Retro Wonder Bread and Hostess Commercials

Hello Retrodave fans. You really don't miss something until it's gone. That is how I feel about Hostess. There was a Wonder/Hostess store nearby when I live. Now it's gone. My mom and I would go there to get Wonder Bread when I was little. Sometimes my mom would get me a box of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Cupcakes, or other Hostess goodies if I behaved. Later when I was old enough my Mom would send me up there to get bread on my own. I had hoped she would give extra money for Hostess snacks. Sometimes I would have just enough of my own change for an individual fruit pie.

Because of the current situation with Wonder/ Hostess I am reminded of Woody Harrelson in "Zombieland" on a search for Twinkies. He comes across a Hostess truck filled only with Sno-Balls. What a disappointment. Here is that scene.



Well Sno-Balls are better than nothing right? Well not to me I hate Sno-Balls, because just like, Woody's character I can't stand coconut. Anyway moving on. In this article we will look at some vintage Wonder/ Hostess Commercials. Also some clips of movies and a TV show that references Twinkies.

This first commercial I will show you is for Wonder Bread from 1952. Commercials back then were straight to the point. The point of this one was Wonder Bread can build your body in 8 different ways. Not much else to say about this one.



This next one is another Wonder Bread commercial. This one is the "Fresh Squeeze Guys" from 1970. Apparently to see if your bread is fresh is to squeeze it. I did not know that. I know that test works for fruit, but if you squeeze a loaf a bread don't you smooch it? I know bread is still good as long as it doesn't have that bluish-green mold on it. So squeeze the Wonder if you want just don't squeeze the Charmin.



One thing about Hostess is it had fun mascots for their commercials. This first mascot I will show is King Ding Dong. Could you imagine if there was a real king was named Ding Dong? It would go something like this.
King Ding Dong: "I King Ding Dong hereby decree tax cuts for the wealthy and tax increases for the poor."
Townsperson: "Looks like another typical Ding Dong move."
Well then about the commercial. In this commercial from 1971 this boy sees the animated character King Ding Dong. Mom on the other hand cannot.



Next up is a Fruit Pie the Magician commercial from the 1980s. The Fruit Pie Magician, (I'll call him FPM for short) may be a magician, but I'm not sure if he actually does any magic. FPM asks the kids what they like about fruit pies. I don't think they were fair to that third kid though they cut him off in mid sentence when he says, "...and..." It's like the producers of the commercials were like this kid is taking too long we have to cut him off and have "Fruit Pie" wrap it up. Also that kid says "Apple" when he holds up a blueberry package which makes me think they did this in one take.



The Hostess mascot most people recognize is Twinkie the Kid. Twinkie the Kid first appeared on television circa 1970; although I'm not 100% positive. Here is a commercial from 1985 featuring Twinkie the Kid. "Twinkie" asks kids how do they put the cream filling inside a Twinkie? The kid at the end says, "There just born that way." It may be me but I think that kid looks similar to Drew Barrymore as Gertie from "E.T."



Okay let's get away from Hostess for this one last Wonder Bread commercial. In this commercial from 1990 woman in a gym argue about what makes Wonder Bread Light great. One group likes it because of less calories. Another group likes it for more fiber. If you ask me this is a pointless argument. If both parties like something then who cares why they like it? In the words of Homer Simpson, "If we agree then why are we arguing?"



Now then back to Hostess. The next two commercials are my favorites from the late 90's "Where's the cream filling?" A shark mistakes a large woman on an inner-tube for a Hostess Cupcake and the other commercial is where a bear mistakes a yellow camping trailer for a giant Twinkie.





Now it is time for some clips of Twinkies used or referenced in movies, plus one clip from "Family Guy." Our first clip is from "Flight of the Navigator." Twinkies aren't shown in this clip but they are mentioned when the ships computer "Max" insults the chubby gas station attendant for eating too many Twinkies.



This next one is from "UHF" in which George Newman ("Weird Al") makes a Twinkie wiener sandwich. I like Twinkies and I like hot dogs, but I do not I am not so sure that combination would work. On the other hand I haven't tried it so it might. I also wish this clip was shorter.



I wanted to get a clip of the Twinkie the Kid biography from Family Guy, but apparently it is not on You Tube. So here's Peter watching Morgan Freeman narrating about the room he is in and how the walls are like a Twinkie, like a Twinkie. It's not even that funny but hey he mentions Twinkie twice.



Now I leave you with the infamous "Twinkie scene" from Ghostbusters. This scene speaks for itself. I hope you enjoy it and goodbye from Retrodave.