Some merry old soul posted this 15 minute commercials mix from the 1982 holiday season including promos for cartoons like The Smurfs, phenomenally popular on Saturday mornings at the time. Look for The Gary Coleman Show, cartoon buffoonery with the diminutive troubled actor cast as an angel. (Well, he is one now, isn't he?)
On the top of every young person's Christmas list in '82 was the Atari play system, a leap ahead for home entertainment, the beginning of our video game culture. My how quaint 30+ years ago looks from here...
Every year Miller's Outpost would bombard Californians with their warm & fuzzy Christmas commercials - and they were well received. 'Homer and J.R.' starred in dozens of spots throughout the '70s & '80s. Here's one from 1984. This major jeans and leisure wear chain in the '80s, like The Gap saw sales drop precipitously when denim fell out of favor late in the decade. The company changed their name to Anchor Blue in the 90s and went out of business in 2011. The Gap, of course, got bigger than ever.
Acclaimed dancer Geoffrey Holder was the face and voice for the Un-Cola in 1984, a campaign that began in the 1970s.
Watching TV you could not escape Kmart commercials during Christmas. The spots had a deliberately cheap look but the slogan "Kmart is your saving place" was in use for a very long time.
Swatch was one of the hottest product lines in 1987, a selection of plastic watches that came in groovy colors and new wave designs. Eighties kids had to have their Swatch on. The Fat Boys starred in this holiday jam. There were so many clothing fads in the 80s - Guess, Ton Sur Ton, Member's Only... and those MC Hammer pajama pants just to mention a few.
This 1988 commercial is unintentionally hilarious. General Hospital heartthrob (really?) Tony Geary demonstrates perfectly why I thought those Member's Only jackets were an abomination. I would avoid at all costs anyone wearing one or even being in a place where someone was wearing one, no kidding.
If you watched Rudolph and A Charlie Brown Christmas in front of the TV with your family in 1986 you watched these commercial breaks. Did they ever retire that Extra gum jingle? It lasted an extra, extra, extra long time!
A grouping of December 16, 1985 commercials including one of the most memorable of the decade - remember Mikey for Life cereal? He'll eat anything.
You'll find a WORLD OF CHRISTMAS PAST
(all the way back to the 1950s) at TVparty!
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