# Is it weird that we are nostalgic for old TV ads? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916 "2015-08-15T13:40:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/1 "2015-08-15T13:40:49Z")
I found myself down a YouTube rabbit hole and ended up watching compilations of commercial of commercials from the early 80s and damned if it didn’t work. Brought back tons of memories. It then occurred to me, that is kind of exactly what the ad men who made those ads wanted and what they were designed to do: manipulate emotions. So on one level it is just crass commercialism (literally) but on another it really does reflect my childhood and my experiences as a kid so I’m not sure if I am being a sucker or not. As I write this, it seems the real question is: are TV commercials art? Are they just pitches meant to convince or can they be something more than that? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/2 "2015-08-15T13:46:43Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > As I write this, it seems the real question is: are TV commercials art? Sure, given a wide enough definition of “art.” But even if they aren’t, they can still bring back memories and evoke feelings of nostalgia, juts by being something you saw/heard many years ago but not since. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/3 "2015-08-15T15:14:02Z")
Some of those old TV commercials are better than the shows they financed! :o ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/4 "2015-08-15T15:21:49Z")
I like the really OLD vintage commercials that depict the America of the past. Mom, Dad, 2-1/2 kids, and the dog, piling into the station wagon. Mom washing the kitchen linoleum, cheerfully, like Donna Reed, in a cute apron. All those jingles for fizzies, cereal, candy, all back when our biggest worry was wondering if mom brought home goodies from the A&P. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/5 "2015-08-15T15:35:50Z")
Considering that over half of modern commercials are for pharmaceuticals and list potentially fatal side effects in morbid detail, I’d say no, it’s not weird to be nostalgic for a simple jingle like “plop plop fizz fizz…”. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/6 "2015-08-15T16:21:25Z")
I get way more nostalgic for the commercials of my childhood than I do for most of the TV shows. Maybe it’s because when I was growing up (the '70s) we didn’t have VCRs yet, so you pretty much got to see a show once, or twice if you watched the rerun, and then you were lucky if you caught it in syndication (if it even lasted long enough to make it). But commercials played hundreds of times and burned themselves and their jingles and taglines into your brain. Heck, I even have fond memories for regional commercials like “Adee Do!” and “Go See Cal!” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/7 "2015-08-15T16:49:50Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I get way more nostalgic for the commercials of my childhood than I do for most of the TV shows. Maybe it’s because when I was growing up (the '70s) we didn’t have VCRs yet, so you pretty much got to see a show once, or twice if you watched the rerun, and then you were lucky if you caught it in syndication (if it even lasted long enough to make it). But commercials played hundreds of times and burned themselves and their jingles and taglines into your brain. > > Heck, I even have fond memories for regional commercials like “Adee Do!” and “Go See Cal!” We now know that somewhere fictional was Southern California. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/8 "2015-08-15T17:44:19Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > We now know that somewhere fictional was Southern California. 😉 :p. Yep, grew up an hour or so north of L.A. and we got all their commercials. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/9 "2015-08-15T18:20:20Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > All those jingles for fizzies… Yeah, there seems to be fewer jingles nowadays. \*Forget your trouble, get on Suzuki… Get yourself a Honda, built like a watch that was meant to last a hundred years… Yamaha, won’t you fly me away? Today is the day, don’t look the other way… Kawasaki lets the good times roll… Extra value is what you get when you buy Coronet Plop, plop, fizz fiz, oh, what a relief it is! When you say ‘Budweiser’, you’ve said it all! I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me!\* (I like to replace ‘Band-Aid’ with ‘napalm’.) \*Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun You deserve a break today, so get up and get away to McDonald’s\* And I always liked this [Sparkletts Water commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=budeaznVEQo). ---
**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:** [August 15, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/10 "2015-08-15T18:21:38Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > :p. Yep, grew up an hour or so north of L.A. In the A.V.? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/11 "2015-08-15T18:32:56Z")
It’s not weird, because some ads are enjoyable for their own sake. Take the current Lily Adams ad campaign for AT&T. They’re hilarious little mini-movies, and I look forward to new ones for reasons independent of Milana Vayntrub’s comeliness. In five years when she and the ad agency have both loved on, I’ll miss them. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/12 "2015-08-15T19:27:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Yeah, there seems to be fewer jingles nowadays. [“How the jingle went out of advertising”](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/how-the-jingle-went-out-of-advertising/article4181746/) [There was a whole book about it, ten years ago.](http://www.amazon.com/Killed-Jingle-Unique-American-Disappeared/dp/0634066560) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/13 "2015-08-16T01:08:34Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > As I write this, it seems the real question is: are TV commercials art? Are they just pitches meant to convince or can they be something more than that? I guess I enjoy the commercials because they more show the world I want to remember and the things in it than anything else. Not always in a realistic manner – but who wants a realistic reminder of their youth? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-weird-that-we-are-nostalgic-for-old-tv-ads/727916/14 "2015-08-16T03:01:07Z")
It’s also a case of the ‘squeakiest wheel’. Only a tiny handful of commercials from back then were worth remembering, the vast majority of them were just as forgettable as today.