1970s commercials Archives - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

O.J. Simpson and the Hertz Airport Dash

In the 1970s, O.J. Simpson became one of the most recognizable pitchmen on television thanks to his Hertz commercials. The ads showed him sprinting through airports in a suit, briefcase in hand, while people cheered, “Go, O.J., Go!” It was a perfect use of his football image: fast, famous, smiling, and always on the move.

At the time, the campaign was a huge hit and helped turn Simpson from a football star into a mainstream TV celebrity. It is strange to watch now because the cheerful airport-running image became one of the most famous commercials of its era, long before all the later headlines changed how people looked at him.

When a Wine Ad Sounded Like Theater

The commercial was simple, but that was the power of it. Welles sat there with that unmistakable voice, making wine sound important, serious, and almost theatrical. He did not have to do much. He just had to speak, and suddenly a bottle of wine felt like it belonged on a stage.

The line worked because it sounded classy and a little over-the-top at the same time. It made patience sound elegant. It made the product feel refined. And, like so many great old commercials, it gave people something they could repeat for years.

Of course, the ad became even more famous later because of the outtakes, where Welles had trouble getting through the lines. That only added to the legend. The serious commercial became funny in a whole new way.

Looking back, it is a perfect piece of old TV advertising: dramatic, memorable, quotable, and just a little ridiculous.

Henry Fonda, Jodie Foster and Peter Brady Selling View-Master?

This is one of those commercials that makes you stop and say, “Wait… is that who I think it is?”

In 1971, GAF ran a View-Master commercial starring Henry Fonda, of all people, giving the toy a grandfatherly stamp of approval. Sitting with the kids is a very young Jodie Foster, years before Taxi Driver, Freaky Friday, The Accused, and Silence of the Lambs. Some postings also identify one of the boys as Christopher Knight, better known to TV kids as Peter Brady.

The ad is pure early ’70s View-Master magic: kids gathered around, clicking through those little reels, while Henry Fonda explains the wonder of seeing pictures in 3-D. Before home video, before tablets, before YouTube, this was how a kid could “visit” Disney, see TV characters, travel the world, or look at dinosaurs from the living room floor.

A fun fact: View-Master had been around since 1939, long before it became mostly thought of as a children’s toy. Under GAF, the reels leaned more into kid-friendly subjects like cartoons, TV shows, and entertainment tie-ins.

Another fun fact: Jodie Foster was already a seasoned child performer by this point. She began working as a child model and actress in the 1960s, so this commercial came before her big teen fame in the mid-1970s.

Ho Ho Ho… Green Giant!

Some commercials you don’t just remember — you can still hear them. The Jolly Green Giant made vegetables feel bigger than life with that booming “Ho Ho Ho!”

The Green Giant character first appeared in advertising in 1928, but he wasn’t always the friendly leafy giant we remember. In 1935, ad man Leo Burnett helped reshape him into the smiling Jolly Green Giant.

The TV version most of us remember really took off around 1961, when “Ho Ho Ho” became his signature line and “Good Things from the Garden” became part of the campaign. The deep voice belonged to Len Dresslar, a Chicago singer whose laugh became one of the most famous sounds in advertising.

The Giant later got a young helper, Little Green Sprout, in the early 1970s. The campaign faded in and out over the years, but it never really disappeared. Even if he wasn’t always in the commercials, he stayed right there on the package.

Ho Ho Ho… Green Giant!

Silly Rabbit, Trix Are For Kids!

https://www.theretrosite.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Trix.mp4

The Trix Rabbit is one of those cereal mascots who spent decades chasing the same bowl of cereal and almost never getting it.

Trix cereal was introduced by General Mills in 1954, but the famous slogan came a little later. General Mills says “Trix are for kids!” first appeared on the box in 1959, before the now-famous rabbit fully took over the campaign.

The setup was simple and perfect for kids: the rabbit wanted Trix, the kids caught him trying to get some, and then came the line everybody remembers:

“Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!”

It worked because it was funny, colorful, and a little unfair. As kids, some of us probably felt bad for the rabbit. He tried costumes, schemes, disguises, and tricks, but those kids almost always shut him down.

Looking back, that was the magic of the campaign. One rabbit, one cereal, one catchphrase, and a generation that can still hear it in their head.

Nobody Doesn’t Like Sara Lee

As a kid growing up, I didn’t understand why everyone said “Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee” was incorrect English. I just knew they made great baked products.

The famous Sara Lee campaign was built around that odd but unforgettable line:

“Everybody doesn’t like something, but nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee.”

It was catchy, a little strange, and maybe not what your English teacher wanted to hear, but that was the point. The double negative made people notice it, remember it, and repeat it.

The commercials usually showed off Sara Lee cakes, pies, pound cake, coffee cake, and other desserts that looked like they came from a bakery, even if they came from the freezer. For a lot of families, Sara Lee was the “company’s coming” dessert you could serve without doing all the baking yourself.

Looking back, the grammar may have been questionable, but the advertising worked. Everybody had foods they didn’t like, but the campaign wanted us to believe Sara Lee was the one thing nobody could turn down.

And honestly, as a kid, I wasn’t diagramming the sentence. I was looking at the cake.

Virginia Slims: “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby”

https://www.theretrosite.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Virginia-slims.mp4

The Virginia Slims commercials were some of the most memorable cigarette ads of the late 1960s and 1970s, built around the famous slogan “You’ve come a long way, baby.”

The campaign launched in 1968, aimed directly at women during the era of women’s liberation. The ads usually compared an old-fashioned scene of women being told what they couldn’t do with a modern, confident woman enjoying her independence. Then came the message: women had come a long way, and Virginia Slims was supposedly the cigarette made for them.

Looking back, it was clever marketing, but also pretty calculated. The ads borrowed the language of women’s progress to sell cigarettes. They made smoking look stylish, modern, and independent at a time when cigarette advertising was still everywhere.

For those of us who remember the commercials, the slogan is the thing that stuck. “You’ve come a long way, baby” became bigger than the product itself. It was catchy, bold, and very much of its time.

Today, the campaign feels like a time capsule: part advertising genius, part cultural manipulation, and a reminder of when cigarette commercials could still shape pop culture before they were banned from television in 1971.

Josephine the Plumber: Comet’s Cleaning Queen

https://www.theretrosite.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Josephine.mp4

Josephine from the Comet cleanser commercials was played by Jane Withers, who had already been famous years earlier as a 1930s child star. Later, a whole new generation knew her not from the movies, but as Josephine the Plumber.

Josephine appeared in Comet commercials from the 1960s into the 1970s, usually dressed in white work overalls and showing how Comet could handle stains, sinks, tubs, and other tough cleaning jobs.

What made the campaign stand out was that a woman plumber was highly unusual on TV at the time. That was part of the hook. Instead of using a typical male repairman, Comet gave viewers Josephine — friendly, confident, and no-nonsense. She knew the pipes, the porcelain, and exactly what cleaner to use.

The character worked because she felt practical and believable. She was not glamorous or fancy. She was the woman who knew how to get the job done. Jane Withers reportedly even took a plumbing course to make the role feel more authentic.

For a lot of viewers, Josephine was one of those commercial faces you trusted. If she said Comet cleaned better, you believed her. She had that perfect old-school ad quality: part neighbor, part expert, part TV personality, and completely unforgettable.

“Muncha buncha, muncha buncha, Fritos go with lunch!”

It was catchy, silly, and easy for kids to repeat, which is exactly what made old snack commercials work. A plain lunch suddenly felt more exciting when you added a bag of Fritos.

That was the charm of the campaign. It did not need a complicated story. It was just a happy little reminder that Fritos were salty, crunchy, and perfect next to a sandwich.

You’re singing it now, aren’t cha?

Smokey Bear’s Creepiest PSA?

Before CGI, jump scares, and viral ads, Smokey Bear managed to give some of us a double take with one strange little public service announcement. Actress Joanna Cassidy calmly warned viewers about forest fires, then removed her red-haired “mask” to reveal she was actually Smokey Bear underneath.

It was supposed to remind us that everyone has a part to play in preventing forest fires. But if you saw it as a kid, you probably remembered the face-removal trick just as much as the message.

Effective? Absolutely.

A little creepy? Also absolutely.