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Memorable Local Commercials

M

Mark Giardina

How many of you in the Rochester region remember Frank Falzalore (sp) and his "Big 1 2 5 Furniture Warehouse?

To the tune of Sinatra's "On State Street", good old Frank would appear on camera and ask people to stop by his store for a "cup of coffee and a sangwitch." That last line alone would crack me up. ;D

And what would Rochester TV have been without the HOG (House of Guitars)? And BUZZO!

Any other memorable local commercials I missed? There were a few I'm sure.
 
Mark_Giardina said:
How many of you in the Rochester region remember Frank Falzalore (sp) and his "Big 1 2 5 Furniture Warehouse?

To the tune of Sinatra's "On State Street", good old Frank would appear on camera and ask people to stop by his store for a "cup of coffee and a sangwitch." That last line alone would crack me up. ;D

And what would Rochester TV have been without the HOG (House of Guitars)? And BUZZO!

Any other memorable local commercials I missed? There were a few I'm sure.
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I don't want to sidetrack the discussion on memorable Rochester TV spots, but this reminds me of the days in '82 when I was doing continuity/production at WBBF/WMJQ ("I'm a rocker!"). Armand at the House of Guitars would call every week to dictate the copy for his radio spot to be voiced by us in house. The spots were little more than a long list of stuff for sale at the store -- and Armand would want us to cram about 2 minutes of copy into 60 seconds. Taking the dictation was painful, so we learned to just roll tape on his dictation and transcribe it later. He always wanted the spots to start with a whisper: "OK, listen close.." I caught some heck from the account exec when I changed it to "OK, listen closeLY."
 
Can't forget about my boys Vinnie & Angelo @ Irondequoit Dodge. And give it time. Mr. Fucillo will bring memories with his spots as goofy as they are.
 
qman said:
Can't forget about my boys Vinnie & Angelo @ Irondequoit Dodge. And give it time. Mr. Fucillo will bring memories with his spots as goofy as they are.
Click to expand...

Loved Cavages circa 1973-74...with a tag line that stated: "If there's not one near you, MOVE!" Which I think was changed after only a short time to "If there's not one near you, get movin'".

And Mr. Fuccillo may be a goofball but he is indeed...HUUUGE. It may be late-night horror movie league stuff but it's branding at its best.
 
Mark Giardina reminisces about Frank's Big 125 Furniture Warehouse commercials in Rochester by recalling, "To the tune of Sinatra's "On State Street", good old Frank would appear on camera and ask people to stop by his store for a "cup of coffee and a sangwitch."

Those spots were unforgettable, especially the ones in which he'd come on camera in a tuxedo and make both his entrance and exit on the path of a series of traveling spotlights like the open and close of Sinatra stage shows. A high school buddy of mine went down to the Big 125 one time and asked Frank, who was on the sales floor at the time, for a "sangwich and a cup of coffee"--and was told, "What the *&@% do you think we're runnin' here, a restaurant?"

Frank Falzalore and his sofas were gone, the place out of business within a year or two, I think the only money the Big 125 made for anyone was made by WHEC-TV. for selling him all those commercials. (He never seemed to be on the air on any other channel but Channel 10.)

The State Street store where he did business back in the day? It's now a porn store.
 
Dan Creed Chevrolet "SHAME ON YOU"
 
The HOG is nothing less than an institution, as we all know...

There is a certain jingle for a certain law firm that ends with a phone number, which is no doubt "memorable" but perhaps not in the most positive way...

But I do have an amusing memory of my now-13 year old son parodying "Harpers Index" with, among other things, "Average age at which a child learns the Celino and Barnes jingle"!

I also wonder how many people, upon watching Mario of the restaurant of the same name, saying his tag line, "You are not just a customer, you are my special guest!" have then shouted back at the screen, "Then why do I have to pay?"
 
WKBW era, circa 1970-71: for the touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar, an over-the-top commercial with a Ron Radio delivery (according to rumor, a priest of brother with a theatrical bent) that used the line "Jesus Christ Superstar is back... Because you demanded it." The "because you demanded it" line was frequently parodied by Beach and Neaverth (here's John Zack with the news, "because you demanded it!") Jeff Kaye re-cut the commercial for use on KB only, but the agency 'demanded' the original commercial be used.

QFM97-97 Rock era: Late 70s/early 80s: Indoor giant truck demolition derby spot with a genuinely big voice: "We're gonna turn the Aud into a giant mudddddddd-pit."

QFM97-WBUF era: Late 70s: Mighty Taco commercials featuring "Andy Taco" (Andy Gerovac) with Firesign Theatre and Cheech & Chong shtick. Two guys on the bus: "Mannn, I can smell where you ate... (solo bass line) Mighty Taco, Mighty Taco...."

97 Rock & WPHD era: Early to mid 80s: Countless bar spots, particularly Cassidy's, a bar the size of your living room at the corner of Main & Amherst Streets in Buffalo, "Okayyyyyy people, let's step up to the bar and spin the wheelllllll."

QFM97, WKBW, WYSL, WBUF, WPHD era: The 70s and 80s: Countless concert commercials for Festival and Harvey (Weinstein) & Corky at The Aud; Superfest at Rich Stadium featuring Don Berns, John McGhan, Jim Simms, Pat Feldballe and me, as well as the late Bob McRae.

Burnhams TV and Appliances featuring Jack Burnham, one of the first clients to do his own commercials.

Who can forget "Shop Sattlers 9-9-8 Broadway" spoken and jingle.

And finally, the Fantasy Island kid who asked, "Funnnn? Wowwwwww!" Half the people who saw and heard that commercial wanted to strangle that kid. I hope he grew up to be a well-adjusted adult, but I have my doubts.
 
Let's go way back in time - the channel 6 (5?) local news with Tom Decker, Bob Mills the weatherman and LIVE RG&E commercials given by Schuyler Baldwin. On this particular day, Schuyler's script somehow used the phrase "hypodermic needle" and when he got to that line he said "hypodeemic nerdle". He stopped and with mouth open, stared into the camera and there was dead silence in the studio.

Even in black & white, you could see his face turning red. After about ten seconds, Decker & Mills broke out laughing to end the silence. The spot faded out without Schuyler saying another word.

At the next break, to save face, Baldwin started out by saying "You know, what I meant to say was hypodeemic nerdle..." and everyone in the studio roared.
 
Hill TV comes to mind. Hopespun and hopelessly pathetic. I had a secret crush on Linda Hill. So wrong, she had to be right.
 
Then there was the out of town jeweler that invaded WNY, was it Tommy Van Scoy? And of course in Rochester, it was Dan Creed FORD.
 
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