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The Untold Story Of The “John And Marsha” Commercials

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The Untold Story Of The “John And Marsha” Commercials

In the mid ’50s, this commercial campaign (video) was the equivalent of the 1984 “Where’s The Beef” campaign from Wendy’s. All of us old enough to have seen it still remember this Snowdrift Shortening commercial from our childhood, others may remember it from seeing it used in ‘Mad Men’, but I’ll bet NONE of us knew THIS!

Play this video and you will be very surprised! Go ahead…do in now.

Surprised? Me too! I had no idea the the award winning commercial from 1956 was based on Stan Freberg’s 1951 novelty hit, but it was.

The February 10, 1951 release, “John and Marsha” was a soap opera parody that consisted of the title characters (both played by Freberg) doing nothing but repeating each other’s names with intonations to match the moods. It never was a big hit, but did get a lot radio airplay and obviously left a lasting impression.

Producer/Director John Hubley and Animator/Artist Art Babbitt were given the New York Art Directors Award for Best Animated Short for the spot in June of 1956. I still remember all of the words…you too? Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee

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7 responses to “The Untold Story Of The “John And Marsha” Commercials”

  1. Eyesofageneration.com

    Stan Freeberg’s 1965 Who Listens To Radio Campaign with Quincy Jones and Sarah Vaughn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C4e59yZExk

  2. Robert Barker

    Although I wasn’t ‘aware’ until the late 50s, I do remember this record being played, or adults still acting it out. Got to go to a Freberg retrospective at the Egyptian Theater in L.A. a couple years back, maybe his last public appearance. He was quite frail, so his wife pretty much ran the show. I still don’t think he’s appreciated as much as he should be.

  3. Terry Drymon

    So funny to watch. You can’t forget oh John oh Marsha but I did forget the product!

  4. Terry Drymon

    Boy do I remember

  5. Dennis Degan

    Stan Freberg was a genius. He wrote (and even appeared in) many of the most memorable commercials of the 1950’s and ’60’s.

  6. Alan Rosenfeld

    The Freberg piece was released a year before I was born, but I remember my parents playing the record when I was a toddler and the commercial.

  7. Marc Wielage

    Performed by great Stan Freberg, along with June Foray as the old lady.

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