Retro throwbacks: classic 80s soft drinks ads
Oh man, the 80s were fun. Back then it was all beaches and smiles, lightweight soft drinks and squeaky clean advertising. Somewhere along the way, the message was corrupted, and the beach bunny actresses and guitar shredder actors of that golden era of naivety were forever tainted with the pastiche of their weird TV legacies.
Tagged: 1980s, 1980s advertising, classic ads, soft drinks
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Star Wars Peace Shield SDI commercial from the year 1987
You gotta love the 80s, especially now that we can look back on it with rose-tinted glasses. Which is what it takes to comprehend the saccharine sweet naivety behind this ad created to explain, and justify, the bizarre decision by then President Ronald Reagan to launch a missile defense system based in the heavens. Ah, yes, bliss is ignorance. Or something like that.
Clash of the Titans Kraken toy
The impending release of the Clash of the Titans remake should spark people’s interest in these amazing action figures based on the 1981 original. Anyone who owns the Kraken, the showpiece of the collection, must be pretty stoked right now.
At first listen, The Chills were like nothing else when they burst out of the relatively cloistered confines of the Dunedin student set way back in the early 1980s. Only, in retrospect, they were kinda like so much of the rest of the Flying Nun roster: lo-fi, wearily melodic, understated, and joyously brash in their use of lush vocal harmonies and ringing guitar licks. It was simply divine. And the first time I heard this song, Heavenly Pop Hit, I thought it was exactly that: the most decadent single imaginable. Some twenty years later, it still sounds fresh. [Click here to listen to Heavenly Pop Hit]
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We asked Arizona-based artist Joe Sorren what we would have been if he hadn’t been handed the most ridiculously generous serving of artistic talent: ‘Art historian and conservationalist. Or a botanist. Or I’d work with horses. It would be interesting to be behind the scenes in politics, at least for a while. Or maybe a studio musician, or invent games, or a … I would rather paint’. Ah, we agree.
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This isn’t an outdoor art installation, but it is still somewhat curated. Or maybe hoarded is a better description. Somewhere in the inner western suburb of Sydney’s Summer Hill, there is a brightly coloured collection of garden gnomes on display. The owner of the home is yet to be seen, but there are hundreds of gnomes, side by side, all with equally dopey expressions on their faces and accompanied by a second fixation: caterpillar soft toys. There are so many gnomes, the garden is no longer visible. Maybe it’s an Amelie style prank that has just piled up over the years? Read more
Damn, ten years of playing guitar in loud rock bands, and not once did we have a slamming moshpit like this. Banging heads is so, so fun.
These scarves designed by Sarah Swash and her boyfriend Toshio Yamanaka always feature their whippet and play on a sense of urban sophistication inspired by the surrounds of their East London studio. Definitely a justified indulgence.
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Creative advertising packaging
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German painter Armin Rohr’s works look like stills from Stan Brakhage films, all acid-washed, scratched out, and ethereal like a sudden flood of memories. Read more
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