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.

7up "United We Stand" Cans (1976)

Anyone who has seen Dazed and Confused knows the Bicentennial was hardly 24-hour patriot extravaganzas and colonial soap-making workshops, although there was a lot of that. No, it was still the mid-70s, President Gerald Ford was the only un-elected President in American history* we were in economic doldrums and were still reeling from the end of the Vietnam War.

How best then to regain a sense of pride and uplifting nationalism? Bicentennial branding!

7*UP released a limited edition of cans, each featuring one of the fifty states on one side, and on the other side a cryptic, seemly random series of 7UPs in red or blue on white background.

Detail.

Collect them all — one featured a key for how to stack the cans — and you were treated to an optical illusion of a certain American icon! Collecting and stacking empty beer cans was a national hobby at the time, why not stack cans and celebrate our freedoms at the same time?

My brother Henrik collected all fifty. He didn't buy them all, he asked the guys at Village Pizza (two doors down from Bay Lanes) to hang onto empties anyone left around the place, and he would collect and wash them. I still have all 50 stored in my attic. I have no idea how rusted these steel cans may be, I have no looked for them in quite a while. I did find a complete collection on eBay going for $425.

I want YOU.
*For those too young to remember, Michigan House Representative Ford was appointed Vice President when Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace, and became President when Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace.

UPDATE: I sold my brother's can collection in 2026, for $47.76.

Ford 1953 Customline Country Sedan

There's always room for one more in a FORD Ranch Wagon!

Now four Ford quick-change artists … and each with the smooth, agile “Go” of Ford’s modern V-8 engine!

If your family’s young and rambling, you’ll find room aplenty in Ford’s new Mainline or Customline Ranch Wagons. Both are 6-passengers big, yet convert to cargo haulers by merely folding the “stowaway” seat into the floor. Ford also offers the 4-door, 8-passenger Country Squire and Country Sedan.

No matter which Ford “wagon” suits your needs, you may have the most modern V-8 engine in the industry (most modern Six, if you prefer) … new Ball-Joint Front Suspension … colorful new interiors … and a host of other “Worth More” advantages which make Ford your smartest station wagon to buy!

Worth More when you buy it … Worth More when you sell it!

My father-in-law had this number towed out of some guy’s garage when he bought it a few years back and got it running again. It had only 70,000 miles on it.

“We live miles from a shopping center which means a lot of hauling and a station wagon was essential for us.” … The Ford Country Sedan hauls a half ton with ease yet it converts into an 8-passenger sedan in seconds.

Source: The Saturday Evening Post

Stan Freberg

Cleveland Television: August 21-27, 1954
Bob Clampett and his "Time For Beany" puppets during the last days of the show..Daws Butler and Stan Freberg had just left. WXEL and later WEWS carried the 15 minute puppet show from 1949-53. - Cleveland Classic Media
Stanley Victor "Stan" Freberg (born August 7, 1926) is such an important fixture in my world of 20th century American comedy, I can almost forgive him the fact that he despises rock and roll.

The son of a Baptist minister (wait - Freberg is a Baptist name?) got work right out of high school as a voice for animated cartoons, both for Warner Brothers and Disney. From 1949 to 1954, he and Daws Butler provided the voices for the Bob Clampett puppets Beany (Butler) and Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent (Freberg).


Freberg up top.
Freberg became a great success in creating outrageous commercials precisely because he hated, hated, hated commercials.

Freberg is credited with creating the first commercials which satirized commercials, changing them from brief, informational clips into amusing short films that were created to entertain.

His career was hampered, however, because he refused to advertise or accept sponsorship from any tobacco or alcohol companies.

It in unfortunate the extent to which he promoted his son Donovan Freberg in later work for Encyclopedia Britannica, one of the most loathed pitchmen in history.


Remember me?
Freberg's comedy albums started popping up in 1951. This particular number, a send-up of The Chords' Sh-Boom is particularly hilarious, and a big favorite in my house. It was released in 1954, b/w Wide-Screen Mama Blues. Other satires of popular music included a jazz pianist (he loved jazz) destroying a recording session of The Great Pretender and a rendition of Heartbreak Hotel where the echo effect has a mind of its own.


Press play.


Source:
Cleveland Classic Media
Wikipedia

1954 DeSoto PowerFlyte Automatic

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