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Afternoon Palate Cleanser: Vintage Apple Commercial Highlights Christmas Ruined By DOS Prompts

Eve Batey — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:30:00 GMT

Most of you whippersnappers will be confused by this ancient commercial from Apple, in which a family's Christmas Eve is ruined by the DOS prompts required by their brand new "Multimedia Computer." But trust your Grandma Eve, this is not an entirely inaccurate representation of what things were like in the early days of home computing. Not at all.

Aired by the Cupertino company in 1994, when the Macintosh vs PC battle was just getting into gear, you can watch two parents get increasingly frustrated as they attempt to enter seemingly random strings of letters into their Christmas gift of a PC, insert and remove a CD-ROM (kids, ask your parents), and eventually call their computer company's customer support, which apparently answers the phone on Christmas Eve! Guess that's the one thing the past has got going for it — none of that infernally-useless "instant-message live with support now!" crap.

In the interest of equal Mac/PC war representation (and also because it is kind of cute) here's an IBM commercial from Christmas, 1984. Grandma wants a radio AND writing paper!

[h/t SF Egotist]

Casting Call: Verizon Seeks 'Endearing' S.F. Cyclist With 'Natural Charm'

Brock Keeling — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:05:58 GMT

Sorry about the late notice here, guys. But Verizon is looking for SF cyclists for a $1,500 gig. Do you fit the bill? You should be an "endearing" male cyclist between the ages of 30-38 and are white or hispanic with "natural charm." (Oh that is rich.) Here are the details:

Commercial audition for Verizon
Usage: Network, Cable, Syndication, Spot, DRTV, Internet, New Media, Multicultural market TV use

Broadcast territories: US, Puerto Rico

Run: 6 weeks

Rate: SAG scale approx. $1500 for the day + residuals

Role is for: Male/30-38 years old/Caucasian, Hispanic/Mediterranean
He is fit and attractive. He is biking up and down hills in San Francisco with ease. He should be endearing with a natural charm one of those cool SF guys. He is fit but we do not want him to look like some uber-athlete - not like bike riding or being an athlete is his job (OK if you are a messenger). For the commercial we see him biking throughout the city, visiting some of the more noticeable landmarks in San Francisco. For the shoot he will need to have the stamina to bike A LOT throughout the day.
I will be holding auditions in a casting studio this Thursday and Friday, the 20th and 21st in downtown SF. There will be a callback for people the client would like to see again on Monday, January 7th. If you get booked the shoot will be in SF on Saturday, January 12th. You would need to be available all day.
If you feel you fit the bill and are available for the above mentioned dates, please email me at greggcasting@gmail.com

Be sure to include:

- A picture of yourself - be sure I can actually tell what you look like from your picture. An additional one with you riding would be great but not a must.
- A short note about who you are so I can get a feel of your personality.
- Your bicycling experience. What kind of rider are you? Do you feel you can hack a full day of riding throughout the City - some hills included?
- Which day would be better for you if I want to get you in for an audition in SF this Thursday or Friday? What time of day is best for you?
- Are you available for potential callback on Monday, January 7th?
- Are you available if you get booked for the shoot in SF on Saturday, January 12th?

If I am interested in getting you in for an audition I will contact you and give you a time and the location of the audition at that time.
**FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE YOU FEEL FITS THE BILL**

Thank you,
Gregg Cohen (casting director)
greggcasting@gmail.com

[via Cyclelicious]

Billy Mays Found Dead

Brock Keeling — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 09:09:33 GMT

Billy Mays, 50, famously loud and bearded informmercial spokesman, died this morning. (Egads! First Ed, Farrah, Jackson, now this. Too much to bear, folks.) According to reports, Mays finished wrapping up an Oxiclean commercial in Philadelphia the other day, and returned home to Florida. He was found dead early this morning in his Tampa, Florida home by his wife. No word yet on his exact cause of death. But Deborah, Mays' wife, released the following statement, "Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

Film du Jour: "Pansy"

Brock Keeling — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:10:47 GMT

The Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco produced the above Yes on Prop. R ad, which pays homage to Lyndon B Johnson's infamous "Daisy" ad from the 1964 Presidential campaign.

Fine, the New 3G iPhone Commercial

Brock Keeling — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:59:38 GMT

iPhone 3G from Dylan Staley on Vimeo.

God. We really don't want to post a commercial -- especially one espousing the alleged virtues of the iPhone, Apple, and Jobian theory -- but we're going to relent. Here, for you fine folks, is the brand-spanking new 3G iPhone commercial.

Speaking of Steve Jobs, anyone notice he's been hitting the disco dust hard lately? He's pin-thin, people.

Via.

Clinton Campaign Using Black Panic Tactics?

Brock Keeling — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:11:36 GMT

SFist's dear neighbor's, Wired, came across this racially explosive internet meme on the Daily Kos, which is set to have Democrats duking it out online. According to the Daily Kos, someone in the Clinton campaign took Obama's image from this video and darkened (a la OJ Simpson gracing the covers of Time and Newsweek) for this commercial. According to the Kos:

In case you needed yet another reason to despise Hillary Clinton and her vermin strategists, she's now running an ad blatantly lying about Obama's subcommittee. Her ad includes debate footage heavily doctored to make Obama blacker.

So to sum things up, politics is still a dirty game but you should act surprised with self-righteous indignation whenever this point rears its ugly head. Oh, and while we're busy with our in-fighting, McCain is just going to go ahead and steal the Oval Office if that's cool with you guys. Thanks.

Name That Film Shoot

Leanne Maxwell — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:02:42 GMT

We're guessing it was for a commercial of some sort. They filmed a Quaker Oats commercial from the roof of our apartment building a month or two ago, and there were as many people, equipment, and cables stuffed into our lobby that afternoon as we've seen during feature film shoots around town.

Anyone got any info? Update: it's probably for a Milagro Tequila commercial. We thought "milagro" was a Hollywood code word or something.

Photos taken by the author