Classic(ally Bad) TV Commercials: Crazy Eddie is INSAAAAANNNNNEEE!!!
Some of the “best” classic(ally bad) TV commercials come from small or regional companies featuring a whacked-out spokesperson. If you lived in the New York tri-state area in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, one of the best whacked-out spokespeople was the man screaming and yelling for Crazy Eddie’s electronics store.
Alright now… honestly… would you buy a TV from this guy? If he walked up to you on the street and started giving you this pitch wouldn’t you start walking the other way very quickly? In the tri-state area Crazy Eddie was king, and the spokesperson isn’t really Crazy Eddie himself. It’s Jerry Carroll, a New York City DJ at WPIX-FM who probably started doing the spots for $50 a pop back in 1975. This particular gem is from 1984, and shows the typical fanaticism Carroll had in making the average electronics store a true giant. After running through 11 or 12 items in 20 seconds, Carroll would promise us Crazy Eddie’s prices were “INSAAAAAAANNNNNEEE!!!” If this ad campaign was used nowadays, people would think anyone buying anything from this store was insane.
The spot starts with Carroll dressed as Santa Clause advertising Christmas specials in December as opposed to the usual “Christmas in August” sales Crazy Eddie’s was known to run. As if Carroll’s delivery isn’t crazy enough, the fact some minimum wage stage flunky has the job of pelting him with fake snow ball after fake snow ball only adds a smoky cheese flavor to this classic(ally bad) spot. As Carroll goes on and on about what’s on sale while snow balls and giant candy canes are thrown his way, the hindsight kicker comes up in the form of a disclaimer.
Crazy Eddie’s wanted you to shop around, find a lower price, then come to Crazy Eddie’s where they would “beat ‘em”. The funny thing is with the incredibly shady criminal history of the owners of the store chain at the time, there’s a good chance Crazy Eddie’s would beat the competition… with a baseball bat over the knee caps.
The grand finale’ features Carroll having to fill the final two or three seconds of the spot with what I would imagine was an impromptu expression of his feelings at the time. I can only picture Carroll standing around in that goofy Santa outfit in a tiny studio for three or four hours taking abuse from stagehands loaded with fake snow balls for only so long. “Hit me! Hit me! HA HA HA!” is what he could muster up before the spot went to dark. It would only be appropriate if he added, “YOU STUPID POOR BASTARDS!” to the rant, unfortunately to have it cut out of the spot. Fortunately, thanks to You Tube, the outtakes still live!
Microwave ovens! Radios! Compact disc players! Rampant fraud! No matter how you slice it, Crazy Eddie was insane AND classic(ally bad)!
