21 Ads That (Almost) Make You Miss the '80s

NEWS CREATIVE COMMUNITY DATA CENTER FEATURES SPECIAL ISSUES OUR PRODUCTS The 30 Freakiest Adsof 2010 The 30 Freakiest Adsof 2009 ‘Get a Mac’: TheComplete Campaign The 25 Most Epic AdsThat Aren’t ‘1984’ 66 Great MovieTaglines Since 1980 21 Ads That (Almost) Make You Miss the '80s By David Griner on Mon Nov 22 2010 15. Sears "Under One Roof" Click to view. In truth, Sears has always been the place where your dad buys hammers and your mom buys jeans. But in the '80s, the chain also billed itself as the ultimate place to build a wall-to-wall hi-fi system worthy of your new Loverboy cassette. 16. Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine "Yum Yum Fun" Click to view. If there's one thing '80s ads knew how to do, it was sell the hell out of questionable toys, usually through catchy jingles that will never, ever leave your brain. As one YouTube commenter says of the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine, "After making about 2 sno-cones we never had the patience to sit there and grind the ice for 5 minutes, so my sister and I would just squirt the concentrated sugar flavoring right into our mouths." Money well spent. 17. Sweet Valley High Board Game "Get In" Click to view. Finally, every girl could live the '80s dream: backstabbing her friends and going steady with the biggest douchebag on campus. 18. Taco Bell "It's Just Made For You" Click to view. The sad truth is that in the mid-1980s, it really was this exciting to go to Taco Bell. Also, I give props to the Bell for featuring a gay romance subplot all the way back in '84. Oh wait, that's a woman working the drive-through? If you say so. 19. United Airlines "Sweet Rolls" Click to view. If there's one thing that sucked a lot less in the 1980s, it was flying coach. Free sweet rolls? These days, you're lucky you don't have to pay to use the bathroom. On most airlines. 20. Wendy's "Celebrate" Click to view. There wasn't a whole lot of diversity in '80s advertising, so it's nice to see all of God's children jamming to Kool & the Gang in the Wendy's parking lot. 21. Whatchamacallit "Thingamabob" Click to view. Candy-bar advertising was all over the map in the '80s, but few spots were more memorable than this hypnotic pop-art concoction for Whatchamacallit. Whatever it is, whatever it was, this thing is locked in my brain for eternity. So, which ads make you pine for the Reagan era? Let us know in the comments. < Previous Tweet Share Quick Links AdFreak on Facebook AdFreak by E-mail Contributors » Gabriel Beltrone » Rebecca Cullers » David Gianatasio » David Griner » David Kiefaber » Tim Nudd (editor) » T.L. Stanley » Email us Blogroll Adweek.com Brandweek.com Mediaweek.com Adbrands.net AdForum Ad Goodness AdHoles Adland AdLibbing AdOfDaMonth the ad-pit AdPulp Adrants AdScam/The Horror! Ad to the Bone Ads of the World Adverblog AdverBox Adverganza Advergirl Adverlicious Advertising for Peanuts Agency Spy American Copywriter BannerBlog Beyond Madison Avenue Billboardom BNET Advertising ’boards Brandeo Brandflakes for Breakfast Branding Strategy Insider Brand New Day Brand Republic Clio Awards Commercials I Hate Communication Arts Confessions of a Wannabe Ad Man The Consumerist Creative Beef the daily (ad) biz The Denver Egotist The Dog & Pony Show Everything's Better With Brentter Freaking Marketing Gods of Advertising Got Ads? Guerrilla Marketing Defined Homadge IanSchafer.com I Believe in Advertising Internet Ad Report Inside the Marketers Studio I Want Media Jaffe Juice Kiss My Black Ads The Madison Avenue Journal Madvertising Make the Logo Bigger Makin’ Ads Managing the Gray MarketingProfs.com MarketingVOX Mental Floss Movie Marketing Madness MultiCultClassics Osocio The Poke With No Name Post Advertising The Presurfer Random Culture Responsible Marketing Reveries Shake Well Before Use The Sherman Foundation Shots Social Media Marketing The Social Path The Spare Room Third Way Blog The Toad Stool TV tattle The Viral Garden What’s Next Blog YesButNoButYes © 2010 Adweek. All rights reserved. Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.

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21 Ads That (Almost) Make You Miss the '80s

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