Sadly, we lost one of the most popular advertising dogs in recent years today. Gidget the Taco Bell Chihuahua died of a massive stroke (no relation to eating Taco Bell I’m sure) and has moved on to the big taco stand in the sky.
She (yes it was a she) became part of our pop culture in 1997 with the now classic “Yo Quiero Taco Bell” ad campaign which had all of us mumbling the phrase whether we really wanted Taco Bell or not. Other catch phrases this pint size pitchman drilled into our collective heads included “Drop the Chalupa!”, “Viva Gorditas!” and the classic, “I’m thinking you, me…… burrito!”. Honestly could you ever imagine a time in your life where you thought you’d ever have the need to utter any of these phrases? Yet, we did. Even SportsCenter was hooked on the Chalupa phrase for a while. And oh, how we laughed.
One company that didn’t laugh to loudly though was Taco Bell themselves. It seems they ripped off the idea from a couple of guys who pitched the idea six years earlier and then went with another ad firm to produce the campaign. The guys sued and $32.1 million dollars later, all was forgiven. Taco Bell went on to show real class when they went after the ad firm that produced the campaign trying to blame them for the oversite – a three judge panel dropped the Chalupa against Taco Bell. Any idea how many burrito supremes and super value menu items you need to sell to recoup those grande sized judgements? Mucho.
So we bid farewell to Gidget and hope she finds peace wherever she is. Thanks to the internet, her legacy will live on. Pass the Pepto.
Month: July 2009
When Retro and Politics Collide
Arguably one of the most influential Hip-Hop artists to inspire the newer generation of rappers are Run D.M.C. They were credited with bringing rap to the mainstream with their collaboration with Aerosmith and have been honored with numerous accolades including showing up 48th on Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest musical artists of all time back in 2004.
It seems their influence is still felt to this very day not only in music but politics as well. I seem to recall Obama using the term “It’s tricky” a few times in his address yesterday on Healthcare reform. Coincidence !?!? I think not.
Cars That Would Have Saved Pontiac If They Still Built Them
With the recent collapse of the North American auto industry, there have been more than one casualty and the jury is still out on if there are any more to come. One of the biggest brands to bite the dust was one of the former pearls on GM’s crown – Pontiac.
Although it can be argued that the Pontiac laid many a turd in recent years like the much hated Aztek which although was much more feature rich than many other SUVs in it’s price range, was just plain ugly. Other cars in recent years that brought on universal yawns from Pontiac included the Bonneville, the G3 (they build excitement?!?!) and the Montana. All had promise but all had severe short comings that made the Pontiac one of the brands to hit the chopping block.
Even great new cars like the G8 GXP, the 2010 G8 ST which would have heralded the return of the El Camino type car/truck hybrid, and the Solstice GXP Coupe all had the earmarks of what once made Pontiac great but it was too little too late.
While many car companies were taking their cues from their vintage models, Pontiac never really took advantage of their rich heritage to really “Build Excitement”. Let’s take a look at some of the models that could have likely jump started Pontiac’s sales if they followed the lead of companies like Ford, Dodge, Volkswagen, and Chrysler to come up with new cars with that retro look.
1969 Pontiac GTO Judge
With the success of the first generation, the second generation GTO picked up right were it left off with a much more robust and modern fastback styling and massive 400ci V8’s rated all the way up to 370 HP. The Judge package offered wild color options with matching decals, a Ram Air hood, spoilers and a T-handle Hurst shifter. There was nothing you could tell this judge.
1978 Pontiac Trans AM
Ahhh the flaming chicken. Back in the late 70s and early 80s, you wanted a ’78 Pontiac Trans AM. Not just any Trans AM, you wanted the black and gold “Bandit” color scheme Trans AM with a T-roof. This model year had a few tweaks that brought the top-line V8 to 220 HP. Not bad for those days. You wanted one. You also wanted to grow a mustache like Burt Reynolds and find a woman like Sally Field.
1988 Pontiac Fiero GT
Admit it, you made fun of the Fiero when it was around. The obvious play on the name which labelled it the poor man’s Ferrari was the butt of many a joke. For the most part though, it was a joke initially. It was strapped to a sluggish 2.5-liter “Iron Duke” four-cylinder engine and the suspension was based on a Citation for Pete’s sake. The Fiero was easy pickings for the haters. By 1988 however, GM snapped out of it and gave the car a proper suspension, head turning styling and considerable improvements to both the four-cylinder and V6 engines. Once it became respectable and sought after, it was scrapped.
1967 Pontiac Firebird
The battle of the pony cars was in full effect between Ford and Chevy and the engineers at Pontiac were paying attention. The 1967 Firebird debuted with more even weight distribution for better handling, and traction bars to offset the infamous single-leaf rear springs. This move prevented spring twist under hard acceleration. Five models were offered in both convertible and hard tops with engine sizes ranging from 230ci to a whopping 400ci V-8 that produced 325 hp.
1964 Pontiac GTO
The 1964 Pontiac GTO was the car that sparked the original muscle car wars. Though it can be argued that this was just a supped up LeMans, but the 325 HP, 389 cubic inch V8 with Carter four-barrel carbs, a dual exhaust and a three-speed Hurst manual transmission made you king of the hill (or street) pretty easily. It sold three times the projected annual sales showing yet again that marketers really didn’t know how to read a demographic and plan accordingly and also that this car was destined to be a classic.
So there you have it. This list is by no means complete. Great cars like the Grand Prix, Bonneville and even the Grand AM helped to keep the brand going all these years but it would have been great to see an effort or Pontiac’s part to bring some of the retro lines back in to their late model cars a bit sooner. Who knows, it may have made a difference. Bottom line is classic Pontiac car owners are enjoying a bittersweet moment. The brand is gone but that just makes the machine in their garage a bit more valuable.
Before They Were Famous Part 1
Before they were stars, many actors and musicians were just average Joe’s trying to make a buck while waiting to make it big. I’m sure they hoped that many of their early efforts would fade away on crappy VCR tapes never to be seen again and eventually forgotten.
Of course, that was before the internet. Thanks to modern technology, these examples of fine acting and suave career decisions will haunt them forever. Here’s two good examples for you:
John Travolta for SafeGuard Soap
Jason Alexander from Seinfeld for the McDLT
Retro Video of the Day – Spin Me Round
Pete Burns and Dead or Alive are considered by many to be one hit wonders but that actually isn’t true. The problem is their one big monster hit everyone remembers them for was so massive that it kind of set the bar pretty high in terms of trying to come up with a decent followup that would compare to Spin Me Round (Like A Record).
Before Pete became the mess that he is today, and before the countless remixes and remakes, he and the boys came up with some pretty catchy and memorable ditties but the one below is and will always be their greatest contribution to Retro dance parties everywhere.
Vintage Movie Inspired Sneakers
Here’s a collection of brand name sneakers that were inspired by major motion pictures. You can deny it if you want, but you know you wanted them. Some were very cool – others, not so much. You can certainly file some of these under what were they thinking. It would be interesting to see if anyone lost their jobs over some of these designs.
Click the hideous Air Jordan below to see the article:
Scary Old School Surgical Tools
You may want to pray the doctor is out. It seems kind of dumb to be squeamish about needles or having a prostate exam when you see the kinds of vintage instruments of terror doctors used back in the day.
Click the Vicodin popping doctor below to goto the article.
Vintage Ads From A Simpler Time – That Creep You Out!
You often hear of people talk about the good ol’ days because those were pure and innocent times. These days, we seem bombarded with TV and magazine ads that push the boundaries of good taste or obscenity.
Here’s a collection of ads from simpler times that used the innocent images of suicide, murder, wife beating and pedophilia to sell their wares. We’ve certainly come a long way – suddenly a half naked woman strutting her stuff doesn’t seem so bad!
Click the politically correct ad below to go to the article:
The Complete History of the BoomBox
This is the definitive guide to the history of the boombox or ghetto blaster as is was also known as. These battery sucking bohemoths were a staple in many playgrounds back in the day. Here is a complete history along with great examples of some of the obscure and oddball options that may or may not have survived the test of time.
Click the boombox to go to the article:
Star Wars – Lighter Side of the Dark Side
Here’s a couple of cool Star Wars related links that don’t really need much of an introduction.