I was just sitting here thinking about different types of commercials and ads, and how since even when I was younger..how they have changed. For instance....it seemed like in the 80's there were SOOO many toy commercials..and SO many commercials advertising types of food for kids (fruit roll-ups, cereal, etc). I realize that there are still those types of commercials around..but it doesn't seem like there are as many of them.  Also, a kind of related subject...when were were younger..even cereal boxes had better ads on them, and better prizes, etc. Do any of you remember certain cereals having contests where the winner would get a shopping spree in a toy store?

Ads are so 'action packed' and 'in your face' these days...

...that it's quite surreal to see one carried off in such a genteel fashion!

This 'toothpest' ad dates from 1955 and is historic in its own right, as it was the first commercial to be aired on British TV...

Ads are so 'action packed' and 'in your face' these days...

...that it's quite surreal to see one carried off in such a genteel fashion!

This 'toothpest' ad dates from 1955 and is historic in its own right, as it was the first commercial to be aired on British TV...


I agree Paul...they do seem to be very fast paced nowadays.

In the 50s and early 60s, commercials seemed to be targeted alot towards housewives. They showed women in their high heels and pearls cooking dinner or showing off the newest kitchen gadgets.  Also, cigarette commercials were still on and alot of actors would endorse their favorites. Even the Flintstones  did a cigarette commercial!  :o   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahMUZ_4suvA

In the 80s lots of cereals were advertised on tv by songs.  Weetabix, Kellogs Honey Smacks, Coco Pops.  There one cereal where I can remember bits of the song but not what the product was.  It always ended with "They're tasty, tasty, very,very tasty.  They're very tasty!"

Now its about how healthy they are

What I miss is the TV jingle.  You don't see many of those today ...

- "Can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp, it's got the crunch with the punch"
- "Cause when you've got the munchies, nothing else will do!"
- "Bubbly, Bubbly, Bubbly Eno"
- "Alka Seltzer to the rescue!"

What I miss is the TV jingle.  You don't see many of those today ...

- "Can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp, it's got the crunch with the punch"
- "Cause when you've got the munchies, nothing else will do!"
- "Bubbly, Bubbly, Bubbly Eno"
- "Alka Seltzer to the rescue!"





I agree! I loved the cheesiness of it all! ;)

I was just copying some of my old-school early-mid '90s footage for someone today, and I noticed, even in that 1991/'92-1995 time, there were plenty of jingles and cheesier commercials. I used to purposefully record some of them (which I rarely do now, lol). The Juicy Fruit ad in '91 had the same lyrics as the '80s ones did.

In the mid '90s is when this started changing. Seinfeld was one of the first major network TV sitcoms to not have a song (just the standard theme music), probably for holding the viewing audience's attention (actually, it worked for me). :) In most shows, even opening themes were often shortened, because people tend to channel surf while it's playing. So, they probably decided to start getting rid of them altogether in certain shows.

I guess that more "basic" style had an influence on commercials, too.

Yeah, there were lots more food and snack commercials through the '90s too. Even something like the Taco Bell dog might seem a little passe now. Probably this is because of health risks with junk food (of course, that's always been around, but more people adhere to it now, I guess).

In the mid '90s is when this started changing. Seinfeld was one of the first major network TV sitcoms to not have a song (just the standard theme music), probably for holding the viewing audience's attention (actually, it worked for me). :) In most shows, even opening themes were often shortened, because people tend to channel surf while it's playing. So, they probably decided to start getting rid of them altogether in certain shows.

In Seinfeld's case, they eventually removed the whole stand-up intro so they could fit more funny stuff into each show's episode.  I believe the first major network sitcom without a theme song was Murphy Brown.  I don't recall any prior to that without one

I notice within the last few years, Juicy Fruit has brought back their famous jingle, but usually something happens to the person who is singing it and the song stops.  They probably did those ads to basically say TV jingles are dead LOL