Super Punch posted some great early Jim Henson-made commercials for Wilkins Coffee. Some of them are incredibly violent, and if you watch them in a row like this, they seem to become really weird commentary on commercials.
Super Punch also links to some other Jim Henson juvenilia. You should check it out. A few of these commercials are on display at the E.M.P.’s Muppet exhibit right now, too.
If Muppets aren’t your thing, perhaps you’ll enjoy Friday’s episode of Dinosaur Comics, which is one of the most clever webcomics I’ve seen in a long time.
It’s almost like a cliff-notes version of Waiting for Godot, isn’t it?
I already love Dinosaur Comics, but that knocks it up a few more pegs. <3
That was awesome. I love that.
Looks like it’s a proto-kermit there,
That was a guest strip by Andrew Hussie of MS Paint Adventures (if you happened to miss the fine print). A fine, fine way to kill an afternoon.
And wonder why Wilkins Coffee isn’t with us any more?
That might be the greatest advertising campaign in history. Muppets and violence. Yar.
Thank you for this, Mr. Constant. You are my new favorite.
If you hop around YouTube a bit there are other ad campaigns from the same time period with the Muppets which are exactly the same…if you don’t use Product A or dial long distance correctly, etc., bad things happen to you, you blow up, you get shot point-blank, etc. Wacky.
And check this out: he made 179 of them and then sold the concept to coffee companies in other markets. They were incredibly popular, spawned toys and were praised as quality advertising: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Wilkins_Cof…