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In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its bad floppy ad (buttondown.com)
jorgen123 14 hours ago [-]
Interesting to see this statement at the top of the article. Long live the web fighting back. Not sure I have seen many (any?) sites with this. Calls for some sort of acronym or logo that others can adopt without having a long sentence at the beginning of many pages:

"This newsletter does not contain ads, sponsored posts, or affiliate links. Open and click tracking are disabled. And there is no paid upgrade or AI generated content. Enjoy!"

tim333 1 days ago [-]
I found a Maxwell robot video ad but I think it's just actors in robot outfits https://youtu.be/CKloQVH_72M

Honda was more impressive then with Asimo which was a real robot https://youtu.be/DerM1GNtg5A

petepete 19 hours ago [-]
Meanwhile in the UK we had robotic aliens advertising instant mashed potato.

https://youtu.be/uKt-KR1TsRg?si=l6KDBOryvtEk6gg2

kerridge0 18 hours ago [-]
And we had good skeletons - in 1985, Aardman Animations created this advert for VHS cassettes https://youtu.be/ffa1E9k3H4k
Angostura 17 hours ago [-]
I can hear the voice of Derek Gyller without even clicking the link.
hkpack 1 days ago [-]
While watching the second video, Futurama theme song started playing in my head :-)
js2 13 hours ago [-]
Maxell. No w.
djmips 23 hours ago [-]
Why is it referred to as a 'bad' floppy ad. I thought it was cool.
jhbadger 20 hours ago [-]
The "bad" is referring to the floppies, not the ad. The ad with the robots at dinner was about buying Maxwell floppies (which were considerably more expensive than no-name floppies) because otherwise the machines might "eat your files". A modern equivalent would be buying a SanDisk SD card over cheaper alternatives.
js2 13 hours ago [-]
Maxell. No w.
blackhaz 23 hours ago [-]
Same. Still a great pleasure to see those ads from the past. Nothing compared to ads today.
fortyseven 17 hours ago [-]
Looks like the whole site revolves around calling ads "bad'. An approach that, itself, is rather bad. Especially in this instance.
forinti 1 days ago [-]
I don't recall ever using a Maxell floppy, but their cassettes were the best.
to11mtm 1 days ago [-]
Semi random fact, but there's actually a Vaporwave artist that used a number of Japanese Maxell advertisements in a distorted/looped manner for the better part of a whole album....
john-tells-all 14 hours ago [-]
Thanks! The album is Fuji Grid TV

https://vaporwave.wiki/wiki/Vektroid#fuji_grid_tv

(TIL Vaporwave has a wiki. We live in awesome times.)

js2 1 days ago [-]
For anyone not familiar with this classic ad:

https://youtu.be/dgrJEpUqSuw

lysace 1 days ago [-]
blank vhs covers were kinda beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9DfSCk-6Ko

forinti 18 hours ago [-]
Very nice job. Thanks for that.
hwhshs 1 days ago [-]
Are your ears alight?
bitwize 1 days ago [-]
I vaguely remember these but I more clearly remember the Samsung ad which featured a similar looking robot in a dress turning letters on a gameshow, implying that Samsung would still be around even after Vanna White was replaced by a machine. Vanna White sued, claiming a breach of her publicity rights (despite her name, the name "Wheel of Fortune", or her actual likeness not being used) and actually prevailed in court, establishing a precedent in the United States that very broadly protects celebrities' rights to control whether and how they are represented.
omoikane 1 days ago [-]
Was it this one?

https://paleofuture.com/blog/2013/2/20/robot-vanna-trashy-pr...

It's now 2026 and Vanna White still has not been replaced by robots, but that must have been a successful ad in 1988 for people to remember it decades later.

luxuryballs 1 days ago [-]
> Except the glaring mistake of putting “3½” microdisk” in the copy when there are 5¼” floppies on the table.

The MF 2-DD box shown is 3.5, I think they just used the bigger disks on the table because they are much better props for the video.

camkego 1 days ago [-]
If you look at the first image in the article, the one with a floppy on a serving tray, it looks like an 8 inch floppy to me. I think the floppy disks in the board room might also be 8 inch floppy disks
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