It was a commercial. The lines that followed were "you can pay me now, or you can pay me later" "You're stepping up in the world"..."Ya, and you just steeped in my grease"
It aired sometime in the 1980's. It recently came up in an online discussion and someone suggested it was a Fram/Autolite commercial. All of us in the discussion frew up in the upstate NY area - Rochester to be exact. I see from your profile you are in CA. Where did you grow up? Would be interested to know if it was a national or local ad - I had always assumed it was local...
Stacey, thank you for coming out of nowhere on this one and filling in some blanks! I am in CA now, but I grew up in South Jersey so yes, it does sound like a regional one.
Wow, just those lines you add make it ring a ding ding. Thank you for the jog and the extra lines! Hm. Fram or Autolite don't really ring a bell, but it's probably just one of those cases where the product wasn't what was memorable.
It might have been a commercial for a rental company or discount electronics store. The one mechanic asks the other if he's going to a game or something, the other replies that he's going to stay home and watch it on his new TV. I had a friend in high school who loved that commercial and would quote it constantly.
Jim, that's exactly what happened to me. We all used to quote that ad, and now nobody knows what the ad was for!
The new TV example sounds right. Some kind of big-money purchase, a new tv, a new car, something - and then the "Hey, mister big bucks..." Then the ad ends up to be for something completely unrelated, whatever ostensibly helped "Mr. Big Bucks" save the money that went towards this luxurious bank-robber-type lifestyle.
I will keep trying to nail this one down as best I can - thanks for chiming in with your recollections on it!
Were you also in the "Tri-State Area"? Which was as far as I could tell, some 3-state combo of NJ, NY, DE and PA.
I'm almost positive that it was a commercial for Rent-A-Center. Two mechanics were talking under a car on a lift, and one had just gotten a big screen TV. I'm looking for video, but can't find it.
Say, I bet that's right. He's talking about the tv, and then "hey Mr. Big Bucks" but no, I got it at Rent-A-Center and then you're stepping in my grease, with the mechanic!
It all ties together Drew! I can't find the commercial either but I think that's it.
Thank you Drew. Thank you, all of you! Another successful edition of Ask The Internet!
I can't remember but think it was for the cable company...the guy could go home and watch the big game on his new TV because he had cable. That would've been Cox at that time here in Moline, IL.
Hm. I was thinking the Rent-A-Center one was dead-on, but I also remember the part about watching the big game at home. I wonder if there are several commercials involved, and our memories are conflating them due to the cheesy style they have in common?
You know what, the more I think of it the more sure I am it was indeed Rent-A-Center. I think the watching the big game at home angle was because he'd rented a nice big tv from them!
It was definitely Rent-A-Center. We had that commercial here in Dayton, Ohio, and (like many others) my younger brother just loved it. To this day, when something good happens to either of us, the other goes, "OOH! Mr. Big Bucks! Wha'd you do, rob a bank?"
But also like so many others, I can't find video of it anywhere. :-(
We had this commercial in Buffalo. A number of us just had a friends reunion and one of us collected the money afterwards. I was going to post this commercial to the group of friends because of the iconic Mr. Big Bucks line. I could not find the commercial, but found this thread.
We had that same commercial here in Missouri...it was not for Rent-A-Center...I believe it was for TAD Technical Institute...for their mechanic training course...
I cannot remember the product clearly. But Mr. Big Bucks is something we often said to each other in high school because of that commercial. I remember one friend saying it and I did not know him until late 1980 or early 1981. We all grew up in Buffalo, NY. The mechanics in that commercial always reminded me of Goofus and Gallant from Highlights Children's Magazine. Wish I could find a clip of that commercial. You know it is somewhere on someone's decaying VHS tape.
19 comments:
It was a commercial. The lines that followed were "you can pay me now, or you can pay me later" "You're stepping up in the world"..."Ya, and you just steeped in my grease"
It aired sometime in the 1980's. It recently came up in an online discussion and someone suggested it was a Fram/Autolite commercial. All of us in the discussion frew up in the upstate NY area - Rochester to be exact. I see from your profile you are in CA. Where did you grow up? Would be interested to know if it was a national or local ad - I had always assumed it was local...
Stacey, thank you for coming out of nowhere on this one and filling in some blanks! I am in CA now, but I grew up in South Jersey so yes, it does sound like a regional one.
Wow, just those lines you add make it ring a ding ding. Thank you for the jog and the extra lines! Hm. Fram or Autolite don't really ring a bell, but it's probably just one of those cases where the product wasn't what was memorable.
It might have been a commercial for a rental company or discount electronics store. The one mechanic asks the other if he's going to a game or something, the other replies that he's going to stay home and watch it on his new TV. I had a friend in high school who loved that commercial and would quote it constantly.
Jim, that's exactly what happened to me. We all used to quote that ad, and now nobody knows what the ad was for!
The new TV example sounds right. Some kind of big-money purchase, a new tv, a new car, something - and then the "Hey, mister big bucks..." Then the ad ends up to be for something completely unrelated, whatever ostensibly helped "Mr. Big Bucks" save the money that went towards this luxurious bank-robber-type lifestyle.
I will keep trying to nail this one down as best I can - thanks for chiming in with your recollections on it!
Were you also in the "Tri-State Area"? Which was as far as I could tell, some 3-state combo of NJ, NY, DE and PA.
I'm almost positive that it was a commercial for Rent-A-Center. Two mechanics were talking under a car on a lift, and one had just gotten a big screen TV. I'm looking for video, but can't find it.
RENT-A-CENTER.
Say, I bet that's right. He's talking about the tv, and then "hey Mr. Big Bucks" but no, I got it at Rent-A-Center and then you're stepping in my grease, with the mechanic!
It all ties together Drew! I can't find the commercial either but I think that's it.
Thank you Drew. Thank you, all of you! Another successful edition of Ask The Internet!
I can't remember but think it was for the cable company...the guy could go home and watch the big game on his new TV because he had cable. That would've been Cox at that time here in Moline, IL.
Hm. I was thinking the Rent-A-Center one was dead-on, but I also remember the part about watching the big game at home. I wonder if there are several commercials involved, and our memories are conflating them due to the cheesy style they have in common?
In any case, thank you Bloggess!
I grew up in the Buffalo suburbs. I'm almost positive it was Rent-A-Center. We used to quote it constantly too!
You know what, the more I think of it the more sure I am it was indeed Rent-A-Center. I think the watching the big game at home angle was because he'd rented a nice big tv from them!
Thank you, OpenID ac8deae2-ae3c-11e3-adf6-000bcdcb8a73.
yes it was rent a center commercial.
Gregg, appreciate the reinforcement. I feel certain now that it was Rent-A-Center.
What I'm uncertain of is whether I've ever actually seen a Rent-A-Center.
It was definitely Rent-A-Center. We had that commercial here in Dayton, Ohio, and (like many others) my younger brother just loved it. To this day, when something good happens to either of us, the other goes, "OOH! Mr. Big Bucks! Wha'd you do, rob a bank?"
But also like so many others, I can't find video of it anywhere. :-(
We had this commercial in Buffalo. A number of us just had a friends reunion and one of us collected the money afterwards. I was going to post this commercial to the group of friends because of the iconic Mr. Big Bucks line. I could not find the commercial, but found this thread.
Thanks, The Observer!
Seems like the consensus opinion is it's Rent-A-Center. They should mine the nostalgia vein, but some of their classic commercials up or something.
I was also looking for this source. We quoted this down in Georgia, too. Early 80s?
Did they have Rent-A-Center near you?
We had that same commercial here in Missouri...it was not for Rent-A-Center...I believe it was for TAD Technical Institute...for their mechanic training course...
I cannot remember the product clearly. But Mr. Big Bucks is something we often said to each other in high school because of that commercial. I remember one friend saying it and I did not know him until late 1980 or early 1981. We all grew up in Buffalo, NY. The mechanics in that commercial always reminded me of Goofus and Gallant from Highlights Children's Magazine. Wish I could find a clip of that commercial. You know it is somewhere on someone's decaying VHS tape.
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