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First, make sure you see the commercial posted AFTER this post....

Now....Can you name the products to which these go.....in twenty seconds or less???
It is so funny how commercials shape our lives; so many of us (including me) often find commercials and ads to be no more than interruptions from what we REALLY want to watch and see. Yet, if you think about it, commercials really hold a special place in our hearts and our own national identity. As funny as that sounds. I began to think about this today as I began my "ad unit" in my public speaking class. I had the kids make two columns and on one column, they were to brainstorm as many "ad slogans" as they could, and on the other side, they were to come up with as many "ad icons/characters" as they could. The results shocked me and made me feel very, very old.

Can you believe that when I sang "Its a good time....for the great taste....of________!" not one kid knew what the heck I was talking about??? And when I sang, in my best Ray Charles voice "you got the right one baby! A-Ha!" that not one kid knew I was celebrating diet Pepsi? It is funny to look at the BIG commercial players in our cultural past, and see how they have developed (I am referring to Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds, etc.) Coke and Pepsi used to be "the real thing" and "the choice of a new generation," respectively. Now, I cannot even tell you what their "taglines" are. Are taglines "out?" (by the way, kids dont know those two taglines either!).

Another thing that seems to be out is the idea of advertising "characters." I gave the kids a "test" where there were photos of famous advertising "figures." The kids had to match the figure to a product. For example, kids knew Uncle Ben, Snap-Crackle-Pop, Charlie Tuna, etc. But they were CLUELESS when it came to things like the Campbell's soup kids, Mister Salty, ,Swiss Miss, Little Debbie, and, get this, MORRIS THE CAT. Kids today dont know Morris the Cat. The, like, most famous cat in history!

Did you ever notice that, often times, the "characters" involved in advertising only existed to shamelessly try to get the said product....only to essentially lose each and every time? What type of creepy subliminal advertising is that? Think about it: Chester Cheetah, Toucan Sam, Silly Trix Rabbit, Hamburgler, the Noid, Cookie Crisp dude, Lucky the Leprechaun....all these poor souls were always just trying to enjoy the product that you could EASILY go to the store and buy....but the white man always had to make life miserable for them. Someone was always foiling their plan for satiety....why is that?

Kids had no idea what I was talking about when I brought up the California Raisins. Remember them?? What a brilliant scheme that was: a simple sales pitch led to millions of dollars in merchandise, plastic raisin figures, full length music albums, and even a television show. Kool-Aid man tried to follow suit: He had comics, a cartoon, etc. What a brilliant piece of marketing. The only thing I can think of today that comes close to that is what the Geico people did with the "Cavemen" and how that was eventually turned into a TV show that lasted for 43 minutes.

And remember Tang, Superman Cocoa, Five Alive, Fruit Rollups, and Donald Duck orange juice? Those products just came up when were were tallking today. And, on McDonalds's end, remember their "double feature," and the McDLT? And for Burger King, remember their "International Chicken Sandwiches?" You could get American, French, or Italian? And they were "long" not "circle" like McDonalds. My sister always would get the Italian, and I would always hope she would give me a bite. Sometimes she did.

Crazy ads.