Originally published at: Lou Reed's 1984 Honda Ad: Nostalgic Glimpse of Old New York
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I remember that commercial. I also remember that New York. I’m old! 
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I remember visiting that New York as a teenager. I know that some people express nostalgia for the sleaze and grime and crime, but not me.
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I’m guessing that lots of the people who express nostalgia for it probably didn’t live through it, but enjoy the culture of that time period (which is pretty fucking boss, of course).
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True, or didn’t live there at the time. I’ve met a lot of people who did, and not one waxed rhapsodic over anything but the property values in SoHo back then.
With the safe distance of time and space, yeah, it’s easier to enjoy the '70s and '80s culture – especially in comparison to the Disney-fied and premium mediocre consumerist milieu that eventually replaced it.
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I fixed it…
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Related:
https://adage.com/article/news/lou-reed-s-affair-advertising/244977
I seem to recall this ads won awards but not sure what… I feel like I probably saw it on a demo reel somewhere…reminds me of the also celebrated Passat ad, though the Passat was not as classic as the ad itself:
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NYC was pretty salty back then
I grew up there in the 50s and 60s left and stopped by the old neighbood in 1980 and was glad i didnt live there anymore.
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It seems like these days, it’s Manhattan that seems kind of clean but the biker gangs are unruly.
(Not your grandpa’s biker gang)
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Same here. 1984 was the first year I ever visited New York, which for a 17 year old from central Maine who’d only ever been to Boston once for a Red Sox game when he was 9 was a real eye opener. But no damned way you’d ever get me to ride a scooter like that in 1984 New York traffic.
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I’ve only been in NY once, in the late 80s as a youngster.
Wasn’t remotely dodgy compared to so, so many other cities of the time. The heroin and steaming piles of rubbish was the 70s. I always imagine it’s more like Paris now…
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The photographic approach should be fresh, alive, and inspiring. Contemporary is a good word here! Like 501-Jeans ads. Like the Levi-core night ads. Like the Honda Scooter ads! Heightened reality vignettes!
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Neat. I think I vaguely remember that ad.
Yes, the 70s-80s NYC looks like the perfect setting for the Ninja Turtles or Daredevil to fight crime. Or the Beastie Boys to smash things up and write graffiti. Or for diverse street gangs in colorful attire to “beef”.
I know there are issues about HOW it was cleaned up, but addressing urban blight can make things nicer for everyone.
I visited NYC during the early 2000s, and I’d describe it still as “grimy” in places. It was picked up, but there still felt to be a layer of dirt everywhere. Still, it was a fun place to visit! I wanted to ride the subway so I could say I did, but there was a strike going on at the time (which actually worked out well, because we got to see some Broadway shows when tickets got cancelled).
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1970ies/1980ies NYC looks like the perfect setting for a sleazy, amoral, reckless real estate developer to grift his way to the top. Including a tacky gilded penthouse in a high-rise that bears his name.
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Don’t forget the mobsters who run the concrete industry in the city.
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Nah, I’ve heard that’s just an urban myth.
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