head, right. It's usually happy kids running, climbing,
playing outside, scrape knees, little cuts, Moms you know, putting
(32:27):
the band aids on their kids. Do a little close
up there. The kid would try to peel off the
band aid, tugging at it, only to show that it's
still sticking. Right. The jingle I am stuck on band
aid brand because band aids stuck on me, extremely catchy,
childlike tone. There was actually one commercial that I wanted
(32:49):
to pull but I couldn't find it again after I
pulled it up and didn't record it. It was just
all kids singing it. Wasn't that cheesy guy at the
fire truck you know who started singing it. Yes, yeah,
Chester wasn't singing that, but yeah, they just reinforced the
message to repetition singing it several times. Band aids durable
(33:10):
and it's reliable because it's staying on through play, through water,
through any other kind of activity. But it's not just
a bandage it's a band Aid brand bandage, right, and
so they leaned on that brand loyalty so much that
basically band Aid has become the generic for any kind
of adhesive bandage.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Right. No, we ask for a bandage, just.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Like we asked for Kleenex. Right. Some of those has
just you know, taken over. And so the target audience
for this was parents, and really especially moms, because let's
be honest, we're talking about the eighties. Moms are often
shown applying the bandages right there. Moms are usually taking
care of the kids. Dads are just like, you know,
rub some dirt on it. You'll be fine even if
(33:58):
you get an infection. But band aids were a household
staple and still are to this day.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
Absolutely, I always loved me a good band aid, especially
after the tricycle accident of eighty four.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Yes, but this is certainly one of the most memorable
children's ad jingle of the nineteen eighties. And I got
a fun fact.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
For you, Oh bring it.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
The melody was originally written by Barry Manilow in the.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
CT Are you serious? I had no idea? That's cool?
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Yep, And just like zes jingle, band Aid ran that
same slogan for years and years and years and have
embedded it into the zeitgeist.
Speaker 1 (34:44):
I wonder does he get money every time they play
that commercial or does he did he just get one
time payment upfront for it.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
I don't know. I bet he gets money every time.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
I hope, so, I hope.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
So A few cents here, a few cents there. Yep,
all right, that's all I have on the band aids.
So I guess you've got your next one coming up.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
My third and final Panteen had a very famous commercial
in the nineteen eighties that's still often remembered today.
Speaker 4 (35:18):
Don't hate me.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Because I'm beautiful.
Speaker 4 (35:20):
I used to be a joke dry split in. Then
I discovered pantin. Panteen has this pro vitamin formula that
actually strengthens your hair from inside. It's incredible, even with
everything I put my hair through books so healthy, strong, shiny.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Listen, it won't.
Speaker 4 (35:40):
Happen overnight, and it will happen part serious.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
You'll see. So I do want to say before you
get going that she must have been talking to women
about don't hate me because I'm beautiful, because I can
speak for every eighties little boy, and none of them
were hate on Kelly LeBrock.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
So let me just say I picked this commercial not
because my mom related to it or because I related
to it. I'm picking it for the absurdity of the
whole ad and the campaign in itself. So the line,
debuted in nineteen eighty six, is part of Panteen's US
(36:23):
relaunch with their pro Vitamin B five formulas.
Speaker 4 (36:29):
Do you like?
Speaker 1 (36:29):
At some point she was like, it won't happen immediately,
but it will happen over time. What a bunch of
you know what bogwash. One of the best known faces
of the campaign was Kelly LeBrock, who had just become
famous as the dreamgirl in Weird Science. So this ad
(36:50):
is so off putting to me, but it's very memorable. Yes,
So I had to pick it, or I felt I
needed to pick it to kind of balance out my
love for the other two. So the slogan became so
famous that it was often mocked and it still is
(37:11):
for again for its absurdity, and it was even parody
on different TV shows in different sitcoms. So in some
international markets, the exact line didn't translate well, so localized
versions were created. For example, in the UK, the ads
(37:31):
leaned more heavily on the science of Providamin's angle rather
than the aspirational beauty line. Oh yep, So despite the backlash, if.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
I had known that, I would have went Flintstone Kids
after this.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
Despite the backlash, the line dramatically increased sales, and Pantein
became one of the fastest growing premium shampoo brands of
the nineteen eighties. Even decades later, marketing analysts still cited
as a case study in branding success.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Well, I don't want any of my listeners to hate
me because I'm beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
That's exactly what's going on.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Uh did you ever use panteine?
Speaker 4 (38:14):
No?
Speaker 2 (38:14):
I don't think that we did either. But it's an
iconic commercial because everybody remembers that, don't hate me because
I'm beautiful.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Like they lean their head back and they swish their
hair un you know, and it's like, how can you
not just want that lush, shiny hair.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
What didn't she end up marrying Steven Seagal Stephen Siegel?
Oh gosh, poor thing, I know, I think so.
Speaker 1 (38:41):
Well, then she got her.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Come up, Ah boy, all right, so we have gone
here you went with? What did you go with? You've
got pantein, which is a shampoo. You've got pow molive,
which is a dish soap that you.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Can also be used for manicures when you do your nails.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
And you've got cow gun, which is like what a
bass soap, a bubble bag of Okay, so you've got
a certain shower thing here, right, And then of course
I had the zest soap and I got the band
aid which stuck on in the showers. So we've got
it in the showers. When you get out of the shower,
(39:28):
what's the first thing you do besides drying off? Hopefully
you're drying off in the shower after you turn off
the water. You're not getting out and stopping water all
over the floor. Better not be so after you. After
you do that, what's the first thing you do? You
put on some deodorant. You got it, you know it.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
You feel confident, secured. If you want to feel confident,
raise your head. If you want to feel secure, raise
your hand. If you want protection that helps you feel
dry all day, raise your hand and reach for sure.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
When was the last time you thought about that?
Speaker 1 (40:20):
I'm immercial. Probably nineteen eighty seven, but I bet.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
You remembered every single word of that song, didn't you.
I'm all about the jingles. The jingles just stick with you.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
So love it, and I love just the hokiness of
the whole.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Oh absolutely so. These were everyday people in social settings, offices, dates, classroom,
sports parties. The big moment usually came when someone confidently
raised their arm, either to hail a cab, to wave,
to cheer, or maybe just a stretch. And they didn't
have to worry about you seeing sweat marks or them
(40:56):
having odor. Yep, right clean, bright, slightly glamorous lighting often
showed both men and women, reinforcing that Sure was for everyone.
The jingle raise your hand, raise your hand of your
shirt catchy sing a long style with strong repetition, just
like both of the other ones, and the hook was
(41:18):
tied directly to the physical gesture of lifting your arms,
making it super visual and easy to remember. They wanted
you to have confidence, right, I love it. It positioned
itself as the deodorant and anti person that gave you
the confidence to raise your hand without embarrassment. Built around trust,
you could rely on Sure to prevent odor and sweat
(41:40):
all day, and it was distinct from competitors like Secret,
which was marketed mainly to women, or old spice, which
is marketed mainly to men. Yep, you know everybody used it.
Everything was about freedom to move, not being held back
(42:02):
by being self conscious. And I really love the ending
of the commercial where even the statue of liberty of
the torch you ever? You sure, I honestly do not remember.
Speaker 1 (42:16):
You know what? My dad I probably did ban.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Remember I do remember, man, That band may have been
the first one that I ever used. My me Moll
bought me band. He always used it with the roller ball, Yes, yes,
the rollerball. Sometimes I'd like to go back to the
roller ball. I'd also like to go back to the
roller derby, right. I love the little trip down Memory Lane.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
Yeah, it's just one of these commercials, even if they're ridiculous,
they just it puts a smile on my face.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
It doesn't put a smile on you know why, because
you go back to a time where there was innocence.
Life hadn't started throwing kidney punches at you. Yet everything
in a commercial is almost always half Yes, I've always
said I just want to live in a commercial.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
All the time.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
If I could live anywhere, it would be a commercial.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (43:06):
Because they're always having a good time. I don't care
if they're selling corps light, or if you're confident because
you got the right deodorant on, or if you just
fell and scraped up your knee and it feels like
somebody chainsaw you off from the femural artery on down.
You're you're happy because Mama stuck a band aid on.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
You and you're gonna be good.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Yeah, absolutely, So what do you think of our list here?
Speaker 1 (43:31):
So quite honestly, it just made me want to go
out and find some more to so we can do
another other episode.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Yes, yeah, these episodes are so funea. I was gonna say,
maybe we'll come back around here real quick and do that.
You know, October is coming up. Oh, we got a
month long of Halloween stuff come up.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
We're gonna be busy in October.
Speaker 2 (43:50):
We're gonna have a lot of fun doing that. So yeah,
let us know what you thought of our list. Let
us know if any of these commercials brought back any memores.
We love hearing from our peeps.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
And before you tell us we left somebody out or
we left a commercial out, go back and listen to
the previous two episodes where we do commercials. Yeah wow.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
One of those episodes was who Wears Short Shorts? And
I believe the other one was Where's the Beef?
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (44:20):
So yeah, go back and listen to those. See what
you think about those great plug there, Missie. You hey,
it's almost sound like a professional.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
I know some days I do.
Speaker 2 (44:32):
So if you don't mind, go ahead and hit that
subscribe button so you're guaranteed to never miss a show.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
And as always, we would love if you would reach
out and find us on social media. We are on x, Instagram, Facebook, what's.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Our handle at Children of Underscore Eighties or you can
always email us Children of the nineteen Eighties at gmail
dot com. But most importantly tell somebody own a friend. Yes, Well,
until next time, I'm Jim.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
And I'm Lindsay and we are Children of the Eighties.
See you next Wednesday.
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