Friday, July 03, 2009

Crusa en el Pierdo, no en el Medio Puerde.

I just corresponded with a woman who was in the classic NYC commercial "Cross at the Green, Not Inbetween." She was the little girl with the spanish-speaking mother. She contacted me looking for an alternate version, where she repeats the phrase in english back to her mom. It rings a bell, but I don't have it. She told me that she got paid $38 every time it aired, until she was eighteen. That ad was filmed around 1969 and must have aired until the mid-eighties, as I recall. Judging from her age in it, I figure she got about ten years' worth of royalties, and they showed that commercial a lot. Cha-ching!

I've corresponded with a number of people who were seeking the old commercials they appeared in: 1979's MD poster boy Rocky Arizzi, who was in a McDonald's spot; Two brothers who were in a Mego Bat Recorder ad that never actually aired, plus a few other; and the Average White Band, who sought the Schlitz Malt Liquor commercial they did with Tommy James and the Shondells.

This Youtube version of "Cross at the Green" begins with the kicker from the equally-ubiquitous Ritz Thrift Shop ad. Watch, learn and enjoy (and laugh at the dingus who nearly gets his ass runned over).