Category: 1980s

A&W Silly Jewelery

A&W [Root Beer] was first brewed in June 1919, in Lodi, California by Roy Allen. Allen sold the nickel root beer at a roadside stand at a parade for returning World War I veterans. Along with partner Frank Wright, Allen began A&W Restaurants, giving the root beer its name as well as eventually selling other food. At some A&W Restaurants the root beer is still prepared fresh, this accounting for the fact that the taste varies at each restaurant.

Mr. T was once reported to be earning around $80,000 a week for his role in The A-Team and getting $15,000 for personal appearances, but by the end of the 1990s, he was appearing only in the occasional commercial, largely because of health problems.

Brad Pitt’s Got The Fever for Pringles

In 1987, [Brad] Pitt arrived in Beverly Hills, California. He studied under coach Roy London for six years. He first appeared in the sitcom Head Of The Class, for a while dating the show’s star Robin Givens. He also guest starred in two episodes of Growing Pains. Pitt appeared as Chris in the long-running soap Another World.

It is possible to throw the plastic lid on a Pringles can in a similar fashion to a frisbee. When released with the correct technique, they are surprisingly stable in flight, and can travel upwards of 50 feet. The established throwing technique is to hold the lid between the thumb and middle finger, starting with your arm in a backhand throwing position, held at just above waist height. A flick is critical when releasing the lid, to achieve sufficient spin. As Pringles lids require much more spin than Frisbees to maintain stability, successful forehand throws are extremely difficult to achieve. At sufficiently small angles of incidence Pringles lids will rebound from walls, and due to their lighter construction and shorter range, they are a safer alternative to throwing a disc around indoors.

Wendy’s Where’s the Beef Drive-thru

In 1970, Wendy’s was the first fast-food chain to offer a drive-through window. Implemented initially at Wendy’s second location, the “Pick-Up Window” used a speaker box to allow a customer to drive up, place an order, then drive to the window to complete the order.

“Beginning in the 1970s, Joe Sedelmaier a former art director at J. Walter Thompson and Young & Rubicam, gained notice for fundamentally changing the way television spots were cast and filmed. He replaced the actors who seemed too plastic, too perfect mannequins with offbeat people like Clara Peller.”

Hello Sexy Legs, Hello Sexy Nix

Pantyhose (also called tights) are sheer, close fitting coverings of the body from the waist to the feet, most frequently worn by women. Like stockings they are usually made of nylon. The one-piece pantyhose garment appeared in the 1960s and provided a convenient alternative to stockings (nylons).

In the United Kingdom, Ireland and some fellow Commonwealth nations knickers is a word for women’s undergarments.

Folgers is rich enough to be served in America’s gourmet coffee houses

Another famous [Folgers] advertising campaign from the early 1980s took the viewer inside various gourmet restaurants as a voice-over whispered, “We are here at (insert name of four-star restaurant), where we’ve secretly replaced the fine coffee they usually serve with Folgers Crystals. Let’s see if anyone can tell the difference!” Of course, no one ever did.

A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is “hidden” because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object. Hidden cameras have become popular for household surveillance, and can be built into common household objects such as smoke detectors, clock radios, motion detectors, ball caps, plants, and cellphones. Hidden cameras may also be used commercially or industrially as security cameras.

Wendy’s Parts is Parts

Originally Wendy’s had only two kinds of chicken sandwiches, breaded and grilled. Their spicy chicken sandwich started out as a promotional sandwich but was put on the menu full-time in 1996 due to its popularity and the fact that compared to most promotional sandwiches, it was much simpler to make (it used the same condiments as the standard breaded chicken sandwich). To this date, it is the only promotional sandwich to have been upgraded to full-time menu status.

Mechanically separated meat (MSM), also known as mechanically recovered meat (MRM) is a paste-like and batter-like meat product produced by forcing beef, pork or chicken bones, with attached edible meat, under high pressure through a sieve or similar device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue. Mechanically separated meat has been used in certain meat and meat products since the late 1960s. This product can be contrasted with meat extracted by advanced meat recovery systems.

Joe Sedelmaier (b. 1933) is a director and producer of television commercials working in the USA. He became unusually well-known in the 1980s as a result of directing a series of off-beat commercials.