Tang "moon men"
Tang instant breakfast drink was well known for associating itself with the NASA space program, since it was one of the "dehydrated" drinks used by the astronauts.
One series of commercials in the early 1970s were animated, and involved a group of four moon creatures. They spoke perfect English, and their primary focus was on acquiring Tang, both Orange and Grape flavor (which came in a jar at the time). Among the commercials (names not official):
THE HOTEL
1: "Well the hotel is all done"
2: "What?"
1: "The hotel. The astronauts have to pay us Tang to stay here."
2: "It won't work"
1: "But why? They get free oxygen, a good view of the Earth"
2: "It won't work"
1: "But look at that golf course we built, with 18 million holes" (as one of them putts a golf ball in to a small crater)
1: "I'm telling you it won't work"
2: "Why not?"
1: (smugly) "They stopped sending men to the moon! Ha ha ha."
THE SONG
1: "Here is a song to get the astronauts back."
2: "And this song is so good they'll have to come back"
1; "That way we can get more Tang"
All: (singing) "Twinkle, twinkle little jar, how I wonder where you are. Up above the..."
3: "Hold it. HOLD IT!" (singing stops.) "Seems to me I heard that song before."
MISSION TO MARS
1: "I told you Mars is orange and not red. Now we'll see if Mars really tastes like Tang."
2: (dissolves some Martian soil into a glass of water) "One small sip for me, one giant drink for mankind.
(takes a swig. In a pained voice cries out) "That's not Tang!" (collapses).
3: "Luckily I brought the real Tang, both Orange and Grape flavor."
2: (wakes up dazed) "Where am I?" (3 pours some Tang in his mouth.) "Now that's Tang. I must be in heaven!"
ROCKS FOR TANG
1: Aww, we're all out of orange Tang.
2: Darn, the grape-flavor's gone too.
3: Well why don't we go to the Earth and get some more. I can trade them some rocks. (as he tosses some lunar stones into a bag)
1: Rocks? For a great-tasting drink with a full-days' supply of vitamin C?
3: You'll see.
(flying saucer heads to Earth)
1: What is vitamin C, anyway.
(flying saucer returns to Moon)
3: We got it. Tang. Both orange and grape flavor.
1: For a bag of rocks. (camera focuses on Earth in lunar sky) Sometimes I wonder if there's intelligent life on that planet.
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
(one of the moon men is dressed in a carnival-style hat and striped shirt, and is standing behind a wooden stand while holding a cane/pointer)
1: Hurry hurry hurry, step right up. See the dark side of the moon! You just pay Tang to see it.
(A group of moon people hand the barker some tang jars. They cross over the lunar terminator into total darkness, and just their eyes are lit up)
"ooh.. ow.. where am I... you're on my foot... oh this is spooky... let's get out of here"
(They cross back over to the lighted side)
"WE were gypped. We want our great-tasting Tang back."
1: (relents and gives them the Tang back) "What did you expect? There's nothing to see in the dark anyway"
One series of commercials in the early 1970s were animated, and involved a group of four moon creatures. They spoke perfect English, and their primary focus was on acquiring Tang, both Orange and Grape flavor (which came in a jar at the time). Among the commercials (names not official):
THE HOTEL
1: "Well the hotel is all done"
2: "What?"
1: "The hotel. The astronauts have to pay us Tang to stay here."
2: "It won't work"
1: "But why? They get free oxygen, a good view of the Earth"
2: "It won't work"
1: "But look at that golf course we built, with 18 million holes" (as one of them putts a golf ball in to a small crater)
1: "I'm telling you it won't work"
2: "Why not?"
1: (smugly) "They stopped sending men to the moon! Ha ha ha."
THE SONG
1: "Here is a song to get the astronauts back."
2: "And this song is so good they'll have to come back"
1; "That way we can get more Tang"
All: (singing) "Twinkle, twinkle little jar, how I wonder where you are. Up above the..."
3: "Hold it. HOLD IT!" (singing stops.) "Seems to me I heard that song before."
MISSION TO MARS
1: "I told you Mars is orange and not red. Now we'll see if Mars really tastes like Tang."
2: (dissolves some Martian soil into a glass of water) "One small sip for me, one giant drink for mankind.
(takes a swig. In a pained voice cries out) "That's not Tang!" (collapses).
3: "Luckily I brought the real Tang, both Orange and Grape flavor."
2: (wakes up dazed) "Where am I?" (3 pours some Tang in his mouth.) "Now that's Tang. I must be in heaven!"
ROCKS FOR TANG
1: Aww, we're all out of orange Tang.
2: Darn, the grape-flavor's gone too.
3: Well why don't we go to the Earth and get some more. I can trade them some rocks. (as he tosses some lunar stones into a bag)
1: Rocks? For a great-tasting drink with a full-days' supply of vitamin C?
3: You'll see.
(flying saucer heads to Earth)
1: What is vitamin C, anyway.
(flying saucer returns to Moon)
3: We got it. Tang. Both orange and grape flavor.
1: For a bag of rocks. (camera focuses on Earth in lunar sky) Sometimes I wonder if there's intelligent life on that planet.
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
(one of the moon men is dressed in a carnival-style hat and striped shirt, and is standing behind a wooden stand while holding a cane/pointer)
1: Hurry hurry hurry, step right up. See the dark side of the moon! You just pay Tang to see it.
(A group of moon people hand the barker some tang jars. They cross over the lunar terminator into total darkness, and just their eyes are lit up)
"ooh.. ow.. where am I... you're on my foot... oh this is spooky... let's get out of here"
(They cross back over to the lighted side)
"WE were gypped. We want our great-tasting Tang back."
1: (relents and gives them the Tang back) "What did you expect? There's nothing to see in the dark anyway"
posted by Mike at
10:28 PM
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