| COMMERCIAL VAULT |
| by Adam King |
Hello there. This month instead of Atari
commercials, I'm reviewing two commercials for the Intellivision, since Alan
Hewston is doing the Many Faces of Burgertime. After all, we can't do Atari ads
all the time. The first ad is Burgertime, the second
is another Data East classic, Lock 'n Chase, instead of Bump 'n Jump.
Both these ads can be found on the Intellivision Lives CD. It's a great product
for all you INTV fans out there. Where else will you find a classicgaming disc
with 75 games on it?
BurgerTime
This has to be one of the most famous ads of the classigaming era. BurgerTime
joins the very short list of "Hit Arcade Games NOT Picked Up by Atari". That's
right, Mattel got the home rights to the chart-topping classic, and they pretty
much released it for almost every game and computer system, including a good
version on the Intellivision. The very fact that Mattel actually beat out Atari
for a hot game is a story in itself.
Anyway, this ad takes place in a fast food place. Two teenagers are driving up
to the giant speakerbox and place an order for two burgers to go. In response
they get a "Help me!" Inside we see a chef being attacked by giant food items,
which are obviously actors in costumes, all while weird music plays throughout
the ad. As he tries to defend himself, the narrator lays out the game for us:
"Introducing BurgerTime, the home videogame where you're a chef trying to make
hamburgers. There's just one problem: the food is trying to make hamburger out
of you. For Intellivision. This fall Atari 2600, Aquarius, Apple 2, and IBM
personal computer. Burgertime, only from Mattel Electronics." The teens peer in
the window and see what's going on, and in the end, a hot dog shouts,"We are
closed now" and shuts the window.
Watch out, kids, this isn't McDonalds.
"Help! I'm being attacked by people in food costumes."
"You think this is what they mean by 'fast food'?"
"..so buzz off!"
What can I say? A pure example of 80s advertising. The Blue Sky Rangers said it
was a sign of things to come.
Lock 'n Chase
Again Lock 'n Chase is another Data East game ported to the INTV, as
well as other systems. Here he find a boy playing the game while his sister
talks to him. All the time he stays fixed on the game screen, except for one
moment...
GIRL: "What are you doing?"
BOY: "I'm playing Lock 'n Chase, a video game cartridge you have to buy
separately to play on the Intellivision video game system."
GIRL: "Why are you talking like that?"
BOY: "They always do. Then they say your parents have to hook it up to the TV.
After that you can start to pick up gold. Trouble is, (looks away from the
screen at his sister) the police are coming. So you have to keep both eyes on
the game-"
(looks back on the screen and sees his last man die)
"Oh brother."
GIRL: "Do they say that too?"
BOY: "Funny"
ANNOUNCE: "Intellivision Master Component from Mattel Electronics. Lock 'n Chase
video game cartridge sold separately."
"Now's not a good time, sis."
"I said..."
"Now look what you made me do."
"Your parents have to hook it up."
Not much to this ad. Pretty straightforward actually.
Well, this'll do it for this month. If you've got an ad you want me to review,
or know where I can find some more videos, (hopefully high quality), drop me a
line at Hal_3000@rocketmail.com.
Until next month, remember: keep both you eyes on the screen, or just use the
pause function. Otherwise you could lose your last man like that.