McDonald's Camp Snoopy Glasses from 1983

Hello! Summer 2021 is in its final throes. Let me make a summer-themed contribution before we go back to school in a couple weeks!

Way back in 1983, McDonald's--the unofficial official restaurant of this blog--released a line of collectible drinking glasses based on the Peanuts characters--Peanuts being the unofficial official comic strip of this blog. More so, the glasses tied in with the then-recent launch of Camp Snoopy, the theme park within a park at Knott's Berry Farm in California. There were five glasses in all, one available per week: Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, and Woodstock.

Being both a huge fan of Peanuts and McDonald's, I was thrilled to get these glasses every week. I was also disappointed when every glass we owned broke, usually in the dishwasher. However, my wife managed to find two of the five glasses on Facebook Marketplace recently, the Linus and Snoopy glasses, for the bargain price of $5 for the two of them!

Aren't they beautiful?

Here are a few of the TV commercials promoting the glasses. Enjoy! Have a great rest of the summer!

Long Live The Bat: Batman the Movie! Batman the Merchandising!

Like any highly successful movie that makes hundreds of millions of dollars, other products are going to find ways to make their money off of it, and Batman 1989 was no exception. Take a look at a tiny fraction of the products based on the film.

Behold--Batman the cereal!





The film was so big that it had not only one but two successful toy lines. The first one was by the small company Toy Biz, which also released other DC Comics characters in a separate line released concurrently with their Batman line. Ironically, the owner of the company was Ike Perlmutter, who now is the CEO of Marvel Entertainment.





The following year (1990), Kenner released The Dark Knight Collection, a larger line also based on the 1989 movie. Here are almost six minutes of commercials for the line.

I still have the Crime Attack Batman action figure from the line to this very day.




In addition to toys, you can always count on fast food restaurants to take part in blockbuster movie promotions. For Batman 1989, the fast food joint of choice was Taco Bell with these cool cups! Collect all four! Don't forget your cinnamon twists!





Finally, MTV held a "Steal The Batmobile" contest in 1989. Movie costar Robert Wuhl has all the details!





I'll bet you're now inspired to rush to Ebay and see if you can get any of this stuff cheap. Good luck!

Classic Christmas Commercials 2018 Edition

Today I present, later than I usually do in a season, a round of classic Christmas commercials. Some may not understand my fascination with TV commercials, as they are usually something people complain about, but there's something about an old commercial, especially with a Christmas theme, that takes you back to good memories and celebrations just like a TV program can.

Here's hoping this year's showcase does the same for you!

First up, this sweet spot for Burger King from 1976.

Next, a series of promos for various CBS Christmas specials such as Charlie Brown, Rudolph, and 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, among others.





I never thought to sing "Deck The Halls" with the name of M&Ms inserted, but now that's all I can do!





This may be the "hardest sell" Christmas commercial I've ever seen, and I just discovered it days ago. The first Tim Burton Batman film was the hottest selling VHS tape of 1989, and this commercial pulls no punches in emphasizing how urgent a gift this was!





Everyone is still lamenting the loss of Toys R Us this year, and their classic Christmas commercial is one of the all-time greats, but this commercial for the even longer expired toy chain Kiddie City isn't shabby either!





Finally, this last commercial is the most recent of the bunch, being from 2014, but it deserves to be noted as being as wonderful as ringing Hershey's Kisses or Santa sliding on snow on an electric razor. In this Apple Computers commercial, an infamous and lonely figure tries to make peace with the townsfolk by embracing the holidays with them. Things nearly go awry, but the magic of the holidays sets in. What a great commercial!





Thanks!

List O' Links for Friday, May 19, 2017

I haven't posted a List O' Links since February, so I'm long overdue for one. Enjoy your unseasonably hot Friday (on the east coast, anyway) with these cool links!

Want to weed out unwanted selections from Netflix's not-so-accurate algorithms? Here's how!

Here are some gorgeous backgrounds from the great Hanna-Barbara action-adventure cartoon Thundarr The Barbarian. 

One of my favorite sitcoms of all time is Happy Days. Here are some fun photos taken from the series from behind the scenes, including the late Erin Moran.

If, like me, you still have a big collection of audio cassettes laying idle in your house that don't often see the light of day, you may have a way of listening to them in the near future. I give you--the Elbow, the next portable cassette player!

I don't normally address 1990s nostalgia here, as I'm much more of a 70s and 80s guy, but for any of you that do have a soft spot for the decade, you may also have a soft spot for the classic 90s song "Flagpole Sitta" by Harvey Danger. Check out the Onion AV Club's spotlight on the song.

A great deal of people are looking forward to the new Wonder Woman movie starring Gal Gadot, including me. Why not prove your love to the Wonder Woman in your life by getting here these lovely Wonder Woman bracelets, tiara, and lasso. And they're only 400 FREAKIN' DOLLARS!!!

Finally, have you ever driven by a building that looks suspiciously like a Pizza Hut and yet doesn't serve pizza? It happens a lot more than you think--so often that someone has created a Web site called Used to Be A Pizza Hut. You'd be surprised how many former Huts have been repurposed for any number of enterprises. Take a look!

Have a great weekend!

List O' Links for Friday, April 22nd, 2016

It's an unseasonably warm day in Philadelphia today, and I haven't posted any links in forever. Here are some to entertain and edify you. Yes, have some!

You can now invest in a collection of Credence Clearwater Revival songs in infant lullaby format. I listened to all the songs, and I highly recommend them if you work in an office. Very soothing!

Also in music news, Eddie Vedder has recorded a cover version of the Batman '66 theme song with his 7-year-old daughter Harper. It's very cute (and one to add to my Batman theme song collection)!

Keeping the music theme going, we might, if things go as planned, have an official soundtrack to the 1980s Transformers animated TV series in our future. Nothing like that awesome theme!

Jaws shoes. 'Nuff said!

Did you know there is a blog that features photos of current businesses that are housed in what used to be Pizza Hut locations? You do now.

Finally, the pop culture site Nerd Out With Me has graciously provided 51 geeky pics for all of us to enjoy. Fun stuff!

Thanks! Have a great weekend!

List O' Links for Friday, September 18, 2015

Wow, I haven't done these in awhile. It's high time I get back to them!

Notice that instead of the usual picture of someone using a computer, I opted for a nice autumn scene. The great season is less than a week away, so I thought it both appropriate and a nice change of pace. I hope your summer season was a fun and happy one!

Now on to the links!

For the first time in America, Burger King is releasing their Halloween Whopper, along with a Pumpkin Spice Oreo Milkshake. I'm not a big Whopper fan, but this looks interesting!

This is a long-awaited weekend for Whovians--the relaunched Doctor Who debuts its ninth season this Saturday. I started watching the new Who at the start of this year, so I'm looking forward to this!

ABC Family has announced their lineup for this year's 13 Night of Halloween. Check it out here!

The fall season, and even the summer season, sees the launch of many pumpkin flavored beers. But if you're looking for a seasonal brew without pumpkin, you have several options. Marketwatch has ten non-pumpkin brews that are still perfect for the fall!

If you use the Internet--and obviously, you do--you may wonder why memes use the same large font all the time. Look no further than this article from Vox that explains how the Impact font became the standard font of memes everywhere.

Finally, I didn't present any back to school material this year as I usually do, but I can't let September pass without mentioning it at least once. Here is a comparison of getting ready for the school season back in the 70s versus today. Sounds accurate.

Have a great weekend! And please remember that the Countdown to Halloween starts in less than two weeks on Thursday, October 1st! Be there or beware!

List O' Links for Friday, January 16th, 2015

Welcome to what I hope for you is a nice long weekend. Spend it at these fine links!

It'll take you at least one of the next three days to enjoy the top 50 web comics as chosen by Pleated Jeans. There are some fantastic comic strips here!

For all you MS-DOS fans (and you know who you are), you can now play almost 2,400 classic DOS-based video games in your browser, courtesy of the Internet Archive. Play away!

One of my favorite novelty music acts is Spike Jones and His City Slickers. Now they can be your favorite too, thanks to Music for Maniacs. Enjoy every song the band recorded in their first seven years!

Next Tuesday, January 20th at 3pm Eastern time, Marvel Comics is going to make a major announcement about this year's upcoming Secret Wars event, which, unlike every other event from the major comics publishers, is actually supposed to change the Marvel Universe forever for real. Bookmark this link to follow along with the announcement and see what all the hubbub is about! The link won't be live until the actual event, so proceed with caution.

Long before TGI Fridays became the default place for potato skins and Jack Daniels riblets, it's first location was quite the swanky place. Learn this and more about the restaurant chain's surprisingly colorful past here!

As long as we're learning things about people and places we thought we already knew, here are 19 facts you didn't know about the legendary band Fleetwood Mac. You may be sick of them due to egregious overplay by radio, but they really are a great band.

Finally, I've professed my love for Adventure Time before, but for a twist on the popular animated series, check out this--let's not call it a rip-off, let's just say it's apparently inspired by AT. From a young group of independent animators in China comes "Legend of Lucky Pie." It's weird, it's trippy, it's mathematical!

Have a great weekend! If you're serving your community this Monday, thank you!

List O' Links for Friday, December 12th, 2014

It's weekend number 3 of the holiday season 2014. Take a break from your hectic shopping and partygoing with these links!

Spider-Man has faced a lot of challenges and setbacks in his career, but he's currently dealing with what may be his biggest challenge yet--everyday life in Cairo, Egypt. A young photographer is making a film of an actor in a Spider-Man costume to show the struggles citizens in the country are experiencing. A humorous yet sobering look at the country!

Remember last week's post about Pizza Hut's attempts at Christmas marketing? They should take a look at inroads chicken franchise KFC has made into ingratiating itself into Christmas celebrations--at least in Japan.

You guys! Digital comics retailer Comixology is offering 12 Days of Free Comics! It started yesterday, but you still have 11 more chances to get a free comic. Go there--now!

You may have heard of Krampus, the horned creature who used to follow around Santa and beat the crap out of bad kids. Well, there's more Christmas terror where that came from. Take a look!

The shopping mall probably sees more people tread its grounds at this time of year than any time of year by far. It can be a frustrating experience, but you know what would make it more fun? If we could go back in time and check out the mall back in 1989. Looking at these awesome photos is the next best thing! I love the 80s-ness!

Finally, 'tis the season for beer drinking! Here is one site's list of 15 of the best Christmas-themed beers you'll find this year.

Feliz Navidad!

Pizza Hut Christmas TV Commercials

As usual at the beginning of a holiday season, I like to post a series of TV commercials related to said holiday, as seeing those on TV are usually the first signs that another holiday is upon us. I'm doing things a bit different this Christmas in that I'm doing a couple of commercial posts which involve another underlying theme. For example, today I feature Christmas commercials by Pizza Hut.

Pizza is certainly not the first thing I think of when I think of Christmas, but the restaurant chain has made many efforts to get itself into people's heads during the holiday season. Here are just a few examples.

In 1980, Pizza Hut had a special Christmas offer--buy any medium or large pizza, and you could purchase a Paddington Bear tree ornament for only 99 cents a piece. Now that a new movie starring the famous bear of children's literature is about to be released, I thought this one might be a bit timely.

In 1983, Pizza Hut reached out to consumers to let them know that, should their shopping take a toll on their schedules and wallets, they could count on Pizza Hut to provide tasty sustenance for their family--no cooking, no cleaning. I have to admit, having a fresh, hot pizza waiting for you when you're very busy is a great convenience!

By the way, is that country music legend Mac Davis narrating and singing the jingle?



Looks like consumers needed a reminder of this fact in 1987, so the Hut happily obliged, along with the offer of gift certificates for those hard to shop friends and relations. I'd be OK with a Pizza Hut gift card!



I've saved the best for last. This is a commercial I've wanted to find for years now, but I couldn't because I couldn't remember the product name or the advertiser (plus I just gave up looking once in a while), but this year I finally found it. The sponsor is indeed Pizza Hut, and the commercial involves a man a little too tired of leftover turkey after Christmas--a feeling we all share after a day or two, I think. I love this one, and I'm thrilled that I finally found it!



Thanks!

List O' Links for Friday April 5th, 2013

It's Friday, and there's a lot of fun to be had this first weekend of April. Let's not waste time and get to the links!

Twenty-one things you didn't know about the movie Gremlins.

This article is a bit too harsh than I think is necessary, but I agree that Pizza Hut has created some products that definitely represent thinking outside the (pizza) box. Here is a look at the crazy products the pizza chain has created over the years.

The Walking Dead TV series has generated its biggest ratings yet with its recently concluded third season. Here are ten other independently published comics that deserve series of their own (I vote for Chew!).

Getting back to restaurants, Generation Xers such as myself will remember a time long ago when McDonalds had large outdoor McDonaldland playsets featuring the classic characters such as Ronald McDonald and company. They literally had much more character than the indoor plastic playsets of today. Check out some photos of the old playsets and an industrial film about the making of these playsets here.

I'm not an atheist, so I don't have a horse in this race, but this Salon.com author notes five atheists who ruin it for everyone else.

Finally, many comic book critics have lamented the hyper-sexualized portrayal of women in comics, especially superheroines. One artist created his own designs to show what a fully dressed superheroine can look like.

Have a great weekend!

Burger Chef Monster Records

Holy Halloween, the Countdown is almost half over already! Time really does fly when you're having fun, and it has indeed been a blast this year, as it always is.

Last year, I posted this commercial for a now defunct fast food restaurant chain called Burger Chef, featuring the character Wolfburger the werewolf.



After posting that clip, I started getting other Burger Chef clips in my YouTube profile that featured audio records that were given as free gifts with Burger Chef meals back in the day. These records feature a variety of other spooky-themed characters, such as Fangburger the vampire, Cackleburger the witch (I like that name in particular), and Crankenburger the Frankenstein monster.

These stories are very cute; I would have loved these as a kid, but I didn't have any Burger Chef restaurants near me that I recall. I had never even heard of the chain before I came across the Wolfburger commercial. If you ever ate at a Burger Chef restaurant, please tell me what they were like in the comments, especially if you received one of these records yourself. I'm also curious to know if these characters were only around during Halloween time, or if they were used year-round. Thanks!

More Classic Burger King Commercials

As you may have heard, Burger King is nixing their TV commercials featuring the giant-headed, speechless King in favor of showcasing the actual food.  Many people were either put off by or completely creeped out by the King, but he never bothered me.  That's because I remember the King when he was human, spoke, sang, and even performed magic.  Don't believe me?  Take a look!

Here are several commercials featuring not only the King, but several characters, including the curmudgeonly Duke of Doubt, designed to compete with the phenomenonally popular McDonald's characters.  They existed for a good five years or so, yet very few people seem to remember them today.  Enjoy!  Also, take a look at past Burger King commercials I've posted here (well, at least those YouTube hasn't pulled).

The Return of Gino's Restaurants!

I got good news yesterday:  the long dormant fast food chain Gino's is coming back!  One of their new locations will be in King of Prussia, PA, outside of Philadelphia.  I loved Gino's when I was a kid.  There was a location within walking distance from my house back in the 70s, until the entire chain was sold to Marriott.  Many locations were converted to Roy Rogers locations, but there was already an existing Roy's across the street in my neighborhood, so the new owners converted it to a KFC, which it remains to this day.  I'm sure the food won't taste quite the same as it did back then, but I love to see a fond slice of nostalgia come back.

Here is the Web site for the returning chain, and here is a cool fan site for the old locations.

And as always, here are some great Gino's commercials.  Enjoy!

McDonald's Commercials Return

Some of my most popular posts, much to my surprise, have been about McDonald's TV commercials. I guess the company is so iconic, and their advertising so heavy over the years, that they just stay in people's minds vividly. It's been a long time since I've posted any, so I'll take care of that right now.

First, two commercials from 1967, before the dawn of Ronald McDonald and friends. Here McDonald's tries to establish itself as a clean cut, respectable establishment--no long-haired hippies here! Don't you wish your local McDonald's was like this?





Next is one of the earliest commercials to feature Ronald, portrayed by the character's creator, Willard Scott.



Here is an early McDonaldland commercial I've fetured previously, but this copy is more clear and lighter. The sky doesn't look so eerily orange as in the previous version.



Do you remember what the Big mac is made of? These people don't.



If hamburgers aren't your thing, how about breakfast?



Finally, here is something I'm psyched to present. This is behind the scenes footage of a McDonaldland commercial and a talk with the director and crew members!



McDonald's should send me a check, or at least free food!

Classic Burger King Commercials

After writing two posts about McDonald's commercials, I thought I'd give equal time to one of their main competitors, Burger King. They've always been the #2 chain compared to Mickey D's (or maybe lower these days), but they are a tasty alternative when I'm arched out. Let's get to it!

I don't remember ever seeing these commercials, so it's likely they were only shown for a short time before 1980, but here are two animated commercials featuring a short and clean-shaven king. Coincidentally enough, I did see his likeness on a BK bag when I was there a couple of weeks ago (remember, I'm fat).





Now THESE are the Burger King commercials I gew up with. I'm surprised they don't resurrect them. This is the time in which the King design used today originated from. Like McDonald's, there was a full cast of characters touting BK products. Here are a few examples (BK commercials with these characters are surprisingly scarce on the 'Net).

Doesn't the King look a bit like Will Ferrel in this disco-themed commercial? I'm waiting for him to demand more cowbell!







Here are a few commercials that are aimed at adults. Boy, those hats were ugly!



Boy, this commercial is sappy!



Aren'tcha hungry? Well, aren'tcha? Well, AREN'TCHA???! Actually, that chicken parm sandwich does look pretty good.



Burger King even managed to discover up and coming talent for their ads.

Andrew McCarthy and future Oscar winner Elisabeth Shue:



Emmanuel Lewis (although he may have already been on Webster at the time):



And future vampire slayer Sarah Michelle Gellar:



Finally, these Return of the Jedi glasses rocked! I have a friend who still has these:



OK, I think I have the fast food thing out of my system for a while.

Unusual McDonald's Commercials Part 2: "Nothing Can Kill The Grimace!"

One of my favorite posts of 2008 so far has been my article on the strange first generation of commercials that introduced McDonald's McDonaldland characters (Tuesday, January 29th). They were trippy, crude, and just plain weird, much more so than the "normal" way I remembered seeing them for the first time. Then again, those first commercials arose during the very early 70s, which explains the weirdness; I didn't encounter the gang until the end of the decade, when the campaign became less spacey. One of the biggest differences between these two waves of commercials was the portrayal of the character Evil Grimace.

That's right--"Evil" Grimace.

Grimace was first introduced as a villain, of all things. He was just as huge, purple, and slow-witted as we know him today, but he existed to ruin McDonald's meals for people by stealing all the milkshakes. It was usually up to Ronald to trick the stupid Evil Grimace into deserting the shakes so Ronald could recover them. Here's an example (which also has a bonus appearance of Jodie Foster pre-Taxi Driver). Notice the "E. Grimace" on his mailbox and the fact that Grimace has four arms rather than the two we see him with today. Unfortunately, the quality of this video is very poor. Unfortunately also for Grimace, the dumb bastard only manages to steal empty cups rather than the shakes and sodas.



According to Kevin Smith and his cartoon version of Clerks, "Nothing can kill the Grimace!"



In the middle of writing this, I put my young daughter to bed with a videotape playing. It is part of a series of animated videos that McDonald's released as in-store premiums in 1998 using their characters. Tonight's feature: "The Legend of Grimace Island," a tale which gives Grimace's origin as coming from a tropical island inhabited by similarly purple and dim-witted beings. I couldn't find any Internet footage, but I thought it was worth a mention.

Thanks!

Unusual McDonald's Commercials

Let me confess--I'm fat. Not morbidly obese mind you, but I do have to make an effort to see my feet when I look down. One of the reasons for that--McDonald's. I'm addicted to the stuff. My favorite meal is the No. 2 Extra Value Meal: that's a Quarter Pounder, fries, and Coke.

I'm far from alone in my love for the chain. After all, "billions and billions" of burgers have been sold. Popularity is sustained in part through the chain's heavy and creative advertising, most notably through the use of Ronald McDonald and his friends (no wonder kids are fatter than ever). But as iconic as he is today, his debut years were very, well, weird.

See his first appearance here. Quite a different look and sound from the Ronald we know today. Everything about this first incarnation, his voice, look, and personality, was created by the first actor who plays him here--former Today Show weatherman Willard Scott!



Around 1970-1972, McDonald's expanded Ronald's mythology by creating not only friends for him, but an entire place for him, McDonaldland. These first series of commericals were very strange indeed! Then again, that may be because the characters and ideas were knock-offs of the style of the Kroft Brothers "H.R. PufnStuff." McDonald's approached the Krofts about having H.R. promote their product, but the Krofts said no. So the chain went ahead and copped their style, leading the Krofts to launch a successful lawsuit against McDonald's.

Take a look. Rip-off or not, these are some freaky commercials!





Finally, just from a couple of years ago, the Japanese subsidiary of McDonald's took a much more contemporary, yet still unorthodox, approach to advertising their food. Ronald never looked quite like this!