January 24, 2010

He’s Still Watching

I remember when an average evening might consist of getting fucked up and making fun of the television. Laughing until my lungs hurt. This commercial aired around NYC in the mid-’80s. It resided on some dog-eared VHS tape containing Newmark & Lewis’s peculiar TV jingle that I used to view over and over, like a cocaine lab monkey. I copied it for friends (like Otto Mannix) who appreciated the truly absurd. Often I’d also put the lavishly government-funded “Stop the Madness” celebrity anti-drug music video tardfest on the same cassette; good for hardcore belly laughs back when the shit was contemporary, let alone now. (Especially stoned… I seem to vaguely recall.)

Thirty seconds of “Dick Lewis is Watching” is so densely goofy and action-packed, it’s hard to know where to begin. From its odd conceptual framework (Dick Lewis as a voyeuristic yet benevolent Big Brother, making sure those prices stay low!), to the “street level” 1980s signifiers (rollerskates, cheesy “rock” guitar, boombox, racial tokenism), to its insane vision of an impossibly perky New York City where singing people have spontaneous orgasms about their favorite home electronics retailer, this ad had its manicured finger on the urban pulse of… Dick Lewis?! At least it did until a few years later when all Dick’s stores went bankrupt.

Here’s more great advice: If you want more NY/NJ broadcast ads from that strange era, there’s a nice, tidy selection over here.

SSM - “You’ll Be Glad You Did”

Rick at 11:58 pm

Comments (3)

3 CommentsÈ

With DICK LEWIS watching, Oceania can finally defeat the corrupting influences of Eastasia!

Great fun-memory inducing post; I was always a fan of that NYC-based salon whose catchphrase was “OH, Di-Anne!” and of course those masterpieces of post-minimalism genius: the ads of Tommy Carvel. Fudgey the Whale, come back! All is forgiven!

Comment by Ivan Ñ January 25, 2010 @ 5:16 am
Yes, we would go to Sounds Video upstairs on 9th st. and rent shit like “Last House on the Left”, and “Murphy’s Law”. The Newmark and Lewis ad was still running at that time. And as we see here, it still retains its relevance! As too does Stop The Madness, featuring Nancy Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. (i still have the tape of that somewhere.)

Comment by General Urko Ñ January 25, 2010 @ 8:58 pm
I for one appreciate the fact that someone is watching over me. Disillusioned with conventional faith systems and abandoned by our traditional father figures, it is reassuring to know that somewhere out there a fair but stern pair of eyes monitors my movements and purchases, helping me save money “and so much more.”

Comment by Artie Philie Ñ January 26, 2010 @ 2:07 pm