Singing Potatoes
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Friday, 13 December 2002
Best ads?

One of the pages on Adweek's site is a list of what they feel were the best commercial spots of the 1990s. Some of them were pretty good, some of them didn't really excite me, and quite a few of them I never saw.

They didn't list one of my favorites: the Old El Paso commercial in which the perky young housewife laments in song, "One pound of hamburger left in the fridge; 'Mom, what's for dinner' is the question I hear."

There's nothing really special about the commercial until the woman's husband comes home, sees the Old El Paso cowboy lounging against the kitchen counter, and demands "What's he doing here?" Cut to the cowboy, who waggles his eyebrows at the camera and grins lasciviously, accompanied by a musically suggestive "Ting!" in the soundtrack.

I'm not sure what the message was supposed to be, but it came across as "Old El Paso: We'll feed your family, and cuckold you in your own home!"

Posted by godfrey (link)
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Comments
What better use of a full pound of grade A Texas beef?
Posted by Lunchbox on 13 Dec 2002 11:23
At least it wasn't the Rawhide Kid!
Posted by Karen on 13 Dec 2002 11:34
Ha, you listen to too many dirty Renaissance songs about "horning in on" someone.
Posted by Moira on 23 Jan 2003 13:53
You know, I've never really thought about that expression before! Is it a reference to a shoehorn or to the horns of a cuckold?

Hmmm...

Posted by Godfrey on 23 Jan 2003 14:07
The dirtiest meaning is usually the correct one.
Posted by Moira on 24 Jan 2003 16:12