Great video. I remember the funny and slick John Cleese Sony adverts, there were quite a few of them over several years. The 'snooker balls' Trinitron advert is probably the most memorable one. No doubt Sony had a bigger marketing budget than any of its competitors and knew how to make good use of it.
After seeing the old tech adverts I look at my phone now and think wow! how far we have come, and it seems to happen around us and we don't really notice until we look back at these items.
It’s so true as a kid in the 70s I used talk about how amazing it would be to watch tv on something that you hold in your hand and now I’m here doing that and messing you at the time on my phone that doesn’t have a wire 😂 it’s insane isn’t it
Did Hugh Laurie voice over on the Duracell battery ad, sounds like him? I was a kid in the 80s/90s but I can't remember many of these, except the AOL one, I loved the lady helper, and the Josie Lawrence pretend hoovering ad. That's such a good advert, and the BT pager one, and the John Cleese cat one, because cats in anything make it better!
I'm not hearing Hugh Laurie in that voice, but who knows!? I think Josie Lawrence is brilliant. She's always made me laugh since I first saw her on Whose Line Is It Anyway in the early 90s.
Yeah, I was pretty sure that was Anna Karen. She was always good at playing the 'less attractive' characters, even though she was quite pretty off camera.
BT: "this is the sound of deals being struck, data being exchanged, contracts being sent, business being done, and people looking at pictures of ladies' bottoms...."
Bloody hell we had that exact video star video recorder my dad got it half price because one of the neighbours worked at the Ferguson factory so he used to get them out the back door 😂
AOL: the company that people now only remember for stuffing billions of installation CDs in every magazine for best part of a decade that would always be left behind on racks at WHSmith.
I always avoided AOL as a provider. A couple of friends had AOL and it 'installed' on their computers, pretty much taking over with its intrusive branding. No thanks.
Good luck finding one that still works. I'd have a broken one though, just to look at on display. The VCR I have now was bought in the late 2000s when they were only just still being manufactured. Looks modern by 80s toploader standards.
@@scottcarson3004 Damn! What are we talking here? Like, alison hammond, vanessa feltz kinda weight? Lol. Those remote controls were hard and heavy too. I remember repeating everything my dad was saying, and he got so mad he threw the remote at me from across the room, lol. Hit me on my elbow and I'd never felt pain quite like it.😂
@@RetroSteveUK yeah, I actually wouldn't mind it if it didn't work. I'd definitely have it as a collection piece and put it on display. I mean, I could have a go at fixing it, but I wouldn't really know what i was doing. 😂
@@TheRetroManRandySavage I think there are still businesses out there that would repair videos, but it would probably involve a long drive and an expensive fee. Best bet these days is to find working tech on ebay. I got one of my technics cassette decks from ebay for about £60. A 1980 model and it's still working with great sound quality.
Oh! The horny monk? 😂 Yeah I like to slip the odd 'slightly subversive' description in when I can. Kind of a hidden easter egg for those who can be bothered to read the detail.
The color blindness video is unintentionally funny now as I wouldn't be surprised if many Americans don't know the word "claret". Before the first time I heard someone British say it, I thought Slough was named after a skin problem.
If a VHS cassette advert doesn't feature a skeleton singing and dancing to music by The Rolling Stones then I'm not interested 😄 But seriously, those were so good I don't know why anybody else bothered, and by the look of that Memorex advert they clearly didn't - what an insipid ad.
I was never tempted by AOL, with their awful software and walled garden, despite the ubiquity of their CDs. (I once saw a picture of a throne someone created after collecting thousands of them, which may be the single time they were ever of worthwhile use). I can't imagine any 1990s digital assistant being any worse than Siri though, fictional or not. (Not that I'm bitter about it or anything, you understand. It's not like Siri just called someone in the middle of the night when, in a silent house, it interpreted "Hey Siri, skip forward two minutes" as an instruction to phone someone. 🤬🤬🤬 But enjoying these old ads calmed me down 👍)
I hated AOL back then. It was the heavy-handed marketing push and the fact that if you installed it, it pretty much took over your computer. Someone I knew at the time who was a computer wiz, described AOL as "Internet access for simpletons." 😆
Who-ever is on the other side of this content.......... I like you.
Great video. I remember the funny and slick John Cleese Sony adverts, there were quite a few of them over several years. The 'snooker balls' Trinitron advert is probably the most memorable one. No doubt Sony had a bigger marketing budget than any of its competitors and knew how to make good use of it.
After seeing the old tech adverts I look at my phone now and think wow! how far we have come, and it seems to happen around us and we don't really notice until we look back at these items.
Definitely. It's like a gradual drip-feed of new technology that you don't really notice.
It’s so true as a kid in the 70s I used talk about how amazing it would be to watch tv on something that you hold in your hand and now I’m here doing that and messing you at the time on my phone that doesn’t have a wire 😂 it’s insane isn’t it
Did Hugh Laurie voice over on the Duracell battery ad, sounds like him? I was a kid in the 80s/90s but I can't remember many of these, except the AOL one, I loved the lady helper, and the Josie Lawrence pretend hoovering ad. That's such a good advert, and the BT pager one, and the John Cleese cat one, because cats in anything make it better!
I'm not hearing Hugh Laurie in that voice, but who knows!? I think Josie Lawrence is brilliant. She's always made me laugh since I first saw her on Whose Line Is It Anyway in the early 90s.
Yes I think it was Hugh Laurie doing the voiceover on that one. If not, then it sounded very much like him!
Was trying to think who that was (Josie L)
@3.30 Anna Karen by the look? These ads are great! Just think how much a TV and VCR cost back then! No wonder lots of people rented. Thanks Steve :)
Anna Karen 😍😍😍😍😍
Yeah, I was pretty sure that was Anna Karen. She was always good at playing the 'less attractive' characters, even though she was quite pretty off camera.
Olive, from on the busses.
BT: "this is the sound of deals being struck, data being exchanged, contracts being sent, business being done, and people looking at pictures of ladies' bottoms...."
....and things are sooo much better now on tick tock.
🤣🤣
nice compilation. thx for the upload.
Bloody hell we had that exact video star video recorder my dad got it half price because one of the neighbours worked at the Ferguson factory so he used to get them out the back door 😂
AOL: the company that people now only remember for stuffing billions of installation CDs in every magazine for best part of a decade that would always be left behind on racks at WHSmith.
In the US, it was more like, "Oooooo, free coasters".
I always avoided AOL as a provider. A couple of friends had AOL and it 'installed' on their computers, pretty much taking over with its intrusive branding. No thanks.
And AOL, the company that would never let you leave them lol
I'm on the lookout for an early 80s VCR.
I want a top loader like the one we had as kids.
If you find one, don't forget to take a couple of piano movers along when you pick it up. They weighed more than Les Dawson's mother in law. 😳😄
Good luck finding one that still works. I'd have a broken one though, just to look at on display. The VCR I have now was bought in the late 2000s when they were only just still being manufactured. Looks modern by 80s toploader standards.
@@scottcarson3004 Damn!
What are we talking here? Like, alison hammond, vanessa feltz kinda weight? Lol.
Those remote controls were hard and heavy too.
I remember repeating everything my dad was saying, and he got so mad he threw the remote at me from across the room, lol.
Hit me on my elbow and I'd never felt pain quite like it.😂
@@RetroSteveUK yeah, I actually wouldn't mind it if it didn't work. I'd definitely have it as a collection piece and put it on display.
I mean, I could have a go at fixing it, but I wouldn't really know what i was doing. 😂
@@TheRetroManRandySavage I think there are still businesses out there that would repair videos, but it would probably involve a long drive and an expensive fee. Best bet these days is to find working tech on ebay. I got one of my technics cassette decks from ebay for about £60. A 1980 model and it's still working with great sound quality.
I love your title description for the Nokia advert 11.40 😂 I miss my old Nokia's. I still have some of them and wonder if the batteries are any good 🤔
Oh! The horny monk? 😂 Yeah I like to slip the odd 'slightly subversive' description in when I can. Kind of a hidden easter egg for those who can be bothered to read the detail.
First up, Andre Preview.
I noticed he was pressing all the right buttons, but not necessarily in the right order.
So a hologrammatic personal assistant came with every AOL package? That beats Alexa or Syrian
🇸🇾 Syrian?
2:04 I love that advert, lol. It screams 80s, doesn't it.😂
The color blindness video is unintentionally funny now as I wouldn't be surprised if many Americans don't know the word "claret". Before the first time I heard someone British say it, I thought Slough was named after a skin problem.
6:59 sounds like Timothy West
Definitely sounds like him.
If a VHS cassette advert doesn't feature a skeleton singing and dancing to music by The Rolling Stones then I'm not interested 😄 But seriously, those were so good I don't know why anybody else bothered, and by the look of that Memorex advert they clearly didn't - what an insipid ad.
Yeah, terrible. I remember the catchphrase, but not the ads. This example is probably why.
I was never tempted by AOL, with their awful software and walled garden, despite the ubiquity of their CDs. (I once saw a picture of a throne someone created after collecting thousands of them, which may be the single time they were ever of worthwhile use). I can't imagine any 1990s digital assistant being any worse than Siri though, fictional or not. (Not that I'm bitter about it or anything, you understand. It's not like Siri just called someone in the middle of the night when, in a silent house, it interpreted "Hey Siri, skip forward two minutes" as an instruction to phone someone. 🤬🤬🤬 But enjoying these old ads calmed me down 👍)
I hated AOL back then. It was the heavy-handed marketing push and the fact that if you installed it, it pretty much took over your computer. Someone I knew at the time who was a computer wiz, described AOL as "Internet access for simpletons." 😆
♥
0:55 is that Michael palin doing the voiceover?
I think it might be a bit too posh for his voice, but it's definitely very similar.
god, i'm old at 58 !!
Neil The Hippie in the Ferguson Super Planar advert, he looks almost unrecognisable without his long hair though.
"VEGETABLE RIGHTS AND PEACE!!!"✌
I thought it was funny his name is Nigel Planer, and he's advertising Planar TVs.
Who's the girl though? (Got the name Natasha in my head)
Edit - I think Natasha McElhone.
@@nellyfett2681I think it’s Haydn Gwynne
0:34 - Sounds like Michael Palin?
Somebody else mentioned that. I'm not entirely sure if it is or not.