Retro commercials we all know and love
You guys, who doesn’t love old commercials? Regardless of how old you are, we all have those commercials that remind us of our childhood. My mother used to tape shows and movies off of the television for us and one of my favorite things to re-watch were the commercials. You know the one with the little boy at the Michael Jackson concert, or the dancing California Raisins, or the one with the Pizza Hut birthday party? I know that we all hate commercials now, but it is only because we have the option to skip them. Back when we had no choice, commercials could be exciting, albeit annoying.
You know we all love nostalgia. Let’s walk down this commercial road for awhile. I can’t wait to get to the holiday commercials!
Air Jammer Road Rammer
The Air Jammer Road Rammer commercial has the catchiest song ever. I don’t necessarily want an Air Jammer Road Rammer, but I definitely want this song to play on loop forever. Just kidding but it probably will anyway because it has been stuck in my head for days.
The commercial focuses on two adorable little boys with super hip 80s haircuts as they play with their (sing it with me) “Air Jammer Road Rammers.” First of all, these just look like remote control cars to me and they probably were, but we all know commercials make kids want stuff.
Commercials make adults want stuff too, for the record.
The thing that made Air Jammer Road Rammers special was that you got to PUMP THEM UP first. They ran on air, not on gas! Tony made the pump! Who is Tony? Who knows??
Crossfire
First of all, “Crossfire” sounds like some kind of an exercise class but back in the 80s, it was all about “the ultimate challenge.” (Still sounds like exercise.) Crossfire was a game very similar to shuffleboard but smaller and much scarier. The theme song really made the product though. It sounds like it was sung by those guys that sing “The Final Countdown” and the two boys in the commercial are just stoked on playing Crossfire. I kind of want it even now.
Wham-O
1987 gave us Jessica Tholmer and it gave us this awesome commercial for Wham-O. The commercial is so much fun and I am sure you will remember it.
The Lil’ Richie-esque tune lets you know that all you have to do it “sit down and swing” and also that there are “no motor or no batteries.” How does it work?? The theme song literally lets you know that we don’t know how it works! Fun! Were these recalled right away?
Just kidding. It actually looks like something I might use these days for like a really good core workout.
The definite best part of this commercial is the “your parents put it together easily!” disclaimer at the end. Hey, any of our parents—can you vouch for the “it’s easy” part of that statement?
PowerWheels
If you don’t remember the “pow, pow, power wheels” theme song, well…well, I guess you are either too young or you didn’t care about PowerWheels. I wanted to drive a PowerWheel so bad because I really, really wanted to get my license which is hilarious since I didn’t get my license until I was 20 years old.
That all being said, this commercial included boys and girls riding around on their PowerWheels, which was awesome. The little boy even double checks on his teddy bear in the back seat, ensuring that everyone is safe in his pow-pow-PowerWheel.
I definitely don’t think that 80s commercials were very progressive, but I do appreciate seeing the little girl in a non-gender specific car, heading over the hills and around the trees, just like her bro.
[Featured image via YouTube]