vintage commercials Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

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?

Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner, and Miller Lite

The 1978 Miller Lite commercial with Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner worked because it was barely a joke. It was almost real life.

The ad played off Miller Lite’s famous “Tastes Great / Less Filling” campaign. Steinbrenner and Martin are sitting together, acting like they are finally getting along, until they start arguing over whether the beer’s best feature is the taste or that it is less filling. Then Steinbrenner gives the line everyone expected: “Billy, you’re fired.” Martin’s answer: “Not again.”

That was the whole joke. Everyone watching knew Steinbrenner and Martin had one of the strangest boss-manager relationships in sports. Martin was fiery, emotional, and a winner. Steinbrenner loved that until he didn’t. Then he would fire him, cool off, and eventually bring him back.

Their Yankees relationship was truly on again, off again. Martin managed the Yankees five different times, and each stint seemed to come with drama. He won a World Series with them in 1977, but by 1978 the tension with Steinbrenner and Reggie Jackson was boiling over. Martin left the team that summer after his famous “one’s a born liar, and the other’s convicted” remark.

That is what made the commercial so funny. It was not just two celebrities doing a beer ad. It was Steinbrenner and Billy Martin making fun of the exact thing everyone already knew about them.

Looking back, it is one of those commercials that could only have worked at that exact moment. The Yankees were huge, Miller Lite ads were everywhere, and Steinbrenner firing Billy Martin had practically become a running gag before running gags were a thing.

Dairy Queen and the Cartoon Rock-and-Roll Sell

This old Dairy Queen ad has that familiar feel of a commercial trying to grab kids fast. Instead of just showing ice cream, they used animation to make it feel fun, quick, and a little more exciting.

That was probably the point of the cartoon. A regular person talking about Dairy Queen might have felt too ordinary, but a cartoon could bounce around, move fast, and make it seem like something fun was happening.

And of course, there had to be that twangy guitar. It seemed like every ad trying to appeal to the youngsters needed some version of the “new rock and roll sound.” It was not always real rock and roll, but advertisers knew a little guitar twang made things feel younger and cooler.

Simple ad, simple idea: a cartoon, a catchy sound, and the promise of ice cream. That was enough to get Dairy Queen stuck in your head.

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.

When Plymouth Turned a Cartoon Into a Muscle Car

The Road Runner was already a Saturday morning favorite before Plymouth got involved. Kids knew the bird, the desert, the endless chase, and that famous “Beep Beep!”

Then Plymouth did something that still feels almost unbelievable: they named a real muscle car after the cartoon.

The Plymouth Road Runner arrived for 1968, and it was not just a car with a cute name. Plymouth actually licensed the Warner Bros. character, put the bird on the car, and even gave it a horn that went “Beep Beep.” How many cars can say their personality came from a cartoon?

That was the genius of it. The Road Runner cartoon meant speed, fun, and always staying one step ahead. That fit perfectly with a stripped-down, affordable muscle car built for younger drivers who wanted performance without a lot of fancy extras.

So when Plymouth used the Road Runner in commercials, it was more than a gimmick. It connected Saturday morning cartoons to the muscle car era in a way that made instant sense. The bird was fast on TV, and now Plymouth was saying their car was fast on the street.

Looking back, it may be one of the best matches between pop culture and automobiles ever made. A cartoon character, a muscle car, and a horn that could make everybody smile.

Beep Beep!

Colt 45 and the Man Who Waited for the Pour

Colt 45 started in Baltimore in 1963, and even the name had a local sports connection. The brand now says it was named for Baltimore Colts running back Jerry Hill, who wore jersey #45. So right from the start, Colt 45 had that mix of beer, sports, attitude, and local pride built into it.

But before Billy Dee Williams later made Colt 45 famous with “works every time,” the brand had another unforgettable advertising campaign — the calm, silent man who barely reacted to anything.

In the 1960s Colt 45 malt liquor commercials, Billy Van sat at a table while the world around him went completely crazy. There could be noise, danger, action, beautiful women, strange characters, or total chaos, and he would barely move.

Then the Colt 45 was poured.

That was the joke. Nothing impressed him until the glass filled up.

The campaign came from W.B. Doner, the Baltimore ad agency behind Colt 45’s early advertising for National Brewing. Their idea was not to make another ordinary beer commercial. They wanted Colt 45 to feel different — a “completely unique experience” — and these ads certainly were. They played more like strange little comedy sketches than standard drink ads.

Even the music helped. The odd, bouncy tune came from Robert Maxwell’s “Solfeggio,” better known to classic TV fans from Ernie Kovacs’ Nairobi Trio. It gave the commercials that slightly offbeat, almost dreamlike feel.

Looking back, these ads were pure 1960s advertising: stylish, weird, simple, and memorable. A Baltimore-born malt liquor, a silent comic setup, a familiar piece of oddball TV music, and one perfect reaction when the drink was poured.

Do you remember the Colt 45 man who stayed calm through everything?

The FedEx Fast-Talking Man

Before every company tried to make commercials feel like mini-movies, FedEx gave us one that felt like a full workday packed into 30 seconds.

The famous Federal Express fast-talking commercial starred John Moschitta Jr., who became known as one of the fastest talkers people had ever heard. In the ad, he plays a high-pressure office worker rattling off orders, calls, deadlines, and instructions at machine-gun speed.

That was the whole point. Business was moving faster, offices were busier, and everyone needed things done yesterday. FedEx used the joke perfectly: in a fast-paced world, you needed a delivery company that could keep up.

It was funny, memorable, and very 1980s — phones ringing, papers flying, everyone rushing, and one man talking faster than most of us could even listen.

Put A Little Old Spice In Your Life!

Before Old Spice became the loud, funny commercial brand we know today, it sold romance, confidence, and that “dad or granddad getting ready for a night out” feeling. This vintage ad with Brett Halsey and Catherine Roberts is pure old-school TV advertising — elegant music, a beautiful woman, a handsome man, and the simple message that Old Spice made him unforgettable.