Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Commercials
Vol. 6: Butterfinger
Here's the big one. The one that was both very important to both the product and the spokespersons in terms of making a big splash. Butterfinger is a chocolate bar with a flakey peanut butter inside (almost like flakey peanut brittle) covered in chocolate. Now this isn't the first celebrity endorsement. The bar is over 100 years old and their first was actually in a Shirley Temple movie, Baby Take a Bow as prominent product placement. The Simpsons was different. It was different for both.
See, yes, Butterfinger sales rose with the Simpsons ad campaign. But this was also key in raising Simpsons awareness. See, the first ad came out while the Simpsons were still a short on the Tracy Ullman Show. In all honesty, I expected to find an oral history or something online because it is so significant to making people know the Simpsons as characters and I think probably an important role in helping make the show a phenomenon before the show is able to stand on it's own two feet. It started in 1988 and was the show's longest continuing campaign. Though it stopped some time ago, it comes back in different forms from time to time, including Bart and Homer packaging for the 100th anniversary. The Simpsons itself would take potshots at the bar after the campaign but really, even they feel like relative softballs. Personally, while not my favourite bar, I think they are pretty good (though the better version is Crispy Crunch, which you should get if you are in Canada).
The Butterfinger Group
The Commercial:
Is it... The Simpsons?
Well, this is... tricky to gauge. Because when asking "is this the Simpsons", keeping era into account we need to ask "is this Ullman era Simpsons". There are janky looking background characters and that was a thing early in the series (though these ones, even by Jank Simpsons, seem of a very wrong model). Bart saying "neato" and "au contraire mon fraire" is fairly early Simpsons (the narrator seems tickled by "neato". I actually think when comparing to the show at the time, the dialogue is well-written. It feels weird to say because let's face it, it's not funny but it seems of a certain child-wit that works for what this is.
And, of course, this is the first appearance of everyone's favourite sad sack Milhouse, a character design so strong and a pathetic presence so intense, it had stayed with the show, becoming not only a canonical character but one of the most iconic of the non-family members. Now part of the reason that design is so strong is Groening designed him for an abandoned NBC product (which I would love to learn more about) and was re-used for the ad (Groening called him Milhouse after Richard Milhouse Nixon because it was the most unfortunate name he could imagine giving a child).
Did it Make the Product/Brand Look Good?
Not only delicious but necessary for survival. It's a cute gag. Milhouse will die now.
Overall
Yeah, there's lots to dunk on in the era. But selling out (the worst sin the 90s can think of) was probably key for early survival with the show. And this is actually a pretty solid ad for the product.
Here's a Comment
Vol. 6: Butterfinger
Here's the big one. The one that was both very important to both the product and the spokespersons in terms of making a big splash. Butterfinger is a chocolate bar with a flakey peanut butter inside (almost like flakey peanut brittle) covered in chocolate. Now this isn't the first celebrity endorsement. The bar is over 100 years old and their first was actually in a Shirley Temple movie, Baby Take a Bow as prominent product placement. The Simpsons was different. It was different for both.
See, yes, Butterfinger sales rose with the Simpsons ad campaign. But this was also key in raising Simpsons awareness. See, the first ad came out while the Simpsons were still a short on the Tracy Ullman Show. In all honesty, I expected to find an oral history or something online because it is so significant to making people know the Simpsons as characters and I think probably an important role in helping make the show a phenomenon before the show is able to stand on it's own two feet. It started in 1988 and was the show's longest continuing campaign. Though it stopped some time ago, it comes back in different forms from time to time, including Bart and Homer packaging for the 100th anniversary. The Simpsons itself would take potshots at the bar after the campaign but really, even they feel like relative softballs. Personally, while not my favourite bar, I think they are pretty good (though the better version is Crispy Crunch, which you should get if you are in Canada).
The Butterfinger Group
The Commercial:
Well, this is... tricky to gauge. Because when asking "is this the Simpsons", keeping era into account we need to ask "is this Ullman era Simpsons". There are janky looking background characters and that was a thing early in the series (though these ones, even by Jank Simpsons, seem of a very wrong model). Bart saying "neato" and "au contraire mon fraire" is fairly early Simpsons (the narrator seems tickled by "neato". I actually think when comparing to the show at the time, the dialogue is well-written. It feels weird to say because let's face it, it's not funny but it seems of a certain child-wit that works for what this is.
And, of course, this is the first appearance of everyone's favourite sad sack Milhouse, a character design so strong and a pathetic presence so intense, it had stayed with the show, becoming not only a canonical character but one of the most iconic of the non-family members. Now part of the reason that design is so strong is Groening designed him for an abandoned NBC product (which I would love to learn more about) and was re-used for the ad (Groening called him Milhouse after Richard Milhouse Nixon because it was the most unfortunate name he could imagine giving a child).
Did it Make the Product/Brand Look Good?
Not only delicious but necessary for survival. It's a cute gag. Milhouse will die now.
Overall
Yeah, there's lots to dunk on in the era. But selling out (the worst sin the 90s can think of) was probably key for early survival with the show. And this is actually a pretty solid ad for the product.
Here's a Comment
Wow. Sorry to hear that, dude. Stay strong with whatever the fuck you are talking about.
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