Soup?
Decades ago, I saw a Family Circus single-panel cartoon (OK they were all single-panel, but you get my drift) where the dad was sick, and the gag was just a series of captions - his moaning and complaining about being sick. One of his captions was, “Is it soup yet?” I always figured I missed some form of slang from the period in which it was drawn (likely 1970s) and forgot about it for several decades. Until now.
My first response was the “correct” one. I’m actually surprised; when I watch Match Game these days how few then-current pop culture references-as-questions I still remember. That show was randier than a lot of shows, so I’d suspect the $100 match was “boobs”, which is a good choice for, well, just about any blank.
“Dumb Dora was so dumb…she tied her blank in a knot.”
Off-phrase (like off-topic), a bit…..
…one was FEATHER _______
Bet you NOBODY GUESSES WHAT number one was (unless you look up that episode).
Boa??
My first thought was soup too, thanks to that old Lipton spot. Folks of any age tend to have pop-culture references burned into their brains—especially TV commercial catchphrases, since repetition was the whole game. But once a campaign fades, the next generation usually loses all connection to it.
Here are a few that stuck with me from my youth, which younger folks today would probably miss:
- Plop, Plop [what comes next?]
Fizz, Fizz, Oh what a relief it is! (Alka-Seltzer)
- Mmm, Mmm [what comes next?]
Good! (Campbell’s Soup)
- See the USA in your [what comes next?]
Chevrolet (Dinah Shore for Chevy)
- You’ll wonder where the yellow went [what comes next?]
When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
- Winston tastes good [what comes next?]
Like a cigarette should
- Brusha, brusha, brusha [what comes next?]
New Ipana toothpaste
- Nothin’ says lovin’ [what comes next?]
Like somethin’ from the oven, and Pillsbury says it best
- You’ll wonder where your appetite went [what comes next?]
After one bite of a York Peppermint Pattie
- I’d walk a mile [what comes next?]
For a Camel
- Look Ma, [what comes next?]
No cavities! (Crest)
- Rice-a-Roni, [what comes next?]
The San Francisco Treat
- Maxwell House coffee is [what comes next?]
Good to the last drop
- Brylcreem—[what comes next?]
A little dab’ll do ya
- Call for [what comes next?]
Phillip Morris
- Double your pleasure, double your fun, [what comes next?]
With Doublemint Gum
- Mama Mia, that’sa [what comes next?]
spicy meat-a-ball-a! (Alka-Seltzer, 1969)
- Try it, you’ll [what comes next?]
like it (Alka-Seltzer, 1965)
- I can’t believe I ate [what comes next?]
the whole thing (Alka-Seltzer, 1972)
- Takes a licking and [what comes next?]
keeps on ticking (Timex)
- Does she… or doesn’t she? [what comes next?]
Only her hairdresser knows for sure (Clairol)
- Put a tiger in your [what comes next?]
tank (Esso/Exxon)
- Better living [what comes next?]
through chemistry (DuPont)
How many did you get right, and what’s your age, if you’re willing to tell?
You’re excused for a low score if you’re not from the U.S.
I didn’t know five of them.
How about “I’d rather fight… than switch”
Yeah, that one always made me think of domestic abuse.
I’m 62, and I got them all except #14. I wonder how I know the other cigarette slogans. I don’t think I have ever seen a tobacco commercial in my entire life.
Well, they were banned from U.S. television as of January 2nd, 1971, so you were only 7 or so when they went away. I’m 60, so I was 5, going on 6, when the ban went into effect, and I don’t really remember cigarette ads on TV; I’ve seen Marlboro TV ads, but I can’t say with certainty if I saw them when they actually ran, or saw them later (on documentaries or whatever).
However, once their ads were banned from TV, the cigarette companies shifted their ad budgets into magazines, outdoor (billboards, bus ads, etc.), and sports sponsorships. I do distinctly remember tons of magazine ads in magazines – including regularly having the ad on the back cover – of the various magazines that came into my family’s house in the 1970s and early 1980s.
I’m old enough to remember cigarette ads on TV in Canada, and after they were banned (which took place about the same time as in the US), it was rare to see a billboard, magazine ad, or subway ad, that wasn’t for cigarettes.
I still have one of those subway cigarette ads, from the Toronto subway, from roughly 1980-1982. I cannot put a finer point on that, as it was after a rock concert (Led Zeppelin maybe), and we were all as high as kites on our subway ride home. Anyway, I grabbed it, and got away with it. It was for the brand I smoked at the time.
Soup !
So ingrained was that answer (and so enduring the effects of the advertising campaign) that it took me a measurable amount of time to remember that there could be another answer. But “soup” came to mind within microseconds.
I watched entirely too much television when I was a kid.