Best Old TV Commercials » 1990s

NES – Game Genie

Best Old TV Commercials — Mon, 24 May 2010 23:27:16 +0000

Remember when Game Genie came out? Everybody wanted this thing. It was sort of a “pay to cheat” device, where you inserted the NES cartridge into the back and plugged it into the NES system. The Game Genie would do some fancy over-ride stuff and after inserting some ridiculous cryptic codes from a code book you could get fun new cheats out of your games.

The Game Genie was immensely popular, so I never understood why this device wasn’t continued for other consoles, or something similar to it.

Something really interesting about the totally radical Game Genie, dudes. Nintendo hated it. The Game Genie’s manufacturer Galoob (part of Hasbro as of 1998) first went to Nintendo to make it a licensed product, and Nintendo rejected it. Galoob released it anyway, resulting in a lawsuit from Nintendo that the Game Genie infringed on their copyrights. The courts favored Galoob and they continued to sell about 5 million Game Genies for NES, SNES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, and Sega Game Gear.

Troll Barbie – lol

Best Old TV Commercials — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:47:31 +0000

Troll Barbie. Yes, really. Did you ever think a 40 year old teenage-beauty queen would be so closely associated with a “troll”? Nobody saw this one coming.

They don’t mean the ugly, rotten trolls that hide under bridges, waiting to eat children and harass passersby. Mattel means those cute little trolls with the furry hair that became a brief fad every 15 years or so since the 60’s. Barbie hops onto the troll trend by…well, getting really into trolls.

There’s not much fantasy or role-playing with this Barbie as is usual in most Barbie advertising, which makes many Barbies in the 1990’s uniquely different like that from eariler Barbie dolls.

Bathtime Fun Barbie

Best Old TV Commercials — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:32:39 +0000

Bathtime Fun Barbie brought Barbie to the bathroom next to the soap and her “fashion foam”, applied to Barbie’s body to create foam skirts and clothing for her… while bathing. Other fashion foam colors sold seperately

Rappin’ Rockin’ Barbie

Best Old TV Commercials — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:22:06 +0000

Rappin’ Rockin’ Barbie was a whole lot of rappin’ and not a lot of rockin’. She’s cool since she comes complete with the most happenin’ clothes – pink and green footwear, a black skirt and a big gold chain. She comes with a tiny boombox that plays a bassless rap beat to groove to. You can rap a song, too!

Barbie Golden Dream Motor Home

Best Old TV Commercials — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:13:50 +0000

Barbie has always had the coolest cars. She had the pink ‘Vette and the Ferrari, which came in both White and Red. So first impression when you see a commercial for Barbie’s Motor Home, you have to start wondering what happened to her modeling career. But wait -

My guess with this one is that after having the Ferrari in the 1980’s, it’s really hard to top that in terms of ride choice for Barbie. Could it possibly be cool for Barbie than to dress her friends up like good ol’ outdoorsy country folk and camping in luxury? Mattel says yes, and I said luxury.

And I mean luxury. Barbie and friends are surely not roughing it in the wild on this camping trip. They’ve got fancy parties, barbecues, sleepovers, a detachable car, and even a washer and dryer for a little taste of home while they’re gone.

Barbie with Potty Training Kelly, she tinkles!

Best Old TV Commercials — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:31:41 +0000

The more recent years of Barbie came and went at some level of desperation, with toy producers scrapping the bottom of the barrel for new innovative toy ideas. Every now and then a really curious toy makes it to the mass-marketing machine, presented during every Saturday morning cartoon break along with all the cereals, snacks, video games, and other toys.

Potty Training Kelly, from 1996, is one of those toys from Barbie’s years of desperately vying for attention. Honestly, what were they thinking? I suppose the one saving grace may be to use this as a potty training tool for youngsters, but to design a Barbie toy to role play how to pee?

Barbie was fairly conservative in this reincarnation of her lifestyle, appearing more maternal with her hair pulled back and a denim vest. But nobody bought Potty Training Kelly for Barbie. They bought Potty Training Kelly for Kelly, a small toddler sized Barbie with a hole in her mouth you fill with water, and it drains out in hole between her legs when you squeeze her.

Yes, you potty train kelly by literally squeezing the piss out of her.

Potty Training Kelly also comes complete with a toilet with working toilet paper roll, toilet, and sink so you can play out your bathroom fantasies in great detail, all day long.

KFC – MC Hammer Loves Popcorn Chicken

Best Old TV Commercials — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:38:01 +0000

Brand names are interesting characters; they adapt, evolve, and change with the times. They actually do this better than people do, and here’s a good example of that.

MC Hammer, remember him? The baggy-pants wearin’, 2-legit-2-quit, flat-topped rap music star who you “Can’t Touch”? Well, nobody under the age of 15 will have any idea who he is but the rest of us either heard of him or were dressing like him back in the early 1990’s. And along with that comes big records, big shows, and big advertising contracts with KFC.

The point of this spot is quite simple – MC Hammer likes popcorn chicken. You like MC Hammer. Therefore, you should eat KFC’s popcorn chicken.

Pee-Wee Herman says “Don’t Do Crack”

Best Old TV Commercials — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:45:49 +0000

Pee Wee Herman does a little show-and-tell with a crack rock and tells us crack kills.

Who could take him seriously with that voice and bow-tie? Well, we did as kids. I did at least. I didn’t do crack, so maybe it worked.

NES – Super Mario 3

Best Old TV Commercials — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:30:27 +0000

This was likely one of the most anticipated games of its time, and definitely one of the best selling games. It was definitely the most marketed, having made an appearance in the 90 minute Nintendo commercial The Wizard starring Fred Savage. Every kid in the country was promised a glimpse of Super Mario 3 and the amazing Nintendo Power Glove if they begged their parents to see this film, and the idea was a success.

I believe this is footage of protests from bored Super Mario 2 players.

NES Dr. Mario Commercial – Witch Doctor

Best Old TV Commercials — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:28:28 +0000

Don’t beat a witch doctor in Dr. Mario he’ll shrink your head. Wasn’t head shrinking done after they killed the victim? This guy lucked out.

To the theme of “Witch Doctor” this 1990 commerical touts Dr. Mario for both NES and Gameboy.