Blasts from the Past

What's the first ad you can remember? The second? The third?

Maybe I was destined for advertising at a young age, because I can distinctly remember some classics I saw on the old black and white tube.

First one: Red Ball Jets, a predecessor to Nike. The ads specifically promised what Nike hasn't ever dared say, that being, that I would "run faster and jump higher."

Here's the second one that comes to mind. Salem cigarettes. They used a catchy little jingle, and then in the last stanza of their TV spot, left off the final the four or five words. My mind always automatically filled them in -- and does to this day. Oh, the shame of running cigarette ads during programs a grade-schooler would watch. By the way, the ditty went, "You can take Salem out of the country but...you can't take the country out of Salem."

Number three: Twenty mule team Borax. Oh yeah, Ronald Reagan himself would ad lib how effective Borax soap was during breaks in my favorite cowboy show, Death Valley Days. He was the host of the show, and sounded as believable then as he did when running for President.

But my favorite of all from boyhood days was a bumper sticker that caught my attention in 1963. I pondered over it briefly, and then the light came on. I suppose that's what any good ad does -- invites me to participate mentally, and rewards me for that participation. The bumper sticker simply read: AuH2O. Translated: Goldwater. Barry Goldwater was running against Lyndon Johnson, and if I had been old enough to vote, that bumper sticker would have earned my nod.