# Help me find the two commercials that traumatized me as a child. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831 "2010-08-20T03:59:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/1 "2010-08-20T03:59:57Z")
Because I am a masochist. Or something. Mainly just curious to find out whether these are actually as terrifying as I remembered them. Both commercials were for an insurance provider and were broadcast during a Super Bowl, probably in the late 1990s. The first one has a man playing with his dog. The dog grabs his hand and rips it off, dragging it across the lawn. The second one has a man under his car on one of those wheeled carts, doing repairs. Or maybe he has his head in a cabinet. In any case his head is not visible, but when he wheels back out, his head is gone, replaced by soot. I felt sick and horrified when I saw these. Now I want to know what they were so I can feel justified in complaining about television using Super Bowl ads to terrorize innocent children. All assistance will be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/2 "2010-08-20T04:11:54Z")
Wait, you were a child in the late 90’s? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/3 "2010-08-20T04:17:41Z")
I dunno about electric warrior but I was like 15 months old when the 90s started. EW, I wish I could help you find these videos, but I have no recollection of them. I do, however look forward to seeing them when someone else posts a link. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/4 "2010-08-20T04:18:43Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Wait, you were a child in the late 90’s? > > Wow. I was born in December 1990. And now I operate vehicles. _grin_ ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/5 "2010-08-20T04:19:48Z")
This site has all the Super Bowl ads from 1998 forward. > **[Welcome to the Super Bowl Advertising Archive](https://www.superbowl-ads.com/)** > > Watch the latest commercials. Read the latest news and previews of ad campaigns. Watch your old favorites in our history of Super Bowl advertising archive. To be frank I think you may be mis-remembering. I really kind of doubt there would be Super Bowl ads with some sort of human dismemberment involved. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/6 "2010-08-20T04:20:48Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > I was born in December 1990. And now I operate vehicles. _grin_ oh god i’m so old ;\_; ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/7 "2010-08-20T04:37:52Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > > [@Mahaloth](#): > > > > Wait, you were a child in the late 90’s? > > > > Wow. > > I was born in December 1990. And now I operate vehicles. _grin_ Pardon me while I vomit. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/8 "2010-08-20T12:06:20Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Wait, you were a child in the late 90’s? > > Wow. I’m glad I’m not the only one who had this reaction. I think I need to go lie down. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/9 "2010-08-20T12:10:58Z")
Forget being traumatized by ads – I think a goodly number of readers of this thread are traumatized by the idea of someone born decades after us being old enough to look back with a sense of distance on his or her childhood, which is probably exacerbated by the thought of the son of our college freshman roommate starting at the same college this week, which has made us do the math and realize that somehow, 26 years have passed since the same event in our own lives. :eek: Or is that just me? ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/10 "2010-08-20T12:59:30Z")
No, **shantih** , that’s pretty much it. I am a “non-traditional” college student, which means I am one of the old ladies at the local university finishing my degree. \*With some of my friends’ kids. \* Barf. It makes me feel really old. ETA - I’m only 35, but that doesn’t seem old enough to have friends with kids in college!! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/11 "2010-08-20T16:36:05Z")
> [@](#): > > I am a “non-traditional” college student, which means I am one of the old ladies at the local university finishing my degree. With some of my friends’ kids. Barf. It makes me feel really old. I live in a college town. And I realize that some of those college students are the grandchildren of people I was in school with. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/12 "2010-08-20T16:46:17Z")
Electric Warrior, I’m 2 years older than you but I don’t remember either of those commercials. The real test to see if you’re a 90s kid: do you remember the Sears air conditioning commercial that ran for like 8 years in the summers? “Oh, I can’t stand to live another day without air conditioning.” I’d link it on Youtube but I’m posting on my phone. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/13 "2010-08-20T17:18:09Z")
While we’re pretending to try and recall the whippersnapper’s, er, OP’s commercial, does anyone of “a certain age” (40ish) remember a commercial for, I’m assuming, the American Heart Association? This would have been circa 1970 (you youngin’s can stop reading now)and IIRC it was animated, with the outline of a human body that showed where the heart is and possibly even veins and stuff and there was probably some informative voice over, but at the end there was this song that went “to get right to the heart of the matter” and then this deep, scary baritone voice sang “where there’s smoke, WHERE THERE’S SMOKE!” as the body fell over, presumably dead. Holy crap did that terrify my four year old self. Not enough to stop me from smoking years later mind you, but that’s a pretty powerful commercial to stay with someone for forty years. Tell me someone else remembers this horror. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/14 "2010-08-20T17:43:11Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > While we’re pretending to try and recall the whippersnapper’s, er, OP’s commercial, does anyone of “a certain age” (40ish) remember a commercial for, I’m assuming, the American Heart Association? This would have been circa 1970 (you youngin’s can stop reading now)and IIRC it was animated, with the outline of a human body that showed where the heart is and possibly even veins and stuff and there was probably some informative voice over, but at the end there was this song that went “to get right to the heart of the matter” and then this deep, scary baritone voice sang “where there’s smoke, WHERE THERE’S SMOKE!” as the body fell over, presumably dead. > > Holy crap did that terrify my four year old self. Not enough to stop me from smoking years later mind you, but that’s a pretty powerful commercial to stay with someone for forty years. Tell me someone else remembers this horror. I don’t remember that one, but I remember a similar spot–possibly as part of Schoolhouse Rock–with a weightlifter singing about how the heart is a muscle. Think there was also some sort of diagram showing the heart/circulatory system or something. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/15 "2010-08-20T18:13:26Z")
How 'bout the one with the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf who can’t blow the house down because he’s too busy hacking up a lung while the pigs laugh mockingly at him? (And no, I don’t know the commercials mentioned in the OP; I am also profoundly disturbed by the fact that children born _after_ Reagan left office are now becoming old enough to drink legally in the US.) ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/16 "2010-08-21T01:08:12Z")
I’m 43, and all I thought about being born in 1990 is ‘Well yeah, he’s 20, of course he can drive, duh. Most of us could drink by that age \’. Then I remember how stupid I was at 20, while thinking I was so smart, and THEN I facepalm. 'cause I can still remember it all, and I can’t imagine doing much different. In 20 years I’ll be looking back at now going ‘omfg I was such a noob in my 40s!!!’ Anyway…I remember the three little pigs one, but none of the others. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/17 "2010-08-21T03:17:31Z")
Here’s the Sears commercial I was talking about earlier: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rqZZgVxnCk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rqZZgVxnCk) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/18 "2010-08-21T03:30:29Z")
I remember that commercial. I think about it every time I walk outside in the summer. Nother scorcher! ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/19 "2010-08-21T04:04:50Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Wait, you were a child in the late 90’s? > > Wow. I remember when I was astonished that people born in the 70’s could speak. ---
**Author:** ![Kilmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831/20 "2010-08-21T04:10:51Z")
The commercial that I had the worst experience with was Life cereal, growing up as a tubby red haired boy named Mike. “Hey, Mikey! He likes it!” got used against me so much it always sent me into a rage. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-the-two-commercials-that-traumatized-me-as-a-child/550831.md?page=2)