DDT-V Hondel Scooters Ad (1985)

July 1985 was pretty epic, as it included such iconic, news breaking events such as Live Aid, the premiere of Back to the Future, and the most ambitious episode of the public access cable comedy program DDT-V.

Two major (and by major I mean somewhat tedious and overlong) segments included the opening sequence, which was a parody inspired by the recently released James Bond film A View to a Kill, and the avant-garde, subtitled, French horror film The Creature From Alsace-Lorraine, in which the entire company was required to speak French.

Not in French accents. In actual French.

By the third act (there were three acts) we decided it might be funny, and much easier, to speak in English with French subtitles. Easier, anyway. Like most of the bits on DDT-V, it was Fred's idea, and after its release, he said something I have never forgotten and have since kept as a important lesson.

He said, "I didn't hear any of you jokers telling me 'no.'"

We made an awful lot of commercials, and like so much of the work we did, they became dated very, very fast. Many of them were lampooning current events, or even other commercials, the kind no one remembers. My favorite, because I was featured in it, was the ad for Hondel Scooters.

Over Phil Collins' recent hit Sussudio, we see a frenetic, fast-cut mix of street scenes from downtown Cleveland, including one funky pigeon. Close up on me, as Phil Collins, on a motorbike, telling the viewer, "Hey. Get yourself a Scoo-scoo-scooter."

It has been so long since then, I had completely forgotten the inspiration for that bit. I seem to have told myself we were just riffing on Phil Collins again. 1985 was peak Phil Collins.

What I had forgotten, until it popped up on my social recently, was that it was a parody of an ad Lou Reed did for Honda. Using the song "Walk On the Wild Side," the spot features a frenetic, fast-cut mix of street scenes from downtown New York City, and then there's Lou, telling the viewer, "Hey. Don't settle for walking."

Selling out was once the least hip thing you could do, and often a subject of ridicule on DDT-V. But it isn’t anymore which is probably why I forgot it.