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Worst spot delivery ever

B

beachguy3b

Okay, I know Howie Carr is really BAD radio, but this Jaguar Exeter spot he does with the guy who runs the place is so bad, it makes me nauseous.

I can usually just shake my head and laugh at Howie, but I can't stand this spot. UGH.

If you haven't heard it, you're lucky!

Thanks for letting me blow off some steam. WHEW!
 
I beg to differ. Ken would take his time with those live reads, but he played most of a whole comedy album during his midnight-til-2 ayem show. His unique way of doing phone calls(You heard him but not the caller) was another trait that made Ken, Ken.
 
Ken "The Night Mayor" Mayer was a unique figure from another era. I can still hear him doing those Porter Chevrolet Commercials. Most of the time the Sunday show was recorded during the week. Mayer would bring this white Westclock electric clock into the studio and set it for 12 so he could give the time during the show to make it sound live. The problem was the engineers at WUNR more often than not would not roll the tape at 12 AM sometimes they were ten minutes late and Kens time checks would be off. But no one seemed to notice or if they did they didn't care.

Believe it or not we used to get a lot of calls from UNR listeners especially after one of the Spanish program hosts was using his program to call for the overthrow of the US Government. After a couple of weeks Herbert Hoffman paid for a Spanish monitor named Fernando to check the program before it aired.
 
Carr is now driving a Jag rather than a Cadillac because the GM of Olsen Cadillac Steve Disisto left Olsen for a Jaguar Dealership in NH. The fake phone call spots are exactly the same except the brand has changed. I haven't heard Olsen on the air since Disisto left Olsen.

I think any spot Kuhner does is the worst especially the ones for Lunch Dates or the Retirement Planner Bill Kelly. Kuhner says "you should call Kelly because he is one of us" whatever that means.

The worst was the one Kuhner did for the high priced Hanover Street Chop House in Manchester NH. Kuhner talks about driving up there and what does he order,a cheeseburger and the fries which are to die for" they same phrase carr uses to discribe the dessert at the Chop House. It took RKO or the client about two weeks to realize how ridiculous the spot sounded. The copy was changed and a new spot was cut.

Kuhner drives from the RI border to Manchester for a free dinner at a 5 star restaurant and he orders a cheeseburger, fries and a diet coke.
 
His unique way of doing phone calls(You heard him but not the caller) was another trait that made Ken, Ken.

God, I remember those calls. Ken's end consisted entirely of "why thank you...you are so kind...thank you...thank you...glad you love the program....keep listening....yes, I'll tell Mayor White you know me...thank you."

Now, it could have been a wrong number or a telemarketer, but Ken made them all sound like the guy on the other end was praising his show as the best thing on radio since since the Titanic distress call.

By the way, didn't Ken at least occasionally Comrex his show from a table at a local gin mill? I remember seeing him often holding court at Charlies on Newbury, with one of those huge Western Electric black telephones at hand on his corner table. You got the feeling he was trying to channel Walter Winchell at the Copa.

Regards,
TSB
 
CrankyYankee said:
I beg to differ. Ken would take his time with those live reads, but he played most of a whole comedy album during his midnight-til-2 ayem show. His unique way of doing phone calls(You heard him but not the caller) was another trait that made Ken, Ken.
Click to expand...

you're right--it was a very unique show. And certainly a lot more enjoyable than Howie ;D
 
I used to listen once in a while mainly because I couldn't believe how bad it was. 10 or so straight minutes of him reading ad copy interspersed with a few sentences off of a Bob Newhart album, then the 1-way phone calls.
 
If those were worse than the one I mentioned at the opening post of the thread, then I am deeply grateful to have missed them. If I catch that Jaguar spot, I rip off my headphones and toss them away.
 
I'll take Howie or any other air personality voxing a spot as opposed to 99% of clients.
 
vmorrison said:
Kuhner drives from the RI border to Manchester for a free dinner at a 5 star restaurant and he orders a cheeseburger, fries and a diet coke.
Click to expand...

That's not really very far. Any one of the little New England states is little more than 2-3 counties in a "normal" sized state.
Yes, I know that none of the roads are straight or ever follow compass headings.

Once, I took the auto ferry across from Long Island to Bridgeport, CT, on the way to Danbury, CT.

We missed the "main" highway north out of Bridgeport, and my wife had a moment of panic as we plunged north off into the woods on
a bumpy smaller road.

"Aren't we going to get lost?" she asked. I said, "Heck no, it Connecticut. It's like a big back yard woods, you come out on the other side."

And sure enough we came out on the roads between Ridgefield and Danbury, making a perfect beeline to the customer's location.

Maybe Kuhner really wanted nothing more than a good cheeseburger, fries and diet coke and a nice drive across Massachsetts.
 
That's not really very far. Any one of the little New England states is little more than 2-3 counties in a "normal" sized state.
Yes, I know that none of the roads are straight or ever follow compass headings.


Maybe Kuhner really wanted nothing more than a good cheeseburger, fries and diet coke and a nice drive across Massachsetts.
[/quote]

What Kuhner wanted would have been fine if he was on his own dime. My point is the spot sounded stupid. Obviously, someone at RKO or the client caught it because it only ran about a week before a new spot was recorded. Also the phrase "to die for" shows the copywriter is lazy. Howie uses the phrase to describe the desert at the Chop House. Kuhner uses the phrase to describe the fires.
 
Really GOOD fries ARE to die for, and I mostly don't ever eat fries unless the place does the
riduculous 2-step (proper) french fry method using fresh potatoes.
Once short fry earlier, and then another drop when I place my order.
Such fries are worthy of a drive across Mass.


But I haven't heard the host in question.
I admit I love best some of the weirdest, quirkiest hosts.
Even if they're pretty bad.
But that's me.
 
IIRC Ken Mayer taped his show on Wednesday afternoons, though he usually was around on Sunday nights to answer the phone. Also, most of the 'calls' were fakes.
 
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