# Help ID an 80's commercial? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012 "2015-02-18T16:09:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rucciface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@rucciface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rucciface)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/1 "2015-02-18T16:09:19Z")
I think I remember this TV ad pretty clearly, but apparently I suck at searching. Please give this your consideration? Picture it. USA, 1987-ish. The ad featured a pretty, perky, blonde lady speaking directly to the camera. Seems like maybe it was Carol Channing or Georgia Engel or someone reminiscent. It might have been an ad for glass cleaner, or some such, but that might be a fault in my memory. I’m sure it was '86-'87 because my brother was a toddler in diapers when this commercial came on. When the lady on TV tapped on the screen and spoke directly to the audience, my little brother FREAKED OUT, and ran out of the room like a shot! Now an adult, he says he vividly remembers the freak-out, but neither of us can remember the commercial. So, while not a mystery for the ages, it’s bugging the two of us nutty. If any of you could donate a minute of your search-genius and ID this thing, you’d make a couple of sibs very happy! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/2 "2015-02-19T12:51:22Z")
It’s not this Polident commercial, is it? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8UBL5xTNKE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8UBL5xTNKE) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/3 "2015-02-19T14:01:05Z")
Rucciface is talking about the actor tapping the screen like in this commercial [http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7dV2/le-cordon-bleu-screen-tap](http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7dV2/le-cordon-bleu-screen-tap), although obviously this isn’t the one in question. I vaguely remember a commercial like this, and I was living in a dorm in 87-88, and rarely watched TV, so that probably narrows it to 86. ---
**Author:** ![rucciface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@rucciface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rucciface)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/4 "2015-02-19T20:48:22Z")
**Breezman** , I’m not sure it was exactly that ad, but thank you very much for suggesting it. If you hadn’t, Martha Raye wouldn’t have crossed my mind. I found this one [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO2q6_qUOeU) in which she is more up-close and perkier and I wonder if it MIGHT be the one. It’s from 1986, so correct time frame. I’ll ask the brother if it freaks him out! **RivkahChaya** , thanks for your input, also. My memory is of the lady tapping the screen like the guy in your example, but I could well be wrong. If you happen to remember an ad with the lady tapping, please post again! Thanks to both of you for your efforts! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/5 "2015-02-19T21:10:47Z")
I am surprised that more commercials haven’t used this gimmick. I know I might have seen it once or twice, maybe even the commercial under discussion… but it seems like someone or another would use it every year or so. Maybe it’s too disturbing and takesd the viewer out of the right frame of mind to be sold to. There was an emote you could trigger for your City of Heroes alt that was supposed to be used to emulate poking at a door or wall or cabinet or something. The figure would poke high, poke low, ponder, poke in some different spots, ponder, etc. If you spun the camera around just right, it looked like they were poking or tapping at the screen between you. It was creepy/eerie/fun. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/6 "2015-02-19T23:07:26Z")
The first person that came to mind when I read “blonde and perky” was Sandy Duncan. Here she is in a period ad for a household cleaner; I don’t know the year, and she doesn’t tap on the glass, but it would really have creeped me out if I had been a toddler: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SVFyWoi_I5M/hqdefault.jpg "CELEBRITY VINTAGE COMMERCIAL - LESTOIL CLEANER - SANDY DUNCAN") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVFyWoi_I5M) ---
**Author:** ![YawningDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/848f3c/32.png) [@YawningDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YawningDog)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/7 "2015-02-19T23:28:07Z")
That “perkier” Polident commercial would have scared me as a kid. She’s in your face with her big teeth, then she takes them out of a glass and _breaks them in half_! Then she smiles like a serial killer at the end. I would have run screaming… but then again, I was terrified of Dionne Warwick when I was really little, because I actually thought she was a werewolf. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/8 "2015-02-20T00:03:21Z")
I definitely remember the commercial you are thinking of, but unfortunately I have no details that seem to help. It was a woman who “taps” or knocks on the screen three times. It is more of a metal on glass sound than an actual finger on glass sound. It seems like she says something like “You there” or similar (although no luck on Google with that phrase). For the life of me though I can’t remember the product. By the way, I got married in 1986 so at least these aren’t easily confused childhood memories. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/9 "2015-02-20T00:10:07Z")
> [@YawningDog](#): > > I was terrified of Dionne Warwick when I was really little, because I actually thought she was a werewolf. Wait, _WHAT???_ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/10 "2015-02-20T00:15:26Z")
> [@YawningDog](#): > > I was terrified of Dionne Warwick when I was really little, because I actually thought she was a werewolf. How’d you feel about Red _Skeleton?_ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/11 "2015-02-20T00:32:16Z")
Holy crap! Go to YouTube and type in “80s commercials.” There are hundreds, if not thousands of them! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/12 "2015-02-20T00:35:24Z")
I remember [Joyce Bulifant](https://www.google.com/search?q=joyce+bulifant&safe=strict&biw=953&bih=712&noj=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=H4HmVO3gJoHQgwSk24CACQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ) doing some commercials once upon a time, but I can’t say they mesh well with what you’re describing. ---
**Author:** ![YawningDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/848f3c/32.png) [@YawningDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YawningDog)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/13 "2015-02-20T02:03:50Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Wait, _WHAT???_ :eek: LOL. Seriously, look up some photos of her – she’s got big teeth and there’s something about her eyebrows that’s really fierce. I thought she was really scary, but I’d also been watching Saturday horror shows (Chiller, that sort of thing) with my grandfather since I was 4, so there were some thing I had trouble telling real from fake when I was that little. [URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![YawningDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/848f3c/32.png) [@YawningDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YawningDog)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/14 "2015-02-20T02:06:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > How’d you feel about Red _Skeleton?_ Yup, when I was little I thought that was really his name! :D[URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![YawningDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/848f3c/32.png) [@YawningDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YawningDog)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/15 "2015-02-20T02:07:14Z")
I rest my case: [![](https://indeepmusicarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Dionne-Warwick-Work-On-By-kreisch-D-1964.jpg) ](https://indeepmusicarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Dionne-Warwick-Work-On-By-kreisch-D-1964.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/16 "2015-02-20T02:12:09Z")
“Work On By?” That’s not German. It’s Japanese. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/17 "2015-02-20T03:14:30Z")
I hope someone figures this out. Like others I remember that there was such a commercial, but no other details. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/18 "2015-02-20T16:18:01Z")
> [@YawningDog](#): > > I rest my case: > > [http://indeepmusicarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Dionne-Warwick-Work-On-By-kreisch-D-1964.jpg](http://indeepmusicarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Dionne-Warwick-Work-On-By-kreisch-D-1964.jpg) That sold me. Break out the wolfbane and silver cross just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![rucciface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@rucciface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rucciface)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/19 "2015-02-20T16:33:04Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I definitely remember the commercial you are thinking of, but unfortunately I have no details that seem to help. It was a woman who “taps” or knocks on the screen three times. It is more of a metal on glass sound than an actual finger on glass sound. It seems like she says something like “You there” or similar (although no luck on Google with that phrase). For the life of me though I can’t remember the product. > > By the way, I got married in 1986 so at least these aren’t easily confused childhood memories. YES! It was the “You there” (or whatever) that was so freaky. Like, “Hey YOU, I’m looking at and talking to YOU, little boy.” hehe Sandy Duncan and Joyce Bulifant are both excellent suggestions, but no such luck in my search for this particular ad. They and Georgia Engel are the top contenders IMO (not to throw a wrench into things). Thanks, everybody! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-id-an-80s-commercial/713012/20 "2015-02-20T16:37:00Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Holy crap! Go to YouTube and type in “80s commercials.” There are hundreds, if not thousands of them! :eek: It was a greedy and avaricious time.