Cigarette Jingles Quiz
Dave Davis
[If you were born after 1965, you can probably skip this one,
for reasons mentioned below.]
For some reason, I find it a common experience of folks my age
that whether or not they ever smoked cigarettes, they frequently
remember the tunes and lyrics to the jingles from cigarette ads
that were on radio and TV at that time. (I believe pipe and
cigar ads lingered longer on the airwaves)
As you may know, such ads were banned in around 1968; thus, except for
museum-goers and some documentaries, no one has heard these since
then. They haven't been on the air, in contradistinction to the
musical oldies, which are ubitquitous. (Yes, some of these images
lingered on into the print media).
So, here's a brain tingle; extra credit on anything that you
can 'hear':
1. What is it that's 'To a smoker.....'
(or, 'Happiness is' what? )
2. What can (and can't) you take out of the country?
3. For whom was there a call?
4. Who inveigled us to "Taste me, taste me?"
5. Hum the theme to "Marlboro Country"
Extra credit: in what movie was this music used?
6. You get a lot to like in a what? (Filter, flavor, pack or box!)
7. What tastes good? Like what?
8. From what would one rather fight than switch?
9. "You've come a long, long way" to what?
E-mail me if you get more than six right. I'd like to build some
more anecdotal evidence. Don't post your responses. Most people
wouldn't care :-) If you *remember* (not *have heard about*) the ads
from an earlier generation than these, I'd be interested to hear about
that too.
Somehow I suspect that Darren (Derwood) Stevens had a hand in all
this. :-)
Feel free to send me any you think of that I haven't mentioned.
Dave Davis
These are my opinions and activities alone.
da...@westford.ccur.com *or* {harvard,uunet,petsd}!masscomp!daved
Random QOTD:
Now among Lydian women she in her
turn stands first as the redfingered
moon rising at sunset takes
precedence over stars around her;
her light spreads equally
on the salt sea and fields thick with bloom
Delicious dew pours down to freshen
roses, delicious thyme
and blossoming sweet clover; she wanders
aimlessly, thinking of gentle
Atthis, her heart hanging
heavy with longing in her little breast
--
She shouts aloud, Come! we know it;
thousand eared night repeats that cry
across the sea shining between us
Sappho
Dave Davis
Folks did quite well, and several agreed that these jingles seem
to stick with one, for apparently no valid reason! :-) I note that
most people either got them right, or didn't know (i.e., few
misidentifications).
I've included some interesting comments, pointers from respondents.
> 1. What is it that's 'To a smoker.....'
> (or, 'Happiness is' what? )
Steven Levine wrote,
SL>It's a Kent. This song existed outside of the commercial.
Joseph Strickland wrote,
JS> There was a series
JS> done that featured a bouncing ball following the lyric line
JS> as the song was being sung. Isn't memory amazing?
Yes. 'Happiness Is a Warm Puppy' is from Peanuts (Charley Brown, et
al.) I don't remember the song outside of the commercial, but
I have the dim impression that you're right.
> 2. What can (and can't) you take out of the country?
SL>You can take Salem out of the country's butt (as we used to
say).
Cute. I wonder if there's a collection of folk-parodies, jr-high
schoolyard stuff?
> 3. For whom was there a call?
Anthony Palombella writes,
AP>Phillip Morris (I'm too young to remember this
AP<>firsthand, but thanks to Spike Jones, Warner Bros.
AP>'toons and radio rebroad casts, this one is easy.)
I'm beinning to think Bugs Bunny is the secret shaman of America!
Yep. Some bellboy or some such walking through a large
club room, I think.
> 4. Who inveigled us to "Taste me, taste me?"
Doral.
Yes. The Dancing Package. I thought this was obscure, but several
folks got it.
> 5. Hum the theme to "Marlboro Country"
> Extra credit: in what movie was this music used?
AP> Hmm-hmmm, hm-hm, HMMM-hmmm... The Magnificent Seven.
AP> Music by Elmer Berstein.
Ken Kubey mentions that this was used in the movie City Slickers,
too.
Double-extra for naming the composer!
William D Sands got this one as well.
> 6. You get a lot to like in a what? (Filter, flavor, pack or box!)
> 7. What tastes good? Like what?
AP> Winston tastes good like a cigarette should. After
AP> complaints from watchdog groups, the next slogan was something
AP> like, "What would you rather have, good grammar or good taste."
AP> An aside: I remember as a 5-year old singing the rhyme:
AP> Winston tastes good like a ooh-ah
AP> Wanna piece of pie
AP> Pie too sweet
AP> Wanna piece of meat
AP> Meat too tough
AP> Wanna ride a bus
AP> Bus too full
AP> Wanna ride a bull
I love this.
We sang: "Winston Tastes bad, like the one I just had..."
> 8. From what would one rather fight than switch?
Tareyton. Tho' 'Terrytoons' would be funnier.
jim Blake says,
JB>When Tarryton lights came out, they tried the slogan "I'd rather
JB>light than fight", whatever that means.
Call the semantic police.
> 9. "You've come a long, long way" to what?
Virginia Slims
SL>A silly millimeter longer (101)
SL> A silly millimeter longer (101)
SL> Benson and Hedges?
Yes.
SL>Show us your Lark (not really a song, but a memorable ad
SL>campaign).
I draw a blank on this one.
Joel Levin writes,
JL>Do you remember "ibbidy bibbidy ibbidy bibbidy -- Sold, American!" (I
JL>can't even guess the real words, and I assume this went with some
JL>American Tobacco product, but I don't remember which one.
Nope, unless Bugs Bunny parodied it somewhere.
SL>LS/MFT (was pushed a lot on JACK BENNY) --
SL> "Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco"
I remember the words-for-the-letters but I now next to nothing about
the JB show.
Reaching further back, Eliot Shimoff writes:
EL>What has gone to war? (Lucky Strike Green -- the packs were green,
EL> but the dye was needed for the war effort.)
EL>Reach for a _______, not for a sweet. (Lucky Strikes again)
EL> Nine out of ten doctors prefer (Camels. Although the MDs I know
EL> prefer their wives ;-))
Grin.
AP has a question:
AP> This has been fun, but the real reason I'm writing is because I have
AP>a question I hope you can answer: whose slogan was, "Does your tobacco
AP>taste different lately?" I won't swear to it, but I think it's pipe
AP>tobacco. Any help is appreciated.
As does do...@ksr.com:
D>What would you walk a mile for?
I'd walk a mile, on a camel. :-)
JS>On a related note how about:
JS>Where there's ______ smoke there's fire.
JS> or, Step up to _______ and smile brother smile.
I don't know. Any takers?
JB>A question for which I don't know the answer: who's used the slogan
JB>"Cigarettes are like women, the best ones are thin and rich".
I don't know. They'd never get away with it, today!
JB>Parliament gives you extra margin -- a cool, clean quarter-inch
JB>away.
JB>Have a Lark, have a Lark, have a Lark today (to the tune of the
JB>William Tell Overture)
I should have remembered that one.
Mike Bixenman asks who shilled,
MB>"the micronite filter"
??
Warren Usui notes:
WU>Old TV commercials are amazing. A couple of years ago, I saw an old
WU>twilight zone tape complete with commercials. The biggest reaction from
WU>the audience was to the white knight in the "Stronger than Dirt" commercial.
Again,
>Feel free to send me any you think of that I haven't mentioned.
Thanks to all. It was fun.
Dave Davis Broken pipes, broken tools,
These are my opinions alone. people bending broken rules
da...@westford.ccur.com Hound dog howlin', bullfrog croakin'
{harvard,uunet,petsd}!masscomp!daved Everything is broken (B. Dylan)
QOTD:
"I feel careful thought, imagination, a waterbed,
a waterballoon and other assorted 'rubbery surfaces' can go along way
to getting a person started." --Jerry Langland (on General Relativity)
Joel B Levin
|MB>"the micronite filter"
|
|??
Kent.
/JBL
Anthony Palombella
>AP>Phillip Morris (I'm too young to remember this
>AP<>firsthand, but thanks to Spike Jones, Warner Bros.
>AP>'toons and radio rebroad casts, this one is easy.)
>I'm beinning to think Bugs Bunny is the secret shaman of America!
Absolutely!
>Joel Levin writes,
>JL>Do you remember "ibbidy bibbidy ibbidy bibbidy -- Sold, American!" (I
>JL>can't even guess the real words, and I assume this went with some
>JL>American Tobacco product, but I don't remember which one.
>Nope, unless Bugs Bunny parodied it somewhere.
Many times! Usually, it went something like this: someone would get
clobbered in one way or another such that some or all of his body would
vibrate, accompanied by a sound approximating the "ibbidy bibbidy"
auctioneer's patter. Another character (most often Daffy Duck rather than
Bugs, as I recall) would shout out, "Sold American!" or "Sold to an
American!"
My previous question, whose slogan was "Does your tobacco taste
different lately?" appears in Baseball Bugs and Herr Meets Hare among
others.
-- Tony
```````````````````````````````````````'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
HA! ...*Pronuon trouble.* It's not, "He doesn't have to shoot *you* now,"
it's, "He doesn't have to shoot *me* now." Well, I say he DOES have to shoot
me now! So SHOOT ME NOW! [][][][][][] pal...@beagle.colorado.edu
Joseph R. Strickland
|> JS>Where there's ______ smoke there's fire.
of a piano doing it like a torch number in a jazz bar. I
heard she did it to pay debts. That one _really_ sticks
in my mind.
|> JS> or, Step up to _______ and smile brother smile.
from Rembrandt then they'd sing the song barbershop style.
|>
|> I don't know. Any takers?
When the ad ban went into effect it was not just on cigs but smoking
_tobacco_ products. These were cigars. El Producto and White Owl
also ran TV ads but I don't remember the theme.
Also Sir Walter Raleigh, Carter Hall and Prince Albert ran ads. I
remember one was this cartoon that had in part
"Then you tried Baby's Breath but Baby's Breath tasted
like Dragon's Fire." I don't remember which pipe tobacco this was
but it was typical.
Smokeless products continue to run ads. Like Walt Garrison's pitch
for "put a peench between ya cheek n gum".
Hopefully in 20 yrs we'll be able to do beer ad trivia and marvel
at the tastelessness of those.
--
Joe Strickland
Steven Levine
strc...@utdallas.edu (Joseph R. Strickland) writes:
>|> JS>On a related note how about:
>|> JS>Where there's ______ smoke there's fire.
> Muriel. I remember Angie Dickinson cross-legged in front
> of a piano doing it like a torch number in a jazz bar. I
> heard she did it to pay debts. That one _really_ sticks
> in my mind.
That was, I believe, Edie (?) Adams, Ernie Kovaks widow,
rather than Angie Dickinson. Does Angie Dickinson even sing?
Steven Levine
ste...@cray.com
Eliot Shimoff
>
>When the ad ban went into effect it was not just on cigs but smoking
>_tobacco_ products. These were cigars. El Producto and White Owl
>also ran TV ads but I don't remember the theme.
"I'm a most happy fella, with a White Owl ...">
>
>Joe Strickland
--
Eliot Shimoff | n n n
shi...@umbc3.umbc.edu | X + Y = Z . Easy to prove no solutions
Ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu ... | for n greater than 2. Darn. Can't fit
Better luck next year! | it into this little .sig file. Oh well.
rodpu...@gmail.com
The filter fiber spins the smoke with every little twist;
It means now you get the flavor that you shouldn’t hadda oughta missed.”
My recollection is that if was Kent, touting its “Micronite” filter, but I haven’t been able to find the ad for confirmation.