Who Knew? The Untold Story Of The ‘John And Marsha’ Commercial
Who Knew? The Untold Story Of The ‘John And Marsha’ Commercial
Some of us remember this Snowdrift Shortening commercial from our childhood, others may remember it from seeing it used in ‘Mad Men’, but I’ll bet NONE of us knew THIS!
Surprised? Me too! I had no idea the the award winning commercial from 1956 was based on Stan Freberg’s 1951 novelty hit, but it turns out, this is the very first recording Freberg did for Capitol Records. The February 10, 1951 release, “John and Marsha” was a soap opera parody that consisted of the title characters (both played by Freberg) doing nothing but repeating each other’s names with intonations to match the moods. It never was a big hit, but did get a lot radio airplay and obviously left a lasting impression.
Producer/Director John Hubley and Animator/Artist Art Babbitt were given the New York Art Directors Award for Best Animated Short for the spot in June of 1956. I still remember all of the words…you too? Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-cy6276XY0
Another gem from the Babbitt/Hubley showreel from the late 1950s…
Stan Freberg, Stan Freberg and June Foray. And they both are still active today!
I think I heard this single on Dr. Demento’s radio show before I saw the ad on a compilation reel.
If it were only that simple in life… buy this Snowdrift Shortening…
I was unaware of the commercial as such, but being a big Stan Freberg fan, I had this skit in some compilation tapes I did from various vinyl and other tape sources long ago. He was also famous for his own ads and skewering the advertising world he was a part of with his parodies.
well i’ll b horswaggeled…had no idea but i remember j o h n …MARsha!