Thursday, July 9, 2009

origins: Me & My RC

I work in branding these days, and have always been a huge fan of advertising and commercials. Jingles. Logos. Slogans. Love it. Indeed, my dad used to tell me that as a kid I'd always perk up more for the commercials than for the programming. Part of the appeal of Bewitched (beyond Elizabeth Montgomery's clever nose-twinkle, impossible to replicate (no offense, some offense Nicole Kidman)), was that Darrin worked in an ad agency. No surprise that today I like the show Mad Men (ok, ok, who doesn't?).

In the 70s, along with Tab and Fresca in the soda aisle, you'd also find Royal Crown (RC) Cola. It still exists, but seems to have had its heyday back then. They ran an ad campaign with the jingle "Me and my RC." A quick google search later, I learn that the most famous version of it was sung by Louise Mandrell (of country music fame, The Mandrell Sisters, and Babs' younger sister.) Apparently Sharon Stone also made an appearance in one of their early ads delivering pizza on a skateboard (I'm going to assume she was wearing panties). I can't seem to find that ad, but here's another. You get the idea.  Check out the length of the commercial (a minute!) and the full story line:
Old RC Cola ad

Now, years later I've got an RC of my own: Roman (R) and big sis Camille (C).

"Me and my RC! Me and my RC!..What's good enough for anyone else, ain't good enough for me."

2 comments:

  1. love the mandrell refernce. obsessed with them as a kid!

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  2. The girl on the skateboard was not Sharon Stone I am quite sure she would love the recognition but is actually an actress, Kelly Moran. Kelly who's agent was Mary Grady. Kelly represented Rc Cola under a 4 year contract,Kelly also graced the cover of Skateboard magazine, and played the Skateboarding nurse in Young Doctors in Love ( A Garry Marshall Production) Wikipedia is inaccurate in their posting.

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