This scandalous ad for Parker Brother’s video games was the first 900 phone service ad I remember seeing. It was an odd concept at the time: you call a number and they bill fifty cents to your phone account, just for calling the number. I remember calling this number like 20 times one day after school and never getting through. Once I got through and it was a voice ad for the Popeye video game with someone talking like Popeye. I remember feeling really jipped.
I guess I should have known with great lines like:
-
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Q-BERT’S A HOPPER
And this place is too! -
JEFF IS A WIMP
I am not wimpy!
I play Popeye! -
COILY’s A SNAKE!
-
I got 700 in English
BIG DEAL!
I GOT 007
FOR MY BIRTHDAY -
GYRUSS IS COMING
-
I AM NOT SHORT!
-
Super Cobra’s the … think you’re good …the squeeze!
And speaking of hopper. The other day I told one of my kids to throw something in the hopper, and they looked at me like I had three heads. I told them, back in my day, we used to call toilets hoppers. I felt really old. Be sure to teach your kids this word, or it will be lost forever.
