The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

We're a few days away from Christmas and we thought it would be appropriate and timely to look at commercials for the must-have gift of 1989, an item celebrating its 35th birthday this year--the Nintendo Game Boy.

Here are the commercials in this episode, with links:

Original GameBoy with Tetris - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-ej_8XBwmI
Super GameBoy - https://youtu.be/50qlX1kF2Vc
Donkey Kong - https://youtu.be/s4dinHwO2nU
Super Mario Land - https://youtu.be/yyZ65k3vpSU
Tetris/Qix - https://youtu.be/VeLixGKaij4
F1 Race with 4-Player Adapter (1991) - https://youtu.be/_PJZ6HipNxg
Original GameBoy Commercial from Japan, Part 1 - https://youtu.be/Pe6tW69QAeQ
Part 2 - https://youtu.be/UkOk_E_3J0E
Super Mario Land/F1 Race/Tetris/Dr. Mario - https://youtu.be/6CgGwNJxhHs
Have You Had Your Fun Today? - https://youtu.be/dDXJCf29cSE
Kirby’s Dream Land - https://youtu.be/_Z8ECstDtQg
Super Mario Land 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZm5cXRShO4
Game Genie - https://youtu.be/osJkdIWgBFI
Yoshi - https://youtu.be/4ezEh-GP8do
Spot/7up - https://youtu.be/HldFL4445WI
Zelda: Link’s Awakening - https://youtu.be/w4mdmeMuYo4
Super Game Boy with The Wu-Tang Clan - https://youtu.be/9sfiTMybZTs
Dr. Mario - https://youtu.be/vS4RIOFhyL4
Japanese Kirby Pinball Land - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzi9rWVo4so
Mario’s Picross - https://youtu.be/9DXjZ6UJpKk
Kirby Block Ball - https://youtu.be/xuK7xLJW--k
Pocket Monsters Red & Green - https://youtu.be/z4JeRKo3Rr4
Pokemon Red & Blue - https://youtu.be/qzAo9HzOgtQ
Game Boy Camera - https://youtu.be/gYjU5nE9SbE
Castlevania Adventure - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjrFq2z9PXE

In what is a first, we present our first instant minisode.  Chico was sent a video of a creepy Folgers commercial from 15 years ago.  After bringing it to everybody's attention, a decision was made to cover this immediately, instead of waiting until Christmas 2025.  Who knew the addition of one word could turn this commercial from heartwarming to creepy?

Happy Thanksgiving!  (For those outside of the United States, happy Thursday.)  For this holiday, we jump back 43 years to 1981.  What was the hotness that year?  A version of Strawberry Shortcake which was reminiscent to the technology used in Malcolm, for one.  The video game surge started, though it wasn't represented in the parade.  As you prepare to do Black Friday shopping, remember to go to the AT&T phone store and get a Garfield phone.

As we do around these parts for Thanksgiving, we look at at least one Thanksgiving Day parade.  This time, we go back to 1988, to see what were the big shows on Broadway, to see what TV stars would appear on floats, to see what the big gifts of 1988 were, to see what headwear Willard Scott was donning, and to see the grand ending of the parade--Santa Claus!

We're back with another batch of goofy and bizarre hometown commercials.

Here is the line-up for this installment of Hometown Commercials:

• Unique Creations: https://youtu.be/9T_GZeZyYqU
• Shift It: https://youtu.be/1gYE5TyijxE
• West Palm Loan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XHUGEVMa8I
• Zachary’s Night Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvyS8dY2kQA
• Beacon Plumbing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2F4-QRUdw
• Reckon and Reckon Plumbing:  https://youtu.be/HS7yCO9_h_E
• Lowell “The Hammer” Stanley: https://youtu.be/lF7FhuhyA8c
• Bryan Wilson, The Texas Law Hawk: https://youtu.be/HL3MxAH-kDI
• Pete Ellis Ford: https://youtu.be/J3Ezn8eLfm8
• Fast Eddy: https://youtu.be/9nyS-B7_MyY
• Paolini’s Pizza: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edPBN4GghvY
• Stewart Olds Nissan Suzuki: https://youtu.be/otGuj7Z73bg
• Comet Burgers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBSCrOa-aUM
• China Star: https://youtu.be/Ez0jnbeOe_I
• Frankie & Johnny’s: https://youtu.be/XI7jC57GuZM
• N.Y. Men’s Clothing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usAzhVErnEg
• Lincoln Carpeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch
• Excalibur Sports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3IqqycBy-o

Back in 2020 before Kansas City and San Francisco played on "Super Sunday" we covered The Bud Bowl in one of our early episodes.

Today in honor of both teams returning to "The Big Game" we bring you this extended cut featuring over 15 minutes of new materials including radio spots from Bud Bowl IV, the Bud Light players doing their own version of the "Super Bowl Shuffle" and the Basher's foul mouth.

Last year on "Super Sunday" former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski was involved in an ad campaign for Fanduel where he'd attempt to make a 25-yard field goal in the Arizona desert in a live commercial during the game. We'd soon find out that this attempt was about as accurate as a three-dollar bill. 

"The BIGGEST SCAM in Super Bowl Commercial HISTORY (JaguarGator9) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Fc-KzjouA

The 2000 edition of "Super Sunday" pitted the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans in the first Super Bowl of the new millennium. TV viewers were treated in-between action with commercials for Budweiser, trucks, and many dot-com companies! Most of which came and went less than a year following the game. We'll go over some of them in this episode.

Microsoft "Flight Annoucement" - https://adland.tv/microsoft-flight-announcement-2000-030-usa

GMC Yukon XL "Agility" - https://adland.tv/gmc-yukon-xl-agility-2000-030-usa

Disney Tony Hawk "Tarzan" VHS commercial - https://adland.tv/disney-tony-hawk-tarzan-2000-030-usa

Disney "Why do we love the mouse?" with Leonard Nimoy and Shaq - https://adland.tv/disney-why-do-we-love-mouse-2000-030-usa

Charles Schwab Retirement - https://adland.tv/charles-schwab-retirement-2000-030-usa

Pizza Hut/CD Now Commercial with Carson Daly - https://adland.tv/pizza-hut-cd-now-carson-daly-2000-030-usa

Budweiser "Fred is Great" - https://adland.tv/budweiser-fred-great-2000-030-usa

Monster.com "The Road Less Traveled" - https://adland.tv/monstercom-road-less-traveled-2000-030-usa

Motorola "Snake" - https://adland.tv/motorola-snake-2000-030-usa

E*Trade - Halftime Show Teaser - "Massage" - https://adland.tv/etrade-halftime-show-teaser-massage-2000-010-usa

Bud Light "Elevator" - https://adland.tv/bud-light-elevator-2000-030-usa

MicroStrategy "Stock Alert" - https://adland.tv/microstrategy-stock-alert-2000-030-usa

Budweiser "Rex's Motivation" - https://adland.tv/budweiser-rexs-motivation-2000-060-usa

Netpliance "Webhead" - https://adland.tv/netpliance-webhead-2000-030-usa

7 Up "Show Us Your Can" with Orlando Jones - https://adland.tv/7up-show-us-your-can-2000-030-usa

Volvo "Gus" - https://adland.tv/volvo-gus-2000-030-usa

Oxygen "I'm a Girl" - https://adland.tv/oxygen-im-girl-2000-030-usa

Our Beginning "Invites" - https://adland.tv/our-beginning-invites-2000-030-usa

FedEx "Wizard of Oz Lollipop Guild" - https://adland.tv/fedex-wizard-oz-lollipop-guild-2000-60-usa

Pets.com "If You Leave Me Now" - https://adland.tv/petscom-if-you-leave-me-now-2000-030-usa

Lifeminders "The Worst Commercial" - https://adland.tv/lifeminders-worst-commercial-2000-030-usa

E*Trade "Wasted $2 Million" - https://adland.tv/etrade-wasted-2-million-2000-030-usa

It's an It Was a Thing on TV tradition like no other.  Every year since 2019, we have looked at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in chronological order, starting with the 1983 parade.  We're up to the 1987 parade.  What characters will star in this parade?  What products will advertisers shove down our throats?  And did Charlie Brown ever get a growth spurt!

The Baseball Hall of Fame inductions will be happening in a matter of weeks.  One of the enshrinees this year is slugger Fred McGriff.  While most people know him as a basher for a number of MLB teams, others remember him from appearing in frequently aired ads for baseball skill videos.  We look back at the videos, and discover something amazing about those ads about a quarter century later.