80's Commercials Vol. 377

These commercials aired on ABC on September 25th, 1982
1. We'll Return After These Messages" Commercial Bumper
2. Lego Beta-1 Command Base/Mobile Rocket Transport (These early space sets were several years before my time, but I really like their aesthetics. They seem incredibly grounded and realistic for space toys and the focus is on science and exploration rather than just people fighting aliens with spaceships and lasers. They definitely lost sight of that concept over time)
3. Honey Nut Cheerios
4. "Dough Nuts: Little Sally Meesmer"
5. "Richie Rich" Commercial Bumper
6. Promo for "Pac-Man" (I'm a huge Pac-Man fan but this cartoon is just ridiculous...though I do have a soft spot for the "Christmas Comes to Pac-Land" special)
7. We'll Return After These Messages" Commercial Bumper
8. Nerf Soccer Ball
9. Raisin Bran (The sun may seem really nice and friendly, but don't forget that he's an enormous bright white burning ball of hydrogen that will incinerate you)
10. Schoolhouse Rock: Love Will Work Wonders PSA
11. "The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show" Commercial Bumper
12. ABC Station ID
13. McDonald's (I still find it incredible that McDonald's never made a TV series or even a half hour special centered around these characters back then)
14. "The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show" Commercial Bumper
15. Play-Doh Fun Factory (Looks almost like they just left kids alone with Play-Doh in a room while cameras were rolling)
16. Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (With Peter Billingsly aka Ralphie of "A Christmas Story" fame! Soon he would be endorsing another brand of chocolate drink. BESURETODRINKYOUROVALTINE)
17. Western Barbie (OMG love the winking action)
18. "The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show" Commercial Bumper
19. We'll Return After These Messages" Commercial Bumper
20. Alpha Bits (In the veritable ocean of animated cereal mascots that existed back then, I think that this bipedal talking St. Bernard character might have been the strangest)
21. Brooke Shields Doll (I think that this might be the most ridiculous commercial I've ever posted. First, the product itself. Second, the lyrics "she's a beautiful doll" might be the most uninspired bit of hack jingle writing out there. And lastly, the LJN reveal at the end just brings everything full circle)
22. McDonald's
23. Schoolhouse Rock: Water PSA (The common sense advice given to kids in little cartoons like this probably did a lot more good than the mandatory blocks of "educational programming" that replaced Saturday Morning Cartoons)
24. Promo for "Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour" and "Pac-Man"
25. We'll Return After These Messages" Commercial Bumper
26. Lego Castle (This was the first Castle set that Lego made. I much prefer the castles made later when I was a kid like "Black Monarch's Castle" • LEGO Black Monarch's C... but I guess they had to start somewhere)
27. Star Wars: "The Empire Strikes Back" Action Figures (I just love these vintage Star Wars ads. The outdoor settings and the little voices the kids do just makes you want to go out and play in your backyard all day until your mom yells at you to come inside and eat dinner)
28. Willie Survive PSA (Nowadays parents would just never allow their kids to be out alone and experience the world)
29. "Pac-Man" End Credits
30. ABC Station ID
31. Capri Sun (I always liked the pouches that they came in with the little straw. I don't think I really enjoyed the flavors much though)
32. Boys Scouts Of America PSA
33. Promo for "Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour" (Did Fonzie have super strength ala Popeye in these cartoons? Seems somehow appropriate)
34. We'll Return After These Messages" Commercial Bumper
35. Raspberry Hubba Bubba
36. Fashion Jeans Barbie (Something tells me that "Fashion Jeans Ken" wasn't really into Barbie)

[@Denise_Suzanne]

Everything was better in the 80s. Even the commercials. The good old days.

[@Farzee49]

I love a 1982 block of commercials because '82 was the zenith of my little kid years and I remember so much about that year in particular...I owned or played with all of the Barbie dolls featured and they made me SO happy! (I remember that I thought that the gimmicky "winking eye" on Western Barbie was ugly because they put these HUGE fake lashes on Barbie's face plus weird eyelids making this version of Barbie WAY different looking) I also especially enjoy seeing the Star Wars figures that me and my male cousins played with so there's a lot of nostalgia seeing those too!

[@Tr0nzoid]

+MsFarzee 1982 and 1983 were the best years.

[@Whtxombi]

Wow! We had those Star Wars and Lego sets. My brothers sucked at putting the sets together so the responsibility usually fell on me. I didn't have a Slave One yet so I carbon-froze my Bespin Han Solo in a block of Play Dough.

[@herron321]

wow this is wild... I was 6 months old during this air date... neat!

[@JohnnyUtah15]

Time flies by. I just turned 15 and a Freshman in high school when these aired. I don't have as much hair on my head as I did back then. Although, I do have more on my face. What a trade-off.

[@BrookeACrowe]

Water is just a gateway beverage!

[@strings4105]

Little known fact: Peter Billingsley (Messy Marvin, Ralphie) is the grandson of actress Barbara Billingsley of "Leave it to Beaver" fame.

[@mikeknight9622]

I miss those old 80s style McDonald's restaurants with the brown bricks and roof....they should do 80s retro restaurants the way they do 50s ones with memorabilia inside from the 80s.....pizza hut should too haha

[@davidwright4495]

Also, McDonald's had the big M on the building.

[@ChapBloke]

Wow, 15 minifigs with that Lego castle, you'd be lucky to get half that number today...

[@oakboyh]

Once again you made my Saturday complete.

[@hotmushmedia]

I've never seen those two Schoolhouse Rocks-style shorts before! Amazing! The ones about the Guarantee, Water, and the one about a Kiss instead of a Cookie. Such great messages! They should put all that stuff on Netflix!

[@OzzieAstaroth]

I always loved the Pac-Man cartoon. When it paired with other shows like this I would mainly just watch it and not the others. When the Saturday Supercade came around, I was all over that though.

[@myst4hire1]

Same here, but also NBC and it's promo "Let's All Be There"!

[@davidwright4495]

Remember Pac-man cereal and the Pac-man song.

[@OzzieAstaroth]

@@davidwright4495 I sure do! There was Pac-Man Fever, the theme to the cartoon, the theme in the game, as well as the theme from the read along books. I would cut out shapes from the cereal box to make my own Pac-Man games.

[@davidwright4495]

@@OzzieAstaroth Those were the days.

[@somewereinwisconsin]

Thanks Brooke!!

[@YodaPagoda]

What would the early 80's be without Nerf? I always felt if a show 'earned' a Christmas special, it was an instant classic. So goes with Pac-Man! I had the infamous "Yellow Castle" Lego set. We always wondered, Lego could make gray bricks, why not make 'em gray? The TESB Kenner commercial confirms what I've always known: Girls did enjoy playing with Star Wars, even if it was only with Princess Leia.

[@miketroncin749]

5:14- I WANT YOUR SPUGEDDY !!

[@ThisGuyFrritz]

I remember watching the Pac Man cartoon to see how it would be like. At that point, I thought I was getting too old to watch cartoons because they were not funny and that was why they were made for kids. So, I was avoiding cartoons for a few years, except for Looney Tunes, Popeye, Disney and a few others. By the late 1980's, I was "rediscovering" cartoons, especially when I saw "An American Tale" in the theater. So, not all cartoons are strictly for kids.

[@darktetsuya]

wow I can honestly say I don't remember Dough Nuts or Willie Survive... I do recall most of the other PSAs like schoolhouse rock or the computers one with the animals, though. (which I know wasn't here but I've seen it in other installments of this) also man were there any sitcoms back then that *didn't* have some animated version for saturdays? geez. But great compilation as always I really love these!

[@oakboyh]

I was trying to remember the willie survive as well. Not familiar.

[@80sCommercialVault]

dslimm It was a series of PSA's that aired on ABC at that time. Here's another one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIaQcoyZm9hgq6M

[@DecKrash]

DarkTetsuya I remember Willie Survive. It used to scare me a little when I was a kid. The one with the computer was Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips. :)

[@darktetsuya]

DecKrash ok I forgot about that one! (I was thinking of a different one, had all these animals in it and I'm pretty sure it was an ABC-specific segment) but now I have to look that one up, lol

[@DecKrash]

DarkTetsuya Oh, you're thinking about the Computer Critters.

[@thenetwanderer6126]

#24 Rest in peace robin! ; (

[@ScratStitch]

note: Willie Survive died on the way back home. And I'm ready to give poor Sally a hug already! Also, I want cookies when I'm hurt, darnit. Also, I'd kinda like that cowboy Barbie. And the Brooke Shields doll? That's so...80's.

[@miketroncin749]

6:47 - so kids can't spell their names?? I wonder about this villain's back story.. How could he possibly profit from this, risking a hearty ass- beating from a seven foot talking dog with wicked lumberjack skill

[@MrBoyYankee]

*80's Space Man* Lego Needs To Be Retro.

[@DanZero77]

LEGO was much better in the old days! You're telling me! The Alpha Bits dog may be out of place, but you can't deny the "It's dog-gone good!" tagline. You're lucky LJN just made a doll and not a VIDEO GAME with her. Finally, right observations on kids not playing outside till dinner, because they're inside with their video games, and forget about any kids being out at night anymore either, same reason! 1982 only seems like a few years away.

[@hotmushmedia]

Oh, and "Brooke Shields" "You can make believe she's a model." Truth in advertising.

[@Tr0nzoid]

I have that Lego moon base.

[@miketroncin749]

0:02- in this commercial they mention 'pretend' and 'make-believe' four separate times... Conservative Dutch lawyers perhaps?

[@80sCommercialVault]

Mike Troncin Lego's Danish actually, but I see what you mean. Legalese is Legoese.

[@Bobbyboshy]

Mike Troncin Maybe they had to change the wording on the adverts when someone complained their Lego space set didn't actually send them into space.

[@grizzlor5340]

Did anyone else notice that they got the eyebrows on the Brooke Shields doll spot on? Looks like two caterpillars crawling across her face.

[@beckigreen]

Didn't the boy in the Cheerios commercial play the brother in the movie Teen Witch?

[@skirm123]

He was a kid vampire that exploded when he ran in sunlight in the 80s movie Near Dark.

[@hazukidarkside]

Hi there. I've been watching your videos for quite a while now. I'm a 22 years old brit, so i wasn't exactly around for this era, nor was i its intended audience. I honestly find these commercials extremely entertaining. It's like viewing an entire decade of cultural and technological progression through rose tinted glasses. The Power ballads, the claymation and hand drawn animation, and the pseudo futuristic emphasis on commercials for electronic consumer items. Celebration of capitalism. What i'd like to know is, what is your process for finding and collecting these videos? how are they catalogued? how can you tell a video you have received hasn't already been uploaded previously? I'm assuming people have set their vcr to record whatever program was running at the time, stashed the vhs tape in a box somewhere for 30 years, and uncovered it decades later. It's honestly fascinating. If you could give me a brief description of your process, i'd be extremely grateful. Thank you

[@80sCommercialVault]

Breadmen I find blocks of programs with original commercials on the internet. I download them. I edit them. I write commentary. I post them here. There's no "cataloging" to speak. It's obvious to me what I've already posted, though posting ads that I've had in previous volumes is not a huge concern to me.

[@hazukidarkside]

80sCommercialVault Thanks for the response. My assumption was that you had Terabytes of programming in a folder, with file names containing the program, network and original air date. I'd probably begin to doubt myself after the 50th time i heard the "After these messages" jingle. All your hard work is appreciated. These videos will be here long after we're gone

[@TTrigg]

LOL the Brooke Shields doll Did Kenner make a Cloud City playset for the ESB line? i remember there was a AT-AT walker toy

[@80sCommercialVault]

TTrigg Yes, but it appears to be nothing more than a cardboard backdrop with four action figures included: i.imgur.com/FiDfYvG.jpg i.imgur.com/7hQzBuw.jpg

[@miketroncin749]

Wow. Those look awful- as soon as Jeffrey, the ginger, came over to play that time your mom said he needed friends, your bespin diorama would be in tatters, never quite the same again

[@80sCommercialVault]

Mike Troncin I actually had a ginger friend named Jeffery who was really into Star Wars. LOL It's kind of weird how crappy that Cloud City playset is compared to the other Kenner SW playsets. Most of them seemed to at least have plastic bases and weren't made completely out of laminated cardboard. I actually think the Cantina playset is pretty awesome. i.imgur.com/byIitXE.jpg i.imgur.com/zPgZQaP.jpg

[@PredatorKingdom]

That Brooke Shields doll was too realistic, it really looked like Brooke.

[@OnTheRocks71]

Brooke Shields doll... sooooo creepy.

[@drsnowmon]

OnTheRocks She was big back then