Thursday, July 21, 2022

Toonfomercial: When roaches gamble (1974)

Johnson Wax (now SC Johnson) got a lot of mileage out of their animated (or part-animated) Raid commercials, to the point where they were able to get name talent to either narrate or voice the bugs.

The narrators included William Schallert (ex-Dobie Gillis, The Patty Duke Show), Danny Dark, who also did voice-overs for Keebler, among others, and his Super Friends castmate, Casey Kasem (who also did ads for Soft 'n' Dri, St. Joseph, Chevron, and other sponsors during his storied career). The bugs' voices were usually done by toon legends Paul Frees, Mel Blanc, and, in later ads, Frank Welker.

In this 1974 spot, a cabinet under the sink turns into a bug speakeasy until Raid shows up. Blanc uses his Bugs Bunny voice for one of the bugs.


Eliot Ness had nothing on Raid.

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