80's Commercials Vol. 1071

These commercials aired on ABC in 1981

1. Milk's The One (With John Goodman!  Commercials starting here aired 3/16/81)
2. Light n' Lively Yogurt
3. Jim Wallwork for Governor (This was for the Republican gubernatorial primary, where he finished fourth...losing to Thomas Kean.  He ran again in 1993 where he placed third)
4. Promo for "Von Ryan's Express"
5. Ford (The 10% back was a way to lessen the blow from the sky high interest rates that still gripped the economy, which was under recession with the high interest rates used to curb inflation.  The interest rate on a loan for a new car in 1981 was around 17%)
6. Taster's Choice Coffee
7. Kodak Film
8. 7 Eleven
9. Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler (Most automakers were having cashback sales promotions during this period)
10. Promo for "Happy Days", "Laverne & Shirley", "Three's Company" and "Too Close For Comfort" (Damn, that is a solid lineup)
11. ABC Station ID
12. Double Action Calgonite (Honey, what did I tell you about going inside the dishwasher?)
13. NyQuil (This guy walked so Nathan Lane could run)
14. Promo for "The Greatest American Hero"
15. "That's Incredible!" Commercial Bumper
16. Promo for "Hart To Hart"
17. Bonz (Dogs don't know it's not bone! IT'S BONE!!!)
18. WABC News Bumper
19. Chevrolet (More cash bonuses)
20. Coast (The actor here is Harry Waters Jr. best known for playing Marvin Berry in "Back To The Future"!  "Hey Chuck, it's your cousin MARVIN BERRY!")
21. Folgers
22. Promo for "The Greatest American Hero" (One of the GOAT 80's TV theme songs)
23. Wrigley's Double Mint Gum
24. Ford Mustang
25. "That's Incredible!" End Credits (Partial)
26. Mountain Dew (Commercials starting here aired 8/31/81)
27. McDonald's You Deserve A Break Today Game (With veteran TV/Radio actor Frank Nelson)
28. 9-Lives (11:13 Maybe this was the study about cats watching TV that Robert Mitchum's character brings up in "Scrooged": Programming for cats)
29. Promo for "The Richard Simmons Show" (Even though the crazy clip here of him being thrown into a refrigerator looks almost like it's from a sitcom, this was for his morning exercise/talk show that ran from 1980-84)
30. Replay Gum
31. Unicap M (But why the phallic shaped bottle?)
32. ABC Station ID
33. Enhance Shampoo
34. No Place Like Sam's (This was actually part of the restaurant chain Sambo's, who had renamed some of their locations to this moniker earlier in 1981 in an attempt to rebrand the company and move away from a name that many associated with a racial slur.  By late 1981 they filed for bankruptcy and by 1982 all but the original location in Santa Barbara, CA closed)
35. Chevrolet 6.2L Diesel Trucks
36. Promo for "The Manions Of America" (A three part miniseries starring Pierce Brosnan and Kate Mulgrew.  This was Brosnan's first American role, a year before his series "Remington Steele" debuted on NBC)
37. Federal Express (The famous ad starring John Moschitta, later known for as the Micro Machines man and directed by Joe Sedelmaier who later made the iconic Wendy's "Where's The Beef" ad in 1984)
38. Milk-Bone (15:52 I love the cartoony art on those old dog food boxes that look more like they're from the 60's)
39. "That's Incredible!" Commercial Bumper
40. Promo for "World News Tonight"
41. WYNY FM Radio (With Bruce Bradley)
42. Sasson
43. York Peppermint Pattie
44. WABC 7 News Bumper
45. "That's Incredible!" Commercial Bumper
46. RCA (After a series of blunders including the failed CED Home Video system, RCA was acquired by its former parent company General Electric in 1986, largely due to GE's interest in acquiring the NBC TV network...which RCA owned.  The rest of the company was sold or liquidated and the company went defunct in 1987)
47. Cheese
48. Lifesavers
49. Promo for "Mork & Mindy" (RIP Robin Williams.  This was a promo for the fourth and final season of the show, and yes, one of the episodes involved a plot where Mork becomes pregnant by Mindy)
50. 1982 Dodge Aries K Wagon (19:08 I really hate it when I'm suddenly driving in the middle of a Halloween sound effects record)
51. Wendy's (With Dave Thomas and Estelle Harris at 19:52)
52. Promo for "The Greatest American Hero"
53. "That's Incredible!" End Credits