The Carefree Era of Commercials

As I've mentioned before, I spend an inordinate amount of time watching commercials from the past. I enjoy them in a way I never did when they were first broadcast and interrupting whatever show I was watching.

A new batch of early 1980s commercials was recently uploaded to YouTube, and of course I had to click on that link to see which ones would greet me like old friends. The video runs about 20 minutes, and the spots are not themed to any one occasion or type of product. Yet there was a common denominator that went through just about all of them – one that seems sadly lacking not only in contemporary commercials but in contemporary television as well – optimism.

If you don’t share my enthusiasm for old commercials at least watch the first one in the video, for Kellogg’s cereal. The ebullient music proclaims, “When that sun breaks out, lift up your head and shout, it’s going to be a great day!” over scenes of people smiling over breakfast and on their way to work, and smiling kids on their way to school.

When was the last time you saw anything on television brimming with that much unbridled optimism? Do we no longer feel the joy of greeting a new day? Are we embarrassed now to be gladdened by something so simple? Are we too cynical now to appreciate such an artless response?

Next up – a commercial for Coppertone, with people happily soaking up rays on a beach, not worried at all about sun exposure. I can’t remember the last time I even saw a commercial for suntan lotion, though you can still buy it everywhere. I wonder if they no longer advertise lest they be accused of encouraging a dangerous activity.

The video continues with many more spots featuring folks of all ages having good times with their family and friends while enjoying whatever product is being advertised – Tab, Juicy Fruit gum, Coors Light, 7-Up, Pop Tarts, Nestea.

Along the way there are also commercials for Sears, which always tug at my heart now that this once celebrated retailer no longer exists. 

Practical as always, these ads promised nice clothes at a fair price. And there’s Barbara Eden, extolling the virtues of control-top panty hose with the slogan “Nothing beats a great pair of L’eggs” – which is probably offensive now, but what isn’t?

And oh, the jingles. The Manhattan Transfer harmonizing for Diet Coke; KFC, back when they weren’t embarrassed to be known as Kentucky Fried Chicken: “It’s so nice, nice to feel, so good about a meal…”; Purina Cat Chow (“Chow chow chow!”), “Fall into the Gap,” and a young couple not afraid to “get a little closer, with the baby fresh scent of Arrid Extra Dry.”

What passes for music in commercials now? “I have Type 2 Diabetes, but I manage it well…” Time to hit that mute button.

Much as I can deceive myself into thinking times were always better during the Comfort TV era, I know that is not really the case. Every decade had its own anxieties. In the 1960s it was the Cold War – would the Soviet Union really fire the first shot? Why did they want to put those missiles in Cuba?

In the 1970s we had the first wave of environmental panic, and one dire prediction after another about the uncertain future of the planet. I’m not sure whether we were supposed to be roasting or freezing or underwater by now.

The thing about TV from the 1960s and ‘70s is that it largely separated itself from current events – which is why we can still watch so many shows from that time without their seeming dated. And the commercials? They were somehow more authentic and less annoying. They were unapologetic in what they promoted, and most of the time their message was simple: “You’ll be happier if you buy this.”

McDonald’s is one of the few brands that may be waking up to this. In 2025 they brought back McDonaldland in spots that are bright, colorful and musical. Now if only they’d do the same with their buildings. The McDonald’s commercial in the ‘80s video features a kid at the beach building a sandcastle modeled after what they looked like back then, with the red roof and big golden arches sign. All the locations now look like they’re trying to avoid attention, with their minimalist architecture and bland earth tone interiors that resemble a hipster coffee house that has seen better days.

Why can’t buildings be beautiful anymore? Or in the case of McDonald’s, distinctive? And why can’t commercials be fun instead of rattling off lists of possibly fatal side effects of prescription medication?

I guess that’s what keeps bringing me back to compilations like this. They remind me that there were nice things in the world, and nice people. I know that’s still the case – but for some reason television doesn’t have much interest in them.

Classic TV Commercials: Less Noise, Normal People

 

The list of activities that truly make me happy seems to dwindle with each passing year. One that still qualifies is watching compilations of vintage TV commercials on YouTube, particularly those that share a Halloween or Christmas theme. And thankfully we’re now into the season when doing so would seem slightly less strange than watching them in April. But I do that too.

 

 

This time, however, I am revisiting my favorite compilations not just for pleasure but also as a scientific analysis. After enduring far too many current commercials, which can lower a viewer’s IQ in just 30 seconds, I was curious to study how many of those 1970s and ’80s ads also featured people acting like idiots.

 

Before revealing the result I should clarify what “acting like an idiot” entails, as there are many idiots loose in the wild today that see nothing unusual in their behavior. For the purpose of this study an idiot is defined as someone who, if they did what they are doing in the real world and not in a commercial, would draw incredulous stares from everyone in the surrounding area.

 

I would also like to clarify that I am unaware of any offensive connotation (outside of the obvious) to the word “idiot” and whether it is now discriminatory or intolerant to any subset of humanity based on any pre-existing condition over which they have no control.

 

Can’t be too careful these days.

 

I will also not classify all unusual behavior as idiotic if there is a supernatural element involved, as is frequently found in Halloween spots. If a housewife turns into a witch, that’s just seasonal fun. 

 

 

This is the Halloween video I reviewed. It contains about 80 commercials.

 

How many of these spots do you think would measure on the idiot scale? Here’s the answer – two. Just two out of ±80. I think that’s a ratio viewers would welcome now, as it means far fewer lunges for the mute button. 

 

 

Not long after completing my study, I turned on a network with commercials – doesn’t really matter which one – and not three commercials passed before a first ballot hall-of-fame idiot popped up to celebrate his drug prescription. A few minutes later, just two commercials aired before another cringe-worthy exhibition.

 

Can we learn anything from this? Does it say something about how television has changed, how the culture has changed, or is it merely a result of advertisers having to fight so much harder now to get our attention?

 

These are the real questions. I’m not sure I have the answers. But as this blog has evolved I hope it has become a place to not just celebrate the wonderful shows of the past, but also to look beneath the surface, and try to understand why television is the way it is now, and why the decisions being made by content producers seem so different from what they used to be.

 

I understand the pressure of having to pull viewers away from other distractions that did not exist in the Comfort TV era, when the television screen was the only screen in the house. When people watched TV then their focus was not distracted by incoming text messages or the latest viral TikTok upload.

 

Knowing that an audience was watching and listening (mute buttons were also less commonplace), commercials didn’t have to shout to get your attention. Advertisers hired spokespersons with pleasing voices, or gave us a glimpse into recognizable home and business settings, with a more simple, straightforward message: here’s a product we think you’d like, and this is why.

 

 

But that might not be enough anymore, so they yell, or try to compensate for muted sound with visuals so bizarre they hope viewers will restore the audio to find out what’s going on.

 

Does it work? And if it works for commercials, would it not make sense to try the same strategy for a TV series? I pulled up a list of the 25 best TV series according to RogerEbert.com. I won’t judge them without having watched them, but from the descriptions it’s clear that many feature characters that exist far outside the mainstream, and capable of extreme behavior. 

 

 

Maybe there is a through-line here, in a time when it’s become fashionable to denigrate the normal. The traditional. The spiritual (Halloween ghosts? Yes! Holy Ghost? No.) And that is the culture television now reflects. It depends on your perspective, I guess. All I know is that the Halloween commercial compilation I watched now has more than 1.3 million views, and has elicited thousands of comments like the following:

 

“There was never a better time in history to be a kid then the 70's and 80's. Thanks for putting this together. Great memories!”

 

“There’s something magical about old commercials, like there’s a certain charm about them”

 

 “I would do anything to be able to go back and live in this time period.”

 

“Little did we know how good we had it back then. Is so different today I wish my kids could have grown up back then.”

 

“I look back at all these retro commercials with nostalgia and some sadness. It reminds me of those days when we had hope for our lives, our country, our loved ones. Unlike now where it feels like we are on the verge of collapse and our quality of life is deteriorating fast. We don’t have to pretend to be frightened of evil spooks in an imaginary world, we are living that reality now.”

 

Will today’s commercials – will today’s television shows – elicit a similar response 50 years from now? I seriously doubt it.

Here’s to Good Friends – And Great Commercials

 

This entire piece pays homage to one 30-second commercial from 1977. 

 

 

It’s not a famous commercial, like the one with Mikey enjoying Life Cereal, or one that introduced a catchphrase like “ring around the collar.” It wasn’t funny or sexy or sentimental or controversial. But I’ve never forgotten it, and when I watch it I feel a cozy nostalgia in how it recalls some of the happier times and places and people that were part of my life. 

 

Here is the commercial. If you’re around my age it may be familiar to you as well. 

 

 

Perhaps now you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal?” But even if you’re otherwise unmoved you should appreciate the music, which is too classy to be relegated to mere “jingle” status. That song played over many Löwenbräu commercials back then, performed by the soulful voice of Arthur Prysock (though many were convinced it was Lou Rawls). And it contributes immeasurably to the ad’s appeal.

 

But let me tell you what else I see. It’s a Friday evening in Chicago, in autumn. I say autumn because Dolan, our protagonist, slips off an overcoat as he enters the restaurant, but there’s no snow to shake off his shoulders. And I think it’s Friday because we have four friends meeting after work, and from their relaxed and upbeat mood one can presume they’re not just glad to be off the daily clock, but also looking forward to the weekend ahead of them.

 

Why Chicago? Obviously it’s a packed restaurant in a big city. I suppose it could be New York or Boston, but I did not hear a trace of accent from either of the two gentlemen with speaking parts. Some people think us Midwesterners have accents as well, but I’ve always dismissed that as an unfounded rumor. 

 

 

I grew up near Chicago, and I think I recognize a Windy City steakhouse when I see one. I’ve slid into a red leather booth like that and been handed a menu from a tuxedoed waiter. I’d say it’s located somewhere on the near North side where you didn’t have to worry about your hubcaps disappearing while you eat. Just from those few brief glimpses we get I know they serve Caesar salads tableside, and twice-baked potatoes stuffed with a huge dollop of butter.

 

Dolan (played by CHiPs star Robert Pine) joins his buddies as “Here’s to good friends” is played. They chastise him for being late but he says “It wasn’t easy getting tickets for this game.” What type of game? They’re not dressed to sit outdoors so it wouldn’t be football in Chicago. I’d say basketball is a more likely option than hockey. Usually a better-dressed crowd, even in the era before Michael Jordan made the Bulls the city’s biggest attraction.

 

Who are these guys? Stock traders, maybe? The one who says “Dolan, you’re a genius” definitely has the look of a wheeler-dealer. Though with that sport coat he might just as well be a used-car salesman. 

 

 

They are regulars at this particular restaurant – as evidenced by Dolan addressing the waiter by name. No need for that menu – he knows exactly what he wants: “The biggest steak you got and a bottle of Löwenbräu." That’s right, the biggest one. No wonder three other menus close in unison, because what could possibly be better than that? 

 

 

Four huge Porterhouse cuts of prime beef are headed for that table, because this was a snapshot of better days – of a proud and headstrong America when we didn’t do anything halfway – before so many tried to run it down or turn it into something it’s not and hopefully never will be. Back then if someone suggested we shouldn’t order steak because cows are bad for the environment, we’d have told them to shut up and get back to their hippie commune.

 

And to wash down those aged, seasoned and grilled gifts from Heaven – it’s Löwenbräu, proudly American but with deep roots in the old country, a reminder of the great melting pot of the United States, when Immigrants from Europe brought their best achievements into our nation and made it even better – no effete Bud Light for these guys.

 

Yes, tonight is kind of special. And I hope Dolan and his pals hear the message in the music that plays over their night on the town. If you’ve had those nights in your life you likely treasure the memories they can bring – and if you now live thousands of miles away from your old compatriots, or some of them are no longer with us, a commercial like this can bring it all back. 

 

 

If moments like this are part of your life now, be sure to acknowledge how wonderful they are, as these are the times you’ll look back on and smile about in 25 years. As Carly Simon once sang, “These are the good old days.”

 

Here’s to good friends, indeed.

The Twelve Most Memorable Commercials Featuring Classic TV Stars

 

I love old TV commercials, for reasons that would take too long to explain here. The short answer is they were generally quieter, more sincere, and a lot less annoying than the commercials we get now – and that includes the ones featuring celebrities.

 

Since the earliest days of the medium, television stars leveraged their audience appeal to sell anything and everything. 

 

 

It still happens but when I see some of these spots today they don’t resonate the same way. When Jennifer Lopez says “I look for the Well Health Safety Seal at my favorite places,” I’m fairly convinced she’s never looked for it once in her life. Robert De Niro appears in that same ad, and I wouldn’t believe him if he told me my house was on fire.

 

But when Robert Young promised that Sanka tastes just as good as regular coffee, I was sure he was telling the truth – even when I was too young to know what coffee tasted like.

 

Here are 12 celebrity endorsement ads from decades past that I still remember well. I bet most of you remember them too.

 

Robert Young

The warm, kindly present of Robert Young, cultivated over more than a decade of classic television on Father Knows Best and Marcus Welby, M.D., made him an ideal spokesperson for Sanka, the caffeine-free coffee that wouldn’t make you jittery. 

 

 

Florence Henderson

Audiences associated Florence Henderson with a home and hearth ideal conveyed by The Brady Bunch, even though Alice did the cooking for that family. In a decades-long series of spots for Wesson Oil, Henderson spent more time in the kitchen than she ever did as Carol Brady. But no one had more Wessonality. 

 

 

Robert Conrad

TV’s top tough guy was always itching for a fight, whether he was beating up a half-dozen goons on The Wild, Wild West, getting in Gabe Kaplan’s face on Battle of the Network Stars, or selling Everady batteries. 

 

 

Staring down viewers and daring them to buy a competitor’s product was a unique approach – but it worked. 

 

 

William Shatner

If any celebrity deserves a commercial pitchman lifetime achievement award it is William Shatner. For more than 50 years he’s been a near constant presence in TV ads, both when his career was thriving and when it hit the skids. He has apparently never met a product he didn’t want to sell. At age 90 he’s still going strong, extolling the benefits of sleep apnea equipment.

 

My favorite Shatner commercials are the ones he did between the cancellation of Star Trek in 1969, and the career revival that accompanied the 1979 release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In these spots he doesn’t say “Hi, I’m William Shatner for (insert product name here)” – because his celebrity status at that point was minimal at best. Instead he was just the guy who beat out the other applicants for the job.

 

Ricardo Montalban

If Captain Kirk can sell cars (and he did), why not his arch-nemesis from “The Space Seed?”

 

Say it with me – “rich, Corinthian leather.” The idea was to sell Chrysler as a luxury vehicle that rivaled traditional elite manufacturers like Cadillac and Lincoln Continental, but at a more affordable price. The rich backdrops and the impeccably dressed Montalban all helped sell that image of class and refinement. 

 

 

Anthony Geary

At the height of Luke and Laura-mania on General Hospital, Members Only jackets had the foresight to sign Anthony Geary, and leverage his rebel image, to help move the merchandise – and boy, did it work. Those jackets were everywhere at that time – and yes I owned at least a half-dozen in different colors. 

 

 

Robert Blake

As with Tony Geary, what makes a Robert Blake commercial effective is the novelty of seeing a renegade like Blake, who was always mocking “the suits” and the business side of show business, pimping himself out to sell a product. He always sounded like he was just talking to people instead of reading from a script, which gave more credibility to his pitch for STP oil. 

 

 

Annette Funicello

After her iconic membership in The Mickey Mouse Club and her years riding the surf with Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello became “the peanut butter lady” to a new generation of fans. 

 

 

Bill Cosby

I know, I know. But before we knew about all that stuff Cosby was as beloved a star as TV produced, and his commercials for Jello Pudding highlighted his remarkable rapport with kids. 

 

 

Jaclyn Smith

K-Mart brought Jaclyn Smith aboard to class up a brand associated with bargain basements and blue light specials. After promoting and modeling her line of affordable women’s fashions, she’d read the slogan “From K-Mart. Yes, K-Mart,” as if no one would believe they’d find anything stylish there. Smith was already a pro at commercials by then – I know most people probably recall her K-Mart ads first but I still remember when she lent her stunning looks and sultry voice to an unforgettable Martini & Rossi ad. 

 

 

James Garner and Mariette Hartley

I saved the best for last. The Polaroid commercials featuring James Garner and Mariette Hartley were often better than the shows they sponsored. 

 

 

Their playful chemistry seemed so natural that many viewers assumed the couple had to be married. They’ll never put them out on DVD, but if they did, I’d buy it. 

 

 

 

Celebrating the Season With Kraft

Back in the Comfort TV era, a familiar expression when someone didn’t enjoy a particular show was “the commercials were more entertaining.”

I’m not sure how often that was actually true, but I can think of one example that is perfect to discuss during Christmas week.

It’s not that the show was especially terrible – but its commercials provide an example of how television viewing was a different (better) experience years ago. The medium reached a much larger audience yet somehow seemed more personal, more intimate, and could make tens of millions of people feel as if they were part of one contented, like-minded community.

How I wish we still had something like that now.

Our topic today is The Christmas Toy, which aired on December 6, 1986. It was produced by Jim Henson and featured new Muppet-like characters plus Kermit the Frog, who introduces the story and returns for the sing-along conclusion. 

It’s about toys that come to life when no one’s around, and a Christmas Eve when Rugby Tiger (who sounds and acts like Sesame Street’s Grover) worries about being replaced as a favorite toy by one of the newcomers now giftwrapped under the tree.

It’s not very good, especially when compared to other Henson holiday specials like A Muppet Family Christmas and Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas. Even a new song from Jeff Moss, who wrote such Sesame Street baby boomer classics as “Rubber Duckie” and “The People in Your Neighborhood,” isn’t particularly memorable.

But the commercials are absolutely wonderful.

Like many specials back then The Christmas Toy was sponsored by Kraft, with commercials featuring recipes you can make at home that helped to make every celebration special. Because nothing says holiday magic like processed cheese, described by the soothing narration of Ed Herlihy. 

If you were to create a list of the most comforting voices of the Comfort TV era, Herlihy’s would rank in the top five, along with Mr. Rogers. His association with Kraft dated back to company’s radio ads in the 1940s, and continued on TV through the 1980s. His obit in the New York Times described him as “A voice of cheer and cheese.”

He always sounds like a nice man. And there’s a story in the Times obit that confirms it: "He liked to recall a summer day in Times Square when he helped a blind man to cross at 44th Street. He took the man's arm, and the man said it was a beautiful day. "Yes," Herlihy replied, "this is the kind of day the Lord made for the good guys." The blind man replied: "I know you. You're the cheese man on TV."

If Kraft released a DVD of all the commercials he narrated, I’d buy it. 

There were four Kraft commercials during The Christmas Toy. The first extolled the virtues of giving food as a present: “The nicest gifts under the tree are those you make yourself.” Recipes include strawberry almond bars (made with Parkay Margarine), and cheddar crisps (made by baking a cheese dough mixed with crushed potato chips - these looked really good!)

The next commercial invites viewers to “Make your tree trimming a party with Kraft TV special recipes.” Highlights include chicken wings with Kraft barbecue sauce, and tangy potato rounds made with Miracle Whip.

Next, we see folks gathered around a piano singing Christmas carols, as the camera pans toward a holiday table featuring meatball sandwiches and cheesy fruit dip made with Cheez Wiz (“The marvelous microwave-in-a-minute cheese sauce”).

The final commercial offers dessert ideas for a New Year’s Eve party. Amidst an elegant setting, we see a table set with cappuccino cheesecake (made with Philadelphia Cream Cheese) and chocolate orange mousse (another choice that looked especially tasty). “Flavorful Celestial Seasonings Herb Tea makes a perfect dessert companion” Herlihy helpfully suggests.

If viewers thought anything looked good, they could get the full recipes in that week’s TV Guide magazine. 

What stands out now in comparing these ads to the relentless assault of today’s commercials is how quiet they are. No one is shouting, no frenzied music is playing, and the time is spent on describing creative uses for the products being advertised. Even if you weren’t interested in the brand, these are not commercials that beg to be muted.

They are also remarkably effective ads, because what Kraft is really selling is not just a product. Like Martha Stewart and Valerie Parr Hill on QVC, the company is marketing a positive, pleasurable lifestyle – an existence of contented happiness in a warm and comfortable home, tastefully decorated for the holidays, and filled with family and friends on special occasions.

Many of us have experienced such moments, and these commercials bring those memories back. And for those who find themselves in less heartwarming circumstances, the ads suggest you could at least enjoy some part of that life with a box of Velveeta. It’s as close as your grocer’s freezer.

Thanks to YouTube you can watch those original Kraft ads today, without having to sit through The Christmas Toy. And to all those reading these words, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Comfort TV. Now I’m off to whip up a batch of cheddar crisps. 

Why We Still Remember Comfort TV Commercials

“We make your daughters dance…wake you to the sun…”

“From the freezer to the oven to the table…”

“Here’s to good friends, tonight is kind of special…”

If you’re old enough to remember the shows discussed in this blog, you surely also recall many of the commercials that aired between them.

Why is that? We remember the shows because they entertained us, and we not only watched them at the time but for many years after in syndication, and then perhaps on DVD. For some of us they remain as close as our bookshelves.

But those old commercials stopped airing decades ago and you can’t see them anywhere now except YouTube. With few exceptions we didn’t enjoy them – they were annoying interruptions, or bathroom break opportunities.

Sure, a few were genuinely memorable – the series of Lite Beer ads with Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Uecker and a host of celebrities and athletes were always fun to watch. 

There were also campaigns created around a specific theme or character that endured for decades – Mr. Whipple, Charlie Tuna, Tony the Tiger – and some of these corporate icons can still be found in our grocery stores, so it’s not surprising they are more easily recalled. 

But I still remember countless individual commercials that had nothing remarkable about them: Ads for Pepsi showcasing the active and fun-loving lifestyle of the Pepsi Generation; A commercial for the game Connect Four where a sister wins with a diagonal lineup of pieces, and the brother responds, “Pretty sneaky, sis” before spilling all the pieces across the table. A mother in Boston yelling “Anthony!” out the kitchen window, and little Anthony running home because Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti day. 

Certainly repetition had something to do why they stuck with us. No one was keeping count but I’d estimate those like me who watched a lot of television were exposed to the same commercials dozens, if not hundreds of times. They were bound to sink into our psyche sooner or later. 

Commercials also used music to break through our barriers, a fact that the geniuses behind Schoolhouse Rock realized and harnessed for the noble aim of education, instead of the mercenary quest to sell more cat food. If you are really bored one day, take out a piece of paper and try to list all of the jingles from the 1970s onward that have taken permanent residence in your head.

“Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us…”

“I’m a Pepper, he’s a Pepper, she’s a Pepper…”

“Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t…”

“I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys r Us kid…”

“When it says Libby’s Libby’s Libby’s on the label, label, label…”

I wonder if, 30 years from now, millennials will get nostalgic when they hear “You don’t have to be lonely at farmersonly.com”?

I have one more theory about why older commercials have such staying power. They were better than commercials are now.

By “better” I don’t mean they were works of art – many were dull and many tried to be funny and failed miserably. But for the most part they behaved themselves as guests in your home. They didn’t yell at us to get our attention. They wouldn’t upset the appetite of anyone eating in front of the television. They didn’t contain content that had to be muted if there were children in the room. 

I also don’t recall ever watching an ad from that time and wondering what they were thinking (or what controlled substances they were on) when they put it together. That happens a lot now. I watch a commercial that was conceived by marketing professionals, and I do not understand how they or anyone could believe that assemblage of words and images would motivate anyone to buy something.

In retrospect, we didn’t know how good we had it back then.

What is your favorite commercial from the classic TV era? 

TV Commercials Then and Now

 

Television commercials are more stressful now than they used to be.

Current TV advertising is dominated by ads for prescription drugs that deliver dire warnings against a smorgasbord of medical conditions, followed by a list of side effects that is almost darkly comic in its length and escalating severity. These spots are frequently interrupted by ads from attorneys inviting you to call them if you’ve been seriously injured in an accident.

In the Comfort TV era, the worst conditions imaginable in a TV commercial were Ring Around the Collar and the heartbreak of psoriasis. Ah, the good old days. 

There’s a strange phenomenon that happens with commercials from a bygone era. They used to be an unwelcome and annoying interruption. Now they deliver a nostalgic rush that can be more potent than what we feel watching the shows they used to follow.

Part of this has to do with the simple novelty of seeing them again. The shows themselves have rarely been out of circulation, from first run to syndication to DVD and online streaming. But there was no perceived home video market for commercials. Seeing them now is like seeing someone you knew as a kid after 20 or 30 years. Even if you didn’t know them well, it’s a treat to be reminded of happier times. 

Some DVDs have picked up on this – there are season sets of The Donna Reed Show and Here’s Lucy that present one episode with the original commercial breaks. Buyers would be outraged if that was tried with a current show. 

Besides the products advertised, commercials have changed in two significant ways since the Comfort TV era. First, there’s a lot more text on the screen during each ad. As advertisers know most viewers mute or fast-forward the fruits of their labor, this is an attempt to get a message through the silence and accelerated image.

For those who leave the sound on, the other current trend in TV advertising is to scream at the viewer, which I guess is deemed necessary to draw their attention away from their cell phone or computer or whatever else may be going on in the room. Next time you watch TV, keep track of how many commercials feature someone yelling.

When you look back at the commercials from the classic TV era, you may notice one other difference – they actually tried to tell you why their product was good. Whether it was a car or a camera or a new type of pain reliever, the objective was to promote the benefits of the brand, and suggest to the viewers that their life might be better if they tried one. 

Selling a product no longer seems the point of most modern advertising campaigns. Instead, the objective is to be funny, or shocking, or titillating, or outrageous enough to get people talking or achieve the ultimate dream of going viral. If that happens, the hope is that brand messaging will take care of itself.

This is especially noticeable during the Super Bowl, the Olympics of television advertising. You can sense the desperation from the modern day Mad Men, aware that their client has just paid $4 million for 30 seconds of TV time that most viewers will likely ignore. They offer us supermodels and pop stars, chimpanzees and slapstick comedy. Whatever product is being sold, the real message is exactly the same; Please, for the love of all that’s holy, notice me.

But does that work? Did laughing at a funny Budweiser commercial make you switch beers if you prefer Coors? Did you buy a website domain because Danica Patrick looked hot in the GoDaddy ad? Probably not.

Which commercial received the most positive feedback from the last Super Bowl? The “God made a farmer” ad from Dodge featuring the vintage narration of radio commentator Paul Harvey. It didn’t yell at you. It didn’t blast out music or feature anyone doing anything remotely silly. By doing what television commercials used to do, it got your attention.