classic advertising Archives - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

We’re Having Beefaroni !!

How many of you remember hearing “Hooray for Beefaroni” and suddenly wanting a bowl? This 1970s commercial turns a simple ride home for lunch into a little Italian adventure, with the young bicyclist speeding past markets, crowds and landmarks before finally reaching his Beefaroni

The commercial was part of a much larger campaign created by Young & Rubicam. Composer Roy Eaton wrote the memorable Beefaroni jingle, and it remained connected to the product for more than 30 years. An earlier commercial featured children charging through Venice while singing, creating an image that advertising writers later compared to the running of the bulls

The chef pictured on the can was not an invented mascot. Ettore Boiardi was a successful Italian-born chef who opened a Cleveland restaurant in 1924. Customers enjoyed his sauce so much that they began asking to take it home, eventually helping turn his restaurant recipes into a nationwide grocery brand. The spelling “Boy-Ar-Dee” was created simply to help Americans pronounce Boiardi correctly

Was Beefaroni a regular lunch in your house? Are you singing the jingle now?

New Coke

Wearing one of his familiar sweaters and sitting against a dark background, Bill Cosby holds up the can, calls it the best Coca-Cola ever and ends with “Coke is it!”

Coca-Cola replaced its original formula on April 23, 1985, after extensive taste testing. According to Coca-Cola’s own history, nearly 200,000 consumers participated in tests that favored the new formula. What those tests failed to measure was the emotional connection people had with the original drink.

Cosby was an obvious choice because he was one of television’s most familiar and persuasive advertising personalities. However, his appearance created an amusing contradiction. Shortly before New Coke arrived, he had appeared in commercials criticizing Pepsi for tasting too sweet. New Coke was then introduced with a sweeter taste designed partly to compete with Pepsi.

The reaction quickly became part of advertising history. Coca-Cola received thousands of complaints, consumers began hoarding the remaining original Coke and protest groups demanded its return. One Texas customer reportedly purchased $1,000 worth of the old formula before it disappeared.

Coca-Cola finally brought the original drink back as Coca-Cola Classic on July 11, only 79 days after introducing New Coke. The new formula remained available beside it, was eventually renamed Coke II and quietly survived until 2002.

Did you try New Coke in 1985, and was it really as bad as everyone remembers?

Winston Tastes Good Like A …….

This animated commercial proves you did not need actors, scenery or even much animation to create something memorable. Musical notes dance across the screen, letters form the Winston name, and the package appears while the singers deliver one of advertising’s most familiar jingles.

The clip matches a 1963 Winston television spot, although the campaign began with the brand’s introduction in 1954. R.J. Reynolds named Winston after Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and promoted it as a filtered cigarette that still delivered flavor. The brand became the country’s best-selling cigarette by 1966.

The William Esty advertising agency built the campaign around “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.” The use of “like” instead of “as” was intentional, creating a national grammar argument that helped make the slogan even more memorable. Walter Cronkite refused to say it incorrectly, Merriam-Webster cited it during a language debate, and Winston eventually answered its critics by asking whether they wanted good grammar or good taste.

Margaret Johnson ghostwrote the jingle and recorded it with her husband, Travis Johnson, and their group, the Song Spinners. The melody’s two quick handclaps became almost as recognizable as the words themselves. Winston later carried the campaign into popular television programs, including The Flintstones, where Fred, Barney and other Bedrock characters promoted the cigarettes.

Seen today, the commercial is also a reminder of how common cigarette advertising once was on television. Growing evidence about smoking’s health risks eventually led to the removal of cigarette commercials from American radio and television beginning in 1971.

Do you remember the words first, or those two perfectly timed handclaps?

I Want My Maypo!

This wonderfully simple 1956 commercial begins with Marky refusing to eat his breakfast while wearing his cowboy hat. Uncle Ralph tries the old airplane-and-hangar trick, accidentally puts the spoon into his own mouth and discovers that he likes Maypo. When Uncle Ralph begins eating the entire bowl, Marky finally delivers the line remembered by generations: “I want my Maypo!”

Animation pioneer John Hubley created the commercial around recordings of his four-year-old son, Mark. Rather than giving the boy a polished script, Hubley followed him with a microphone and built the cartoon around his natural words, reactions and mispronunciations. The result felt more like a funny family moment than a commercial.

The campaign transformed a poorly selling maple-flavored oatmeal into a national favorite. Sales rose an average of 78 percent and climbed as high as 186 percent in some markets. Marky became so popular that he appeared on packaging and inspired a vinyl bank, although Hubley initially fought attempts to merchandise a character based upon his own child.

Later commercials featured major athletes including Mickey Mantle, Wilt Chamberlain, Johnny Unitas, Don Meredith and Oscar Robertson declaring that they wanted their Maypo. Marky received a modern makeover in 2001, but kept his familiar cowboy hat and kerchief.

Maypo remains available today, proving that Marky’s demand lasted much longer than anyone probably expected.

Did you eat Maypo, or did you simply run around the house shouting, “I want my Maypo!”

Professionally Speaking, Meet the Ajax Man

We just told you about Madge the Manicurist. How about our favorite, or possibly only, professional dishwasher?

Actor Eugene Roche became television’s Ajax Man in the early 1970s, playing a no-nonsense restaurant dishwasher who knew exactly how to make greasy dishes “squeaky clean.” After washing a plate with Ajax dishwashing liquid, he would run his fingers across it to produce that memorable squeak.

His familiar sales pitch was, “Professionally speaking, you’ve got to try Ajax.” Roche’s everyday appearance and serious delivery made him seem like a genuine restaurant employee offering advice from years behind the sink.

Colgate-Palmolive ran the campaign through the Norman, Craig & Kummel advertising agency. Roche appeared as the Ajax Man from around 1971 through at least 1977, making him one of the decade’s most familiar commercial characters.

Roche later became a successful character actor, appearing as Pinky Peterson on All in the Family and Luther Gillis on Magnum, P.I.

Do you remember the Ajax Man making that plate squeak?

Madge and the Palmolive Soak

Madge worked at the fictional Salon East Beauty Parlor, where nearly every manicure ended with the same surprise. After listening to a customer complain about dry or rough hands, Madge would calmly reveal that her fingers were already soaking in Palmolive dishwashing liquid.

The famous line, “You’re soaking in it,” first became part of the campaign in 1966. Actress Jan Miner’s perfect delivery helped turn a simple product demonstration into one of television advertising’s most recognizable catchphrases.

Madge became so well known that A&W later parodied the commercials. Instead of Palmolive, she soaked her hand in a mug of root beer, proving just how deeply the character had become part of popular culture.

Did anyone ever try soaking their own hands in Palmolive after watching Madge?

Don’t Squeeze the Charmin Fun Facts

Beginning in 1964, shoppers were repeatedly warned, “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin!” The commercials followed grocery store manager Mr. Whipple as he tried to stop customers from squeezing the soft toilet paper, even though he could rarely resist squeezing it himself.

Copywriter John Chervokas created Mr. Whipple for the Benton & Bowles advertising agency after noticing shoppers squeezing produce such as tomatoes and melons. Actor Dick Wilson brought the character to life in more than 500 commercials, making Mr. Whipple one of the most recognizable advertising personalities in America.

The first Mr. Whipple commercial was fittingly filmed in Flushing, New York. In a 1978 survey, Mr. Whipple was reportedly ranked as the third-best-known person in America, behind Richard Nixon and Billy Graham.

The original campaign ended in 1985, but Dick Wilson returned when Charmin revived Mr. Whipple in 1999. Another lesser-known connection came later when future MythBusters host Adam Savage appeared as Mr. Whipple’s stock boy, Jimmy, in several commercials.

Wilson also appeared in television shows including Bewitched, Hogan’s Heroes and The Bob Newhart Show, but Mr. Whipple remained his most famous role.

Did you ever squeeze the Charmin when nobody was looking?

Hey, Kool-Aid!

Two thirsty kids call for Kool-Aid, and suddenly a giant smiling pitcher comes charging through the park barrier to save the day. This mid-1970s commercial used the wonderfully ridiculous formula that made Kool-Aid Man one of advertising’s most unforgettable characters.

Kool-Aid’s story began in 1927 when Edwin Perkins turned his bottled drink concentrate, Fruit Smack, into an easier-to-ship powder called Kool-Ade. The spelling was later changed to Kool-Aid.

The smiling pitcher mascot was created in 1954 by advertising art director Marvin Potts, who was reportedly inspired by his son drawing faces on a frosted window. In 1974, Grey Advertising’s Alan Kupchick and Harold Karp gave the pitcher arms, legs and a larger-than-life personality, creating the Kool-Aid Man seen crashing through walls, fences and nearly anything else in his way. The exact person who first suggested the crash-through entrance is not firmly documented, but the famous campaign came from Grey Advertising.

The exact songwriter for this particular commercial is not clearly credited. However, commercial jingle writer and producer Richard Berg provided Kool-Aid Man’s original voice, including that unforgettable “Oh, yeah!”

Did you ever shout “Hey, Kool-Aid!” and secretly hope he would come crashing through your fence?

Quisp Cereal

What other cereal commercial could turn a giant ball of space yarn into an 87-mile-long necktie? This Quisp ad feels more like a miniature Saturday morning cartoon than a commercial, with Quisp flying through space to deliver cereal before encountering a very “knotty” problem.

Quisp was not just a cereal mascot. He was the Crown Prince of Planet Q, and the propeller on his head allowed him to fly through space. He occasionally traveled with a furry sidekick named Quunchy and competed against Quake, a musclebound miner voiced by Cannon star William Conrad.

Quaker Oats introduced Quisp in 1965, with crunchy corn pieces shaped like flying saucers. The commercials were produced by Jay Ward, creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, which explains their fast jokes, wild characters and cartoon-style adventures. Daws Butler, also famous as the voice of Yogi Bear, provided Quisp’s voice.

Quisp never starred in a regular cartoon series, but its animated commercials often appeared during children’s programming and became almost as memorable as the shows they sponsored. The cereal disappeared and returned several times over the decades before Quaker discontinued it again around 2024.

Do you remember eating Quisp, or were the crazy commercials more memorable than the cereal?

Columbia House: 11 Albums For A Dollar

Columbia House was how I started my record collection. 11 albums for just one dollar! What a bargain, until you forgot to send in the postcard saying you didn’t want the automatic shipment and wound up with an Engelbert Humperdinck album the next month. Not that there’s anything wrong with him, just not exactly a 17-year-old’s style.

That was the Columbia House magic and the Columbia House trap. The club pulled you in with a ridiculous opening deal, then made its money when you bought more albums at regular club prices, or when you forgot to decline the monthly selection.

Columbia House started as the Columbia Record Club in 1955 and became huge through mail-order records, tapes, and later CDs. The music club side shut down in 2009, after BMG bought and folded it into its own operation. The company kept going for a while as a DVD/Blu-ray club, but its parent filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015, after years of declining revenue and a music world that had moved to downloads and streaming.

Looking back, Columbia House was part bargain, part lesson in fine print, and part rite of passage. For a lot of us, it was the first time the mailman delivered music we actually wanted — and sometimes music we absolutely did not.