Pop-Tarts are so Cool their Hot! NOT!

Kellogg’s first created Pop-Tarts back in the 1960s. It was a hit from the beginning. Why? I have no idea. I was never a fan of them. They were to dry if you don’t toast them, and I could never toast them to make them taste good, so I stuck with cereal until Toaster Strudels came out. Now those were the bomb! But my guess at why they were such a big hit would be that they are a quick breakfast. Just open the box, pick out a pack, and two Pop-Tarts will hold you over until lunch.

But as much as I dislike Pop-Tarts, I must say this commercial is a good one. It really shows off what the 80s were about in 30 seconds. The neon lights, the new age sound music, and the long shirt pajamas the gals were wearing.

I have two sisters and growing up, when ever they had sleepovers, I swear my sisters and their friends all wore those long shirt pajamas. Ok, so did I, but it was the 80s, and messed up stuff like that was acceptable. I’m not apologizing for it, hell no!

Even though I hate Pop-Tarts now, seeing commercials like this back in the 80s actually made me what to try them. Growing up, we didn’t have tons of money to throw at just any type of food. So watching commercials like this, knowing I won’t be eating a Pop-Tart anytime soon, really made me want one. When we finally had the money and got these, YUCK! Anyone else hate them as much as I do? And if you do like them, please tell me why? Is there anything I can do to actually like them?

I Learned it from watching You

I think most Public Service Announcements, PSAs, are lame. Most are so dumbed down or idiotic that they just don’t hit home. Not only that, but they are unmemorable. For a PSA to be effective, it needs to be memorable. Very few are memorable. Smokey the Bear commercials are memorable and who doesn’t remember his tag line; “Only you can prevent forest fires.” But the most famous of all PSA’s is the Anti Drug on from the 1980s that featured a concerned dad, confronting his son with a box that is full of drugs and drug paraphernalia with the son delivering his phrase: “From you alright! I learned it from watching you!”

The 80s brought us many memorable Anti Drug slogans and commercials. “Just say NO!” was brought to us by Nancy Reagan. I don’t know if it worked very well, but it was memorable. Also the Anti Drug one where the gang member turns into a werewolf or monster or something. That was scared the shit out of me when I was younger. But let’s face it, the one below is the most memorable.

Growing up, I think I like the messy room the most about this commercial. My parent’s never let me have a messy room and I always wanted one. And the box the father carries in, I was always wondering what was in it. Now that I’m older and understand things better, I look at it now and see exactly what was in it, but when I was younger and extremely innocent I had no idea what was in it.

Looking back on this commercial, it was VERY memorable, but when this came out, for me, I was too young and too innocent to have been affected by drugs. But later on in life, if this would have been out, it wouldn’t have done anything anyway. Why? That’s a subject for another article.

It’s time to make the donuts

Ah, donuts. Is there any better use of flower and water and yeast? Well, bread I guess, but you get my point. And donuts are a food you can eat at any meal! They go great with or for Breakfast, they are a wonderful treat at lunch, and they are a wonderful desert with dinner. And the types of donuts! There are the basic glazed, cake, powered, jelly filled, custard filled, cream filled, topped with frosting, and on and on! You want it on or in your donut, you can find it! Growing up in the 80s, where I grew up, two places you could get donuts; at a local grocery story or at the local donut shop. But on the TV, we always saw commercials for Dunkin Donuts and I always wish one would open up close enough that my sisters and I could have hounded my parents to try them, if just once.

This commercial is famous. With the amazing catch phrase, “Time to make the Donuts”, it really, at least to me, made this commercial very memorable. The commercial is very simple, Fred the Baker, played by the late Michael Vale, goes out of the house muttering “Time to make the Donuts” in the morning, and returning at night saying “Made the Donuts”. The purpose of this is to show that they are always making donuts, so they are always fresh. Michael does an amazing job here in this roll. Can anyone think of Dunkin Donuts and not think of Fred the Baker?

But my favorite part of every Dunkin Donut commercial is near the end when they show the rows of already made, perfectly looking donuts. I can stop this commercial there and stare at the screen for only a few seconds before my mouth starts to water.

Years later, I’ve finally tasted Dunkin Donuts’ donuts, and I must say, they aren’t bad. I still love my local grocers donuts best, but they are far better thank Krispy Kremes. Sorry all you Krispy fans, Dunkin really is better…at least to me.

 

 

You can rip them you can stretch them, Fruit Roll-Ups!

There were so many great snacks introduced in the 80s, but one of my favorites has to be Fruit Roll-Ups. It was a wonderful sugary sweet fruit snack that was rolled up and perfect for taking anywhere. Kids loved it because it was sweet and delicious, and parents loved it because they were made with real fruit. I remember the strawberry flavored ones actually looked kinda like a flattened out strawberry. Needless to say, I’m sure there was only about 1% fruit in them, but maybe it was the fruit on the box, or maybe the wonderful announcer saying “Made with real fruit” that convinced the parents, who know, who cares, they were awesome and my parents bought them and that’s all that matters.

But one of the reasons this commercial is so good is all the cut scenes. It starts off with kids, in baseball gear passing a box of Fruit Roll-Ups and enjoying this delicious treat. Hell even the dog loves them! But what does Fruit Roll-Ups have to do with Baseball and a dog? Nothing! But this is advertising and it just has to speak to kids, not make sense.

The beach scene is lame. Yes you can tear them and share them, but I never shared mine, especially with my dad.

The next scene is the best. Three young boys in what looks to be a cap cabin. Look carefully. See that boy on the left that takes a bite of the Roll-Up? Look familiar? It’s Jason Hervey who played Wayne on Wonder Years. Yea, he was in a TON of commercials in the 80s.

Ahh, Fruit Roll-Ups. When you first came out, you were simple but good. Now they come with tongue tattoos and silly shapes. Didn’t they know that simple is best?! I remember with they put silly shapes in there that you could peel out and I guess play with, but it’s a thin piece of sugar fruit stuff. How can you play with that? If it was a rocket or something, I would blast it off and then direct it to my mouth to eat, and that was about the extent of that. But the rest of the lame crap they came up with later? I don’t know, is there anyone out there that like that? If you did, leave a comment and let me know why. Maybe I was too old to understand or something, who knows.