How Pac-Man So Completely Seized the Imagination 37 Years Ago and Never Really Let Go

Though not the first maze challenge, it's still going after nearly four decades.

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Dick Clark’s American Bandstand had more than its share of cheesy guests over the years—bands that lip-synced their tunes in front of a TV audience under orders to cheer. But few acts quite equaled Buckner & Garcia, two friends who’d met at Perkins High School in Akron, Ohio, and managed to write a song that, by March 1982, skyrocketed them to fame. Their efforts would land them a gold record, a No. 9 slot on the Billboard charts and, of course, a spot on Dick Clark.

The song? “Pac-Man Fever.”

With home video game systems in their infancy in 1980, Pac-Man made its initial splash in the arcades, with Midway eventually selling 400,000 machines (1) with the help of advertising (2).
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This story first appeared in the Jan. 8, 2018, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.