Martin,
Thanks again for compensating my remarks! Below I have reposted the
material with a link to the original question.
I don't know whether this qualifies as a ritual, but I remember a
national fad in the 1950s related to a slogan that was used in ads for
Winston cigarettes. The slogan was "Winston Tastes Good Like a
Cigarette Should." As delivered in the TV commercial, it had a little
melody, and included the sound of snapping fingers: "Winston Tastes
Good Like a <snap snap> Cigarette Should." The phrase "[something]
tastes good like a <snap snap> [something} should" swept the United
States like wildfire. Umpteen parodies on the phrase were all over the
media, and teenagers were using this advertising slogan as if it were
hipster-talk.
Another cigarette fad of the 1950s involved Lark cigarettes. The
company had flatbed trucks with camera crews and announcers driving
around the country. They would drive down the street exhorting
passers-by to "Show us your Lark pack" or "Show us your Lark(s)." That
became a catchphrase for a while, and local advertisers mimicked the
ad campaign by driving down the street in similar fashion, asking
folks on the street to show them a certain product. Lots of "show your
Lark" double-entendre jokes cropped up in the acts of comedians in Las
Vegas, as one might expect.
Google Answers: Rituals in Branding
http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=288562
------------------------------
Here's an additional bit that may be of interest. Stan Freberg, a
comic genius whom I've idolized for decades, masterminded an
advertising campaign that parodied the Lark commercials:
"Lark Cigarettes blasted America, over and over, with commercials that
had a camera driving around on a truck with a sign that said, 'Show us
your Lark packs.' Person after person in the spots would proudly hold
up their package of Larks, all of this set to the sounds and strains
of the William Tell Overture.
Freberg's version was for Gino's Pizza Rolls and took place at a fancy
party. To the same rousing symphony, a camera rolled around,
imploring tuxedo-clad party-goers to show off their packages of frozen
Gino's Pizza Rolls. Incredibly, they all had them.
It was hysterical...but the 'topper' came when a Lark Cigarette exec
stopped the proceedings to complain about the usage of 'that music.'
Then the Lone Ranger stepped in (the real one, Clayton Moore, flanked
by the real Jay 'Tonto' Silverheels) and intoned to the exec, 'I've
been meaning to talk to you people about the same thing.'
For those too young to know: The Lone Ranger people used the William
Tell Overture as the masked man's theme song on radio and television."
POV Online
http://povonline.com/cols/COL051.htm
NOTE: I believe the actual product in the Freberg ads was "Jeno's
Pizza Rolls," not "Gino's."
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
,
0 Comments
)