Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack: Media TV commercials

Showing posts with label Media TV commercials. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

19410701 first TV Ad and 1961 TV commercial promotion - Television Tape

First TV Ad and 1961 Television commercial promotion - Television Tape

Most of my readers know that I am a big fan of the art of videos, advertising and television commercials. It was on this date – July 1, 1941 that what is believed to be the first television commercial aired in the United States.

It was right before a baseball between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies on July 1, 1941, the first television advertisement was broadcast in the United States.

At exactly 2:29 in the afternoon, the New York City NBC affiliate, WNBT, aired a 20-second spot for the Bulova Watch Company. Bulova paid $9 for the ad. According to a Bulova history account, the ad simply displayed a Bulova watch over a map of the U.S., with a voiceover of the company's slogan “America runs on Bulova time!” http://www.bulova.com/about/history.aspx

Then there was the matter of promoting – television advertising…

According to an article, “Inside Production,” written by Walter Schoenknecht on January 8, 2007 for “TV Technology” magazine, this video is a copy of a “sales pitch [John Vrba] recorded in 1961 while he was Sales Manager at Los Angeles’ KTTV.”

19610000 Television Tape

The link for “Inside Production” is here, http://www.televisiontape.tv/Story.html, and the article is a comprehensive - must read for folks who, like me, enjoy the art of advertizing, especially TV advertizing.

We owe Mr. Schoenknecht a great debt of gratitude for finding and saving this historic material. He wrote that he had “…found a box of cast-off 16mm films while I was a Communication Arts student decades ago…”

This video has something for everyone from techno-geeks, folks who study the science and art of advertising to historians to aficionados of early television.

Please enjoy – and thanks again to Mr. Schoenknecht.

Kevin Dayhoff
www.kevindayhoff.net

television advertising history technology sales

19410701 first TV Ad and 1961 TV commercial promotion - Television Tape

Sunday, December 23, 2007

20071222 London Agency's Quirky, Colorful Ads Wow Viewers

London Agency's Quirky, Colorful Ads Wow Viewers

Weekend Edition Saturday, December 22, 2007 · When Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate bar was losing its market position, the company turned to a drum-playing gorilla to boost its visibility.

The beefy gorilla, who rocked out to Phil Collins' song In the Air Tonight in a 90-second ad, was a hit. The spot was viewed millions of times on YouTube, and sales of the chocolate bar soared in the United Kingdom.

The London office of ad agency Fallon International created the spot, which was recently named the ad campaign of the year by Campaign Magazine. Fallon London has had similar success with its notable U.K. campaigns for Sony's Bravia high-definition LCD TVs.

The series of ads featured plastic balls bouncing in San Francisco, colorful bunnies hopping in Manhattan and paint exploding from apartment buildings in Glasgow.

Scott Simon spoke with Laurence Green, head of Fallon International's London office, about the vision behind the agency's unique ad campaigns.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

20070616 Old Natty Boh commercials present Maryland history lessons

Old National Bohemian Beer commercials present Maryland history lessons

June 16th, 2007

(Image Credit: Atomic TV)

I had meant for this to be posted last Friday, for a ‘Thank God It’s Friday’ feature and life got in the way…

Anyway, please enjoy Maryland history lessons by way of some very old National Bohemian Beer commercials. These will take ya back to the very early days of television.

Many of the younger readers of “Soundtrack” may remember their first computer or first cell phone. Well, I remember life before television – and although very young, I remember our first TV. I found it quite fascinating. We could only get 4 channels: 2, 11, 13 and 5. And the TV went off the air in the late evening…

Also – for the younger readers, please note that the commercials were approved by the Maryland State Board of Censors [1] (Folks like Mr. Crablaw will appreciate this Supreme Court case:

GROVE PRESS, v. MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF CENSORS, 401 U.S. 480 (1971), 401 U.S. 480, GROVE PRESS, INC., ET AL. v. MARYLAND STATE BOARD OF CENSORS, APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND, No. 63., Argued November 10, 1970, Decided March 8, 1971)

Enjoy

National Bohemian Beer "Natty Boh" Commercials Part 1

National Bohemian Beer "Natty Boh" Commercials Part 2

[1] Maryland State Board of Censors

In 1916, the General Assembly created the Maryland State Board of Censors to scrutinize "all films, reels or views" to be exhibited in the state (Chapter 209, Acts of 1916). The board consisted of a chairman, vice-chairman, and secretary. Each was appointed to a three-year term by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.

The board approved only those films that they deemed "moral and proper." Approved films received the board's official seal, which was required to be displayed on every film shown in Maryland. Films that the board judged sacrilegious, obscene, indecent, immoral, or tending to debase or corrupt morals did not receive the required seal. Exhibiting disapproved films was illegal. The board enforced its own rules. Members of the board and its employees were authorized to enter any theater to prevent the exhibition of films that did not display the board's seal.

Although it had no power of arrest, the board organized police raids on offending theaters. Persons who submitted films to the board for examination, if dissatisfied with the result of the first judgment, could, upon appeal, submit the same film to the board for reexamination, and then to the City Court of Baltimore. Some censorship cases reached the Maryland Court of Appeals.

In 1970, administration of the Maryland State Board of Censors was assigned to the newly created Department of Licensing and Regulation (Chapter 402, Acts of 1970).

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

20070424 Ozzie and Harriet

"Ozzie and Harriet"

Posted April 24, 2007

The adventures of America’s favorite family, Ozzie, Harriet, David and Ricky Nelson.

I don’t know when this episode aired. The show “Ozzie and Harriet” appeared on ABC from 1952 to 1966.

This episode features a commercial for the Kodak Brownie Starmatic camera.

In this episode Dave, Ricky and Wally go horseback riding at the Lazy K Stables…

Check out the car as they leave the house to travel to the stable.

Wally rides a horse named Bertha. His mounting technique is well, unique…

And check out the riding instructor.

It would be luck that I would end up taking lessons from “Hank,’ the other riding instructor.

They decide that perhaps they need some additional horseback riding instructions… But not from George or Bill or Bob…

Well, watch the clip and smile broadly at era long since gone by.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MC8U_vlq-A

Yeah, for all my nieces and nephews who read the blog, this was TV when your uncle was growing up.

Of course, this is the other side of your uncle:

Ozzy Osbourne-Dreamer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbJqswLi3uE

For the lyrics, it’s my favorite Ozzie song…

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Thursday, March 01, 2007

20070301 Fix your ceiling tiles or this gecko will die

Fix your ceiling tiles, or this gecko will die

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2007/03/fix_your_ceilin.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrixhUg1SCg

March 1^st, 2007

Copious amounts of Dr. Pepper were lost when I watched this ad earlier today on “Adfreak.com.”

The latest winner of the Dayhoff Dr. Pepper Award is this ad from Thailand: “Fix your ceiling tiles, or this gecko will die.”

The video is must see and prepare to smile… It was posted by David Kiefaber who said:

“Maybe it’s me readjusting to the North Carolina climate, but I’m honestly too touched by this Thai ceiling-tile ad to make fun of how patently ridiculous it is. Even the obvious Geico gecko reference seems coarse after seeing one teary-eyed gecko reach out to the other and barely missing as it died. Thank God the chess players’ over-emotional response kept it from being another Suicidal Robot. Although I couldn’t help but notice the falling scene’s eerie resemblance to the beginning of Cliffhanger. From Neatorama, via Spare Room.”

Click for other TV commercials on “Soundtrack.”

The video can found on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrixhUg1SCg

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Friday, October 20, 2006

20061019 The Honda Video

The Honda Video

October 19, 2006

As many folks are aware, I really like television commercials – well, at least the unique and artistic commercials, such as the “20060619 The Zurich Television Commercials.”

Recently I was e-mailed the link to the Rube Goldberg-like Honda video. Please find that commercial here.

Hat Tip: “Mayor Zoom” And thanks a bunch!

The e-mail states: “There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the film. Everything you see really happened in real time exactly as you see it. The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn't work.

They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. By the time it was over, they were ready to change professions. The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete including full engineering of the sequence.

It is fast becoming the most downloaded advertisement in Internet history. Honda executives figure the ad will soon pay for itself simply in "free viewings" (Honda isn't paying a dime to have you watch this commercial!). When the ad was pitched to senior executives, they signed off on it immediately without any hesitation - including the costs.

Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and complete Honda Accord) is parts from those two cars. The voiceover is Garrison Keillor.

Oh. and about those funky windshield wipers. On the new Accords, the windshield wipers have water sensors and are designed to start doing their thing automatically as soon as they become wet. It looks a bit weird in the commercial.”

Please enjoy this way-cool video.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org http://www.thetentacle.com/ Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report http://www.thewestminstereagle.com/ www.kevindayhoff.com has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

Monday, June 19, 2006

20060619 The Zurich Television Commercials

The Zurich Television Commercials

June 19, 2006 [Updated October 12^th, 2006]

I like television commercials. Consistently, some of the best art on TV is found in the commercials.

Recently I have noticed the commercials for Zurich insurance, “Because change happenz,” I finally found a still-detail from the video and I have pasted it above…

(The Zurich web site explains that “Zurich Financial Services Group go back to the 19th century. Founded in 1872…”)

The web site for Zurich reports that the “the theme of Zurich's latest TV and print advertising campaign, centers on Zurich's ability to actively evaluate change. Now and in the future customers know they will get more innovative, relevant, contemporary and secure solutions.”

The visual art is certainly well executed, but what has me really intrigued is the music. Recently I went on the web to see if I could out more about the music.

So far I have not found anything about the music, but I found the commercial in English - - and the German version of the commercial. The German version is even more fascinating visually.

Click here for the English version and click here for the German version. It will take you to a site called "vividas," where you can choose what bandwidth you are on...

The German version brought back memories of many years ago, the Black and Decker annual stockholder meetings were held in Hampstead and one of the highlights of the meeting was when they would play their latest foreign commercials.

“Visit4info.com,” a British web site explains the German ad: “As the narrator talks about what happens about change in different situations the images are show to represent what is happing. First a bizarre product launch is shown going global, then a snowboarder is shown to be an older man. Next cars are shown driving through a junction with out stopping, and avoiding each other all because they use a GPS system, and ends with a shop literally changing it's business model in front of your eyes.”

And the same web site gives some of the commercial’s credits: “Ad location Creative agency Publicis Creative Sacha Moser, Tim Hoppin TV Producer Daniela Berther Production Co Stink, Smuggler (USA) Director Stylewar Producer Mungo Maclagan Photography Mungo Maclagan Post Production Method (California) Uploaded 04 Mar 2006”

Another Zurich commercial for Britain features flying pigs. I kid you not. It is quite a hoot. Go here to view the video. (Oh, once you get to the web page, hit the “Play Ad” button. (There is a “Download button," but they want to charge you “£2 per download.”)