Commercials


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

“I did a Right Guard commercial, I did a Midas Muffler commercial. One commercial I did won an Andy Award, which was an award given to the best commercials that year, so the byline in ‘Variety’ was ‘Amos wins Andy.’” - John Amos, Actor

Commercials describe advertisements created to sell a product, concept or service.

Highlights
John Amos on appearing in a well-known McDonalds commercial
Walter Cronkite on trying to correct grammatical ad copy; he antagonized Winston cigarettes and never did another commercial
Ricardo Montalban on his ads for Chrysler's Cordoba
Florence Henderson on the famous Wesson oil jingle
William Clotworthy on memorable TV commercials on which he worked
Barbara Feldon on the commercial she did for Revlon for Top Brass where she growls like a tiger
Who talked about this genre

Jason Alexander

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Jason Alexander on commercials he did when he was starting out

John Amos

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John Amos on appearing in commercials 
John Amos on appearing in a well-known McDonalds commercial

Hank Azaria

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Hank Azaria on his first professional acting job in an Italian gum commercial

Paris Barclay

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Paris Barclay on co-directing a PSA for "AIDS: It's nobody's fault and everybody's problem" with Elizabeth Taylor

Allan Burns

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Allan Burns on creating "Cap'n Crunch"

Phil Carey

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Phil Carey on doing commercials for Granny Goose while under contract for Laredo

Marcy Carsey

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Marcy Carsey on acting in commercials

Stan Chambers

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Stan Chambers on selling and hosting ads for KTLA in the early 1950s

Art Clokey

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Art Clokey on animated TV advertising campaigns he did for Coca-Cola

William Clotworthy

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William Clotworthy on commercials for American Tobacco
William Clotworthy on the Lucky Strike bulls eye
William Clotworthy on the 1952 political campaign and BBDO representing the Republican party - Eisenhower; on how they got Ike to wear makeup
William Clotworthy on loving radio commercials
William Clotworthy on memorable TV commercials on which he worked

Henry Colman

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Henry Colman details being production coordinator on Kraft Television Theatre
Henry Colman on working in as a commercial producer at an Emil Mogul Advertising agency in 1956; on working on Pillsbury commercials for Arthur Godfrey and His Friends

Walter Cronkite

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Walter Cronkite on trying to correct grammatical ad copy; he antagonized Winston cigarettes and never did another commercial

Richard Donner

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Richard Donner on opening his own commercial company

Louis Dorfsman

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Louis Dorfsman on creating on-air promos for CBS

Patty Duke

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Patty Duke on commercials in which she acted as a child

Linda Ellerbee

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Linda Ellerbee on starting her production company, Lucky Duck Productions, and on her Maxwell House commercials

Danny Epstein

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Danny Epstein on he and Joe Raposo playing music for Jim Henson for his commercial appearances

Barbara Feldon

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Barbara Feldon on the commercial she did for Revlon for Top Brass where she growls like a tiger

James Garner

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James Garner on his popular Polaroid commercials

Marge Greene

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Marge Greene on writing and performing early television commercials
Marge Greene on performing in commercials when Marge and Jeff ended

Donald Hall

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Donald Hall on Hallmark's television commercials

Jon Hamm

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Jon Hamm on going to dark places while playing "Don Draper" on Mad Men and how "Don's" journey ends in the final episode (the Coca-Cola commercial)

Florence Henderson

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Florence Henderson on her commercials for Wesson Oil
Florence Henderson on appearing in live television commercials
Florence Henderson on the famous Wesson oil jingle

Paul Henning

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Producer Paul Henning on ending cigarette ads on The Beverly Hillbillies

Stanley Hubbard

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Stanley Hubbard on the then-current state and then-future of television advertising and the impact of the internet on television

Charles Lisanby

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Charles Lisanby on some of the commercials he art directed including: Merrill Lynch and Dr. Pepper

Barry Livingston

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Barry Livingston on appearing in a Superbowl ad for Heineken directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt

Stewart MacGregory

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Stewart MacGregory on live commercials for Kraft Television Theatre

Penny Marshall

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Penny Marshall on her Head & Shoulders shampoo commercial with Farrah Fawcett

John A. Martinelli

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John Martinelli on the difference between editing commercials and television shows

Anne Meara

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Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara on their Blue Nun radio commercials

Bill Melendez

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Bill Melendez on working for Playhouse Pictures animating spots for Ford Motor Company
Bill Melendez on animating spots for the Ford Falcon featuring Charles M .Schulz's "Peanuts" characters
Bill Melendez on the content of the Ford Motor Company commercials featuring the "Peanuts" gang
Bill Melendez on commercials produced by his production company

Ricardo Montalban

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Ricardo Montalban on his ads for Chrysler's Cordoba

Mary Tyler Moore

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Mary Tyler Moore on being "Happy Hotpoint" on commercials for the sponsor of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

Howard Morris

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Howard Morris on directing commercials, including one with George Burns

Bill Moyers

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Bill Moyers on the "Daisy" ad for the 1964 Presidential campaign

Bill Mumy

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Bill Mumy on doing commercials

Thomas Murphy

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Thomas Murphy on the role of the advertising agency in the television business in the '50s
Thomas Murphy on advertising in the early days of television
Thomas Murphy on working at the Kenyon & Eckhardt ad agency

Leonard Nimoy

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Leonard Nimoy on why villains were not allowed to smoke on Ziv Television Programs' syndicated shows, due to sponsorship, circa 1950s-60s

Don Pardo

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Don Pardo on his work in commercials

Estelle Parsons

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Estelle Parsons on her first acting roles on television and on appearing in commercials, and on Mort Werner

Charlotte Rae

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Charlotte Rae on appearing in several commercials in the '60s and '70s

Ed Resnick

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Ed Resnick on shooting television commercials

Maria Riva

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Actress Maria Riva on being the spokesperson for Alcoa (and learning how to demonstrate the use of aluminum foil on "live" TV) on The Alcoa Hour in the 1950s

Doris Roberts

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Doris Roberts on appearing in Glade commercials

Isabel Sanford

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Isabel Sanford on appearing in a series of Old Navy and Denny's commercials with Sherman Hemsley

Joe Sedelmaier

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Joe Sedelmaier on the state of television advertising in the '60s
Joe Sedelmaier on incorporating more subtlety into television advertisements
Joe Sedelmaier on his Federal Express commercials
Joe Sedelmaier on his Alaska Airlines commercials
Joe Sedelmaier on his preference to use film in his advertisements
Joe Sedelmaier on turning down clients and his affinity for comedic commercials
Joe Sedelmaier on gaining creative control over his advertisements
Joe Sedelmaier on Southern Airways putting his TV commercial agency on the map
Joe Sedelmaier on Wendy's "Russian Fashion Show" commercials
Joe Sedelmaier on Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" campaign with Clara Peller
Joe Sedelmaier on discovering Clara Peller, Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" lady
Joe Sedelmaier on his famous, fast-talking Federal Express series of commercials
Joe Sedelmaier on creating commercials for Valvoline
Joe Sedelmaier on creating Eyewitness News commercials
Joe Sedelmaier on his Jartran commercials
Joe Sedelmaier on creating Mr. Coffee commercials
Joe Sedelmaier on foreign commercials he created
Joe Sedelmaier on Federal Express commercials he created
Joe Sedelmaier on structuring his commercial rates and dealing with the heads of the companies
Joe Sedelmaier on the effect his ads had on Wendy's
Joe Sedelmaier on Wendy's "Parts is Parts" commercial
Joe Sedelmaier on Wendy's "Russian Fashion Show" commercial
Joe Sedelmaier on the then-current state of advertising
Joe Sedelmaier on advice to aspiring advertising professionals
Joe Sedelmaier on creating commercials for AAMCO and HP
Joe Sedelmaier on creating commercials for Texaco Super Unleaded and the process of casting commercials

Hazel Shermet

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Hazel Shermet on the audition process for television commercials

John Silva

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John Silva on introducing Lawrence Welk to the ten-minute interval between commercials

Jean Stapleton

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Jean Stapleton on refusing to reprise "Edith Bunker" or a likeness of her in television commercials

Mary Kay Stearns

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Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on commercials they appeared in
Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on their commercials as spokespeople for The U.S. Steel Hour

Johnny Stearns

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Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on commercials they appeared in
Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on their commercials as spokespeople for The U.S. Steel Hour

Leonard Stern

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Leonard Stern on Jackie Gleason, who memorized his lines, making a mistake on a commercial for Schick

Jerry Stiller

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Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara on their Blue Nun radio commercials

Daniel J. Travanti

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Daniel J. Travanti on moving to Los Angeles for his acting career, and on appearing in commercials

Helen Wagner

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Helen Wagner on appearing in Reynolds Wrap commercials on Mr. Peepers

Mike Wallace

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Mike Wallace on his work as a pitchman for Peter Pan peanut butter on Super Circus, and the sponsor's exit after a live TV incident involving elephants

Matthew Weiner

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Matthew Weiner on his disapproval of real ads written in the style of Mad Men strategically placed during the show
Matthew Weiner on using real life products and companies on Mad Men, leading up to the Coca-Cola commercial finale

Joseph M. Wilcots

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Joseph M. Wilcots on shooting early commercials using doctored products
Joseph M. Wilcots on doing visual effects for commercials

Lauren Zalaznick

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Lauren Zalaznick on making the transition from feature films to television via making promos for MTV

All Genre

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