Vintage Television Commercials - 1980s - Part 1

This is a compilation of mostly national television ads that aired during the early and mid-1980s. They originate from off-the-air VHS recordings.
Some of these spots are masterpieces. They provide a glimpse into an era of TV broadcasting when the commercial breaks often were as interesting and well produced as the programs they interrupted.
All rights are acknowledged.

[@turbo1431]

I'm fairly certain that more effort went into the Kelloggs commercial at the beginning than many modern movies.

[@balser77]

I'd rather watch 80's commercials online,then most anything on television today.It was a great decade for great television programming.The internet is my new television.

[@lostlotta4352]

These commercials make me wish we could turn back the clock to that decade

[@e.l.s.3048]

People (even strangers) were nicer to each other back then.

[@Silkara78]

lostlotta I totally agree with you, as an 80s kid myself.

[@mwalker267]

you and me both

[@jasonbertalotto4296]

+Kyle Simmons Sad that people are so arrogant and difficult to one another

[@e.l.s.3048]

Jason Bertalotto We need to be the change we want to see in society and do it one person at a time. Watching old commercials seems to show that people were more conscious of the impact they had on others.

[@martinspencer5283]

There are many days when I wish I could fall asleep and wake up as a kid in the '80s once again. It seems that most people from my generation -- even if they are happy with their life today, as I am -- wish they could go back and re-live the '80s. It was a great time to grow up.

[@HEXONE4LIFE]

The 80's was the best time to be a kid! Oh the memories!

[@HEXONE4LIFE]

***** Agreed!

[@SteveCarras]

HEXONE4LIFE The 70s wasnb't that good? Or the 60s? For me TV shows were really good, cartoons included...

[@balser77]

A child's paradise.:)

[@SteveCarras]

I was a kid in the 60s-70s;l 1960-1980 (turned twenty, and kind of like the famous loss of innocence on 11/22/63 when President Kennedy was shot, my 20th birthday likewise was the day that that another famous John was shot-John Lennon.

[@TheBoondoggler]

Ditto!

[@chandler1289]

man...everybody was so jolly back then.

[@rax816]

People had money to buy cereal back then

[@umbsix]

***** Yes

[@zacharywysocki8660]

Man the 1980's commercials are more entertaining to watch than the ones today, and it also has catchy music too.

[@josieanderson8300]

for the 1st commercial...they always did used to show milk in the glass pitchers. Who ever actually bought milk, came home, and put it in a glass pitcher??? I have never seen this in real life LOL

[@ollijokinen1571]

80's and 90's advertisements always make me smile! :) Wish ads would be like this nowadays too!

[@ollijokinen1571]

All of them have this "funky" music too! :)

[@DJaySplitSecond]

I want the 80s back, I'm begging you God

[@2faced972]

The 80s were literally drowning in music. That's why some of us can get a little ornery about music now. When the commercials you grew up with have catchier songs than today's current music, it means something.

[@Sethklok666]

speechless...and a smile from ear to ear....I miss these days.

[@despiteallmyrage6813]

Commercials will never be this good again. The jingles, the continuity, and the effort some of these companies put into getting their product out there and known. It almost seems like it was a battle between companies of the same type of product and to see who could come up with the better ad and better jingle. Coke/Pepsi, all cereals, candy bars, toys, beer, everything. I really do wish they made commercials like this today. Kids of today will never have this kind of nostalgia to look back on in 25 years like we do.

[@cycoOJfan89]

If you live close to where Menards Hardware stores are you can still get this style of commercial. They have a very simple jingle and they merely promote several products. It's honestly weird to see a commercial style like this nowadays because I think they are the last ones using this method. Lowes and Home Depot try to set up some stupid unrealistic scene in their commercials and Menards is basically like "hey we have great products on sale right now, this is what they are and come down and buy this shit."

[@CarlosMendez003]

Every time I want to be transported to back to my childhood I start watching 80s commercials, cartoons, and t.v. shows. Wish I could relive that decade. That was the best decade if you were a kid like me. Fun, energetic, with words like Rad and Pazzaz. Loved it!! I was a true child of the 80s and loved every min of it - 1980 (5 y.o.) to 1989 (14 y.o.) I lived it and remember it vividly. thanks for posting these. P.S. I always wondered what if I had been a little older in the 80s. Looks like the adults had fun to. House Parties, Clubs, College, etc. Everyone enjoyed the 80s!!

[@HuyLe-ux5qb]

i'm really happy to born in the 70s to watch those 80s commercials

[@SusieSynth]

I wish the 80s would have lasted forever! when i watch this it takes me back. I practically live like im still in the 80s anyway..

[@eastlake93]

instantly I'm a kid again.

[@mwalker267]

pretty awesome

[@raybon7939]

Yes thank you. Really.

[@franceslarsen4037]

Love all the comments on here :) Being born in '61, I was 18, 19, 20, 21 in the early eighties... I never dreamed at the time, that things would be so dreary and awful today.. I just thought this is the way things usually are, because that's the way the environment was since I was a kid. Including, of course, things like Kent State, Vietnam, racial tension, Watergate, Iran Hostage situation, which was the worst thing I'd seen at that time, gas crisis (they called it the Energy Crisis at the time, I actually did a paper on it in 7th grade) But in spite of the things in the news and crises that happened, there was still an air of all that is described so well below. I never thought I would be looking up old commercials to get a "feel" for this normalcy, cheer and "brightness" as someone put it, that I grew up with. I chalk it up to the last days as described in the Bible, it's the only thing that makes sense to me. I used to be afraid the rapture would happen before I had a chance to live and enjoy life, but now I could care less, wouldn't miss anything of the way the world is right now.

[@karenk9096]

I truly miss the 1980s and the fashions and hairstyles. It all looks very clean and presentable.

[@colelocke4967]

Of course it never occurred to me watching all of this back in the 80's, but man the whole vibe of advertising back then was sooooo wholesome. Positively Reagantastic. The last 20 years or so the advertising seems to be nothing but sarcasm, snark and cynicism (yeah I know, advertising is pretty cynical anyway). Can you imagine some ad exec pitching one of these commercials today? They would probably fired on the spot and then laughed out of the room.

[@despiteallmyrage6813]

LOL, that Clearasil commercial couldn't have been more *"80's"* Must have been right around 1987, when the fluorescent colors, slap-on bracelets, jean jackets, and all similar styles all were at their popularity peak.

[@your.dearest.darlene2160]

This whole time I'm stuck on $3.99 for a freakin steak dinner! Today it's like $15.99 for a steak dinner and that's not even for grade A!

[@nysharamocha2613]

+Your.Dearest.Darlene glad i'm not the only one still stuck on that!!

[@kwhardin]

I wasn't even born in the 80s and I love them. amazing Comercials that are almost as good as the shows. I was born in 1991 where shows and commercials were still creative. tv just sucks now :(

[@phoenixgrove]

Kyn Hardin modern music sucks too

[@kwhardin]

Sonia Khatri agreed.

[@Akm-wt3ej]

Who else wants to go back to the 1980s and leave this boring and serious world?

[@themotleycook3453]

Andrew k I do...

[@Silkara78]

Andrew k9102 Me!

[@karizmahannmonzon2069]

Mer too

[@davidmthekidd]

Andrew k9102 Count me in. Glad to see that most of these spots are from NE.

[@umbsix]

Andrew k9102 Times were better back then, even the 70's without smartphones, and such.

[@Kreemerz]

The music was awesome! Has such an uplifting style and distinction.

[@rsaldivar8]

your auch an 80s dork for liking the music lol.

[@rsaldivar8]

*Your such*

[@Kreemerz]

R Saldivar You really had to go back and correct your typo? Lol.

[@balser77]

Unlike today.

[@Kreemerz]

R Saldivar But you should have made at least one other correction.

[@sxynightelf]

Damn, I miss the 80's I'm 48 now and it seems the world has gone to hell in a hand basket :/

[@SimpleManGuitars1973]

What's funny is that probably when these were originally on we would scream at the tv for them to go off so we could get back to our show. Now we can't get enough of these commercials. LOL. Nostalgia is a powerful force.

[@Tre404]

I was singing along to EVERY soda commercial on here! I'd totally forgotten some of them until now! Particularly the Mountain Dew one, but as it played, it all came back, and I was singing it too. lol

[@garnettsean]

Loved the 80s. Best of times!

[@420sadness]

True also they dressed crazy back in those days I love dressing crazy (I mean a lot of colors)

[@BLACKAAROW]

I grew up in the 90's and I i still enjoyed that decade, really wish I can go back in time and live in the 80's for a week :/

[@kwhardin]

BLACKAAROW same! I was born in 1991, but the 80s were amazing too.

[@trancazzo]

i wish i could go bak to the 80s......

[@hr1meg]

You and me both.....you and me both.....

[@MsSainato]

I agree

[@WashingtonMonster86]

You're not alone man.

[@atypicallavender77]

I tell you right now if they ever designed a one way trip time machine to these times and offered it to the public, i would seriously save my money up or rob a bank taking them up on their offer. A world without cellphones!! Times were so much better back then. Life had so much more meaning and people were much happier and kinder to each other. Kids were disciplined and and had respect to authority and their elders. Better fashion, better entertainment, better food, etc...sign me up!!

[@alicesavage69420]

Top choice USDA steak with fries for $3.99? Dang!

[@RansomUsername]

That's exactly what I said! Lol

[@OofusTwillip]

You need to compare value instead of price. $3.99 for a steak dinner isn't as cheap as it appears. Consider what the minimum wage was in 1983. A candy bar cost 25 cents back then, so you could get 16 for the price of that one steak dinner. Today, candy bars cost $1.50. 16 would cost $24. So would the steak dinner.

[@Upper_echelon_exotics]

OofusTwillip Where do you buy your candy bars? I can get one for 48¢ ....

[@MrHurricaneFloyd]

Minimum wage was $3.35 per hour in 1983. You had to work a little over an hour in order to buy a steak dinner. in 2017 you have to work 2-3 hour sin order to buy a steak dinner. In 1983 you could buy a house with 5 years of savings whereas you have to pay on a mortgage for 30 years in 2017.

[@allcall67]

Amen the good old days when quality was paramount.

[@titanmtfanavielshapiro2640]

The good ol' days... we miss you!!

[@lindaconness5707]

Aahhhh ... The 80's - great time to grow up - wish we still had the "modern conveniences" of the 80's !!

[@manicirishmonday]

also notice how pets were referred to as friends and companions, now they are advertised as child replacements ie furbabies

[@lonewulf44]

Great stuff ... miss the 80's ... and it was the REAL Colonal!

[@shepster5430]

the 80s..best decade...best times...ever!

[@mistabook]

Holy cow Meredith Baxter is beautiful. It's funny to see her talk about being identified with playing "daughter roles," right in the era when she played one of the most famous tv moms. I'm not even sure I realized she had been known for anything when she was younger. I'll bet this was right before Family Ties started.

[@ginad480]

Ah back when commercials were good. Now all we get today is crappy insurance commercials.

[@markmcclure471]

and drug commercials.

[@slamdeathmetal1]

I miss 1980s and early 1990s

[@ronaldh8446]

Commercials don't have jingles written for them anymore. These days, TV advertisements really suck.

[@JimRockford853]

You just don't see an entire restaurant singing in unison anymore like the Ground Round at 4:47!

[@phoenixgrove]

1980s was such a great decade that even the commercials played great music whereas this generation since 2010 has failed to bring out a single decent record.

[@Slayd5000]

great work, thanks for posting this.

[@timbrook7810]

I was in my teens during the 80s and the memories are vibrant.

[@ArcherOO78]

I miss my childhood ! so many great memories

[@Alphahydro]

I needed that. Took me back to simpler times.

[@michaelpalmer9526]

Around 95' 96' when commercials started to get bad. Early 90's was pretty decent.

[@Luigi-rp6ur]

I think you mean the late 00's

[@guessme2230]

I wish I was born in 80s 😭 .. I am 16 and I want those dayssss...

[@kwhardin]

Its Carmen same, but I was born in the 90s so I'm happy ;)

[@bfranci]

The Ground Round commercial is a trip. $3.99 for a steak, fries, and salad? Can you imagine going into a restaurant now and saying, "Give me your finest $4 steak!"

[@herrgolf]

So many jingles! And the disco era seems to still have been around for at least a few years after 1980.

[@bd764]

Gosh. I remember alot of these. Hard to believe commercials used to actually be entertaining. That sure aint the case anymore.

[@videosuperhighway7655]

No piercings, bull nose rings, tattoos all over the place. Wow everyone looks so clean cut.

[@Hordak81]

Commercials were longer and made more sense in the 80's

[@excessor1]

Could watch this aaaall day :)

[@aidennfl6301]

I was born in 2004. I hate this generation. Everyone was so nice and happy. Now everyone's mean and butthurt over everything. I wish I was born then...

[@Joeybsmooth]

people where nicer in these ads. 1/2 the ads of today either have someone being really dumb or someone else being really mean.

[@TheSchwanGuy]

It's pretty amazing what they could do without CGI. The 80's were a 'pure' decade. I'm glad I grew up in it. Makes me realize how 'fake' today is.

[@moccalou]

I love how everything was a'capella and melodious!

[@Tre404]

I have watched A LOT of commercial compilations on KZbin, and this is the best one by far! Thanks for a wonderful 20 minutes! :-)

[@omc8872]

A time where you open de the door to a stranger with a vacuum cleaner...today´s evil and paranoid doesn´t let us live free...great work we do...

[@taylordowning2533]

Gosh I miss the 1980s it was a great time to be a child. I was born in 1982 and by the end of the decade, I was 7

[@MelissaHash]

These classic 80's commercials just prove that today's fancy CGIed & computer animated commercials aren't truly needed! I miss & love these classic style commercials, they feel more human than these days' commercials! Awesome commercials, VintageTelevision!

[@Robman7]

10:01 KFC with the real Colonel.Nice.

[@gleuszler]

+Robman7 Colonel Sanders died on December 15, 1980.

[@tina3038]

Looking at this make me think how simple things were back then we still had problems but compared to today i would welcome the old ones with open arms :( Thank you for uploading this friend

[@mr.madmanswiss1235]

wow brings me to tears seeing this good times.😂

[@SuperLexusman]

I wish it were 1985 all over again. This time, just take my family with me

[@Leemill140]

I was definitely born in the wrong time.

[@Cydia942]

What time were you born in?

[@marybetheby5184]

This is wonderful!Today,you need to include every kind of freak into your ads or you will not get it on the air.

[@ozzygirl23]

A steak dinner for 3.99?! DANG!!

[@marter2006]

10:20 was one of the best moments. I have never seen a video footage of the REAL Colonel Sanders before until today

[@Grandizer8989]

Feel fortunate to have been born in the 70s so that I could enjoy the 80s and 90s. I remember when the VCR came out, then the Microwave, which cost around $1,000. It was the best decade for music, movies, and especially sports. Bo Jackson, Wayne Gretzky, Montana, ‘80 & 84 Olympics, Larry Bird, Air Jordan, LT, etc.

[@magracey]

So crazy looking back at these commercials. Nice job!

[@rizzwifey05]

WOW this takes me back....

[@despiteallmyrage6813]

The Enquirer, LoL! My mother used to love that "magazine". I was more of a Weekly World News type of kid.

[@raybon7939]

Thanks for this.

[@TruSoulDj]

Just subscribed. I was so surprised at how many of these commercials I remember. Amazing how entertaining these vintage ads are. Please continue to add more. Great job.

[@DelightfulTravellers]

Great video. Well done! We truly loved it.

[@Idoljunky32]

Love this upload! Keep more coming!

[@jrmetmoi]

Kodak? That's a word that you'll never see again. And your kids will think that 'Kodak' was a type of bear or something.

[@vicious-pi3rd]

You know. Looking at these commercials and the ones now you can tell right off these something not kosher with them. What I mean is the 80's commercials when watching them they felt humble and happy. The commercials now it feels strange like there's no meaning to them.

[@roctodam]

Watching what life was like back in the past makes me wonder if we are declining as a society.

[@myst4hire1]

Good stuff here by way of taking a trip down memory lane! Looking back I believe 80's commercials are better than any other decade.

[@ENTERPRISESTAR41]

Awesome Compilation

[@nowhereinslowmotion]

same here. back then I enjoyed the commercials as much if not better than the show I was watching.

[@TheBrett04]

These commercials in the 80's actually had more people singing and background music than mtv and vh1 have combined today. MTV used to be around the clock music with a few shows squeezed in. Even one of there most popular shows called "remote control" was based on music trivia. Now, if you watch mtv and vh1, it's all absolute brainless garbage.

[@whoopdiddydo]

these were great. thanks for posting. definitely subscribing.

[@steveb817]

The sad thing is, that I remember most of these commercials! The other sad thing is the only two people from the WBZ-4 promo left at WBZ is Jack Williams and Joyce Kulhawik. Everyone else left or was let go. Thanks for the memories!! Commercials were a lot catchier back then! As soon as The Gap ad came on, I recited the tagline before it ended-"Fall into The Gap!".

[@aduecey]

Great video quality. Thank you.

[@MilkAndCornbreadd]

Totally epic Kodamatic commercial with David Copperfield! I love the 1980's commercials, especially those that had the catchy Synthpop music of that era.

[@Shavo358]

I feel like Fry from Futurama, where he finds some old vintage VHS tapes from his era in the distant past.

[@pollypocketcarduser3813]

Same!!

[@TheValdezinator]

companies could save MILLIONS just re-broadcasting these classics!

[@Lavenderrose73]

Oh my goodness, that is so cool! Some things I didn't remember but others I was like "Oh yeah!!" I'd watch part 2, but it's way past my bedtime!

[@elineff3895]

I wonder if the Coke couple is still together

[@marktoncole9270]

Wow!! I think I forgot how popular NutraSweet was in the 80's. It was in EVERYTHING!

[@relentlessundrdawg]

Barbara Eden still looks the same. She doesn't age.

[@waitforollie]

that was super aweome thanx for sharing

[@rsdaddy141]

Great collection. Good work. :)