The line in the commercial, from the mouth (and car stereo) of the blond guy in the convertible, was “Hey, Good Lookin’! We’ll be back to pick you up later!”
The object of our protagonist’s affections was not visible, but since this was back in the Disco Era when (paradoxically considering who mainly listens to disco these days) you didn’t see gay people on television, we may assume she’s female, and a hot tamale to inspire such an ostentatious public affirmation.
On the other hand, maybe not. If Mr. Microphone (borrowing the name of the product as a nom de peu profond
for our anonymous hero), I say if Mr. Microphone was really so ass-over-teakettle for this invisible hootchie, then why can’t he pick her up now, instead of waiting for later?
What errand could be so pressing that he must delay the promise of love, made so easily accessible by the wonders of modern technology? Does he have to pay an overdue bill? He’s not the driver of the car; maybe he’s helping his friend move.
And what of his inamorata? Is she supposed to just wait there on the streetcorner for him? For, presumably, he doesn’t know her address, so she must stay where she is, and he must return, if this bloom shall ever flower. Does she have a book to read while she waits? Is a newspaper box nearby?
But if she waits, and if he returns, I’m sure they will be very happy for many years, because it will be truer than ever that theirs was a relationship based from the very beginning on trust.
Obviously, Mr. Microphone (the protagonist) was a swinging, on-the-move kind of guy. There he was, in the back of a convertible with all of his friends, living the disco lifestyle, having a blast with the hottest piece of seventies era consumer electronics since the portable eight track player, and suddenly he sees some groovy fox easing down the sidewalk.
Now, no self respecting disco bachelor can walk away from a scene like that just to rap with Ms. Good Looking. An attempt at the immediate pick-up would have given the impression of desperation. This was a man with an agenda and a microphone, and a man in that postion cannot be easily swayed from the course he has plotted.
The words he spoke:
“Hey good lookin’, be back to pick you up later.”
were not so important to this scene as the words he did not say:
“My attraction to you as a member of the opposite sex is apparent. And in these heady days of sexual freedom and open attitudes towards feathered haircuts and garish clothing, I feel confident that I may command this moment to be preserved in time for me to return to at my leisure, to find you waiting with open arms for me and my microphone. As long as I speak my desires through my microphone, they will be mine to enjoy at my merest whim. For I must leave you, if only for a moment, but I shall return for you, and we will be as one, behind the mic, and we shall sing of our love, through the mic, accompanied by the album oriented rock hits that define our generation.”