Sprite ad showing a boy getting the crap beaten out of him hasn't aged well

boing
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Jay and Silent Bob did it better.

3 Likes
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Still good.

1 Like
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Yeah I kinda like it. This was the Jooky era of Sprite advertising and it was AWESOME

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What makes this ad even funnier is that in real life Sting is basically (early seasons) Ned Flanders who invested his money wisely and keeps coming back to wrestling for the fans and to help new guys (like Darby Allin)

sting and darby

6 Likes
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This seems a lot less cringey than most 80s ads, or 80s TV shows for that matter. Holds up way better than expected. I’d love to see a better quality upload - too bad over the air SD video and consumer video tape were such crap quality.

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Having said all that, someone please deep fake replace this kid with the outgoing US President.

Please?

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No. This kid is cool

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Dude, don’t break Kayfabe!

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A few years later:

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See now I feel bad for laughing :slightly_frowning_face:

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That was pretty horrifying…ly blurry. Very 90s.

Other that that, it seems fine.

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If I was that kid, I’d be pissed if my parents didn’t tape Sting beating the crap out of me.

In any event this ad seems to typify the 90’s “eXtReMe!!~1!” attitude that was pervasive in teen/young adult media at the time.

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What are you talking about “hasn’t aged well”… this is HILARIOUS!

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I’ll bite. I thought the concept was pretty hilarious, and did a nice job turning the concept of “our product will change your life!” meme on it’s head in classic sprite fashion, but in places wasn’t quite cartoon-y enough in the violence. Throwing the kid ass-over-teakettle into the china cabinet and other rag-doll-y stunts were pretty funny physical comedy, but I definitely cringed at bouncing his face off the scrolled banister. That was a little graphic for my taste, and took me out of the joke.

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I thought that all worked well to contrast the over the top theatrics of pro wrestling in the ring with just how poorly it translates into reality. It was a bit like a tame version of the Itchy and Scratchy show, highlighting how our complacence with televised violence as “fun” is, perhaps, something we should think about more.

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at bouncing his face off the scrolled banister

don’t you mean “scrolled turnbuckle”?

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