In another news group, four of us are trying to recall a 40+ year-old TV commercial. Can anyone tell me/us what this was a commercial for? We all agree on the following:
It shows a man in his twenties hitchhiking on the side of the road. He is standing in snow and holding a sign that says “Miami Beach”. A (sports?) car pulls up next to him and a stunning woman rolls down the passenger window and says, “I’m (only) going as far as Fort Lauderdale”. At this point, the hitchhiker has an expression of despair, turns away from the woman, and faces the oncoming traffic in an effort to find a ride to his destination.
>One of us believes that there are two occupants of the car, a couple. The rest of us believe there is only one occupant (which we feel makes it funnier).
>One of us believes there is a sign with “Bangor” in the scene, leading us to believe this is taking place in Maine.
>Although we all agree that the sign said “Miami”, most of us are pretty sure it said, “Miami Beach” (which is the town just east of Miami).
>One person found a blog of a fellow who claims it was an advertisement for Alka Seltzer, but we’re all skeptical. I’ve gone through youtube Alka-Seltzer commercials and didn’t find it.
I doubt it makes any difference but there’s other Bangors, just off the top of my head, I know of one in Wisconsin and one in Michigan.
Moved to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Depending on exactly how long ago, maybe a cigarette commercial? Some were kind of silly. Like Tareyton: “I’d rather fight than switch” showing beautiful women and cool looking guys sporting black eyes.
Remember, 40+ years ago only puts us in the late 60’s or early 70’s. Whether or not that’s actually what the OP meant, I don’t know.
I suppose the two questions I have are
- was this commercial from the 60’s/70’s or earlier like the 50’s?
- was it in color or black and white?
Pennsylvania, too, but road signs in commercials are nearly alll fakes, so it probably doesn’t matter. Ad agencies doing location shoots are very hesitant to use any scenes with identifiable features. If they put in a sign that said Bangor, you can bet that they wanted the viewer to assume the guy was in Maine.
This sounds awfully familiar, but I cannot remember the product. I recall it being in color, if that helps to narrow it down.
There is one in Pennsylvania where my roommate freshman year lived. Which made the Firesign Theatre line “From Bangor all the way to mighty Maine” especially funny.
Don’t remember the commercial.
A search shows that some people think it was a commercial for Alka Seltzer Cold Relief.
Just for laughs, here’s what a search on the phrase “I’m only going as far as Ft. Lauderdale” turns up.
It’s the commercial referenced here:
Use the slider on the right to get down to 03:33:58.
That’s how I remembered it.
Only one occupant of the car
No signs for Bangor (or anywhere else)
Miami, not Miami Beach
It WAS Alka Seltzer shown in 1969.
Excellent job, Yelnick McWawa.
