With commercials such a part of our pop culture (unfortunately), it's natural for them to be referenced or outright parodied in other media, even commercials themselves (the Bunny in the subject heading was originally a snark on a rival battery company's ads). From catch phrases dropped into 1940s WB cartoons to parodies on SNL, SCTV, Johnny Carson and Carol Burnett shows, there's plenty there to chew on.

One of the most satisfying was a decade ago, where Norm MacDonald noted a survey (I don't know if it was a real one, or just for the joke) on those Battery Family ads with the (I think) CGI-animated characters which were bizarro-realistic, but plasticky. He said the respondents found that company's batteries to be "creepy and disturbing", which indeed described the "family" to a T.

In those great Carol Burnett Show sketches where the housewife was plagued with commercial characters getting into her house, the best was probably the running gag where she flushes the Tidy Bowl man down the toilet.

I find it amazing that people still reference the old M&M's "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" tag line. They actually stopped using it because they do melt in your hand, goddamnit. And having a red or green hand really sucks. But sexual innuendos via M&Ms aren't sexy.

The "Got milk?" thing has been run into the ground. T-shirts with everything for "Got weed?" to "Got soul?" and all sorts of other dumb stuff. I think they still use that today but the canceled the whole campaign of celebrities with milk mustaches because sales weren't improving at all.

"Yo quiero Taco Bell" isn't very old but still gets used a lot, even though the campaign was dropped because their sales declined. In my Spanish class the other day (yes, they force us to take Spanish in college) a kid even said "Yo quiero... Taco Bell?" And people still think of that damn dog everytime they see a Chihuahua. (I think I know why the campaign failed. As I was typing that, I thought I could go for a chalupa but as soon as I mentioned a Chihuahua, I was no longer tantalized.)

I can't think of any references in the media off-hand but I'm sure they are out there.

I have Janice and Diane stuffed cows. They each have three recordings in them, including my favorite line from the commercials -- "We're cows, Janice. We're not stupid."



I still remember the old McDonald's commercials that featured the ingredients of a Big Mac:

Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese,
Pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.

That's a brain cell I could be putting to better use.

I remember arguing this point when I was an obnoxious kid. The actual tagline was that the Chocolate melted in your mouth, not in your hand. They never said that the candy coating wouldn't melt.


Nyquil: The nighttime sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine, from Vick's of course.

Then there's the perfect moment from the MNiE when they were stuck in the otherwise empty water tower, when Randy just had to let out a "RIIIIICOLAAAAAA!" Very funny stuff.

In the overused dept.:

Walter Mondale using "Where's the beef?" to put Gary Hart in his place. In general, that phrase took over for Clara Peller's gruff charm. Initially, it was her performance that made commercials with her in them great. Unfortunately, that slogan became more important, and Clara eventually was too tickled by it to do her best acting anymore.

And, of course, the Grandmother of all slogans repeated all over the media (and everywhere else): "I've fallen, and I can't get up!" At least its use in a modern Bugs Bunny cartoon, "Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers", brought back the old pop culture referencing, like in the '40s era, just a bit

Well SNL has a lot of skits and videos based off popular commercials. When Ben Affleck hosted they had this whole Afflack skit. Then there was one for ematch that was on recently for prison mates. "Find your soulmate, in a cellmate."

klio

Sure, I remember the McDonald's tag line. I can also remember standing in a washroom in my Grade 5 elementary school reciting to the rest of my adoring fans:

Bun-seed-sesame...ah-on..onions, pickles, cheese, lettuce, sauce-special, Beef-All two.

Yep. Nice catchy phrase they put out that even today, I can't forget!

And I've never eaten a Big Mac in my life (lots of burgers with ketchup, but that's another story).