Commercials that were common then but are rare today.

[Corky Marlowe]

"but there was another ad I can't find. I think it was about wool, it looked like thread was being woven"

Might that be the Burlington logo at the end of this spot? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV4zxjWqu_4

Speaking of which, I don't think sewing machines advertise much on TV anymore, unless it's on infomercials or home shopping channels. Singer ads used to be all over the place.

 

[CTListener]

How about all the internet-related products we saw advertised during the dot-com bubble of the late '90s/early '90s? Remember how search engines used to advertise on TV -- InfoSeek and Hotbot come to mind, I'm sure there were more. You hardly ever see advertising for computers themselves anymore or the stuff people use computers to experience. It's all smartphones and streaming services like Netflix. Internet fads in recent times have exploded with no advertising exposure on TV or radio at all. Ever see an ad for Farmville when everyone and her sister was playing it? How about advertising for Pokemon Go this past summer? Do Facebook and Twitter and Instagram advertise at all on "legacy media"?

 

[LKellerIII]

I was looking for my OTC pain reliever at the pharmacy the other day, and noticed that Anacin still exists. They used to advertise heavily on TV up through the 70s, but not since then. I would have thought that it was no longer sold. I don't remember seeing Excedrin commercials either anymore, either.

 

[CTListener]

Just noticed a typo in my post two up: should read late '90s/early '00s, not late '90s/early '90s.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

How about all the internet-related products we saw advertised during the dot-com bubble of the late '90s/early '90s? Remember how search engines used to advertise on TV -- InfoSeek and Hotbot come to mind, I'm sure there were more. You hardly ever see advertising for computers themselves anymore or the stuff people use computers to experience. It's all smartphones and streaming services like Netflix. Internet fads in recent times have exploded with no advertising exposure on TV or radio at all. Ever see an ad for Farmville when everyone and her sister was playing it? How about advertising for Pokemon Go this past summer? Do Facebook and Twitter and Instagram advertise at all on "legacy media"?

Facebook and Twitter do get mentioned a lot on the cable news channels as indirect publicity. But its usually for a celebrity rant or a politician acting as a troll. Various apps like Newson, Netflix, do have commercials. In some parts of the country ads for Newson will appear between News Segments usually Disney O&O's, and Hearst Broadcasting do air their Newscasts on Newson. Advertising still happens but its usually through YouTube clips before the main clip comes out. Yes Dial Up Internet ads no Longer Exist, Broadband internet ads no longer exist. Usually here in Northern California AT&T and NBC's Xfinity division will emphasize high speed internet or high speed wifi in 2016.

 

[Silkie]

"You can trust your car to the man who wears the star, the big, bright Texaco star."
"See The USA in your Chevrolet"
"It's Shake 'N Bake, and I helped"

The list is practically endless.

 

[CTListener]

"You can trust your car to the man who wears the star, the big, bright Texaco star."
"See The USA in your Chevrolet"
"It's Shake 'N Bake, and I helped"

The list is practically endless.

Chevrolet still advertises. Pretty sure Texaco does as well. Is Shake N Bake still a thing? Anyway, I think the OP wanted us to come up with companies that no longer advertise or products/services that are no longer advertised on radio or TV, rather than just listing expired advertising campaigns. The list of those would indeed be endless. You never hear "Coke. It's the Real Thing" or see the Geico cavemen anymore either. That doesn't mean Coke and Geico don't advertise.

 

[Silkie]

Commercials that are rare now, but common then.

Ethel Merman and Dinah Shore would be very rare now. As would be The Hilltop Singers or The new Seekers doing It's the Real Thing. Don't know about Shake N' Bake; it is probably still on the shelves, but since I don't have a use for it I don't look for it. The commercials would be rare today, but were common then.



Jackpot!
So, what do I win for keeping the thread topic straight?

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Concerning Chevy commercials, I would take Dinah Shore all day long over the smug hipster beard guy on their ads now..."You can only answer in emojis". Ugh.

 

[landtuna]

Concerning Chevy commercials, I would take Dinah Shore all day long over the smug hipster beard guy on their ads now..."You can only answer in emojis". Ugh.

Yeah, those idiotic cinder blocks and tool box drops into the pickup beds are atrocious adverts.

 

[Silkie]

Maybe they figure people who drive pickup trucks need visuals to show what they are used for?

 

[LKellerIII]

Yeah, those idiotic cinder blocks and tool box drops into the pickup beds are atrocious adverts.

Not sure I agree. I don't own a pickup truck, and am not in the market for one, but if I was - I would be concerned about the new aluminum bed in the Ford F-150, and I presume other truck models. Ford has employed aluminum to save weight and help with gas mileage - but if the beds are really as fragile as Chevy is saying, that's a problem for Ford.

Ford has advertised the aluminum in their trucks as a selling point, so I think it's fair for Chevy to try to debunk it in their ads. Many car and truck enthusiasts were less than thrilled with the actual paltry weight savings realized by Ford in this move. It will be interesting to see if FoMoCo stays with it, or quietly goes back to all steel.

 

[landtuna]

Not sure I agree. I don't own a pickup truck, and am not in the market for one, but if I was - I would be concerned about the new aluminum bed in the Ford F-150, and I presume other truck models. Ford has employed aluminum to save weight and help with gas mileage - but if the beds are really as fragile as Chevy is saying, that's a problem for Ford.

My problem is with the commercial presentation itself and not necessarily the content. But let me address your several points:

1. Nobody I know, except perhaps demolition crews, carry raw cinder blocks/bricks in their pickups. Due to weight and loading/unloading time the products are carried on pallets and loaded/unloaded by forklifts. Loose blocks/bricks would have to be carried in much larger and more robust trucks. And NOBODY I know would buy a new pickup of any make to use in this manner.

2. In the presentation the Ford is given a very close and lengthy (comparatively) examination with one of the guys even putting his finger through the hole in the bed. The Chevy bed is given a very quick (I timed it less than 1 second) overview and the shot pulled back immediately. You don't get a good comparison using this method.

3. Virtually everyone I know who carries abrasive products in their trucks uses some form of bed liner. No bed would stand up to this abuse for very long.

4. The "paltry" weight savings by using aluminum vs steel is approximately 700 lbs per vehicle (depending on model of course). This is huge in the automobile business which tries shaving as much weight as possible by putting undersized batteries in vehicles to save 5 pounds.

This type of advertisement is very deceptive and incomplete and unfortunately is somewhat typical of GM ads out currently. I don't know how well it is working but in my market Chevy pickups are currently being advertised as $10,000 (yes, ten thousand) off MSRP (which is deceptive in its own right).


I don't own a pickup truck or even a GM or Ford product so no vehicles in this fight but this is one very good example why I absolutely hate advertising.

 

[LKellerIII]

'Tuna - I get your point about the GM ads, and I don't disagree, but regarding Ford shaving 700 lbs. off the F-150 by using aluminum - The new Ford weighs 5,577 lbs. compared to the Chevy Silverado, which weighs in a 5,658. So the Ford is only 88 lbs. lighter than the steel bed Chevy. Toyota Tundra and Ram are both over 5,900 lbs.

If the Ford really shaved off 700 lbs., does it mean it used to weigh 6,277 lbs.? If so, it was the heaviest of the big trucks by far.

(source - Car & Drive comparison test)

 

[landtuna]

If the Ford really shaved off 700 lbs., does it mean it used to weigh 6,277 lbs.? If so, it was the heaviest of the big trucks by far.

(source - Car & Drive comparison test)

That 700 lb number came from a trade publication but I couldn't find it again this evening. Regardless of the actual number, my point was that manufacturers will go to almost any length to wrest a few pounds off a vehicle if for no more reason than to improve its fuel usage by a minuscule amount or increase its towing capacity by a few pounds. Their ad agencies will also go to any invalid lengths to misrepresent a product by means of trickery and outright falsehoods. Apparently there is no honor in the advertising business.

 

[Aquarius]

I haven't seen a commercial for collect calls in years, those 1-800 call ATT commericials with Carrot Top. Then again those services went the way of the dinosaurs when cell phones came out. I rarely see commercials for food products like hamburger helper, and campbells and progresso soups, now I see more commercials for frozen and microwaveable foods. Which also reminds me that they don't advertise Chef Boy R D commercials anymore either, or Spaghetti-Os.

Commercials that I never see anymore, are public service anouncements for local services in my area. I'm in San Antonio, during the run of cartoons on the weekdays and Saturday mornings agencies like the Texas Runaway Hotline would advertise PSA's and my local electric company CPS and water company SAWS use to have their own PSAs, educating kids about the dangers of electricity and about things like wasting water and how to save it. PSA's in general don't run anymore, at least not the fun ones from back in my day like the ones with Smokey the Bear or Seymore the Smoke Detector, now it's just some boring song played over some bad acting for 30 seconds trying to teach a lesson.

 

[landtuna]

Commercials that I never see anymore, are public service anouncements for local services in my area. I'm in San Antonio, during the run of cartoons on the weekdays and Saturday mornings agencies like the Texas Runaway Hotline would advertise PSA's and my local electric company CPS and water company SAWS use to have their own PSAs, educating kids about the dangers of electricity and about things like wasting water and how to save it. PSA's in general don't run anymore, at least not the fun ones from back in my day like the ones with Smokey the Bear or Seymore the Smoke Detector, now it's just some boring song played over some bad acting for 30 seconds trying to teach a lesson.

Try watching one of the full service station's diginets. In my market Channel 3.2 simulcasts 3.1 in an endless loop throughout the day. But instead of normal commercials each commercial break is a PSA. I have never seen so many PSA's and more importantly so many interesting PSA's.

 

[paulsonj72]

I can remember when the Peanuts holiday specials were sponsored by Dolly Madison Zingers and Ho-Hos.

One of the original sponsors was Coke and as a result the ORIGINAL Charlie Brown Christmas has not been seen in many years. There are two scenes that bear this out. In the scene early on where they are throwing snowballs at a can, it was a Coke Can in the original. And at the end when they are singing there is that pause where the voice over says this is brought to you by the local people who bottle Coca-Cola. I remember Dolly Madison and McDonalds as the sponsors on CBS.

 

[LKellerIII]

Thanks for the correction. Wow! What talent they signed up for a Saturday morning cartoon! Jonathan Winters, Paul Frees, Stiller & Meara, in addition to Reiner and Leonard. I'm guessing there must have been some hilarious, off-color, off-mic "alternate takes" done during the sessions in which the dialogue was recorded.

My father worked for Jay Ward (Rocky & Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle). And BTW - Ward's studio worked closely with Total Television - the studio that produced Linus, Tennessee Tuxedo and others. He occasionally did animation work for Total. There was a Bullwinkle character named Captain "Peter Wrongway Peachfuzz" - a dig at Peter Piech, who headed Total.

Dad used to come home with stories about the recording sessions. The animators attended them because they were fun, and often occurred in the afternoon after a "3 martini lunch" when many of them were sloshed. Among the Jay Ward voice talent were Paul Frees, William Conrad (Cannon, Jake and the Fatman), Edward Everett Horton, Hans Conreid, and Charlie Ruggles. Those last three were film actors, primarily in the 1930s and 40s.

Conrad, in particular was very profane - there are Cannon outtakes on You Tube that confirm this. He also liked practical jokes. On one occasion, he put on a hard hat, pretended to be a city worker, and went out onto Sunset Blvd, and stopped traffic. Unfortunately, I don't recall the entire story.

 

[hamster]

One of the original sponsors was Coke and as a result the ORIGINAL Charlie Brown Christmas has not been seen in many years. There are two scenes that bear this out. In the scene early on where they are throwing snowballs at a can, it was a Coke Can in the original. And at the end when they are singing there is that pause where the voice over says this is brought to you by the local people who bottle Coca-Cola. I remember Dolly Madison and McDonalds as the sponsors on CBS.

...and the funny thing is that today such products thanks to those health nazis wouldn't dare advertise in a cartoon especially products made by the Coca-Cola Company.