Anyone remember this Swiss Miss commercial?

[Convincing John]

Hey, does anyone remember a commercial from like...oh, boy, I'd say 1979 or 1980 for Swiss Miss Cocoa-flavored popsicles featuring puppet characters? Well, I do. I thought I'd tell you about it, for any fans out there of chocolate popsicles and puppets:

I don't really remember the dialogue, but it was something about new (well, they were new back then) Swiss Miss chocolate and vanilla popsicles. There were four puppets. First was Swiss Miss herself, who looks just like the modern Swiss Miss, only imagine her as a hand and rod puppet about 's size, but made from wood or hard plastics, not foam.

Okay, the next two puppets. Pretend you have a Fudgesicle in one hand and a vanilla-flavored one in the other hand. Now, dance them back and forth a little. That's what the other two puppets were. No eyes. No mouths, nothin'. Just two popsicles.

Okay, fourth puppet. Remember the "hills" puppets that came alive at the end of the Pigs in Space sketch where they crash-landed on Koozebane?

1st hill: "George...George, wake up. I think I hear prowlers."
2nd hill: "Aw, Martha, go back to sleep!"
"The hills are alive!"
and grandson (with the Sound of Music!)

Well, there was a puppet like that, only it was a mountain! Same gray foam and all that, but it towered over Swiss Miss and the popsicles...and it had ARMS! Yeah, arms! Weird, huh?

So, anyway, picture the dancing popsicles on either side of Swiss Miss at the bottom of the screen, with the mountain in the background, against a typical "winter scene" painted backdrop (like what they use for taking kids' pictures at Sears and Wal-Mart).

As Swiss Miss talks (maybe sings...I can't remember) about the new popsicles, the mountain reaches down, grabs the dancing popsicles, eats them, and tosses the sticks over his shoulders (do mountains have shoulders?) Only Swiss Miss talked, unless the mountain went "yum", or something like that.

This was one of the weirdest (but funniest) commercials I ever saw as a kid. I wish I had it on tape so I could see how they worked the puppets.

Here's a picture of the Swiss Miss that the puppet resembled:

http://home.netcom.com/~magnus1/00addmiss.jpg

I'll try to see if I can find this commercial online. Anybody remember it?

Convincing John

 

[Splurge]

I remember it. If I recall correctly, there were clouds hovering about the mountain. They were just stationary. But then the "clouds" turned out to be giant moving eyebrows of this monstrous mountain. I think that's right.

I also remember the cloud giving a hiccup. And the Swiss Miss girl looking annoyed at that.

 

[Beebers]

I should remember that and I don't. I probably saw it many times. But it sounds hilarious, your description certainly is, lol.

 

[LabyrinthFan]

I remember this well! I always expected the mountain to eat Swiss Miss, too. I'd love to see this one again.

 

[Convincing John]

I remember this well! I always expected the mountain to eat Swiss Miss, too. I'd love to see this one again.

Hey, all right! Other people remember this commercial, too! To this day, I still remember that mountain eating the dancing popsicles.

When I was little, I thought that mountain was one of the "Dancing Mountains" that Scooter was referring to in the Phyllis George episode of TMS!

So THAT'S why the mountain ate the popsicles! He knew they were better dancers, so he "eliminated the competition"! Someone should tell Scooter that that part of the awards show was RIGGED!!!

Convincing John

 

[Erine81981]

I can't get the web link to work. Could u repost it?

 

[Count Awesome]

did you ever find this commercial on the web?? i couldn't access the link you included, either. i've been telling some coworkers about it and no one remembers! i'm dying to see it, please let me know if you find it. thanks!

 

[Convincing John]

Sorry, I can't find it online (wish I could...what a weird but neat commercial!) Anyone out there know where you can view old commercials like that on the web?

The link I posted earlier must've broken. Anyway, this comes pretty close to what the puppet looked like, only she had a more pointed chin...kind of like Think of her constructed the same way they made Howdy Doody.

Here's the link:

http://www.toymuseum.com/inside/c01/3237088.html

Convincing John

 

[Convincing John]

Well, after all this time, it looks like someone finally found this commercial. I know it's been ages, but if anyone wanted to check it out for the weirdness/nostalgic factor (or to see another example of puppetry in commercials) then here you go:

 

[Xerus]

I remember my sister drew that scene on paper, but with a different twist. The mountain left the pudding bars alone and instead grabbed Swiss Miss and ate her. It showed her screaming, "AIIIEEE!" while the bars were just standing there still smiling.