If you bought a box of cereal at one time, you could send in the box tops for a toy they couldn't fit in the box. How many people do you think did that with Bug Spray?
This was in the age of Sports Illustrated football phones, or Tennis Shoe phones, when Raid "Kills Bugs Dead" bug spray got into the act. There may have been an attempted revival of the classic Bug Spray spots at this time. I loved those commercials enough to enforce Brand loyalty years later. I did whatever it took to get the phone and it has been sitting around unused ever since, because I don't reckon many took advantage of the offer. It was a natural concept though, most of the commercials gags centered around a bug getting a 'call' from Raid, and just like many actual phone calls today, it was totally unwanted, with negative consequences. The Raid phone epitomized the true nature of the typical phone call better than any football, Tennis shoe, BatPhone or whatever you might have.
Steve at ASIFA - Hollywood Animation Archive just posted an interview or two on video with Bob GIvens who designed these ads, among with much more during his long career.
Givens interview on the Animation Archive
Thanks to John K for the heads up. It goes without saying, if you care about animation, and you are not reading John Kricfalusi's Blog, you should. And I doubt you are reading this if you are not reading John.
http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/
