flashback

January 17, 2012 3:52 PM

The year was 1969, and even the people who made commercials for the International House of Pancakes were on acid.
posted by flapjax at midnite (77 comments total)

Eponysterical.....
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 3:58 PM on January 17 [8 favorites]

I saw what you did here.
posted by HuronBob at 3:58 PM on January 17

eponysterical!
posted by wuwei at 3:59 PM on January 17

Well, uh, sure, I guess I want some pancakes now.
posted by aubilenon at 3:59 PM on January 17

I am wondering if there is anyone of a certain age who has not, on a hungover morning, vomited back into the toilet the 2AM IHOP meal, which is scarcely remembered, but for the sickness.
posted by Danf at 4:00 PM on January 17

IHOP weren't the only ones on acid.
posted by eschatfische at 4:00 PM on January 17 [10 favorites]

well.. now I want pancakes. and LSD.
posted by ninjew at 4:01 PM on January 17 [7 favorites]

Yikes.
posted by Malice at 4:02 PM on January 17

This reminds me, a filmmaker friend of mine recently noted his 1974 drag racing short documentary Vroom! is on YouTube. What's fascinating to me about it is how unabashedly psychedelic the editing is. Watch for a couple of minutes for slow-mo, bad trip sounds, etc. It's pretty crazy; was everything in the late 60s / early 70s so fucked up?
posted by Nelson at 4:03 PM on January 17

In 1969 I watched friends of my older brother drink pancake syrup right out of the containers... at IHOP. But they were just drunk.
posted by Rash at 4:03 PM on January 17

was everything in the late 60s / early 70s so fucked up?

From what I've seen half of it was, and the other half was Sam the Eagle all the way.
posted by Miko at 4:04 PM on January 17 [8 favorites]

Sounds like a chord progression Mort Garson might use. I know he was doing some commercial work around then. I wonder if it's him?
posted by dvrnvn at 4:04 PM on January 17 [3 favorites]

Eponysterical? Is that something I'd need to watch My Little Pony to understand?
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:05 PM on January 17 [2 favorites]

eschatfische, thank you for finding that refreshments real. It reawakened dimly remembered and very nightmarish memories of being five, falling asleep at the drive in and OMG A GIANT TOOTHY MOUTH HAS BECOME DISEMBODIED...
posted by Miko at 4:05 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

In 1969 I watched friends of my older brother drink pancake syrup right out of the containers... at IHOP. But they were just drunk.

Some things never change...
posted by littlesq at 4:06 PM on January 17

Wow! Look at my hand!
posted by kozad at 4:06 PM on January 17 [3 favorites]

One thing though, if you're on acid and you go to IHOP, probably don't order that spaghetti and meatballs.
posted by Miko at 4:07 PM on January 17 [15 favorites]

Could anyone understand the childlike voice beyond "International House of Pancakes"? I would provide so many pancakes in exchange for a transcript.
posted by Blasdelb at 4:08 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

DUDE
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:09 PM on January 17

I can't look at the rooty tooty fresh and fruity in the same way.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:09 PM on January 17

International House of Pancakes
Mm, mm mm
International House of Pancakes
Just for the fun of it!
posted by Miko at 4:09 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

I can't look at the rooty tooty fresh and fruity in the same way.

Maybe these glasses will help.
posted by Miko at 4:10 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

In 1969 I watched friends of my older brother drink pancake syrup right out of the containers... at IHOP. But they were just drunk.

That was sort of a tradition for poor college students in the early 90s as well. Going to IHOP with a party of 14 at 2 AM, and you're broke? Chug the syrup. According to a friend of mine who did so habitually, boysenberry went down the smoothest.
posted by delfin at 4:15 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

Excuse me, but that commercial ain't any more fucked up than IHOP's 2011 Christmas items:

White Chocolate Chip Mint Stuffed Pancakes
Pumpkin Praline Stuffed Pancakes
Eggnog Cream Stuffed Pancakes

I'd like to meet the person, sober or staggering, who could keep those down.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:17 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

That IHOP looks to be the one I went to as a kid in Thousand Oaks, California. Ah Nostalgia..
posted by MikeHoegeman at 4:18 PM on January 17

Holy Cooption Batman!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 4:19 PM on January 17

Little known fact: in the 60s, restaurants had special racks outside that you could tie your giant balloon assortment to while you went inside and ate.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:20 PM on January 17 [37 favorites]

that commercial ain't any more fucked up than IHOP's 2011 Christmas items

I hadn't been there in about 20 years and got stuck having breakfast there recently. Now, I'm a big fan of greasy breakfasts, pancakes, sausage and bacon, heaps of butter and syrup and all that. But that's...no longer what they specialize in. I swear everything on the menu was some tarted-up, hyper-branded version of processed sugary breakfast - "Cinna-Stax," Cheesecake Pancakes.... It was singularly unappetizing - and when we got the food, it didn't taste like it was even made out of real pancake stuff (flour, eggs, etc.) It was bland, overly fluffy, and sort of oddly chewy.

Clearly they can't leave well enough alone. The Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity was just the beginning.
posted by Miko at 4:22 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

in the 60s, restaurants had special racks outside that you could tie your giant balloon assortment to while you went inside and ate.

Well, they had them until inevitably, one sunny Sunday there would be just too many balloons. Even more little known fact: that spom inspired a Fifth Dimension hit!
posted by Miko at 4:24 PM on January 17

or they pretended to be to sell pancakes to stoners, which was kind of unneccessary. IHOP is one of the few thing drunks and stoners hold in common; their food complenets both weed and booze wonderfully.
posted by jonmc at 4:31 PM on January 17

Yes, I can have a bit of a sweet tooth at times, but these modern-day IHOP commercials just instantly make you think, "adult onset diabetes."

They're not as disgusting as the Olive Garden ads, though. Every time they show an extreme close-up of some meant-to-be-delectable ersatz Italian dish, I just want to heave.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:32 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

The soundtrack, such as it was, reminded me of Raymond Scott's electronic music. Any sense of whether he slummed on the IHOP account when he wasn't getting the IBM gigs?
posted by the sobsister at 4:34 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

The frolicking with giant balloons reminded me instantly of this, which is now in your head. You're welcome.

I love the "Refreshment Time" for ripping off Yellow Submarine so cheerfully.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:37 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

I'm just going to leave this YouTube link here.

We used to watch that movie at my day care center when I was a kid.
posted by LionIndex at 4:38 PM on January 17 [5 favorites]

Yep, those were the good old days of care-free innocent pancake trips. These days they make them much stronger with all kinds of chemicals - they can be dangerous.
posted by mannequito at 4:51 PM on January 17

I'm just going to leave this YouTube link here.

We used to watch that movie at my day care center when I was a kid.

HOLY SHIT! My second grade class watched this a couple times, and every time we would laugh uproariously at the sound of the magic pancakes taking effect.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 4:56 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

I'd like to meet the person, sober or staggering, who could keep those down.

The pumpkin pancakes, by themselves, are actually pretty good. With all the extra praline crap on them, though, not so much.
posted by Malor at 4:57 PM on January 17

One thing though, if you're on acid and you go to IHOP, probably don't order that spaghetti and meatballs.

As a friend of mine noted during a 4th Of July weekend when we were trying to figure out the schedule of tripping and food... "Do you want to eat your dinner, or just play with it?"
posted by hippybear at 5:00 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

Eponysterical.....
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies

Wait just a minute, aren't you a former Waffle House waitress? iHop is your mortal enemy.

(don't you remember the Onion sidebar- "Mason-Dixon line renamed IHOP-Waffle House Line")
posted by jonmc at 5:00 PM on January 17 [5 favorites]

Pancakes are good if you only rub a tiny bit of butter on them. Putting syrup on them is just too crazy.

This is why I cannot go to ihop- my aversion to non-chocolate sweets means that I die just walking in the door from a contact whipped cream high.
posted by winna at 5:05 PM on January 17

Meanwhile… in Vermont.
posted by unliteral at 5:14 PM on January 17 [2 favorites]

This reminds me of a commercial Frank Zappa did for Luden's cough drops. What happened between then and now?
posted by compartment at 5:31 PM on January 17 [2 favorites]

❝ᴘѪՏئ ႵᏂᙦ ﮐＹㄬⷰⱣ❞
posted by not_on_display at 5:32 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

Sort of previously'd in a comment here.

I knew it looked familiar, and I knew I'd seen it on the blue... took me a while to find it.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 5:46 PM on January 17

My comment was also previously'd in a comment two up from itself. O, the shame. (Sorry unliteral.)

I think it's time for me to go to bed.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 5:47 PM on January 17

I'm guessing that it's a Moog Modular 55.
posted by ovvl at 5:50 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

That made me want to eat out of a ceramic chicken.
posted by sonascope at 5:51 PM on January 17 [7 favorites]

When the time switched, right as the, uh, vocals, came in, I was pretty sure I was having a stroke.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:16 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

Someone forced me to go to IHOP for the first time about a year ago, and since I'm not a huge fan of pancakes and hate restaurant ones with a passion, I ordered eggs and bacon... and I couldn't eat them, it was literally the worst food I've ever received from anyone.

That's an awesome commercial, though. From the year of my birth!
posted by Huck500 at 6:31 PM on January 17

See kids, that’s the kind of TV we watched as children. I see old shows from my childhood now and can’t believe how weird some of them were. And not "ironic" weirdness.
posted by bongo_x at 6:49 PM on January 17

What the hell is in the salad around 0:35? It looks like a bowl of raw collard greens and tomatoes.
posted by nev at 7:37 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

There's a great old IHOP spot on this '60s promo recording made by the Heller advertising agency, from the amazing treasure trove of the 2003 UbuWeb 365 Days Project. (MP3, IHOP starts at 2:41 but it's all good, as is pretty much the whole 365 days)
posted by Flashman at 7:44 PM on January 17

IHOP weren't the only ones on acid

Pepsi Blue Sunshine!
posted by hypersloth at 7:53 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

I want to live in that house.
posted by swift at 8:26 PM on January 17

was everything in the late 60s / early 70s so fucked up?

No. I was awesome.

Also, I was six. WHATEVER.
posted by zomg at 8:27 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

This International House of Pancakes? Are there any outside the USA? What other countries would they be in?

Isn't it really just the National House of Pancakes?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:45 AM on January 18

Well.... I now know what IHOP stands for.....

(They're aren't in Australia, to answer the question)
posted by kjs4 at 1:26 AM on January 18

he Intergalactic House of Pancakes is the real shit. Order the Skrizzzzik Berry and Floop nuts with the real &*&&5& topping. It's smerdlik!
posted by moneyjane at 1:44 AM on January 18 [4 favorites]

Isn't it really just the National House of Pancakes?

International, Peter, international. I know cause I was in an IHOP once and watched a World Series game on TV there. And they wouldn't call it the "World Series" if it was just a national thing, right?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:14 AM on January 18 [2 favorites]

It's smerdlik!

I knew it! They speak Dutch in outer space, too!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:15 AM on January 18

Eh! Was that pancake-cooking witch Mrs. Slocombe?
posted by stinkycheese at 2:15 AM on January 18 [1 favorite]

Cyanide pancakes: the final solution to the unhappiness problem.
posted by stinkycheese at 2:16 AM on January 18

1969 in the sunshine...
posted by Devonian at 2:18 AM on January 18

I can hardly wait for the Mad Men episode where Peggy Olsen thinks this up.
posted by Elizabeth the Thirteenth at 4:37 AM on January 18 [6 favorites]

Little known fact: in the 60s, restaurants had special racks outside that you could tie your giant balloon assortment to while you went inside and ate.

This is actually how IHOP franchises spread across the country. If they got popular enough part of the restaurant would lift off and be blown on the wind to another location where it could take root.
posted by srboisvert at 4:57 AM on January 18 [2 favorites]

See kids, there's a reason why PBS doesn't rerun the old Electric Company episodes. RIGHT ON!
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:37 AM on January 18

Miko: "One thing though, if you're on acid and you go to IHOP, probably don't order that spaghetti and meatballs.<>"

Rooty Tooty FTFY
posted by Splunge at 5:52 AM on January 18

... and now I've got Ween cued up.
posted by phong3d at 6:27 AM on January 18

IHOP: they're bigger on the inside.
posted by FormlessOne at 6:52 AM on January 18

For some reason a few weeks ago we (my wife, daughter, and I) found this on television. I vividly remembered watching it as a child. My wife, 13 years my junior, finally understood from whence comes my weirdness.

My daughter, 3 1/2, loved it.
posted by tr33hggr at 8:36 AM on January 18

My second grade class watched this a couple times, and every time we would laugh uproariously at the sound of the magic pancakes taking effect.

NYT: A 1969 Film Touches a Generation
posted by grouse at 8:49 AM on January 18 [1 favorite]

the young lad about to dine is throwing off a Wayne Newton vibe
posted by naplesyellow at 9:19 AM on January 18

Also from the early 1970s:

The Lifesavers ads with the Bo Diddley beat and sub-Yellow-Submarine syke-a-delic animation. There was at least one other.

The 'At McDonald's, it's clean' big production number. I think this was the first use of the "You deserve a brick today" tagline in musical form.
 
posted by Herodios at 9:55 AM on January 18

But all the cool kids in Buffalo didn't care for McDonald's. For us, it was Henry's. And they make the IHOP commercial look maybe mildly tipsy at best.
posted by Doohickie at 11:01 AM on January 18

What's fascinating to me about it is how unabashedly psychedelic the editing is. Watch for a couple of minutes for slow-mo, bad trip sounds, etc.

OK, here's the thing. Those were the editing tools available at the time. The sound effects were what the synthesizers of the time made. They were much more universal and have only become associated strictly with psychedelia as time has marched on and only certain examples have remained.

Also, I suspect that psychedlic experiences are heavily colored by the available culture, creating a feedback loop wherein, say, prism video effects are thought to be trippy.
posted by dhartung at 12:30 PM on January 18 [1 favorite]

I think this was the first use of the "You deserve a brick today" tagline in musical form.

Somehow I don't think that's exactly the line which was handed to Barry Manilow to compose the jingle which made it famous.
posted by hippybear at 10:13 PM on January 18

NYT: A 1969 Film Touches a Generation

My favorite bit:

Gerald Herman, who directed the low-budget film for $500 while a student at New York University ... now runs an art-house cinema in Hanoi, Vietnam.

posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 10:36 PM on January 18