What the oldest television commercial you remember?

One of my earliest Tv indoctrination memories was of an electric (rechargeable?) toy car, that the kid could ride in. Common now, but not in the 60’s. I wanted one, but never got one. It’s a good thing I didn’t know anything about psychology, or would have been maimed for life. Another classic was the “Like Father, Like Son… think about it…” as the kid finds a pack of dad’s ciggies as they are out for a walk in the park.

And who can forget the Indian as he surveys the damage of his beloved Mother Earth that is now New York, and a Single Tear falls down his cheek. (Ad council admonishing us not to litter)

12" Philco, 1947.

I think the “Shot From Guns” line was for Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice, as opposed to Quaker Oats proper.

The shared medicine cabinet had a line in it that went, “Hey, you’re Mona’s kid, aren’t you?” which I now use on my kids (they’re completely baffled by this, and rightly so).

As an old Cleveland kid, I remember a few. An aluminum siding company had a jingle that went, “GARFIELD-1, 2-3-2-3” (which was their phone number).

Our electric company (The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company) had a really cool instrumental theme (with no words) that I still remember. They also created Cleveland’s motto, “The Best Location in the Nation”.

And the amazingly cheesy song ad for the local chain that was a little like a 7-Eleven back then, Lawson’s, which trucked fresh orange juice back from Florida to sell in their stores:

*Roll on, Big O!
Get that juice back to Lawson’s in 40 hours!

Now one man sleeps while the other man drives
On that Big-O Lawson’s run
And that cold, cold juice
In the tank truck caboose
Stays as fresh as the Florida sun

Roll on, Big O!
Get that juice back to Lawson’s in 40 hours!*

All the commercials for kids’ products that I was exposed to in the black and white '50s, and which one do I remember most clearly from that era?

20 Mule Team Borax (and Boraxo, the hand cleaner!), the sponsor of Death Valley Days.

The Empire Carpet Guy was the director of the first ads. They couldn’t find anybody better, at least who they could afford. He caught on.

Anybody who thinks Ovaltine was disgusting never jogged past their plant while on a 1000cal/day diet. Ambrosia!

The earliest ads I remember were for the tiny butler hawking Kleenex napkins. Thank yous to those who remember older ads.

I recall the Good and Plenty ads, and the Captain Kangaroo ads, and Bob Hope mentioned his advertisers in the monologue, among others.
But the one that sticks in my mind the most was for a west Coast Savings and Loan known as Coast Federal Savings.
Their ads featured a trained rabbit. They had two basic ads. In the first the rabbit dropped a coin into a piggy bank. In the second the rabbit stacked up some blocks to create a arched doorway (4 blocks IIRC) Actually I seem to recall that three of the blocks were in place and the rabbit set the last block into place.
Both ads had a jingle that was set to the music that a jack-in-the-box makes when cranked
Half a million dollars strong*
Coast Federal Savings
These ads ran for almost 20 years.
Here is some info on the rabbit training
In the late 60’s or there abouts, Coast Federal built a new headquarters building in downtown LA just a few feet off the Harbor freeway. Out in front of the building is an arched entryway built out of 4 large stones, just like the ads from my childhood. The building and entryway are still there and still visible from the Harbor freeway.
*the amount changed over the years.

Unfortunatly, I am old enough to remember a lot of the commercials already mentioned.

However, as a Caucasian I do remember seeing the first Black people in a television commercial - if I am not mistaken, it was of a black man and woman playing tennis…I have no idea what the product was, but I remember looking at the commercial in awe. One part of my brain was saying, “about time” but another part of my brain was saying, “that is odd.”

Hey, I (vaguely) remember that! Same reactions, too.

This was written by Clive Cussler when he was in the ad business. Cite
Probably the best thing he has ever written.

The first one I remember was for, I think, Johnson’s Wax and it featured an old cleaning woman ranting about “yellow wax!”. Scared the hell out of me! I must have been well under school age so it was pre-'65.

I remember the old Gary Moore Show when they did live commercials. Gary brought out a guy who was a mute. Turns out the guy wrote commercial jingles and had written one for the show’s sponsor. With the assistance of cue cards and a Hot Babe Singer, he got the audience singing the new jingle:

Winston tastes good, like a (bom-bom drum sound) cigarette should.

I.E., “Pop Goes the Weasel.” That’s one of my earliest memories, too, though I didn’t remember that the rabbits were doing tricks–I just remember twitchy-nosed bunnies.

Very oldest is boring and, while I know the “when”, not usefully specific as to era: a United States Marines ad, with the “halls of Montezuma” song being sung by men in uniform. Circa 1962-3, when I was 3-4 years old, on some Tallahassee FL TV station.

I remember lots of cigarette ads: “to the sailor, it’s the ___ ___ ___, to the ___ ___, it’s the ___ ___ ___, to the smoker, it’s the Kent.”; the “Winston tastes good like a !!!, !!! cigarette should” ad; the Camels ad with the guy showing the holes in his shoe soles after walking a mile for a Camel;

Remember a lot of doll ads for girls: “Baby crawl-a-long, baby crawl-a-long, look she crawls right across the floor” / “Little Kiddles” / “Malibu Barbie and her suntanned friends” / “Lucky Locket Kiddles” / “Flatsies, Flatsies, they are flat and that is that”…

Gizmos and other stuff: “Kenner’s See The Show Projector” / “Creepy Crawlers, Creepy Crawlers” <in a whisper> / “Meet the Swinger, Polaroid Swinger…take the shot, yeah yeah, blah blah blah, yeah yeah, then take off!” / “Be a Betty Crocker baker bake your very own cake in your Betty Crocker Eazy-Bake oven!”

Food ads: “N. E. S. T. L. E. S., Nestle’s makes the very best…chooooh klaaat” / “Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weiner, that is what I’d really like to be eee eee, cuz if I were an Oscar Meyer weiner, everyone would be in love with me” / “Taste that beats the others cold, Pepsi pours it on” / “Tall up! For the tall tall taste of Kelloggs golden flakes! It’s corn that you can really crunch, corn that really packs the punch, tall American tall American Kellogg’s corn flakes!”

Hmm, now I more clearly remember why I quit watching TV… stupid commercial earworms…

The earliest one I can remember was Ronald McDonald riding around in his giant Flying Hamburger. That would have been mid 60s I believe.

So let’s hear about it already! Where were you? What was on? Was anything on? Did swarms of neighbors invade the living room every night, or was it so early nobody much gave a damn?

Oh, and, uh…what passed for commercials? Were there any?

I remember watching an “I Like Ike” tv spot during the 1952 presidential campaign. One of my parents came in and turned off the set, because they were Democrats.

Probably the “how many licks” Tootsie Pop ad, since it’s been running forever (I first saw it in the mid 80’s.)

Though another one I remember very well is a commercial for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for the NES. It had a guy dressed as Link running around a castle, and the very end her jumped down in a hole in the floor while shouting “Zellllllldaaaaaaa!”

Oh, I remembered an earlier one. It featured Col. Sanders singing:

“Kentucky Fried Chicken
Kentucky Fried Chicken
If you want Kentucky Fried Chicken
you’ll have to visit me”

According to Wikipedia it was from 1969.

I remember having a good laugh when the tape got messed up one day and it came out:

“If you want Kentucky Fried Chicken me.”

The Empire Carpets guy! For some reason I was thinking he had some association with Pittsburgh Paints, but I’m not sure how I made that connection. It is Empire Carpets though. The old guy with the mustache and glasses. I only lived in Chicago until I was 5, and don’t have the commercials where I am now. The last I saw of him was in a commercial when someone is changing the channel in the first Wayne’s World movie. Good stuff!