It’s too orangey for crows
This is a nutty one. When I was a kid there was a TV commercial for Kia-Ora fruit drink. The deal is this kid’s walking along drinking his juice and a crow (in a zoot suit) happens by and wants some, to which the kid responds “It’s too orangey for crows, it’s just for me and my dog”. But the crow wants some so bad he makes like a dog and starts barking. And I don’t wanna even attempt to get into what happens next, just watch it.
Yeah that’s some weird shit right? I was just minding my own business watching cartoons one fine Sunday morning when some ad agency decided to drop an acid trip on an eight year old. I mean really, what the hell does that commercial have to do with fruit drink anyways? What a total mind fuck. I know what you’re thinking, it’s 25 years later and I’m still talking about it so that’s like the greatest commercial ever. Yes I can’t argue with that, it’s up there with the best of them. It’s not the commercial itself that’s got me boggled, well for sure it has cos it contains all kinds of funky questionable things, but that’s not what’s on my mind. I’m simply wondering why am I still thinking about it all these years later? And I’m coming to the realization that it’s possibly somewhere embedded in the very DNA of my personality, maybe there’s a little piece of me that is how it is somehow because of that 30 second TV spot.
There isn’t much to talk about really. I’m not qualified to know the answer to these things and don’t have time to do the research. It either is or it isn’t. I’m starting to lean towards is. But it also could be that my personality was all set and I gravitated towards the advert because it was a good match for me. Probably that too, a bit of both. I was already going in that direction and it helped me along my way, so I’ve kept it with me for the duration. Imagine some giant Venn diagram for personalities – giant circles overlapping all the different experiences and thoughts that make up who a person is, not just for me but for everyone (this thing is fuckin huge obviously). I’m in the area with all the crazy shit I’ve come across in my life and hung onto. There’s other people here too, we’re all interested in the same things – movies, history, sneakers, comics, we love being a dad, we’re obsessed with saving money but our kid will never go without, we dig rock’n'roll and we’re all fascinated by the 70′s punk scene. But hang on a minute, there’s a wall here. There’s something separating me from this other dude that’s otherwise the exact same as me. Our only difference is that he’s not still thinking about a lanky cartoon bird dribbling the sun like a basketball, seen for two seconds half a lifetime ago. And because of that we’re completely different.
Just came across this following a google for “too orangey for crows” (don’t ask why).
Over here in the UK, I don’t recall seeing the advert on TV (but I may be wrong), but in the 70′s and 80′s I did see it before every movie I saw at the cinema – of course, Kia-Ora was on sale in the foyer.
And recently, they’ve start showing it again, I’ve noticed.
If you think this commercial is strange on TV, just wait until you’ve seen it on the big screen.