Portable TV ad: is that cigar just a cigar?

Goodness, but this is an odd ad, with weird harmonics of penile insufficiency -- is that cigar just a cigar? -- and the odd, anachronistic boast that a piece of "portable" electronics weighs a mere six pounds.

10 Ad Goodness Time!

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MORE: ad • Gadgets • gender • media theory • Old school

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Mona Morgan

Size isn’t everything. Hesh Rabkin (I think that’s Jerry Adler) looks pretty content.
Bat Guano

“odd, anachronistic boast” that a tv weighs 6 lbs? Really? There was a time when this was a “boast.” Ignorance of cultural history doesn’t look good on you, Boing Boing.
http://www.granitegeek.org DaveBrooks

“Climb upon my knee, Sony boy” is a darn good line, though.
Alvis

My recent-model laptop weighs over five pounds. Not everyone’s moved onto toys that value thickness and weight above all else.
voiceinthedistance

Small hands, small screen.
ChurchTucker

Sometimes a TV is just a TV.
Richard

Walter Cronkite never looked better back in those days on that Sony tv.
Diogenes

Did I stumble into the junior-high version of Boing Boing?
- GeekMan
  
  Agreed. Where (and more importantly, WHY) are you seeing penises?
  
  All I see is a guy with a pet TV; looking up at his obediently and lovingly, like a puppy. For its time period, I think it’s a great ad.
  - Brainspore
    
    Agreed. Where (and more importantly, WHY) are you seeing penises?
    
    Yeah! I mean, c’mon, can’t a guy just gaze down admiringly at his 4-inch pee wee without people cracking jokes?
    
    All I see is a guy with a pet TV; looking up at his obediently and lovingly, like a puppy.
    
    A wiener dog, to be specific.
    - GeekMan
      
      I SEE WUT U DID THER. HURR HURR
gerardwhelan

my brother had one, and while it sucked at times, I do recall watching taxi drivers watch hockey games on them. fact.
let me reduce the time frame, 1996, I saw a 2″x2″ Realplayer and dragged it across my screen on a giant 3D monitor while it was still playing (!) and I was converted instantly to the internets AND online video. the overriding criticism at the time was “who the hell wants to watch small video?”
i’d say from the success of the iPhone, that flopped back the other way due to tech advances in all related areas
also, a close look at the cigar and it indeed is penis like in many ways, and about 4 inches, as the ad promotes, a Pee Wee
irksome

I’m more concerned about his herniated navel.
http://twitter.com/erg79 Evan G.

Goodness, but you’ve made a mountain out of a molehill.
sockdoll

Cory, you’re obsessed. :D
pjcamp

Forget the cigar. That antenna sure is happy to see you.
willyboy

I gotta have it!
Guest

I grew up with one of these, now my tv is a bit bigger.
http://twitter.com/stephenecox Stephen Cox

The “odd, anachronistic boast”? You do know that this is not a modern ad, right?
purple-stater

Seriously. Why the constant juvenile ridicule aimed at advertising of yesteryear?

I’ve always loathed humor that relies on ignorance to be “funny”.
Brainspore

Geez, some people just need to lighten up. This isn’t really a “old-timey folks sure were stupid” kind of post, it’s more like a “this ad looks kind of funny in a modern context, especially if you throw in some juvenile humor” kind of post.