First Day of School and McDonald’s

My first day of High School was a long time ago, September 1990 to be exact. While it was different and all, it wasn’t anything like this commercial. But in some weird and wacked out way, I kind of wish it was. If you lived in the 80s, you know this commercial from McDonald’s.

Commercial starts with the freshman class, probably in the auditorium, getting a quick intro to High School. That never happened with me when I was a freshman. When I started, after morning announcements, we went to first period. What an introduction! But I digress.

The commercial really kicks in after that. The jingle begins and you start seeing the issues the freshmen have on their first day. Let’s look at them all:

1. Crowded hallways. Yea, I remember that. But my High School was about 25 years old and when you only have 3 minutes to get from one class to another, sometimes from one end of the school to the other, it can get hectic. Kind of miss that.
2. Ah yes, the whole can’t get into my locker issue. Never had that issue. The lockers at my school didn’t have locks on them. If you wanted it locked, you brought in a lock. Unfortunately I did that with a key lock and forgot my key way to often. Thankfully, if you had a key lock, they made you bring in a spare to keep at the office. Lucky me.
3. Yea, I can relate to the feeling really small part that is next. I was the shortest kid in my class until Junior year. I had a late growth spurt.
4. I need your pass!!! The hall pass scene is awesome! I remember in Middle School, most teaches didn’t give passes, but made them out of old paddles, or a toy or something stupid like that. But in High School, you needed that paper. Never had kids patrolling where I went, it was always a teacher.
5. Going up the wrong stairs. We only had two stair cases where I went, and kids went up and down both. Never seen anything like that. Anyone go to a school that had stairs that were only for going up or down like t his commercial?
6. Ok, who goes to a water fountain like that? Seriously people, who, besides that kid, is that retarded? And the fountain is a little to powerful. In my school, you’d be lucky to get a trickle out sometimes.
7. Wrong class? Never happened to me, but I know people who did that. Always good for a laugh at lunch, especially when it happens mid term, lol.

But what gets me, is that it takes all these kids one day to fix everything. The one kid figures out how to go up the down stairs. How about you go up the UP stairs? And the other kids finally figures out how to drink from the fountain. His reward to himself? Yea, popping his collar, so freakin 80s! But how does he open his locker, in one day he figures out that you got to bang it in a specific way. Yea, whatever.

But what a way to end the day. Wish my local McDonalds was in walking distance. I would have been there all the time! Well, if I had any money that is.

But I love this commercial, the jingle, the totally rad cloths, the hair, just every thing about it! Tell me about your first day of High School, if you can remember in the comments. Does it match up with this commercial?

Why I Love the Commercial Jingle

I dislike the commercials from today immensely. They are bland and totally forgettable. They try to shock you with something stupid, or something funny, but as soon as it’s over, you rarely remember them. Come on, tell me that last few commercials you’ve seen? Do you remember them? If you so, what do you remember the most? If you are anything like me, it would be a local commercial, and why is that? Because they still use jingles! What makes the Jingle so great? Well, let’s look at what a Jingle is.

According to Wikipedia, A jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials. The jingle started on radio, probably as a way to distinguish commercials from another. Many credit General Mills as the first company to use the Jingle for a commercial. When TV took over, many companies used their jingles there as well. From the advent of TV thought the 1980’s, some of the most popular commercials used jingles. Check out TV Party for a slew of wonderful commercial from the 50s, 60s and 70s. There are some wonderful jingles there.

I believe the 80s is where the commercial jingle hit its peak. Yes, I am biased because I grew up in the 80s and my saying that the commercial jingle reached its peak in the 80s is purely my own opinion. But look back at any of my articles so far from the 80s. Tell me you don’t watch the video clip of the commercial and are not humming it hours, even a day or two later. Some of the classic jingles from the 50s and 60s are just too long, and while the 70s shorted them, I believe the 80s perfected them.

Below are three of my favorite from the 80s. The first one I reviewed here.

The second one I reviewed just a few days ago and you can view it here.

This last one is my favorite 80s commercial and one I have not reviewed yet.  (I have now!  Check it out here .) I’m just waiting until the right time to unveil it.

So, got any of those jingles stuck in your head? I bet you do. Now, I’m sure there will be someone who grew up in the 90s and will say, “No Bill, you got that wrong. The 90s were the peak of the jingle.” Well, if you can back it up, great! But you will have to have a ton of proof if you want me to recant on my statement.

I’ll be back on Monday with another commercial review. If you don’t come and visit before Tuesday, I wish each and every reader a happy and safe New Years!

Together Me and You, and Golden Grahams!

I hope that everyone that celebrates Christmas had a wonderful day. Mine was very good. Lots of presents, way too much food and lots of time with love ones. Can’t ask for anything more!

This is one of my favorite commercials from the 80s. It’s a Golden Grahams that uses the song Happy Together from The Turtles. I really like that song, so when they use the melody to that in their commercial, they made it very memorable. I still catch myself humming this song from time to time, especially after I watch this commercial.

One of the great things about this commercial is the 80s feel to it. The cloths, the hair, and they way they act. At the beginning of it, I swear I knew two people that looked exactly like that, that did the same thing. They weren’t eating Golden Grahams, I think it was probably pop corn, but that doesn’t matter. This is a great commercial and anyone who grew up in the 80s, I think this will bring back a lot of great memories.

I should be back full time now. I had a nice Christmas break and I should be posting Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on a regular basis from now on. See you all Friday!

The BEST Christmas Commercial EVER!

I dare you, no, I double dog dare ya! That’s right, I double, no TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU to find a better Christmas Commercial than the one below! If you have no idea which one I’m talking about, get ready to have your socks blown off! The classic McDonalds Christmas Commercial! If you still don’t know what I’m talking about, you’ve never had a TV in the 80’s or you’re like 5. Go, scroll down, watch it, then come back here and read. Ok, now that you saw it, there is only one word for it, wait for it… LEGENDARY! Yea, total Barney rip off from How I Met Your Mother, but hey, it works so well!

This commercial first aired in the early 1980’s, what year exactly I’m not sure. But I know they did show this commercial every Holiday Season for years. I believe they kept showing it well into the 90’s, though I’m not 100% sure about that. Why were they able to do it? Because it is so well done, and even though the clothing is early 80’s dated, the attitude of the commercial is what makes it timeless.

A younger boy is out on a pond with some older kids ice skating. He isn’t too good, probably his first time. Out in the distance who should appear, but it’s Ronald McDonald, skating like Brian Boitano. He happily skates up to the kids to skate and play with them. To bad the little boy isn’t very good at skating yet, because he missing out on the fun with Ronald and the older kids. So he ends up watching, with a sad smile, while a nice animated deer comes over to see if he’s ok. Ronald then decides to leave, but looks over at the sad little boy and decides to skate over and pick up the sad little boy, making him very happy. The older kids are jealous, but happy for the little boy as Ronald skates away with a smile and a wave for everyone.

There is no talking, just a simple holiday jingle and audibly gives the mood of the whole commercial. The simple holiday jingle is what makes this commercial so great! If the jingle would have been background music and they actors would have spoken, the commercial would not have been as beautiful as it is. I believe by just using music, they would call this an Artistic commercial. What ever you call it, it’s just freakin awesome!

This might be my last article until after Christmas. I live in Central PA and we had a horrible, not as bad as the Midwest US though, Ice Storm last weekend, and a tree limb came crashing down on my telephone/dsl line. They are suppose to fix it Friday, and if they do, I’ll try to put something out Saturday. If not, I might not post anything until after Christmas. If that is the case, may everyone who read this have a safe and happy Holiday Season!

Top 5 Christmas Cartoons Growing Up in the ‘80s

I have two kids, and a third on the way and the two I have are old enough now to watch and understand the Christmas cartoons that are airing this time of year. It is fun to watch it with them and see their excitement. It got me thinking, some of the shows we watched are new, and I am creating new memories with these. But there are some that we watched that I grew up with. Some I thought were great then, but now kind of lame. Some I thought were lame then, and today they did not change. And there are a few that have passed the test of time and are just as wonderful today and they were then. Below I have trailers, small clips, and one a full episode, for each of MY top five. I capitalize MY because they are MY top five. Many will agree with most, but I’m sure all of you could create your own Top 5 and they’d be all different.

So onto it, in no particular order.

-How the Grinch Stole Christmas

This classic cartoon was first aired on CBS on December 18, 1966. Originally, it was came out to mixed reviews. I dare anyone out there today to give it a poor review. Then again, many of us have grown up watching this, and I don’t know any kid who watches it who hates it.

It’s the wonderful tale of a Grinch, who hates the Who’s, and hates that they are so happy and he wants to hurt them and decides to take their Christmas away. He is successful and when the Who’s show him that it isn’t about the decorations or presents, it’s about friends and family. He realizes he was wrong and he himself changes and brings everything back.

The wonderful “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, by Thurl Ravenscroft, is a song that we all know, and love.

-Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Another classic, Rudolph was first aired in the US on NBC on December 6, 1964. This classic used stop motion animation technology to create it. The stop motion never really bothered me, but when I was little, I was always wondering why everything was so jerky. Not until years later did I understand what stop animation was.

Growing up, this was in my top two! It is based on the song by Johnny Marks, and in turn taken from the 1939 poem of the same title written by Marks’ brother-in-law, Robert L. May. When I was younger I couldn’t get past the stop animation, now I’m cool with that, but I can’t get past how the mouths and the sound is out of sink. Maybe updated DVD versions are better?

Next was the other in my top two, but first, enjoy a commercial for it!

-A Charlie Brown Christmas

Growing up, I looked forward to Rudolph and Charlie Brown. It wasn’t Christmas without seeing these two specials on Christmas Eve. We use to tape it on the VCR and watch them over and over. Now adays, Charlie Brown Christmas is my FAVORITE Christmas Special. This debuted on CBS on December 9, 1965 and has been a Christmas time favorite since! It still has a wonderful message today that it did then.

Below is the famous speech Linus makes letting everyone know what the True Meaning of Christmas is!

-Twas the Night Before Christmas

This is one of my guilty pleasures. Debuting on the CBS network in 1974, it has been played every year since. Growing up, I loved this. It seemed to be perfect! So perfect that in my younger days, I would have been tempted to put this above Rudolph! Now days when I watch it with my children, man, this thing is short! The story rushes buy and makes sense to only a child, but it still holds a place in my heart that I hope will stay forever.

Many know this cartoon at the one with the Mice and the Musical Clock. Yea, I guess that’s pretty much it, but the story behind it, short as it is, is a good one.

Check out the full episode here:

-Santa Clause is Coming to Town

To wrap out my list, comes one that was the opposite of Twas the Night Before Christmas. Released on December 14, 1970, probably on CBS, I never paid attention to it when younger. I might have watched it, but it never make an impression on me. Years later, when I was Middle School/High School age, I saw it again, and I enjoyed it better and today, I’ll watch it with my kids and really enjoy it. Not sure why I need to mature to enjoy this, but I’m glad that whatever happened, that I grew to enjoy it.

The story takes off on the song by the same name and is a complete fictional account of the fictional Santa. But it makes a wonderful story and with kids, that’s all that really matters.

Well, I’m sure many will read this, shaking their heads and muttering different episodes. I though about adding Frosty the Snow Man, but it’s a winter special, not really a Christmas one. Well, let me know what you think, and add other shows that you always liked!