A comment in another thread got me reminiscing about those hokey old local commercials. You know, the ones that were shot with one camera in about half an hour, rarely used retakes, and probably cost a few hundred bucks at most. Nowadays, even local spots are just too slick and polished -- there was a charm to those local hucksters back in the 60's and 70's.
Two I remember from here in Orlando in the mid-70's:
-- Art Grindle Used Cars - Art Grindle was a bespectacled, nerdy looking guy with hurricane-proof helmet hair. In his spots, he would stand in front of his dealership as various used cars were driven into camera range. Running around, shouting and gesticulating, he would point out all the fine vehicle's features, grab a crudely painted placard that displayed the price off the windhsield, then tear it (and the price) in half...sometimes in half again. Usually, he would jump up on the last car, walking and jumping all over the hood and roof, then trim the price again because of the dents he made. (Once he jumped through the roof of a convertible, whether by design or accident I cannot say.) The commercials always closed the same way, with the camera doing a fast-zoom into his sincere (?) face as he pointed a finger at the camera and declared, " I WANT to sell you a CAR!!!" (He later sold his business and became a Florida state legislator, which somehow seems perfectly appropriate...)
-- McMillan Furniture City - In contrast to the manic energy of Grindle's spots, this sofa and bed emporium's ads were as low-key and catatonic as they come. Usually just displaying a sofa, chair, table, or whatever on a bare stage with a darkened background, the proprietor (a pudgy late middle aged gent) would hold a card displaying the price of the various items as he droned (and I mean droned) on about them in the most nap-inducing monotone you can imagine. Clearly, these one-camera spots were filmed quick and cheap and did not allow for retakes -- I clearly remember one in which he was holding the price placard upside down for 2/3 of the ad until he noticed someone off-camera gesticulating towards it and finally righted it by the end of the ad. God forbid they should have wasted another 30 seconds doing a second take, right?
I'm sure there were more good examples locally here, but I will have to clear out a few cobwebs to recall them. Meanwhile, what old local commercials do you remember that were utterly hokey, amateurish, and ridiculous, but which like a bad car wreck, you just couldn't NOT watch?
Two I remember from here in Orlando in the mid-70's:
-- Art Grindle Used Cars - Art Grindle was a bespectacled, nerdy looking guy with hurricane-proof helmet hair. In his spots, he would stand in front of his dealership as various used cars were driven into camera range. Running around, shouting and gesticulating, he would point out all the fine vehicle's features, grab a crudely painted placard that displayed the price off the windhsield, then tear it (and the price) in half...sometimes in half again. Usually, he would jump up on the last car, walking and jumping all over the hood and roof, then trim the price again because of the dents he made. (Once he jumped through the roof of a convertible, whether by design or accident I cannot say.) The commercials always closed the same way, with the camera doing a fast-zoom into his sincere (?) face as he pointed a finger at the camera and declared, " I WANT to sell you a CAR!!!" (He later sold his business and became a Florida state legislator, which somehow seems perfectly appropriate...)
-- McMillan Furniture City - In contrast to the manic energy of Grindle's spots, this sofa and bed emporium's ads were as low-key and catatonic as they come. Usually just displaying a sofa, chair, table, or whatever on a bare stage with a darkened background, the proprietor (a pudgy late middle aged gent) would hold a card displaying the price of the various items as he droned (and I mean droned) on about them in the most nap-inducing monotone you can imagine. Clearly, these one-camera spots were filmed quick and cheap and did not allow for retakes -- I clearly remember one in which he was holding the price placard upside down for 2/3 of the ad until he noticed someone off-camera gesticulating towards it and finally righted it by the end of the ad. God forbid they should have wasted another 30 seconds doing a second take, right?
I'm sure there were more good examples locally here, but I will have to clear out a few cobwebs to recall them. Meanwhile, what old local commercials do you remember that were utterly hokey, amateurish, and ridiculous, but which like a bad car wreck, you just couldn't NOT watch?
