You might remember a version of this story from a couple of years ago … I go back and find the history of Alcoa’s Fantastic Finishes. More, though, it’s a memory of watching the NFL many years ago, before Red Zone Channels and constant highlights and football games on Sunday night. It is amazing to me how many people remember that same feeling of dread I felt when the “60 Minutes” ticker would start.
The 1974 divisional playoff between the Dolphins vs. Raiders. An Alcoa moment!
I would only take issue with the passage that reads: “HBM/Creamer creative director John Waldron came up with an idea: Let’s attach a 30-second commercial to a football vignette and make it all part of the game. It could be like a partnership between the NFL and Alcoa. This had never been done on sports television.”
Never believe what advertising people say about themselves. “Integration” of ads and shows goes back to the days of radio and was a staple of ad agencies in the 1940s and 50s, when they actually produced shows for their clients. Boxing and bowling both made use of the technique in that era.
I don’t remember the Alcoa part, but I definitely concur on the CBS and NBC differences. We were a Redskins’ household and my mom HATED the way NBC covered the games. To me, the crowd noise was more muted on CBS and the picture definitely wasn’t as bright. NBC, though, didn’t have the Madden/Summerall team.
Pedantic detail, the Macintosh 1984 ad ran twice:
“Chiat-Day wanted the commercial to qualify for upcoming advertising awards, so they ran it once at 1 AM at a small television station in Twin Falls, Idaho, KMVT, on December 15, 1983.”
From folklore.org
I will sometimes go to “You Tube” to watch the Miller Lite commercials. They are simply a national treasure and never fail to make me smile.
If I can plug my own blog…
http://pureblather.com/2015/12/21/a-holiday-message-from-our-sponsor-2015/