Your dad was an amazing man. For some reason, I was reminiscing about some Christmas comedy songs that I had listened to as a kid, so I decided to look them up and check out Stan's bio on Wikipedia, I did not know that he passed on this date in 2015. He brought my family many great times and memories. He was a treasure and I send my thanks for sharing him with the world.
Donavan, I just re-read "It Only Hurts When I Laugh" and, as with the previous readings, thoroughly enjoyed it. In the Epilogue, your Dad's left-brain and right-brain had a Q & A where he revealed that Part Two of this story is "Still in my word processor". Is there a chance that Part Two might be published? Or, are there legal elements that would prevent that happening? I, for one, vote for it being published.
My father gave me a 78rpm record of the Yellow Rose of Texas because that's the song I was singing when our car slid off the road into a ditch in 1958 (I was 6, in the backseat, not driving). His work clearly made a big impression on me. And the car. But I have always loved his wonderful humour. A real treasure as Ryan Norris (above) said.
Freberg was the greatest ad man ever! And a satirist par excellence as well. His LP "Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America" is one of the greatest comedy albums of all time. He was also a man of good character. We need more like him today.
God bless the man. No wonder my father used to just HOWL over his albums...and, later, ME. ("Child's Garden of Freberg" in particular.) It just struck me that what Rod Serling was to quality TV-drama writing, Stan Freberg was to the TV ad industry. Genius, as was Ernie Kovaks! I'd bet they all knew each other.
I remember that prune commercial like it was yesterday. "They're still badly wrinkled, you know..." And of course Great American Soups with Ann Miller... CLASSIC!!!!!!
Wow--these were great commercials. They don't make them like this anymore. The encyclopedia commercial--which was made in 1990--talked about global warming and the greenhouse effect. We knew about it so long ago. It's a damn shame we didn't start to do anything about it then.
Thanks for this post! I’m sending this to my older brother. We grew up in the 1960s with “Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America.” I still have the original LP!
@@KC6SOR Yes, I’ve listened to it on here a number of times over the last few years. I think it still stands up over time. The second album, wasn’t as good in my view!
So it's 5 years after this collection of spots was posted. I go to the local food store to buy some typical items, and in the checkout line are all these candy bars. 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Milky Way, Hershey bars, a dozen others. As I don't really buy these things nor consume candy bars I paid no attention. But suddenly the thought occurred to me "what about ZAGNUT?" which was an odd candy bar that came out in the 60's; and I really didn't remember the spots, but the name just kind of speared through my awareness. Again, I thought nothing of it. Then I go to my favorite radio spot of all time, just to hear it, the Sarah Vaughan "Who listens to radio" spot. Written by Stan Freberg. Then this collection of Stan Freberg ads comes up in the sidebar. So I click on it, and right in the middle is Stan's commercial for ZAGNUT. Pretty weird!
I’ve made over10,000 commercials, the majority of which were funny. Just a little something I learned by paying attention to the brilliant productions of “Uncle” Stan Freberg. There was no one like him, before or since.
For fans of old time radio, that’s Billy Idelson, who played Rush on Vic & Sade, with Frank Nelson on the Zagnut commercial. Both OTR royalty, along with Stan Freberg. I remember that Encyclopedia Brittanica commercial. When I was in high school, I knew a kid who was an exact double of the kid on the commercial and always thought it might actually be the kid I knew. Now it turns out it was Stan Freberg’s kid.
For those who may not know, Bill Idelson also played Herman Glimscher, Sally's sometime boyfriend, on The Dick Van Dyke Show. And he also did some writing for the show.
Oh, yeah: "Well, it makes a difference to the sheep", "He ruined the ending, one of the loveliest parts in the whole piece", "Don't sing about spiders, man, like I don't dig spiders", "Don't give me any more of that pling-pling-pling jazz". If you remember his spoof records, you know what I'm referring to.
...And on top of everything else, Stan did a very funny spoof of "DRAGNET" called "ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGONET". It sold a million copies. If you haven't heard it, it's on RUclips.
I remember a slogan for Chun King from a billboard in 1962 or so. "Fried Rice in a can. Like convenient, man!" I remember from about the same time a TV commercial featuring the " Chun Kingston Trio." Met Stan in 1987. He very kindly autographed a couple of albums for me.
The second Jeno's Pizza Rolls spot is hilarious, with all the commercial parodies invading the party. They gave a nod to Olsen & Johnson in the parody of Mrs. Olson (her name was Mrs. Johnson, get it?)
I didn't know that! Thanks! That spot is at 10:29 For those who may not know, "Mrs. Olsen" was a character in the Folger's "mountain-grown" coffee commercial.
I love Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America." See Ben Franklin, below. "It's pretty hard to hit a porch (with a thrown copy of The Saturday Night Post) from the back of a horse."
Stan was a big part of my life. At age 3, I watched Beanie and Cecil where Stan was a writer, voice actor and puppeteer. In elementary school and junior high I enjoyed his comedy records. As a young adult working in broadcasting, Stan showed me how to apply humor to advertising. In middle age, as a university marketing professor, I taught students about audio theater using his famous "Stretching the Imagination" spot showing the creative aspects of radio. And as a professor, another professor and I wrote academic papers about him. I could probably say more, but Freberg fans out there might consider that a 412.
freberg hated commercials....which is why he created these mini-masterpieces i dont think he gets enough credit for making ads "art" when i watched madmen, i kept waiting for them to introduce a stan freberg character and talk about a man with principles....he refused to have his radio show be sponsored by tobacco products
The only Southern gothic commercial I've ever seen. Note that as the "giblet gravy" is the principal ingredient, it can't have won a prize for "supporting role".
You've got to be kidding. Stan Freberg and Jesse White were quite different people. White was a successful comic actor, and the original Maytag laundry guy, who never had anything to do.
@@mike_minnick Oh, so Freeberg did the Jesse White Maytag ads, too? Amazing, even though I remember so many of these ads, up until this time I was only aware of his involvement with Chungking.
@@TroyOi I've never seen anything about stands involvement with Maytag. But Jesse White was somebody that he used fairly often although he wasn't exclusive to Stan
The pizza roll/Lark cigarette commercial with Moore and Silverheels is my all time favorite. I wonder how many would remember the original Lark commercial on 2022!
Absolutely brilliant stuff. Just beginning to learn about Stan, myself, and this was a great 'starter pack'. ;) Never cared for that Brittanica ad, though -- even when it was new, I thought the kid was way too rude. Nice to have some great trivia to go with it, though!
More trivia: in the PC version (now on Steam, but might be different) of the game "Zork: Grand Inquisitor", the main character checks his voice mail, and one of them is clearly the voice of Donavan Freberg. The main character says, "Isn't that the kid from those Encyclopedia Frobozzica commercials?" Bonus trivia: The printed material had a foldout timeline of the events in Zork. On it was a picture of Belboz the wizard, played by Stan Freberg.
Yes. Donavan Freberg. Stan's son did the Britannica Commercials from 1986-1993. Here's the first Commercial Donavan did for EB: ruclips.net/video/ssb_-7lTOfI/видео.html Donavan also did voice work on Charlie Brown during the Early 80s.
I think that's Doodles Weaver in white sweater as homeowner in the Jacobsen lawn mower with sheep commercial. And the interviewer in suit sounds like Gary Owens, but doesn't look like Gary.
Stan was unfairly ignored by Madison Avenue because he was a successful maverick in advertising. He proved you could entertain people into remembering a product, and the big guys didn’t know how to do it.
@@markschildberg1667 Part of that was probably due to "Green Chri$tma$", his biting 1958 satire on Christmas ads and commercials. That got a lot of negative reaction from advertisers.
The only thing that ever got me confused between the two was Ward Kimball's "Dad Can I Borrow the Car". I would swear this was Stan: ruclips.net/video/_wzaPpZKAJo/видео.html and the voice throughout is Jesse. (Still no idea whose lower face that is!)
@Roy G Biv Love the youtube name, LOL! Sort of reminds me of the color codes for resistors. I think a guy at the New Jersey antique radio club uses that as his nickname too....red, orange yellow...
Those good folks in the elevator are probably silently thinking, "We've just flown in from Vegas. The kids and In-Laws are tired and hungry and this big, fat guy gets out of the elevator mumbling about f*****g 'chop suey' in a can! We're going to Shake Shack".
These seem quite experimental. Judging by the fashion, acting and video/film technique, these look like about 1962-69. Question: were these actually used in broadcast TV?
All of them yes. Some are very much remembered by older Americans. A few are from the early 70's. The soup ad was the most expensive commercial ever made at the time.
I’m 69 years old, and I remember seeing some of these commercials when they were on the air-especially the chubby rich guy complaining about wrinkled prunes.
This is Stan’s son. Great post. ❤️
Your dad was an amazing man. For some reason, I was reminiscing about some Christmas comedy songs that I had listened to as a kid, so I decided to look them up and check out Stan's bio on Wikipedia, I did not know that he passed on this date in 2015. He brought my family many great times and memories. He was a treasure and I send my thanks for sharing him with the world.
Your dad gave us some comic masterpieces.
Donavan, I just re-read "It Only Hurts When I Laugh" and, as with the previous readings, thoroughly enjoyed it. In the Epilogue, your Dad's left-brain and right-brain had a Q & A where he revealed that Part Two of this story is "Still in my word processor". Is there a chance that Part Two might be published? Or, are there legal elements that would prevent that happening? I, for one, vote for it being published.
My father gave me a 78rpm record of the Yellow Rose of Texas because that's the song I was singing when our car slid off the road into a ditch in 1958 (I was 6, in the backseat, not driving). His work clearly made a big impression on me. And the car. But I have always loved his wonderful humour. A real treasure as Ryan Norris (above) said.
Thanks for stopping by Donavan!
Yes son, once upon a time TV commercials were extremely witty 60 second masterpieces.
Yeah, and now we have insurance ads featuring has-been celebs or cantankerous old ladies, or puppets thereof.
Stan Freberg (RIP) was one of the greatest advertising geniuses ever! Long live Stan Freberg!
Freberg was the greatest ad man ever! And a satirist par excellence as well. His LP "Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America" is one of the greatest comedy albums of all time. He was also a man of good character. We need more like him today.
Ah yes, the late, great Jesse White, aka the Lonely Maytag Repairman.
God bless the man. No wonder my father used to just HOWL over his albums...and, later, ME. ("Child's Garden of Freberg" in particular.) It just struck me that what Rod Serling was to quality TV-drama writing, Stan Freberg was to the TV ad industry. Genius, as was Ernie Kovaks! I'd bet they all knew each other.
Honestly these commercials have such a lighthearted attitude full of ironising and witty humour. I wish many more of the adverts on YT were like this.
What does "ironising" mean?
@@declamatory He meant irony. Irony is usually done cynically (especially by modern standards) while Stan Freberg does it in a more lighthearted way.
I grew up watching those commercials. Stan Freberg was a genius.
Some of these are hilarious! I like the one where the other commercials try to butt in on the pizza roll party.
I remember that prune commercial like it was yesterday. "They're still badly wrinkled, you know..."
And of course Great American Soups with Ann Miller... CLASSIC!!!!!!
Love the soup commercial!
I was wondering who that was, thank you.
Wow--these were great commercials. They don't make them like this anymore. The encyclopedia commercial--which was made in 1990--talked about global warming and the greenhouse effect. We knew about it so long ago. It's a damn shame we didn't start to do anything about it then.
Thanks for this post! I’m sending this to my older brother. We grew up in the 1960s with “Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America.” I still have the original LP!
Daaaaaàaooo Daaaaoooo
It's here on UT !!!
@@KC6SOR Yes, I’ve listened to it on here a number of times over the last few years. I think it still stands up over time. The second album, wasn’t as good in my view!
RIP Arte Johnson, who was the elevator operator in the second commercial. RIP Jesse White and Stan Freberg.
So it's 5 years after this collection of spots was posted. I go to the local food store to buy some typical items, and in the checkout line are all these candy bars. 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Milky Way, Hershey bars, a dozen others. As I don't really buy these things nor consume candy bars I paid no attention. But suddenly the thought occurred to me "what about ZAGNUT?" which was an odd candy bar that came out in the 60's; and I really didn't remember the spots, but the name just kind of speared through my awareness. Again, I thought nothing of it. Then I go to my favorite radio spot of all time, just to hear it, the Sarah Vaughan "Who listens to radio" spot. Written by Stan Freberg. Then this collection of Stan Freberg ads comes up in the sidebar. So I click on it, and right in the middle is Stan's commercial for ZAGNUT. Pretty weird!
I’ve made over10,000 commercials, the majority of which were funny. Just a little something I learned by paying attention to the brilliant productions of “Uncle” Stan Freberg. There was no one like him, before or since.
For fans of old time radio, that’s Billy Idelson, who played Rush on Vic & Sade, with Frank Nelson on the Zagnut commercial. Both OTR royalty, along with Stan Freberg.
I remember that Encyclopedia Brittanica commercial. When I was in high school, I knew a kid who was an exact double of the kid on the commercial and always thought it might actually be the kid I knew. Now it turns out it was Stan Freberg’s kid.
For those who may not know, Bill Idelson also played Herman Glimscher, Sally's sometime boyfriend, on The Dick Van Dyke Show. And he also did some writing for the show.
Thank you, thank you! This montage really hit the spot! I remember as a kid, all of his Spoof records.
Oh, yeah: "Well, it makes a difference to the sheep", "He ruined the ending, one of the loveliest parts in the whole piece", "Don't sing about spiders, man, like I don't dig spiders", "Don't give me any more of that pling-pling-pling jazz".
If you remember his spoof records, you know what I'm referring to.
Ann Miller dancing and touting soup. WOW.
...And on top of everything else, Stan did a very
funny spoof of "DRAGNET" called "ST. GEORGE AND THE
DRAGONET". It sold a million copies. If you
haven't heard it, it's on RUclips.
Heard it? I practically memorized it!
@@andrewvelonis5940 Got it on my Playlist.
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩💖💖💖💖💖
@@andrewvelonis5940 Stan Freberg also did Christmas Dragnet. Got that on my Playlist.
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩💖💖💖💖💖
OMG! That is Artie Johnson at 1:14!! is it not? I thought it sounded like Him, when he kept saying "FACE THE FRONT"!
I have trouble believing that’s Artie Johnson because he doesn’t have the glasses he had when he was on laugh in or does he said very interesting
Thanks for posting. Love Stan Freberg!
I remember a slogan for Chun King from a billboard in 1962 or so. "Fried Rice in a can. Like convenient, man!" I remember from about the same time a TV commercial featuring the " Chun Kingston Trio." Met Stan in 1987. He very kindly autographed a couple of albums for me.
9 out of 10 Chinese Chef like Chung King
the white guy doesn't😃😃🤣😂
These are a million times funnier than anything you see now.
The second Jeno's Pizza Rolls spot is hilarious, with all the commercial parodies invading the party. They gave a nod to Olsen & Johnson in the parody of Mrs. Olson (her name was Mrs. Johnson, get it?)
I didn't know that! Thanks! That spot is at 10:29 For those who may not know, "Mrs. Olsen" was a character in the Folger's "mountain-grown" coffee commercial.
Like a journey through my childhood. Fantastically funny stuff.
It just isn’t Christmas if I haven’t listened to “Green Chri$tma$” at least once.
🎶Thankewww for all those cards and letters...🎶 - The Lemon Sisters.
"All you people in Television Land"
"Lant!"
"Lant!"
Stan was amazing.
These now seem like SNL skits then commercials. Lol
There's a big difference between these commercials and most SNL skits - these are clever and funny.
@@elc1960 oooooooohhhhhh BURN🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
I love Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America." See Ben Franklin, below.
"It's pretty hard to hit a porch (with a thrown copy of The Saturday Night Post) from the back of a horse."
"You're so skiddish, who possibly could care if you do? The un-British Activities Committee, that's who..."
Elevator operator, Artie Johnson who died today, July 3, 2019.
" A Zagnut by any other name - would be a good thing.". Amazingly funny commercials!
I Miss Stan Freberg
Stan was a big part of my life. At age 3, I watched Beanie and Cecil where Stan was a writer, voice actor and puppeteer. In elementary school and junior high I enjoyed his comedy records. As a young adult working in broadcasting, Stan showed me how to apply humor to advertising. In middle age, as a university marketing professor, I taught students about audio theater using his famous "Stretching the Imagination" spot showing the creative aspects of radio. And as a professor, another professor and I wrote academic papers about him. I could probably say more, but Freberg fans out there might consider that a 412.
LOVE the classics, lol.
Watching this because Stan Freeberg was a GENIUS! Plus I watched Day-O on Sesame Street as a kid, and Spike Jones...
" I don't bite the hand that feeds me,I bite the hand that needs me"
I remember Stan Freeburg s The United States of America parady. Me and my older brother used to quote lines from this funny video
Stan was a genius.
I loved these -- especially Ann Miller in Great American Soups. I thuink it was featured in Time magazine
freberg hated commercials....which is why he created these mini-masterpieces
i dont think he gets enough credit for making ads "art"
when i watched madmen, i kept waiting for them to introduce a stan freberg character
and talk about a man with principles....he refused to have his radio show be sponsored by tobacco products
That Cynthia really knows how to throw a dinner party.
That one is my absolute favorite. DO YOU HEAR ME?!!!
I love Stan Freiburg
OooooOOOOOOoo! Like a little bit of Frank Nelson. :D
"Trust me." A genuine Frebergi
Ben Franklin "You're sure it's not going to start a war or anything."
Tom Jefferson "Trust me."
Revolution, not war.
Crazy!
Wonderful
The only Southern gothic commercial I've ever seen. Note that as the "giblet gravy" is the principal ingredient, it can't have won a prize for "supporting role".
Boy can our commercials use Mr. Freberg these days
You've got to be kidding. Stan Freberg and Jesse White were quite different people. White was a successful comic actor, and the original Maytag laundry guy, who never had anything to do.
They were all written and directed by Stan Freberg. Jesse White was one of his stock players
@@mike_minnick Oh, so Freeberg did the Jesse White Maytag ads, too? Amazing, even though I remember so many of these ads, up until this time I was only aware of his involvement with Chungking.
@@TroyOi I've never seen anything about stands involvement with Maytag. But Jesse White was somebody that he used fairly often although he wasn't exclusive to Stan
Zagnut was in my opinion the BEST candy bar ever created!
The pizza roll/Lark cigarette commercial with Moore and Silverheels is my all time favorite. I wonder how many would remember the original Lark commercial on 2022!
i remember quite well. And was it SNL that did a spoof on that with a "Show us your breasts" skit?
"I think I left the door to my mind open."
6:23 That Southern Gothic sendup commercial used to kill me. It was so outre.
What a surprise -- Laugh-In's Arte Johnson as the elevator operator!
That commercial aired years before he was on laugh in
Absolutely brilliant stuff. Just beginning to learn about Stan, myself, and this was a great 'starter pack'. ;)
Never cared for that Brittanica ad, though -- even when it was new, I thought the kid was way too rude. Nice to have some great trivia to go with it, though!
More trivia: in the PC version (now on Steam, but might be different) of the game "Zork: Grand Inquisitor", the main character checks his voice mail, and one of them is clearly the voice of Donavan Freberg. The main character says, "Isn't that the kid from those Encyclopedia Frobozzica commercials?"
Bonus trivia: The printed material had a foldout timeline of the events in Zork. On it was a picture of Belboz the wizard, played by Stan Freberg.
9:24 Frank "YESSSS" Nelson!
I think he was always annoying Jack Benny.
Joined in that commercial by Bill Idelson, who portrayed Herman Glimscher, Sally Rogers' (Rose Marie) boyfriend on, "The Dick Van Dyke Show".
Gov. Wetworth on the Snorks!!
One of the best parts of the best Comedic show in history
Arte Johson as the Elevator Jocky
There was a sequel to that Encyclopedia Britannica commercial that was just as good. You ought to find it.
DTD110865 This Stan's son?
Yes. Donavan Freberg. Stan's son did the Britannica Commercials from 1986-1993.
Here's the first Commercial Donavan did for EB:
ruclips.net/video/ssb_-7lTOfI/видео.html
Donavan also did voice work on Charlie Brown during the Early 80s.
Jfc we did all know about global warming back when people still owned print encyclopedias. Now I’m just more depressed.
I think that's Doodles Weaver in white sweater as homeowner in the Jacobsen lawn mower with sheep commercial. And the interviewer in suit sounds like Gary Owens, but doesn't look like Gary.
Recognize the smoking/frankfurter man? Looks to me like Mr. Wilson, the guard at the funny farm in the James Stewart original of Harvey.
It is. That's Jesse White, who was all over TV in the '50s and '60s, right up into the late '70s. He was even occasionally in episodes of Seinfeld.
With the music of Billy May!🎼🎵🎶
I think these are in chronological order, too.
God bless Stan Freberg
I recall that Britanica commercial. I called up cause I wanted the brochure. They sent a salesman. I sent him away. I never did get the brochure.
R.I.P. Stan Freberg
Ray Bradbury pushing prunes?
He and Stan were friends.
Incredible.
"the so-called greenhouse effect".
4:34 Looks like Dave Willock, the veteran comic/character actor.
Yes, and I believe that is Dave in the Great American Soup commercial with Ann Miller.
He's also the "witch doctor" in the Jeno's frozen pizza tray commercial.
Out here in Colorado.
7:22 Epic Jeno's commercial!
5:50 thats a guy that played in a ww2 show called combat
Dick Peabody, played Littlejohn
And the girl is Joyce Jameson, one of the "fun girls" from the Andy Griffith Show.
Artie j. as elevator operator
Was that Dick Peabody in the Jeno's Pizza commercial? Sure looks like him. Dick played Littlejohn in the 60's tv show... Combat!
"Beats me..."
1:25- Ronald Long.
You did??? I apologize for overlooking that. Which one was it?
Tell you what. Send me another message, and I'll be VERY happy to answer your question! :)
You know, I never thought about that. Send me a friend invite!!! :)
What is the date of the encyclopedia advertisement?
1992
Class assignment? For what class? I flip through advertising textbooks and never see Stan's name! It's disgusting!
Stan was unfairly ignored by Madison Avenue because he was a successful maverick in advertising. He proved you could entertain people into remembering a product, and the big guys didn’t know how to do it.
@@markschildberg1667 Part of that was probably due to "Green Chri$tma$", his biting 1958 satire on Christmas ads and commercials. That got a lot of negative reaction from advertisers.
Elon, NC
13:33
In 2019 long hair looks funny on a guy unless he's behind a drum kit
Is it me, or is Stan Freberg the same person as Jesse White? They look and sound identical.
www.imdb.com/name/nm0924964/
I think it's just you. Personally, I don't see much resemblance in appearance or voice. But thanks for leaving a comment.
Jesse White sold more Maytags than anyone.
The only thing that ever got me confused between the two was Ward Kimball's "Dad Can I Borrow the Car". I would swear this was Stan: ruclips.net/video/_wzaPpZKAJo/видео.html and the voice throughout is Jesse. (Still no idea whose lower face that is!)
Jeno's frozen pizza's were pretty lousy.
So was about anything by Banquet.
@Roy G Biv Love the youtube name, LOL! Sort of reminds me of the color codes for resistors. I think a guy at the New Jersey antique radio club uses that as his nickname too....red, orange yellow...
Bedroom
The Chun King spot is SO unintentionally racist!
I don't think so.
How so?
By today's "woke" standards,I suppose.
@@postatility9703 Exactly... by today's MINDLESS woke standards!
Those good folks in the elevator are probably silently thinking, "We've just flown in from Vegas. The kids and In-Laws are tired and hungry and this big, fat guy gets out of the elevator mumbling about f*****g 'chop suey' in a can!
We're going to Shake Shack".
These seem quite experimental. Judging by the fashion, acting and video/film technique, these look like about 1962-69. Question: were these actually used in broadcast TV?
All of them yes. Some are very much remembered by older Americans. A few are from the early 70's. The soup ad was the most expensive commercial ever made at the time.
I’m 69 years old, and I remember seeing some of these commercials when they were on the air-especially the chubby rich guy complaining about wrinkled prunes.