# Products that are no longer advertised on TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176 "2012-03-29T17:07:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/41 "2012-03-30T18:25:26Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Oil companies used to be major advertisers. Mobile, Amoco/Standard, Shell, Phillips 66, Texaco. Now you might see an ad for Speed Way or Kwik Trip, but they’re touting the store part of their business, not so much the power/quality of their gasoline. BP (which bought Amoco) and Shell advertise on TV quite a bit, touting the quality of their gasolines (particularly their detergent additives). I believe that Chevron does, as well, though, as they’re more of a regional brand (primarily in the West), you don’t see their ads on national networks very often. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/42 "2012-03-30T21:12:56Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > 30 or 40 years ago, if Nabisco wanted to come out with a new line of cracker-like snack chips, they probably would have brought out a new brand. They do so today, and it becomes a sub-line of the Ritz brand. They count on recognition of the “mother brand” to both drive consumer acceptance of the new item, as well as retailer willingness to take on the new item. And the average consumer is too stupid to realize that the new items have little or nothing to do with the name brand. Just one example: It wasn’t so bad when Special K cereal started coming out in a gazillion flavors, including varieties with tiny chocolate chips mixed in. But breakfast bars and protein water mix? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/43 "2012-03-30T21:19:52Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Oil companies used to be major advertisers. Mobile, Amoco/Standard, Shell, Phillips 66, Texaco. Now you might see an ad for Speed Way or Kwik Trip, but they’re touting the store part of their business, not so much the power/quality of their gasoline. Oil companies and some other businesses love to target certain types of shows for political/PR influence reasons. So you see a lot of PBS shows sponsored by oil companies and the like. E.g., _Nova_ is sponsored by David H. Koch of the petrochemical (and many other industries) family. Famously conservative and well known for trying to sway public opinion and many matters that _Nova_ might cover such as climate change. The Sunday network talk shows (_Meet the Press_, etc.) are heavily targeted by oil companies, ADM (the corn giant), and so on. Not because they want to sell or influence the audience, because they want to be friends with the network news bureaus, who in turn might tend to look the other way on negative things the companies do. Again, it’s a question of what types of shows you watch and when. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/44 "2012-03-30T21:24:54Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The Sunday network talk shows (_Meet the Press_, etc.) are heavily targeted by oil companies, ADM (the corn giant), and so on. Not because they want to sell or influence the audience, because they want to be friends with the network news bureaus, who in turn might tend to look the other way on negative things the companies do. I used to have a client who was a big advertiser on the Sunday shows. Their real target was actually the inside-the-Beltway Washington people – Congressional staffs, lobbyists, etc. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/45 "2012-03-31T03:17:23Z")
Next time you watch a TV show, pay attention to the product placements. If you see the main characters eating or drinking a recognizable product, it wasn’t just because the props person bought it on the way to the set that morning. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/46 "2012-03-31T03:19:43Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > And the average consumer is too stupid to realize that the new items have little or nothing to do with the name brand. Doritos get a pass from me, since the different flavors are just seasoning on the same underlying chip. But any Mountain Dew that isn’t neon yellow/green isn’t Mountain Dew. I’ve tried the different flavors and I can’t find anything “Mountain Dewy” about them beyond the name on the bottle. Not saying they’re _bad_, just that they aren’t Mountain Dew as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/47 "2012-03-31T03:50:05Z")
I miss the PSAs warning kids not to touch [blasting caps](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasting_cap) found casually laying around construction sites. Either the ATF cracked down on such storage methods or they stopped caring if little Johnny blew his fingers off. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/48 "2012-03-31T08:54:04Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” Is now. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/49 "2012-03-31T09:21:27Z")
> [@Bob65](#): > > Next time you watch a TV show, pay attention to the product placements. If you see the main characters eating or drinking a recognizable product, it wasn’t just because the props person bought it on the way to the set that morning. It’s even more common in Chinese TV shows, ubiqitous even. > [@Keeve](#): > > And the average consumer is too stupid to realize that the new items have little or nothing to do with the name brand. Just one example: It wasn’t so bad when Special K cereal started coming out in a gazillion flavors, including varieties with tiny chocolate chips mixed in. But breakfast bars and protein water mix? I get what you mean, but I don’t agree with the first example. Dry breakfast cereal chunks and dry breakfast cereal bars have lots in common ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/50 "2012-03-31T09:22:29Z")
Could it be that when you were 10, you did most of your TV watching at a different time of day than you do now, in your 20’s? Because I think ads for grocery items and detergents are more common on daytime TV. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/51 "2012-03-31T10:02:49Z")
Ipana anyone? (Extra points if you even know what Ipana is/was.) > [@Zsofia](#): > > Anybody who thinks they don’t advertise laxatives and Geritol and assorted other equipment for being old clearly hasn’t watched _Wheel of Fortune_ lately. Back in the day, Geritol was synonymous with Lawrence Welk. > [@Pai325](#): > > I’m probably older than you, and I was eating Oscar Mayer bologna sandwiches in my lunch at school in the early 60s, if I remember correctly, so it wasn’t new in the 70s. Neither was liquid dish washing soap. Fer sure – Major-branded, pre-packaged hot dogs and all sorts of luncheon meats and all sorts of other stuff have been around as long as I can remember, that is, at least as far back as the early 60’s. (Now let’s all argue about whether 60’s or 60s should be written with an apostrophe.) ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176/52 "2012-03-31T11:12:36Z")
Sea Monkeys - I’m sure I saw commercials in NY in the 70s. Also, Chicken of the Sea tuna. The best was Crazy Glue - always thought that construction worker was ballsy hanging from the I-beam by his helmet. Finally, Smucker’s jelly- ‘with a name like Smucker’s it has to be good’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/products-that-are-no-longer-advertised-on-tv/617176.md?page=2)