1970s

Carbonated Cosmic Consciousness

Daniel Barnum-Swett · 05/10/10 10:45AM

Psychedelic abstractions and bubbly fantasies from 7UP's early 1970s "See the Light" ad campaign make one wonder just what was in the so-called "Uncola".

Levi's Lysergic Acid Wash

Daniel Barnum-Swett · 04/29/10 10:45AM

The trippy history of Levi's commercials has been noted here before, but this ad melds their hallucinogenic influences with a sense of existentialist despair. What is man without colorful Dacron polyester? Absolutely nothing: only denim determines identity.

Raquel Welch: Hottest Dancing Alien Ever

Daniel Barnum-Swett · 03/23/10 10:45AM

Raquel Welch, iconic babe of One Million Years B.C. and Bedazzled fame, blasts off to get her intergalactic groove on in her 1970 TV special, Raquel!. With Welch shaking her assets in a skimpy silver spacesuit, the retro-future looks banging.

The Wearable Nightmare

Daniel Barnum-Swett · 03/18/10 10:45AM

Perfectly matching ascots to your wide-collar shirts and finding pants that won't crease while touring through the abandoned ruins in your mind is hard! Pack for your next trip to the surrealist dreamscape with a little help from ICI Fibres.

The Darwinian Dungaree

Daniel Barnum-Swett · 02/24/10 11:45AM

This 1970s Levi's commercial poses the existentialist question man must ask himself when faced with an evolutionary reality: if humans developed differently, say, if they had become fish—which type of polyester blend Levi's would they fancy?

Secret Agent Ape

Daniel Barnum-Swett · 02/22/10 11:45AM

With an all-animal cast and its own psychedelic house band, Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp, was a strange Saturday morning kids' show experiment. Lance's espionage was about puns, antics, and overdubbing; an evolved approach to his jungle compatriots' poo throwing.

Zardoz: Love, Death & the Loincloth

Daniel Barnum-Swett · 02/17/10 11:45AM

In Zardoz, a futuristic society completely loses the true meaning of life in achieving immortality, until Sean Connery, clad only in a bikini and bullet loop suspenders, rides a giant, flying, talking head into town and sets things right/kills all.

This Is Not My Beautiful House, This Is Not My Murderous Lampshade

Daniel Barnum-Swett · 01/25/10 11:45AM

In Hausu, six schoolgirls stay with an aunt/geisha/vampire at her spooky estate and are killed off in ludicrously horrific manners. For the final showdown, the remaining girls confront pure evil: a lampshade and a demonic cat vomiting endless blood.