Thursday, August 07, 2014

Things Go Better With...Oh, Wrong Cola

The Turtles sell out for Pepsi, 1967. What the hell -- at least back then it wasn't made with high fructose corn syrup.



Actually, I've been wracking my brain trying to recall if this made me cringe at the time or whether I thought it was kind of cool they got a rock band to do it. My guess is the reason I can't remember is that I was really fricking stoned that year.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't think I ever heard it, maybe you didn't either.

Allan R.

DJWildBill said...

The only rock based ad jingles that made me shudder were Roy Orbison's "Things go better with Coke". Both mixes slurp the big one. Both are cringe-worthy.

I liked the Four Seasons doing their "Let's Hang On" for Beechnut Gum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfZNN3C5vMM Quality work on that one.

Bill

Shriner said...

How -- with all the friggin Turtles albums, reissues, compilations, etc -- have I never heard this before today?

What else are Flo & Eddie sitting on in the vaults...

Anonymous said...

I don't think this commercial ran over an extended length of time. Probably summer of 1967. I must have seen it when watching Where the Action Is, or something like that. Jim Tucker is still in the band on the shoot. With Jim Pons also being in, it's probably filmed Spring 1967.

Howard and Mark would soon be endorsing Yoo-hoo when members of The Mothers. Not to mention the AMC Gremlin.

Never considered anyone a sell out for doing shit like this. It was just a fact of life. I don't think they were making that much money off of these ads back then anyway. Nothing obscene like the last few decades.

Hell, the Hairpie cut an ad for Levi's while they were supposedly tearing down the wall. Who knows, maybe they got an endorsement from Skippy and Smuckers for the inside cover of Volunteers as well.

And then there's this classic:
http://www.divshare.com/download/25937517-2dc

I think soft drinks were better when they were sweetened with sugar. Seems like they had more carbonation back then too. Those bubbles seemed to get up in your nose more, right?

I always preferred Pepsi over Coke, but my heart truly belonged to RC. Those 16 ounce bottles went great with benzedrine. But nothing beats drinking dosed Shasta black cherry cola, with a Red Vine licorice as the straw, while listening to The Blues Soul of Johnny (guitar) Watson.

Was it true what they said about aspirin and Coca-Cola? Never tried it. There was better shit around. Like banana peels:-).

Vickie Rock - All the TaB's are good.

GLLInMO said...

I wonder if Frank would have hired Flo and Eddie if he knew of this sellout. Not that it's a big deal, free enterprise, etcetera. Someone had to pay for welfare.

Still a talented bunch. I'll take them.

Alzo said...

You should check out Howard Kaylan's memoir "Shellshocked"-- it's a fun read.
A pop band like the Turtles can't be faulted for selling out. Now, if this was the MC5 for State Farm Insurance, it would be another story...

Anonymous said...

Frank Zappa was endorsing Hagstrom guitars immediately after the Mothers had a record deal. He also did an ad for Luden's Cough Drops:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAUvFst5bOI

I really don't think he gave a shit what the Turtles had put their name behind. He only cared about talent.

As for the MC5, here's a story from The Guardian 2003: "Tonight, the three surviving members - Kramer, Thompson and bassist Michael Davis - will play a markedly different gig at London's 100 Club.... There will be an audience invited by Levi's, which has cajoled the band to reform in order to capitalize on the success of the company's limited-edition retro MC5 T-shirts."

From the beginning, they were selling us rebellion and then putting it up their noses and in their veins. When poison's in your bloodstream, you'll settle for lies. Which isn't to say I don't dig their shit.

Vickie Rock - Rock 'n' roll music is the best advertising. Baby, I can help, you know I got the guts. I'll be your healthy outlet for your teenage lust.

Mark said...

Work is work, and no more so than for musicians. The "selling out" noose is and was an artifact of a time where half-baked notions of artistry and commerce walked hand-in-hand and were voiced by many familiar with neither.

To cringe is one thing (as I did when The Yardbirds did a Great Shakes spot -- see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GBw8ATyMaY) but jeezus -- don't hold it against artists when musicians make money from their talents, real or otherwise.

Anonymous said...

Anybody here ever drink a Great Shake? I never did. Got mine at the burger joint where they used real ice cream. I think this powdered crap was phased out by the early Seventies. The rock ads seem to be from 1966-67.

Here's a few you have probably already heard and seen before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWoz4kSpDmk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCsbVujyC64

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4UdLxmcunk

Vickie Rock