Hog dogs with a message

In 1990, the Viskase Corp. debuted a breakthrough in hot-dog technology. It had developed an edible ink that allowed messages to be printed onto hot dogs during the manufacturing process.

As far as I can tell, this technology failed to find a market. The NY Times reported that "the Viskase Corporation found no takers for its offer to print edible-ink ads on hot dogs."

Perhaps this was because a) what kind of message is best delivered via hot dog?, and b) hot dogs are usually covered with condiments, which would hide the message.

Image source: Newsweek - Jan 22, 1990

Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 14, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Food, Junk Food, Advertising, 1990s

Condom Hut

Back in 1992, Emanuelle Del Vecchio had an idea for a great new business — a drive-through condom store. She called it "Condom Hut" and set up shop in a former Fotomat booth.

Unfortunately the booth was located in an area of Cranston, Rhode Island populated by very Catholic Italian-Americans, many of whom took great offense at the idea of people being able to buy birth control from the comfort of their motor vehicle.

Local residents began protesting the store. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence condemned it for "promoting sexual activity, not abstinence." A rock was thrown through its window. Graffiti was spray-painted on its front. And eventually the business folded.

America was just not ready for a drive-through condom store.

Source: People magazine - Sep 21, 1992

Source (and more info): Quahog.org

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 13, 2015 - Comments (8)
Category: Business, Birth Control , 1990s

Satanic Thomas Guide

The front cover of the 1997 Thomas Guide road atlas for Los Angeles and Orange Counties boasted that the guide that year included "666 new streets."

This prompted concerned Christians to start calling the publisher of the guide, fearing that the use of the number 666 was some kind of satanic signal.

Eventually the publisher recalled the Guide and issued a new one, with a revised cover boasting only "665" new streets. A Thomas Guide spokesman said it wanted buyers to "feel confident with the use of our product."

I've found a few of the satanic Thomas Guides for sale on eBay. However, I've been unable to find any of the revised ones.



More info: La Times - Oct 28, 1999

Update: I spoke too soon. Using some slightly different search terms, I was able to track down one of the revised (non-satanic) Thomas Guides for sale on eBay.



Of course, the revised cover was a bit of a hoax. There actually were 666 new streets, but they were telling people there were only 665. Unless they actually deleted one of the streets from the guide. An appropriate street to delete would have been Devilwood Circle, in Westminster, CA (Orange County).

Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 29, 2015 - Comments (18)
Category: Geography and Maps, 1990s

Bat Sounds?

Several sources claim that in 1999 one of the top-selling CDs in Europe was titled "Bats." It consisted entirely of the sound of bats flying around.

However, one of those sources is the Weekly World News (May 4, 1999). So not very reliable. And since I can't find any trace of this CDs existence elsewhere (I thought a copy would likely have surfaced on eBay -- but no; or on YouTube -- no again), I'm wondering if the CD was real, or one of WWN's jokes.

The other source that mentioned the CD was the Glasgow Sunday Mail, May 2, 1999. But maybe they got their info from the WWN?

Do any WUvians have the answer to this bat mystery? Was Bats really a European top-seller?

Weekly World News - May 4, 1999

Posted By: Alex - Fri Sep 18, 2015 - Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Music, 1990s

Cruise Ship Photos

Flashbak.com has posted an interesting collection of photos (titled "Love Boat Rejects") taken by official photographers aboard American, Norwegian, and Italian cruiseships during the 1990s. Check out the full gallery here.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 12, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Photography and Photographers, 1990s

Zero Gravity Frog

NASA footage of experiments with frogs in a zero-g environment, performed on the Space Shuttle Endeavor, 1992.

Posted By: Alex - Sun May 24, 2015 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Science, Experiments, 1990s

Drugachusetts

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 04, 2015 - Comments (2)
Category: Drugs, 1990s, Parody

Follies of the Madmen #232

Existential candybars, as only David Cronenberg could direct it.

For more weirdness, try his new novel.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 21, 2014 - Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Surrealism, Candy, 1990s

You got the right one, baby, uh-huh

In the early 1990s, Diet Pepsi ran a series of successful ads that featured Ray Charles and the slogan, "You got the right one, baby, uh-huh."


But not everyone liked the ads. Arthur Takeall claimed that Pepsi stole the slogan from him, saying he had used it in his ventriloquism act for years. He would choose an attractive woman in the audience and say, "You've Got The Right One" and his puppet would then say "Uh-huh."

Takeall sued Pepsi for $130 million, but his case was dismissed by the judge. However, in 1997 the Patent and Trademark Office ruled in his favor, deciding that he was entitled to the rights to the slogan, "You got the right one, baby, uh-huh." But as far as I know, it was a bit of a hollow victory since Pepsi never paid him any money.


More about Takeall in the Baltimore Afro-American - May 3, 1997.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 15, 2014 - Comments (6)
Category: Lawsuits, 1990s

Pork Chop Shoes

From the strange legal cases file: Back in 1997, Ross Lucock of Australia won a meat tray during a pub raffle. Informed that he needed to be wearing shoes while in the pub, he proceeded to strap the meat (pork chops) to his feet and parade around the pub, leading to the inevitable accident in which another pub patron slipped on the trail of pork slime and broke his arm. The guy with the broken arm then sued the pub, arguing that it had breached its duty of care by its "failure to remove [Mr. Lucock]... in the knowledge that he was inebriated and was clad with pork chops strapped to his feet." He was awarded $750,000 in damages.

More info at ABA Journal.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 26, 2014 - Comments (12)
Category: Shoes, 1990s