Originally published at: I haven't seen this commercial for Atari Pole Position since 1982 and I love it more than ever | Boing Boing
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Ironically, now the stereotype of a corporate executive is that they are the assholes driving racecars on public streets and leaving skid marks on our souls.
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This had as much plot as most 80s films, iirc.
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Do you remember the Saturday morning cartoon, though?
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The cartoon had the superior 80’s theme song between it and the commercial. My brain was going, “This is the wrong song.” The whole time.
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@frauenfelder writes
This TV spot for Pole Position , a racing car game for the Atari 2600, is pure genius.
Uh, that looks like the Atari 5200 (see the last frame of video). I don’t think the 2600 has the horsepower to run such a game.
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I never saw this…and I don’t recall 90 second ads on tv…ever, really. When/where did they show this?
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Occasionally you will see 60 and 90 minute commercials. A lot of times there will be a 90 minute one, and then one edited down to 60 and 30, with the longer two rarely seen.
Usually when I see a very long ad, it is selling Medicare extended coverage or some As Seen on TV product. Your brain will go, “Is this commercial still going?”
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You must be watching the higher cable channels at 3am
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Or the local secondary channels. ME TV, etc.
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Kept waiting for someone to snap into a slim jim.
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Expected at the end read very rapidly: Disclaimer- when playing pole position in real-life mode, Atari is not liable for your certain imminent death; additional quarters do not buy additional lives.
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It was like I was watching NBC in the 80’s for sure !
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The highest score I ever achieved on Pole Position was near the end of an evening in a bar, when I was several drinks above the limit. (It was a popular off-campus bar that was less than two blocks from the dorms.)
That didn’t encourage me to loosen up and go driving - instead it made me realize how easy it was to think I was OK to drive when I clearly wasn’t. And I never could replicate the results, despite many beers of trying.
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They may have oversold the game a bit.
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I don’t really remember anything about this show, except that the car computers were cool, and I think the cars transformed, which was also cool.
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Everything about this is awesome. The polo wearing rich tool. The music. The Death Race 2000 feel of race. Even the weird car-human hybrids reminds me of Nightmare On Elm Street 5.
Fantastic find!
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“Well, Muffy, Buffy, Biff Jr., and I are going on a Sunday drive,” says Biff Sr.
The bit where both the dad and son push up their glasses was a nice touch.
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“…and it’s FREE!!!” --Joe Namath
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Locally we have George Brett selling it, and honestly, I love how it is messed up. I haven’t found a copy of it online last time I looked, but the extended version leans into the concept that they people don’t realize they are in a commercial with George Brett.
“How did you get in here?”
“That’s a great question! And even better one is how Blue KC can save you money.”
“We have a dead bolt on our door.”
“You need a new one. Like you need a new plan from Blue KC.”
Hope I am remembering the bits right - like I said, I can’t find the actual ad online.
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