# Look for the union label **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343 "2013-07-24T01:26:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [July 24, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/1 "2013-07-24T01:26:20Z")
Anyone remember [this commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lg4gGk53iY) for the ILGWU? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/2 "2013-07-24T01:42:10Z")
I don’t know if I remember that particular commercial, but I sure do remember the song. Granddaughter of an ILGWU member ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/3 "2013-07-24T03:06:48Z")
I not only remember the commercial, I remember Saturday Night Live’s parody, where the union was of marijuana growers, packers and dealers. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/4 "2013-07-24T03:27:19Z")
I remember it. I remember Al Gore trying to sing it also. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/5 "2013-07-24T03:32:36Z")
I remember thinking it was a stupid song because it didn’t really rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/6 "2013-07-24T03:36:54Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I not only remember the commercial, I remember **Saturday Night Live’s parody** , where the union was of marijuana growers, packers and dealers. Found the [transcript](http://snltranscripts.jt.org/76/76tdope.phtml), if not the clip. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/7 "2013-07-24T10:01:44Z")
Yes. Thanks for the earworm, mister. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/8 "2013-07-24T11:16:52Z")
I vaguely remember it in situ, but I mostly remember it because it aired during the Star Wars holiday special, and so was included in the bootleg video I had. In pre/early Internet days, when that was hard to come by, I had to suffer through multiple viewings when people would insist on watching it - the commercials are the most bearable part. And the Union Label commercial was toward the beginning, before viewers would turn off the tape in disgust. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/9 "2013-07-24T18:42:42Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Anyone remember [this commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lg4gGk53iY) for the ILGWU? Those ads were such easy targets of parody (e.g. SNL’s American Dope Growers Union) that it almost made you feel sorry for ILGWU. Even when those ads originally aired, they were so painfully earnest, amateurish, and cheap (the only apparent expense was getting the rights to use “Look for the Silver Lining [Union Label]”), they stood in stark contrast to the usual slickly-produced commercials you saw on TV during the 1970s. The sad thing is, in terms of content, they were right. There is almost no garment manufacturing left in the US. Nearly everything has gone to China, Bangladesh, and other countries where there are no equivalents of the ILGWU forcing them to pay living wages. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/10 "2013-07-24T20:37:39Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > …The sad thing is, in terms of content, they were right. There is almost no garment manufacturing left in the US. Nearly everything has gone to China, Bangladesh, and other countries where there are no equivalents of the ILGWU forcing them to pay living wages. I was going to mention the Marianas Islands as part of the U.S., and in the garment industry, but it looks like [most of the garment factories have closed](http://pidp.org/archive/2007/December/12-17-04.htm). Largely due to decreased restrictions on foreign garment importation to the US, and the minimum wage hikes instituted under the W Administration. Oh well, we’ll still have possibly the most cynical marketing campaign in recent history, “[Made In The USA.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha7cSEOQhKM)” ---
**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:** [July 25, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/11 "2013-07-25T02:49:22Z")
Yeah I remember them well, mostly because I was just a kid when they aired and therefore had \*\*\*no fucking idea what it was a commercial for! \*\*\*Labor union?! What the hell is that?! And why are they singing?! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/12 "2013-07-25T03:44:21Z")
Antenna TV ran the episode of WKRP in Cincinnati where the employees wanted to unionize. Johnny, Venus, and Bailey sang the song. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/13 "2013-07-25T05:50:27Z")
I remember those ads. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/14 "2013-07-25T07:37:29Z")
I remember them too. Thank you, **Johnny** , for the earworm. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-for-the-union-label/664343/15 "2013-07-25T11:13:17Z")
I remember the commercial and the song, so I didn’t feel the need to click on the link. So I don’t have an earworm, but who’s complaining?