Before they were stars, these famous faces still had to make a living. Many, many celebrities cut their teeth in television's commercial wasteland. Enjoy these commercials from the last 50 years or so in all their glory. Browse commercials by celebrity by the list on the right.
I love this commercial from 1970 for the AMC Ambassador featuring a young Robert DeNiro, as Joey, the stereotypical Italian-boy-made-good. He looks snazzy enough to ride in his fancy new car in that white sport coat. This commercial was excellent training ground for the next two dozen rolls Robert would play... young Italian guy with mystery money who loves his mothah.
This 1988 commercial for Pillsbury microwaveable side dishes features a tiny Kirsten Dunst - probably around age 4 or 5. She's sporting some serious curls and a serious love for some cheesy scalloped potatoes. It's hard to recognize her until you spot that toothy grin near the end. Beep, beep.
The late 90s were a kitschy time for the Old Navy brand, they drug out nostalgic stars to lure us into buying surplus pants and performance fleece. I've rounded up three Carrie Donovan commercials where she is cavorting with A, okay B, okay C listers as they hock the weekly wares for ON. First up is a 1998 Christmas ditty with Morgan Fairchild and Carrie practically chanting "performance fleece"... worth watching for Morgan's trombone pantomime halfway through.
Next up, Earth Kitt and Ms. Donovan purr out their love for surplus pants in this 1999 spot. Eartha seduces Magic the dog with her feline fabulosity and flips over Old Navy's prices. Gotta say she looks pretty damn good in this commercial.
And lastly, this 1997 "Magic Holiday Special" has Carrie celebrating with her celeb pals Tom and Dick, aka the Smothers Brothers, BenVereen, and Morgan Fairchild in true loose, layered, fun style! Can you imagine actually being stuck at a lodge with this group... what in the world would the evening devolve to after the merits of performance fleece had been exhausted in conversation. The imagination runs wild.... something tells me Ben is a bad boy.
This 1960s spot for Boraxo hand soaps features a future world leader, Ronald Reagan, doing his best to shill this soapy goodness. The spot highlights the attractive plastic container version for your kitchen sink, and their revolutionary waterless hand cleaner for dirtier jobs. I'm not sure what year this is from... but either Mr. Reagan was heavily influenced or heavily influential on Mr. Rogers. Fred, meet Ronald, Ronald, meet Fred. Now won't you be my neighbor? We can share sweaters?
I suppose the teenage dream, is to not only be as perfect as a Barbie doll, but to actually BE a Barbie doll. Brooke Shields was immortalized forever in this 1982 commercial for a doll of her likeness. Although she wasn't an official Barbie, she was obviously better - she comes with lots of clothes, a brush and a ring for ME! The way that girl thanks her doll is a little weird. I gotta admit, I was fascinated with Brooke Shields around this time after I watched Endless Love one night while babysitting. Probably the first rated R movie I ever saw. She was a "woman" in my eyes. lol.
This 1970 AMC Javelin commercial features Richard Dreyfuss doing his American Graffiti character with Russ Tamblyn's West Side Story sidekicks. The car is sweet, the joke at the end is a nice twist, and Richard is still at that stage in his career when he was unaffected and had a sense of humor. Where did that Richard go?
Wowza, those are some knee stains. Very specific and symmetrical. This Spray-n-Wash commercial from 1970 features a bubbly vision of sunshine that looks suspiciously like Betty White. I never remember my jeans being "permanent press" - that sounds a little high maintenance to me... but what would I know, I was an infant in 1970. Textile technology has come a long way in 40 years... yet ironically, I still use Spray-n-Wash. And I bet Betty White does too.
... it would look a little like John Goodman in this Foot Locker ad circa 1981. He looks like a Disney cartoon character as he ambles into the store demanding kicks from Adidas to Tretorns for every sporting activity you can imagine. He's kinda got a Jolly Green Giant thing going on here with that deep voice, those flowing locks and towering height. How did he turn into Dan Connor 7 years later? Maybe it was the Egg McMuffins?
I'm guessing this Bubble Yum commercial is from the late 80s, maybe early 90s based soley on the font used in catchphrases. Leonardo diCaprio does his best to make us believe that he keeps it poppin solely with his bubble gum and bodacious boombox. I'm sure those piles of cash you've got stashed away don't hurt your mojo Leo... but you keep on poppin.
This odd commercial with Paul Lynde for Maxwell House from the late 60s shows us quintessential Paul in all his snarky glory. He complains about the toast, he complains about the eggs, but he can't say a single bad thing about the coffee. He's left so speechless that evidently he can't bother to comment on the fact that it poured itself across the table by itself either. Denial is a powerful thing, eh Paul?
This 2003 Cash Quest Lottery commercial has a sassy-as-ever Phyllis Diller teasing hair and the gals in the salon with the prospect of winning big. Maybe even winning as big as her hairdo! I love an old lady whose hair gets bigger and bluer as she ages... it's the Texas way folks...
PS - You know, I think I can get my hair to look just like hers... wouldn't take too much more than a comb and a little mousse I'm afraid.
This 1989 ad featuring a very young Russell Crowe is for State Bank. They're featuring their new Green Machines, AKA the ATM machine. This is some quintessential late eighties style going on here... the boys all look like something that stepped out of Happy Days and the girls out of an LA Gear commercial with everyone drenched in hair spray. That's pretty much how I remember 1989. lol.
Drew Barrymore was a hard-working kid, I tell ya. It's hard to keep yourself poppin'fresh when mom's got you hawking cookies at the tender of age of 4. This 1979 ad for Pillsbury Cookie Dough is, in all truth, just making me hungry. Mama could seriously tear up a chocolate chip or two right now. Anyways, Drew's as adorable as you'd imagine in her third commercial gig.
Kids aren't the only thing goin' ape for Jell-O grape flavor. Bill Cosby goes a little wacky on us in this rap/hip hop inspired ad from around 1986. It's like a lot of commercials I remember from the eighties... Dorky song? check. Colorful clothes? check. Bill Cosby surrounded by cute kids singing about food? Check! Anybody notice that that cute kid in the braids is a pre-5-time-arrest Lindsay Lohan? Maybe it's time for Bill to reach out and go all Cliff Huxtable on Lindsay. Snap her back in line, Bill!
Another odd couple pairing from Braniff Airlines - great pals Surrealist artist Salvador Dali and baseball great Whitey Ford. Just like the Sonny Liston/Andy Warhol commercial, Braniff teamed up an artist with an athlete to show it's diversity, I guess. I just wonder why they decided to get rid of those cool striped seatcovers. Oh yeah, they're out of business... it took care of itself.
Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 02:47PM 
