Anna from Adapted with Anna and Sam (you can also find them on Twitter!) joins us again to talk about commercials related to Batteries Not Included.
Obviously we had to watch some battery commercials.
1987 Duracell Every day millions of batteries die
Because why not start out with something lighthearted, you know, to match the tone of this film?
But of course we had to check out other batteries, too! So we went to the main competing battery company we all remembered…
We all remembered Energizer batteries, but only Geoffrey remembered these specific commercials with Jacko.
We devolved into terrible Australian accent impressions around this point… We’re sorry/you’re welcome?
We learned some wild facts about this campaign! First it was Zack, but then Zaks came out and Lego changed Zack to Jack so as not to accidentally advertise for the competition! But! Then Zaks were only manufactured for a few years, so eventually Lego changed Jack back to Zack.
Geoffrey and Anna both remembered this strongly, and Anna recognized it just from the YouTube thumbnail!
GE We Bring Good Things to Life commercial
This one led us to talk about Anna’s childhood as the daughter of someone who actually worked for GE, and then we heard about this AMAZING photo:
Image Description: a family of four stands in a posed photo, parents in the back, two daughters in the front. The older daughter is holding some daisies. Everyone is smiling except for the tiniest daughter, Anna, who is clenching one fist by her side and scowling.
Other than this commercial, our GE search brought us some … odd results…
We aren’t really sure who this is for or what its deal is, but we watched it anyway… We hope we are not cursed or something now.
Dad 1986 1987 My New GE Camera
This was someone’s home video, which led us to discuss our own home videos, America’s Funniest Home Videos, and, ultimately to Geoffrey recommending the song (and video) “Soccer Ball (in the Face)” by Parry Gripp.
Finally, we tried to hunt down a specific cheese commercial Anna remembered, but we were unsuccessful. However! We did find this amazing one…
Do you remember any of these commercials? Do you remember the commercial Anna was trying to find? How do you feel about I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Fabio, or the Dairy Council? Tell us your thoughts! And don’t forget to check out Anna’s podcast if you like books and movies about books!
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After These Messages: Batteries ARE Included