Star Wars Minute: LIVE! in L.A. Part 2
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←Live in L.A. Part I |
Date
August 20th, 2014
Summary
Discussion of classic Star Wars-related TV commercials.
Guests
Matt Belknap, Joseph Scrimshaw, and Tony Thaxton.
Notes
- Recorded live at the Nerdmelt Showroom at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.
- No Kenner toy ads have been included; they may be covered separately at a later date.
NES Star Wars Game
- Basically a home invasion.
- Not a good idea to scare your parents - the ones that are going to buy you the game.
- Seems like a public service announcement (PSA).
- Darth Vader and the stormtroopers represent the mother's fear.
- By buying her kids the game she can alleviate her fear. This is the hidden message of the ad.
- What happened to the sister and dad from the start of the ad?
- Is this like what happened to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru?
- Are the Imperial forces (including Darth Vader) there because they're worried that these boys are controlling real rebel spaceships and attacking them?
- Or is it a "Last Starfighter" thing and Vader wants to recruit them?
- Or does he have other reasons entirely?
- This game and ad comes from the dark ages. Very weird timing for something Star Wars related.
- The characters have giant deformed 8-bit heads in the game.
- It was not a popular game or console by the time the game was released in 1991.
Majik Market
- Everyone that has anything to do with Comic Book Stores knows the type of guy in the ad.
- The hosts have never heard of Majik Market. It was a convenience store not linked to gas stations; like an early 7-11.
- The ad was from the era when Star Wars could be slapped onto anything and it would sell.
- The ad is from fall 1977 - it was one of the first licensed Star Wars product.
- The guy in the ad is excited about Star Wars but doesn't know any of the terms yet (eg he says "the guy lassos the thing"; "laser swords").
- Also, spoilers.
- And why is this guy the spokesperson? Shouldn't it be a cool 70s kid? He must be related to the Dunkin' Donuts guy from the same era.
- Who is he talking to? Must be an annoyed customer.
- The hosts all had the Burger King Star Wars glasses that were released shortly after the movie.
- The Majik Market cups are worth a fortune now.
Star Wars Underoos
- From 1980. Must have been rushed for the release of The Empire Strikes Back.
- The ad is an insult to Boba Fett.
- C-3PO's dancing is very awkward - not "fancy".
- The droids are for girls due to the lack of female characters in Star Wars.
- The underoos range and what they are.
- The strange sound effects and timing in the ad.
- This ad is from a different time.
- Many of the hosts owned these as kids.
Star Wars Drunk Driving PSA
- The voices are not matched to the correct characters.
- This is not from the movie - it was recreated (badly) after the movie.
- Perhaps this ad was made as a message to guys like the Majik Market guy.
- Is Chewbacca usually the designated driver? Or is it usually Han?
- The spaceship in the ad is NOT the Millennium Falcon so don't try to fit it into continuity. Its just a freighter that looks like the Millennium Falcon - this has been described in EU.
- There is a lot of quality neck-wear being worn by the characters in the ad. This is clearly to cover up the masks.
- Two of the characters in the ad did have a relationship in the "Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina" book. Pete describes this story in detail.
Final comments
- Star Wars was the first movie that Matt ever saw in the theater (at 3 or 4 years of age) and Empire was a big deal for him.
- He remembers that at around the time of Empire the Ben Cooper character masks were released and there were reports of kids using other unsafe household items for costumes.
- He knew a kid who said his dad was the lawyer for a case that got certain shooting toys banned in the 80s.
Meta Minute
- 33:26 podcast episode length.
- Cold-open: Intro - and promotion for starwarsminute.com/merch.
- More special episodes like this will be released over time.
Quotes
- Joseph: ...there's snow biz like snow biz.
- Matt: Did you see when the alien drank the thing?
- Pete: This is going to go too deep into it. Alex: Now its going too... Pete: Yeah, now its going to go too deep; sorry, I know you guys have listened to all 80 hours of us talking about Star Wars and Empire.
Links
http://www.starwarsminute.com/2014/08/20/star-wars-minute-live-in-l-a-part-2/
Star Wars Ads
NES Star Wars Game
Majik Market
Star Wars Underoos
Star Wars Drunk Driving PSA