Pop Songs in TV Commercials 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Modern English

The commercial showed various people holding their Cheesy Beefy Melts with the cheese stretched from their mouths to the melt. Among them were a man and woman eyeing each other at a train station, rival football fans, a goth girl and oddly enough, the Grim Reaper sitting with a man on a park bench.

The announcer advised us to "Fall in love with melty cheese". Although Modern English's video was played quite often on MTV in 1983, the song only made it to number seventy-eight on the US pop charts. A re-release in 1990 fared only slightly better, reaching number seventy-six.

The song was featured in the movie "Valley Girl" (1983), and was also used in a TV ad for the GMC Acadia, although the GMC ad used a version sung by Nouvelle Vague. The Taco Bell spot used the original version of the song.

Answer: Propel

In close-ups of the stress monster, we could see he was made up of things which would cause stress and pressure: bosses and coworkers, traffic signs, family, cabs and ringing telephones. As he ran, these things fell off of him, revealing a man under the jumble. De-stressed by his run, the man stopped, had a drink of Propel, and then continued running, as we were told "Fit has a feeling and a water. Propel, the fitness water".

The song "Under Pressure" was by Queen, with David Bowie.

Answer: Coke

The Coca-Cola radio ad, and the TV ad, which featured lots of people on a hilltop lip-synching to the song, were so popular that a version of the song which omitted the mention of Coke was written. The New Seekers sang the Coke version for the ad, and had a number one UK hit (number seven in the US) with the song "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" in 1971.

Answer: Rock the Casbah

This humorous ad, for Cingular Sync from Samsung, said "You don't have to understand your music to understand how to get it all from your PC to your phone" (with voiceover by actor Stanley Tucci). The first guy sang two incorrect lines from the song ("the beets had some cataracts" and "the sheep don't like it"), then the second guy sang what he thought was the title, 'lock the cash box'.

The first guy stopped and said "isn't it 'stop the cat box'". The second guy nodded in agreement and repeated 'stop the cat box'. "Rock the Casbah", from The Clash's album "Combat Rock", was a number eight US hit for the group in 1983.

Answer: Nabisco Chips Ahoy

Four Chips Ahoy cookies were driving along a coastal road (really, how did they drive with no hands?), in a red convertible, singing "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League. They were plucked up by a human hand, one by one (despite the cookies having their seat belts on), until no one was left driving the car.

The slogan for the spot was "They Go Fast." The original version of the song was a number one hit for The Human League in 1982.

Answer: GE

You couldn't help but smile as the elephant happily danced the same steps Gene Kelly performed in the musical "Singin' in the Rain" (1952). Comprising the elephant's audience in the ad were a lizard, a parrot, a monkey, a toucan and a couple of flamingos. GE used its commercial to show how its 'Ecomagination' concept (creating cleaner technologies to decrease environmental impact) was in step with nature.

The song, "Singin' in the Rain" was written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown, and was first performed in "The Hollywood Revue of 1929" (1929).

The voiceover in the GE commercial was provided by actor/director Robby Benson.

Answer: Rowing

The commercial opened in the galley of a Viking ship as the rowers were chanting "Row. Row. Row." Red and Yellow started singing "Row Row Row Your Boat", but when all the other rowers joined in, the guy in charge got upset. He started to ask, "I'd like to know...", and Yellow finished his sentence with "where you got the notion", beginning a verse of "Rock the Boat". Red continued the lyrics with "to rock the boat", and all the rowers began singing and rowing faster while Yellow did the robot, and Red appeared to be doing his "Saturday Night Fever" impression.

The slogan as the ship sailed away was "Always Fun". "Rock the Boat" was a number one US hit for The Hues Corporation in 1974.

Answer: Back in Black

The ad used footage of Audrey, dancing in a nightclub scene from the film "Funny Face" (1957), in a 30 second and a one minute commercial to announce that the skinny black pant was back. The guitar riff at the beginning of "Back in Black" was used while Audrey danced, with the line "Yes I'm back in black" being heard as the graphics announced "It's back", and "The skinny black pant". "Back in Black" is from AC/DC's 1981 album by the same name.

Answer: Denny's

Denny's commercial for its Extreme Grand Slam breakfast told us that we can always eat like it's the weekend. Another ad which also used "All out of Love" showed a lackadaisical woman looking at her fast food breakfast which had just spilled on the front seat of her car.

In the next shot, she's happy because she's eating at Denny's. "All out of Love" was a 1980 number two US hit for Air Supply.

Answer: Bonnie Tyler

After saying "I love you", the man looked questioningly at the GPS, wondering if it would return the sentiment. Since it didn't, he looked embarrassed, thinking he'd just made a fool of himself. When the GPS did speak, it was only to give the man directions. So with a sigh of relief, he said she was right, they should keep things professional.

The voiceover told us to "Go everywhere. Find everything. Fall hard for the new Where 2 GPS at Avis". "Total Eclipse of the Heart" was a number one hit for Bonnie Tyler in 1983.