80's Commercials Vol. 326

These commercials aired on USA in May of 1986. Thanks to Mike C. for sending the tape!
1. Clarion
2. TV Spot for "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" (This isn't a bad movie, but I feel like the first movie works better without a convoluted backstory tacked onto it)
3. Dr. Pepper (Wow, it's like a cross between "Captain EO" and the diner in "Spaceballs")
4. Lee Press-On Nails
5. Pepsi
6. Sharp Electronic Portable Typewriters (Exploiting all of those dead authors to sell typewriters? Too soon, Sharp)
7. Charles Schwab Discount Brokerage (I can't wait to see what happens in the next episode!)
8. TV Spot for "Cobra" (Haven't seen this, but I really want to now)
9. "Primitive Love" by Miami Sound Machine (I had a really cheesy Superbowl special from 1987 hosted by Patrick Duffy on tape where they performed "Bad Boy". :*( Wish it hadn't been eaten)
10. Mike Warren's Free NBA Pick (I don't get it)
11. TV Spot for "Poltergeist II: The Other Side"
12. Promo for "Gallipoli"
13. Dr. Pepper (God these ads are weird)
14. Star Trek: The Collection (Just 29.95!)

[@ldyvengeance1]

Oh my God, Cobra. I love that movie. Damn I love being an 80s kid. Best time to grow up.

[@MsSilentsiren]

I was BORN in May of 1986! This is amazing! Thank you!

[@AtomicSpike]

Good lord, that thumbnail!

[@TrueHolyRune]

I know right. That is what got me interested. Should have known it was a horror movie.

[@walkerbrown8591]

YOU ARE GONNA DIIIIIIIE!

[@fever_spike]

Rest in peace Julian Beck, the man in the thumbnail for this video clip, who died of stomach cancer...he was in an episode of 'Miami Vice' in 1985, and sadly passed away I think about two weeks before it aired.

[@violetzebras]

That Miami Sound Machine album and the one that came out after it were played all the time at my house. I love 80's music but I strangely kind of forgot about them.

[@mst3kanita]

lol those presson nails never stayed on.

[@caligari89]

Great audio and video quality! Nice work!

[@nkaio5]

Cobra was an awesome movie! One of those so bad it's good. Own it on VHS

[@caesar349]

You are SO right about what you said about poltergeist 2. The first movie was great with its own backstory. Part 2 shoehorned a needless second backstory.

[@GodsGiftToHumanity]

This is about the time cable came to our neighborhood. Some friends 5 minutes away had it for about 6 years before we did. Good times.

[@YodaPagoda]

Great Scot!! 1885! This is at least, what, three years before BTTF Part II? Those Dr. Pepper commercials were weird. I still drank it, though. Glad I wasn't the only one to make the "Spaceballs" connection. Still at least another year ahead of its time. I haven't seen "Cobra" either, but I'm getting a New-Wave vibe, almost like Miami Vice.

[@Silvergun_Raven]

With that Clarion commercial, I remember back then, when music had better sound and clarity. Now, it seems that these record companies make the songs too loud or "Loudness War", resulting in bad clarity and the "punch" of the drums can't be heard.

[@JohnnyUtah15]

$29.95 would be around $62-$64 today.

[@ScratStitch]

After seeing that TV spot (which was more like a trailer), I think that Kung Fury may have been one giant Cobra spoof without me realizing it.

[@optigrabbingit]

"Gallipoli" aired Tuesday, 5/13/86 at 8 PM.

[@easydata]

I was about to turn 12 years old. My mom took me to Cobra.

[@zachhoran]

A Walt Disney video of some movie offered as a fee item on Price is Right in games like SHell Game and PLinko around this time cost $80. Lee Press on Nails were all over game shows starting around this time and their products were a staple of fee plugs for the next seven years or so.

[@Jensuarezgonzalez]

The 1980's have been berra berra good to me.

[@Jeffdraws101]

You are going to diiiiieeeeee!

[@RirseDeBlood]

Cue the Lavos theme on the timeline without Coke.

[@80sEric]

Great to see the Cobra movie ad with "Feel The Heat" by Jean Beauvoir featured so prominently. It only made it to #73 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is one of the most overlooked songs of the decade. I got duped into seeing Poltergeist II based on the creepy commercials and came away very disappointed- very inferior to the original. I graduated high school in May '86 so I agree with Charles Dickens in the Sharp ad- "these are the best of times."

[@ThisGuyFrritz]

8:03 Oxygene, Part 2 by Jean Michell Jarre

[@hopegrimsley3427]

Is that Michael Ian Black in the second Dr. Pepper commercial?!

[@80sCommercialVault]

If you mean the guy in the cowboy hat, Michael Ian Black was only around 15 when this ad aired.

[@KLUNKET]

If you remember these commercials guess what- you are near or over 35 now!!!! Doesnt that just SUCK!

[@RetroGirl85]

those Lee press on nails did not work or stick for shit.. that was 10 dollars down the drain

[@brettcoble8137]

the 1800-521-1515 sent me to the American red cross lol

[@Oppeldeldoc1]

The Emily Bronte actress looks a little like Lorraine Newman, but it isn't. That's kind of an odd combination, though.

[@jmtart1]

Anybody recognize the music from the Clarion commercial?

[@80sCommercialVault]

It's a 50-second long piece of generic instrumental music. I'm sure it was created specifically for the ad. It's a lot cheaper to compose and produce music like this for a commercial than it is to license it from somebody else.

[@jesterofdimensionz]

14 bucks for an episode of star trek fuck..

[@JosephASobora]

I was only a year old in May, 1986. As for "Poltergeist II: The Other Side", at least it was better than "Poltergeist III", which was terrible and Sadly, Heather O'Rourke's final film. "Cobra" was awesome in my opinion, I know critics had panned it.

[@Zeakthecat]

i wasn't born till 8 yrs later :)