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I can't recall seeing this in the many threads of 80s/90s nostalgia, but I thought a thread for 1980s toy advertisements (mostly from youtube, but print ads as well), would be an amusing way for us marvel at the 1980s. There are two things that I find most interesting about ads from the 1980s is what seems like very primitive production values to us today. Like, most of these ads could be filmed on a community college video production set, with the ad just consisting of a single camera set-up of kids playing with toys. The second is trying to figure out just who toys are being marketed to, and how. Anyway, I think we will find a lot of good examples of how weird and primitive things were back in the 1980s. (Also, I wonder that SA doesn't just have a "1980s" tag.)
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May 18, 2016 18:15
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| # ? May 10, 2024 07:55 |
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im glad reagans dead
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May 18, 2016 18:16
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shaquin o'neil
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May 18, 2016 18:16
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im just going to save everyone the trouble and put this in your "minds eye" the go-bots theme played loudly over and over as if on a broken record lots of lovely matchbox cars a toilet for idiots
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May 18, 2016 18:17
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if i dont get a ninja turtlres pizza shooter for my birthday im gonna be really mad mom
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May 18, 2016 18:17
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hulk hogan meat shoes
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May 18, 2016 18:17
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remember jelly shoes and jelly bracelets 
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May 18, 2016 18:18
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First example of a 1980s toy ad: "My Buddy", a 1985 attempt to market dolls to boys by selling them as a partner, rather than as something to be cared for. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJDg2g1COyc I don't think this particular trend worked out very well, but the ad was memorable enough that five years later, Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest referenced the jingle in a song, and 30 years later, I could still remember the commercial. I am guessing this commercial was marketed more to parents than to children, and it seems to be suggesting that having a surrogate friend is just a normal part of being an active, happy preschooler. glowing-fish fucked around with this message at 18:21 on May 18, 2016 |
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May 18, 2016 18:19
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wacky wall walkers 
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May 18, 2016 18:19
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i prefer the My Pillow
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May 18, 2016 18:20
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Shaquin posted:i prefer the My Pillow good choice Shaq, My Pillow is a real SLAM DUNK
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May 18, 2016 18:20
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what about a coma pillow
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May 18, 2016 18:21
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you know, as much as transformers in the 80's was essentially the blueprint of the half hour toy commercial, the cartoons had more compelling and subtly nuanced plots compared to the michael bay blockbuster shitheaps of 20+ years later and that is just silly
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May 18, 2016 18:24
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glowing-fish posted:First example of a 1980s toy ad: Pretty sure the movie Child's Play killed this toy
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May 18, 2016 18:24
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And here is an early He-Man ad (1983): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH6oimu3YS8 This is even more primitive than I would have guessed...like this whole thing looks like it was put together in three hours. Unlike later toy ads, which seemed to really sell the toys internal mythology, this ad seems to focus on how the toys are used in play.
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May 18, 2016 18:30
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Compare that He-Man commercial with this TMNT commercial, five years later. The commercial assumes that whoever is watching the commercial is familiar with the Turtles universe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXqqGAiw24o
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May 18, 2016 18:33
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Shaquin posted:im glad reagans dead
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May 18, 2016 18:33
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Micro Machines guy selling you those and not the Transformer he played. Edit: The dinobots were the best thing ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSouGUP_71s
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May 18, 2016 18:35
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cabbinge patch dolls which begat garbange pail kids which i collected at the time they were big but i threw them out or lost them. the packs of sticker cards came with a nasty hard piece of gum that lost its flavor in 10 seconds flat.
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May 18, 2016 18:37
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCZU3j01o6o
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May 18, 2016 18:37
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Half our cartoons were just toy commercials anyhow
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May 18, 2016 18:40
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Hrist posted:Micro Machines guy selling you those and not the Transformer he played. Despite being really into Transformers in 1986, I don't actually remember any Transformers advertisements? The production value on those was a bit higher, especially the vocoder and green pupil kid. That must have seemed so radical and cutting edge 30 years ago.
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May 18, 2016 18:43
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Booblord Zagats posted:Half our cartoons were just toy commercials anyhow Actually all of them were.
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May 18, 2016 18:44
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I think children's cartoons were a lot better before it become about selling toys cause you ended up with a bunch of cheaply made weird poo poo like Birdman or The Super Globetrotters. There actually were laws about targeting advertisement towards children but thanks to Reagan and the wave of conservative thought that swept the nation in the 80's those laws were rescinded and the floodgates opened. Which brings us to today where we employ loving sociologists to scheme on how to make children feel emotionally attached to a particular product. I find it all very sinister personally but most people don't seem to mind.
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May 18, 2016 18:49
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I didn't like my Cabbage Patch doll because its head was a solid brick of dark matter that made her useless for sleeping with or sitting up on her own. But you could hold onto her cloth body legs and swing her around like a mace which was pretty good.
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May 18, 2016 18:52
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glowing-fish posted:Despite being really into Transformers in 1986, I don't actually remember any Transformers advertisements? Hasbro put alot of finances (I assume) and effort into their ads, just from effects and new animations for them. I mean, they had to make the microscope look cool, and tried their best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crn_8VIxaOk
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May 18, 2016 18:56
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i had lots of toys about a movie called "Starwars" it was pretty popular dont know if any of you remember this
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May 18, 2016 18:56
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Jim Barris posted:I think children's cartoons were a lot better before it become about selling toys cause you ended up with a bunch of cheaply made weird poo poo like Birdman or The Super Globetrotters. There actually were laws about targeting advertisement towards children but thanks to Reagan and the wave of conservative thought that swept the nation in the 80's those laws were rescinded and the floodgates opened. Which brings us to today where we employ loving sociologists to scheme on how to make children feel emotionally attached to a particular product. I find it all very sinister personally but most people don't seem to mind. broadcast mind control exists and it is called advertising. no need for fancy tinfoil conspiracies. personal agency is easily hijacked with psychological parlor tricks because we are dumb animals.
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May 18, 2016 18:59
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_qJ7esLZo I don't know why, but I incessantly begged my parents for this stupid toy when I was a kid. One night my dad brought it home for me and we sat down to put it together. It ended up freaking me the gently caress out when he started flailing around and cackling. I ran under my bed and proceeded to pee with wild abandon because apparently pirate skeletons think piss is gross and won't come near it. Welp, that's my story.
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May 18, 2016 19:04
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I'll do you one better, OP:
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May 18, 2016 19:07
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Pulvis Sumus posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_qJ7esLZo What year was this, I am assuming 1988 or onward? Also, this ad is interesting because it has girls in it. Most of the toy marketing was done to boys.
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May 18, 2016 19:08
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I never saw the cartoon, but i thought these were awesome when I was a kid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM-5nuaXSTE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edBQGKbo4V0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF8gcPqvstY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TidFvuuIIwE
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May 18, 2016 19:08
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Booblord Zagats posted:Half our cartoons were just toy commercials anyhow What is this "our" poo poo? Looney Toons were nothing of the sort. Sorry, you were referring to your own lame generation.
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May 18, 2016 19:10
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Cartouche posted:I'll do you one better, OP: How did CODs even work? Was there a time when the friendly neighborhood mailman would come inside for a nice glass of lemonade, while littly Billy emptied his piggy bank for the 2 dimes, 5 nickles and 5 pennies needed to pay for his seamonkeys?
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May 18, 2016 19:11
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my family was rich we had a Simon
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May 18, 2016 19:12
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Cartouche posted:What is this "our" poo poo? Looney Toons were nothing of the sort. I'm from that weird spot where Looney Toons were still really big, but GI Joe was starting to take off
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May 18, 2016 19:12
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This game was great. I gave mine away a few years ago because it was enormous and I didn't have space to play it. Regrets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVXfn4_iNGY
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May 18, 2016 19:13
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Jim Barris posted:I think children's cartoons were a lot better before it become about selling toys cause you ended up with a bunch of cheaply made weird poo poo like Birdman or The Super Globetrotters. There actually were laws about targeting advertisement towards children but thanks to Reagan and the wave of conservative thought that swept the nation in the 80's those laws were rescinded and the floodgates opened. Which brings us to today where we employ loving sociologists to scheme on how to make children feel emotionally attached to a particular product. I find it all very sinister personally but most people don't seem to mind. Just don't have children! Yet another way in which goons are ahead of the curve 
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May 18, 2016 19:15
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Gutter Phoenix posted:This game was great. I gave mine away a few years ago because it was enormous and I didn't have space to play it. Regrets. That commercial looks pretty cool. I wonder how much time/money the effects took. Edit: looks like they just moved the film from side to side and threw a bucket of water on the kid.
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May 18, 2016 19:17
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| # ? May 10, 2024 07:55 |
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glowing-fish posted:How did CODs even work? Was there a time when the friendly neighborhood mailman would come inside for a nice glass of lemonade, while littly Billy emptied his piggy bank for the 2 dimes, 5 nickles and 5 pennies needed to pay for his seamonkeys? i think the idea goes back to before there was a national high speed transit network and old fogies remember getting goods delivered by merchants in their town and weren't accustomed to this newfangled idea of distribution chains and distant warehouses managed from distant offices.
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May 18, 2016 19:17
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