On or around this day in 1922, a pilot wrote the first skywriting message in the United States. It was a way to demonstrate an advertising technique that would be a big part of business for the next few decades.
Today in 1934, Leonard Cohen was born. His music and poetry have influenced other songwriters and poets for decades, but today we’re talking about another part of his career, and maybe the weirdest part: the time he guest starred on the 80s action series “Miami Vice.” Plus: today in 1997, Dunkin gave out free donuts to mark the last hurrah for their longtime TV pitchman, Fred the Baker.
It was on this day in 1955 that began a promotional campaign for the ages: where you could buy a box of cereal and find a deed to some land inside each specially marked box. Plus: a guy in the UK was trying to spot birds, but instead found 1,300 handmade gold coins nearly 2,000 years old.
On this day in 1999 a court rules in a case involving a guy who tried to use a huge number of points in a Pepsi reward program to buy a fighter jet, which the soda maker had jokingly offered in one of its ads. It didn't work, but still, an A for effort. Plus: there's a new uncuttable substance that might make for a great bike lock.
Take the Hanukkah favorite, dreidel, and turn the intensity way, way up. Now you've got Major League Dreidel, a growing new sport in New York City. Plus: an agency in Nova Scotia decided people needed a break from ads this season, and released some ad-free ads.
Not since Eagle Man took the Midwest by storm have I been so moved by a commercial.
Now to keep balance in the universe, Seagulls lead singer Mike Score must now fly around a beach and/or a grocery store parking lot and make bird noises.
If you should ever invent time travel, please do not take me hostage and force me to go back to the 1970's.
If I was Wendy, I'd be freaking the heck out right now.
We need to rededicate ourselves to the principles that made local TV commercials into icons of our childhood! We need pitchmen and women who are either eccentric or incoherent - preferably both. We need jingles and slogans that are even more eccentric and incoherent. And we need costumes, and plenty of them!
