Originally published at: Watch this unsettling vitamin commercial from 1982 | Boing Boing
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Not to defend a strident commercial against its strident commercialism, but this isn’t exactly a “hyper delivery man” it’s a telegram man (“telegram”::“theragran”). (Jack Benny reference if needed) It’s lost in the paleolithic now, but they were specially bred to shout “Telegram for Otis B. Driftwood!!” to get the attention over the hubbub (cacophony and falderall) in the hotel lobby etc [shrug]
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Oh wait, Mr. Stone! These are for you, too! Viagra and Preparation H!
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It does have a sort of Twilight Zone feel to it
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And it feels and looks older than 1982. We did have colour tv in 1982, after all.
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Not sure how mentioning that he has a Theragran for me (the viewer) is a threat. How will it harm me to accept a bottle of vitamins?
Unless you were referring to to the implied threat of all ads: buy this product, lest you suffer from a lower quality of life without it.
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That actor looked familiar, and a search for him revealed this interesting backstory to the commercials for this product, which used to feature Billie Jean King:
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Jane Wiedlin ftw
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I remember that commercial. I’m not seeing the unsettling part. Annoying maybe but not unsettling.
Not sure what the threat is either. My wife feeds me a multivitamin every morning along with a handful of other medication. I trust her but maybe I should check what she’s actually giving me.
Here’s some unsettling vitamin overdosing.
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Wait, Jeter was the Theragram guy? Wow!
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VHS tapes have built-in “Age Video” effects, no extra charge
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I’m not sure if you’re joking but this is in color, just very desaturated due to some combination of crappy VCR and crappy video capture device.
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The delivery is a little odd, and a bit reminiscent of this:
Ok not exactly but I wouldn’t want the Theragran man coming after me with a gift from a source he won’t name
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No not joking, and a rewatch reveals you are right, but my brain viewed it as b&w. Don’t ever ask me to identify anyone in a lineup; apparently my powers of observation are less than stellar.
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For me it calls to mind a phonic mashup of thetan and enneagram, which sounds vaguely menacing…
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