I'm digging the new YouTube embedding feature! I imagine it could be used for both good and evil though so I want to try to get the ball rolling by attempting the former (assuming you think of commercialism as being "good").
In this somewhat experimental list I'm trying to pair games to their TV commercials. Sadly, this is mostly done for kid's games. But since this is the season for the young, or memories of being young, perhaps that's a good thing. Please add any game commercials you can dig up.
For now though, let's take a trip into TV-land and hear, in no particular order, a word from our sponsors....
I couldn't find the Stay Alive commercial from the 70's that featured kids dressed as castaways. This 80's spot features Vincent Price who (not surprisingly) adds an atmosphere of horror and mystery.
Listen, this is no set of rules. I'm not tellin' you what to do, all I'm saying is I'm bringin' up three things that are, like, so important to the whole world, I don't happen to find much importance in.
Allan Sherman was a brilliant comic songwriter, the "Weird Al" of the '60s. This game was based on his best-known song.
Hello, Muddah Hello, Faddah Here I am at Camp Granada Camp is very Entertaining And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining!
"When you're into Perfection, keep on your toes You've got to be quick 'cause here's how it goes Push the plunger down. Press the timer. Put the pieces in place. Don't be slow. With Perfection, you've got to move out fast (move out fast) Or the pieces will pop out before you can put in the last. And that's Perfection"
even when me and my 2 sisters were 5,6 and 8 respectivly we found this game a pile of crap! i still dont mind a good game of monopoly but i think im one of the rare few on this site that does!
well...I don't KNOW that these 'actors' realistically 'portray' the atypical "D&D"r as they're NOT:GOTH-awfully pathetic looking enough; PLUS-there's actually '2' females present! and they "unseemingly" wish to remain in the 'presence' of the d'Orcs they're with as well!
Actually, in high school, we had 2 females in the group. They were both girlfriends (actually real girls too)of guys in the group. My girlfriend wouldn't play. She called it "nerd-games". But, too this day at least 2 of the guys in the group have yet to have female companionship (and that was about 10 years ago)...
To better understand this phenomenon, see item #18 in the following list:
I do wear the same official "DM sweater" that the one man is wearing. Also, first reaction when players encounter a monster tends to be to attack it upside the head, like that mage did.
I remember seeing these commercials all the time. They worked because I remember really wanting this game but my parents wouldn't buy it for me because so many of my friends had it.
They fail to mention that you'll only be able to get one, maybe two, games in before your mom complains about the noise and actually suggests something quieter like TV.
Another oldie showing the famous bots getting their blocks knocked off. Notice the clever use of lighting (for its time) giving the illusion of being an actual boxing ring.
... which makes me wonder just what moron complained to them about false advertising!
The really sad thing is that the "problem" of not warning kids the pieces really talked was featured in either a TV show or a TV special warning kids about "misleading" advertising, or some such thing.
No joke.
The original cut of the commercial did *not* have the disclaimer at the end. After I saw that show air, the commercial suddenly had the disclaimer added in.
If you have to warn people that your plastic pieces aren't going to turn into talking, moving cartoon people that will mock you as you play, those people have other problems they need to work on...
While the disclaimer seems silly to a rational being, we must ermember this is in a country that's happy to sue - and win in court.
Like the old lady who bought a Winnebago, drove off, turned on the cruise control, left the front seat to do something back in the "mobile home" and duly ran off the road. Her excuse? The manual didn't EXPLICITLY state that cruise control doesn't keep the car on the road, it only keeps the speed constant. The result? A couple of millions - plus a new Winnebago.
You need disclaimers because of the stupid and the greedy. Like "not for human consumption" on bags of marbles...
Mmmmm Hmmm! Mystery Date! I can never get the guys to pick this one over TI3 or Warrior Knights. I want to know that euphoric joy those players are obviously feeling every time they open the mystery door and see a photo of a man behind it. Will he be a stud or a dud?!?!
I wonder if the game Twister inspired the writer of the Batman TV series episode called Nora Clavicle and the Ladies Crime Club to add the Siamese Human Knot torture to the episode that featured Batman, Robin and Batgirl tied into that human knot. Interesting to note, huh?
Holy crap my parents must have always changed the channel just when this one stared for fear of the "please mom come on dad, please mom PLEASE mom..." never even saw this one until now!!!!!!!!
A quick 15-second spot. Speaking of memories, there are many commercials for toys and video games that will probably bring some back to you. Please add whatever you want.
"The name of the game is BallBuster. It's a family game, Fun for children, And for adults...it's exciting! You make strategic offensive and defensive moves, Then try to bust your opponents' balls..."
There's scant little information on it to be found, though. It's tempting to think that someone at Mego suddenly said, "Heyyy...wait a second!" before it hit the shelves, but I also found this link:
In which people in a game group claim to have played it. If anyone here has it, it's not in the BGG database, so you scould score some GeekGold adding it and some pics.
I could be wrong, but I'd swear my uncle had this. No no I'm not talking about my aunt that way!! I mean the game. No really I do think he had the game.
Update: I notice that some of the videos on this list have been removed from YouTube due to "terms of use violation". While I can understand why many vids on YouTube should be removed for this reason, I find it baffling that advertisers would go out of their way to prevent people from seeing their commercials.
Good stuff!
well...I don't KNOW that these 'actors' realistically 'portray' the atypical "D&D"r as they're NOT: GOTH-awfully pathetic looking enough; PLUS-there's actually '2' females present! and they "unseemingly" wish to remain in the 'presence' of the 
