1967 Alemite CD2 Commercial Featuring Mickey Rooney - Possibly the Worst Spokesperson

Who in their right mind would think hiring Mickey Rooney as a spokesperson or a person to represent your product was a good thing? This is painful to watch. One the the Hammiest Actors on the planet, a self absorbed guy totally overtakes the product. Did anyone even know what this product did? The special effects of using a Matchbox No. 31 Lincoln Continental with a hose spewing smoke is so cheap, the toy was less than a buck in 1967. And the coughing with the mouth open and mugging for the camera. Why a German accent and professor? Who's brilliant idea was that?

[@Vampirebear13]

Wow Tramain, you were correct, this commercial was painful to watch. Seemed like he was doing a Hitler impression, IMHO. TYVM for another video.

[@OsbornTramain]

seriously, think about how much they paid him to do the spot and then how much they spent on the matchbox toy? I'm sure they didn't get there money worth out of this.....Mickey Rooney is bad, so is William Shatner...in terms of being a Ham or Overacting......painful!

[@attackb5349]

From a marketing standpoint, this worked perfectly. Here we all are now knowing what Alemite CD2 is 57 years after this commercial originally aired!

[@OsbornTramain]

perfect? I never heard of the product until I unearthed this in a sports broadcast, if money spent in 1967 produced my first awareness 57 years later, I think that was money poorly spent. It took 57 years for it to work. That's pretty bad marketing in my mind.

[@bullittcharger68]

" If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all ", is our motto here. Said a really bad Ham lol

[@OsbornTramain]

Well, honestly, when I say, "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all" is in reference to a specific automobile. The majority of this channel is automobile related. Everyone has on opinion......i.e. Fords Suck.......Fords are the Best....Ford is a POS, Fords are billiant.....and it doesn't add anything to the conversation. Now saying that Mickey Rooney is a Ham, isn't being mean, it's stating a fact. You can find it in all of the bios about him, stories from his wives......he was a ham. Over acting is a skill in some sense. I don't take that as being mean or not nice, it's historically accurate. Hitler wasn't a nice man.....is not me being mean but stating a fact. I hope that puts things in context.

[@bullittcharger68]

@@OsbornTramain Yes, your first sentence by itself contexts the heck out of it, thanks. And a fact it very well may be that Mickey Rooney was indeed a Ham at times, but I will personally remember him for his dramatic and borderline Shakespearean straight man turn alongside Buddy Hackett in the Biblical classic IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD that forever cemented his reputation in Hollywood as a serious, brooding character actor. I do also appreciate your accompanying follow-up long form explanation.....but a Hitler reference?? I'll bet even Bill Shatner on his most bad-overacting day wouldn't mention that name, not even on any of his horrible spoken word recordings no matter the context lol

[@zaq55]

Well, at least he didn’t re-create his “Mr. Yunioshi” character from Breakfast at Tiffany’s

[@MK-fc2hn]

Did this company also sell remote controls??

[@mattfarahsmillionmilelexus]

Matchbox No. 31C, 1964 Lincoln Continental.

[@kmoecub]

A the time this product was a detergent that was added to non-detergent oils. It did the job that was advertised, so long as you were the type to never take your car in to be decoked.

[@NebMunb]

Oh no no no no no. How could they let this happen?

[@BELCAN57]

Dr. Strangelove for CD2

[@terrywestbrook-lienert2296]

This is horrible. They should have had Mickey drop that accent.

[@Teelirious]

A common problem with Mickey.

[@OsbornTramain]

yeah, agreed, it added nothing to the commercial...even the ridiculous German outfit? Made no sense, no connection to the product and just not funny if it was done for the humor angle.

[@dennistucker9081]

Every once in a while, I find myself taking a contrary view. I can see how this commercial would be disliked, especially considering 21st-century expectations. I found myself smiling, though. Mickey Rooney surely knew that he was going over the top in this particular case. Maybe he wasn’t getting paid enough. Maybe he had the catarrh - but I doubt it. Who knows! The almost-out-of-control energy is terrific, the ethnic flavoring choice. In the following analysis, the performance is up to personal taste. But as for me, I like it, and respect Mickey Rooney. Thanks to whoever posted this.

[@dennistucker9081]

@@OsbornTramain To me, there is an element of self - deprecating humor, here. I don’t know for sure, of course; I never spoke with Mickey Rooney about it.

[@jimzone8153]

😱

[@JohnShinn1960]

🤔