ez a jóska, ez a gyurka, ez meg itt a véres hurka
January 26, 2005 1:43 PM   Subscribe

Jó szórakozást! A collection of 101 of the strangest commercials I've ever seen. Blame it on 1980's Hungary. Or just the 80's. Or Hungary. [via memepool]
posted by Igor XA (14 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
oh, and i believe "jó szórakozást" translates to "have fun," but i could be wrong.
posted by Igor XA at 1:44 PM on January 26, 2005


Strangest is, well, an understatement.
posted by vanadium at 2:24 PM on January 26, 2005


Wow! Don't miss #29, the Húzi Rugi Boogie.
posted by hydrophonic at 3:14 PM on January 26, 2005


Ej, de jó! Kösz Igor!
posted by Wolfdog at 3:32 PM on January 26, 2005


De lassú.
posted by Wolfdog at 3:38 PM on January 26, 2005


actually, Wolfdog, i don't speak a lick of hungarian (i did sing kodály's balassi balint elfelejtett éneke in choir, and i'm also a big fan of jozsef karai, though). what's that say?

the forgotten song of balassi balint is gorgeous, if you haven't heard it. we made the hungarian judge cry when we sang it at an international competition in budapest. i have a recording around here somewhere i could probably dig up for you.
posted by Igor XA at 6:23 PM on January 26, 2005


A few translations would make this even more interesting. Number 6 is elegant, but what's it about?
posted by Termite at 11:40 PM on January 26, 2005


Igor: Thanks, it's very cool, but it's slow.

Termite: #6 is a bank ad,
There are those who come to us because they have money,
And those who come to us because they don't,
Some are savvy with money, and trust us with it
Some aren't, and would rather leave it to us
There are those who save money because their families did
There are those who save money because their families didn't
There are some who haven't come to see us yet.
We made this ad for them.

(OTP Bank also had an infernally catchy jingle ('Jegy, jegy, jegy! OT-Posta jegy!) for selling postal bonds which still occasionally pops into my mind.)
posted by Wolfdog at 4:49 AM on January 27, 2005


According to the introduction, some of these ads won awards at Cannes for advert production. Back in the 1980s, there were only two Hungarian TV stations, both state operated. Advertising was shown in a bloc program around 7 pm. A lot of the old communist era shops and products shown are not available anymore, but at least the sour cream still comes in those same containers... The Skala department store that is shown just announced last week that it is bankrupt and shutting down in March.

The first clip - "ez a joska, ez a gyurka" is great: it's for blood and liver sausage, which is exactly the kind of thing kids do not want to eat. (de én nagyon szerettem a hurkat... )

But these come a long way from the ads of the 1960s - the shoe store ad had a picture of a shoe, and the words "Buy shoes... at the SHOE STORE!"
posted by zaelic at 8:14 AM on January 27, 2005


Thanks, Wolfdog! (I'm guessing pénze is money). The OTP movie is elegant, I've been watching it several times and could see it again.

Also, number 37... A tape recorder ad consisting of some guy's head just talking about tape recorders, we hardly get to see a glipse of the product before the ad is over. Whoever made this really knew you don't sell the steak, you sell the sizzle.
posted by Termite at 11:36 AM on January 27, 2005


Igor XA you just made my day.
posted by dabitch at 12:17 PM on January 27, 2005


zaelic: te eszel hurkat?
posted by semmi at 11:12 PM on January 27, 2005


Semmi: Ebédre szívesen ennék hurkát sült krumplival, de itt nem kapható. Nekem inkább a májas hurka izlik.
posted by Wolfdog at 3:20 AM on January 28, 2005


ahhh, thanks for the translations! now i really wish i spoke hungarian.
posted by Igor XA at 7:26 AM on January 28, 2005


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