1984 - The Coffee Achievers
Appearing in this ad: David Bowie (Jay Leno in 1985: "Come on! To David Bowie, a cup of coffee is merely a sedative at this point."), Kenny Anderson, Kurt Vonnegut, Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart, and Cicely Tyson.
1987 - Pepsi - David Bowie and Tina Turner
Digitized from a 1987 VHS tape, the audio quality goes a little muffled in spurts but what can ya do. In 1987, Pepsi was sponsoring Bowie's tour (according to an interview I read, Bowie liked this because he wanted a third stage to work with and Pepsi had all the money to give it to him). As is the nature of things, tit-for-tat put Bowie in a Pepsi commercial singing a variant of "Modern Love" with Tina Turner (also a Pepsi sponsorship beneficiary).
1984 - Honda Scooters
Such a deceptive product description, yes? Honda Scooters. No big deal, right? Well, it is when you see that they're being shilled for by Grace Jones and Adam Ant. If only The Surreal Life had been on in those days, they would have made *such* a cute couple, you can see the chemistry they have even in this short piece.
1991 - Carefree Gum
There are two ways to recover from a major gossip scandal; pretend it never happened or make fun of yourself. Milli Vanilli took the latter course, and in this case it worked.
1991 - Comedy Central - Denis Leary for London Underground
Comedy Central used to have a program called London Underground, known first as Paramount City in Britain where it originated. In this ad, Denis Leary promos the new season.
1985 - Mr. T for Burger King
Mister T protests changes to the Whopper, until he decides that it will taste better, whereupon lives will be spared.
1983 - Miller Beer with Charles Fleischer
Charles Fleischer (voice of Roger Rabbit) in one of my favorite beer commercials of the era, as he tells the story of how aliens visited him for his Rellim Reeb. "It was WEIRD!"
(Cameo narration by Don Pardo.)
1995 - Oliver Stone for Apple Macintosh
The poster boy for "Think Different."
Insert joke here about how Stone's Mac mouse only moves the cursor back and to the left.
1985 - Scott Bakula for Canada Dry
You Bakula fans out there will like this one, one of his two famous American debuts, the other being for Folger's Coffee, maybe that one's around here somewhere, too. Scott Bakula, Captain Archer of the USS Enterprise, shakes his pecs at the prom.
1986 - Martha Raye for Polident
Nothing sums up this commercial better than Jay Leno's comedy bit of the time:
"Try to get some big time celebrity to be a spokesman. Like a Bill Cosby for Jell-O, Cliff Robertson for AT&T, those are pretty good. But some of them are embarrassing. I keep seeing this one: 'Here's Martha Raye -- actress, denture wearer.' ... Really? Is this really an accomplishment? Denture wearing? I mean-- ... Is she proud to have this on her resume? ... 'Let's see, Miss Raye, you've done theater, film -- Oh-oh, I see you're a denture wearer! ... I had no idea your credentials were quite so extensive, Miss Raye.' ... 'Here's Carl Sagan -- astronomer, philosopher, hemorrhoid sufferer!' ... I think he's doin' a hell of a job there."
1984 - MTV - Too Much Is Never Enough
A classic MTV house ad, with their stars of the time, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Boy George, Billy Idol, Lionel Richie, and the ringmaster himself, Jerry Carroll of the Crazy Eddie commercials.
1998 - Jeff Goldblum for Apple iMac
I know somebody who still uses her iMac. As underpowered as they may be, it still keeps on ticking, I'll give it that.
1984 - Oingo Boingo for Budweiser
Excellent! I was digitizing this commercial, and trying to figure out who this could possibly be. This series of Bud commercials pretty much starred, well, somebody famous, but I couldn't peg who this band was. It took a whole day before something kicked in and I figured, gee, that looks like Danny Elfman, is that Oingo Boingo? A brief Google lookup, and yes it is.
1985 - Gallagher for Budweiser
Surprisingly, considering the star of this commercial, a watermelon is present but no sledgehammer. Or maybe not. Beer. Sledgehammers. No, let's not encourage that association.
1987 - Mario Cantone for Steampipe Alley
Before Mario Cantone was the funny gay guy from Sex And The City, he was the host of a children's show on channel 9, WWOR in New York City. This is a promo for the show's upcoming debut.
1985 - John Houseman for Ray Catena Mercedes Benz
John Houseman. THE Man. What I wouldn't give to live in an alternate universe where he played Samuel L. Jackson's role in Pulp Fiction and you get to hear the part about furious anger coming out in THAT vocal styling.
1987 - Aretha Franklin for Amoco
The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, pumps her own gas, if you know what I mean and I think you do.
1993 - Roger Clinton for Comedy Central
A big LOL for Roger Clinton, telling the TV audience in a promo to "Watch Comedy Central. It's far less expensive than a trip to the emergency room, and smells better, too."
January 14, 1985 - People Magazine
"When Prince Harry was christened there were plenty of smiles, but behind the public affection, is trouble brewing in the palace?" Maybe a little bit of trouble, yes. Also, Sting in Dune, Elvis at 50, Peter Lawford, and Stephanie Zimbalist.
1984 - People Magazine Year-End Double Issue
Featuring Magical Michael Jackson, perky Mary Lou Retton, high-spirited Geraldine (Ferraro, so famous at the time that she didn't warrant having her last name mentioned), Clint Eastwood, Tina Turner, Richard Burton, Richard Gere, Elizabeth Taylor, and so many more.
September 10, 1984 - People Magazine
Another weekly ad for People Magazine of September 10, 1984. This week, Vanessa Williams and her scandal were the cover story, with "the rages that drive Patrick Swayze," Bjorn Borg and his youthful girlfriend, and Tanya Roberts, all on board.
February 7, 1983 - People Magazine
Here's a rarity you never get to see otherwise. This is an ad for the People Magazine issue of February 7, 1983, which was only shown in the week before the next issue came out, so these ads had a very limited shelf life. I have a bunch of these. We start with the issue highlighting Princess Stephanie and Paul Belmondo. And don't forget... "If it's in People, you know it's true."
