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[Henry]

Speaking of beef, I remember the old "Beef. It's What's for Dinner" commercials using the Aaron Copland composition Hoe-Down from the ballet Rodeo. Also, another Copland composition, Simple Gifts from Appalachian Spring, is most famous for use in the Oldsmobile Aurora commercials.

[PHLBOS]

Wendy's "Where's the beef?"

Here is a classic.

Where's the beef.  The old lady on this became a star because of her catchphrase.

That would be Clara Peller.  IIRC, the Where's the beef? catchphrase from that commercial really took off when it was used during one of the 1984 Democratic primary debates.  Former-Vice-President Walter Mondale asked such to then-US Senator Gary Hart.
Fast-forward to 1:19 in the below-clip:

As shown on your (roadman65) posted Youtube clip, Clara Peller had a nice gig w/Wendy's until she did this commercial for Prego a year stating that she found the beef in Prego's sauce:

Wendy's was not amused and as result, they fired Peller for doing that ad.

Clara Peller did a cameo appearance in the 1985 movie Moving Violations.  Pardon the grainy video but this clip captures some good/funny scenes w/Peller.

[roadman65]

Was not Sam Breakstone the same man who was the Donut Man in the Dunkin Donut commercials in the 1980's?

Also the Breakstone Commercials were classic with the dog always grabbing ole Sam's trousers in the end.  In addition someone on here pointed out that one commercial in particular featured a very young Jeffrey Tambor in it.

[Henry]

Was not Sam Breakstone the same man who was the Donut Man in the Dunkin Donut commercials in the 1980's?

No, the Donut Man's name was Fred. Of course, we all remember his catchphrase: "Time to make the donuts!"

[roadman]

Was not Sam Breakstone the same man who was the Donut Man in the Dunkin Donut commercials in the 1980's?

No, the Donut Man's name was Fred. Of course, we all remember his catchphrase: "Time to make the donuts!"

His official name was Fred the Baker.  The flyers announcing the opening of the then-new Dunkin Donuts in our building (this was in the late 1980s) stated "Come meet Fred the Baker."

[jp the roadgeek]

Was not Sam Breakstone the same man who was the Donut Man in the Dunkin Donut commercials in the 1980's?

No, the Donut Man's name was Fred. Of course, we all remember his catchphrase: "Time to make the donuts!"

His official name was Fred the Baker.  The flyers announcing the opening of the then-new Dunkin Donuts in our building (this was in the late 1980s) stated "Come meet Fred the Baker."

Sam Breakstone= Fred the Baker = Harvey Middleman, the Sound Playground guy.  Found this ad, when they were starting to phase him out (apologize for the tracking issues).  The earlier ads followed more of a storyline of him much like a Fred the Baker; in this one he was pretty much just a spokesman.

[X99]

This should have been here earlier

[Henry]

Was not Sam Breakstone the same man who was the Donut Man in the Dunkin Donut commercials in the 1980's?

No, the Donut Man's name was Fred. Of course, we all remember his catchphrase: "Time to make the donuts!"

His official name was Fred the Baker.  The flyers announcing the opening of the then-new Dunkin Donuts in our building (this was in the late 1980s) stated "Come meet Fred the Baker."

Sam Breakstone= Fred the Baker = Harvey Middleman, the Sound Playground guy.  Found this ad, when they were starting to phase him out (apologize for the tracking issues).  The earlier ads followed more of a storyline of him much like a Fred the Baker; in this one he was pretty much just a spokesman.

Look, I admit it; I was wrong, you were right. Sam Breakstone and Fred the Baker were portrayed by the same man, and he was the late Michael Vale.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Vale

So there you go.

[KEVIN_224]

Michael Vale was also the man in Sound Playground advertisements here in Connecticut and West Springfield, MA. It was mostly an electronics/appliance store. I met Michael in the summer of 1991 at their Newington, CT store. They were holding a celebration for the Panasonic THX sound system or whatever.

[Henry]

Michael Vale was also the man in Sound Playground advertisements here in Connecticut and West Springfield, MA. It was mostly an electronics/appliance store. I met Michael in the summer of 1991 at their Newington, CT store. They were holding a celebration for the Panasonic THX sound system or whatever.

I knew that already, with the "Sam Breakstone = Fred the Baker = Harvey Middleman" quote earlier.

[roadman65]

Of course, if you read the carton of any Breakstone product you will see that the founder's name is definitely not Sam.

Always realized they are all actors just like even Orville Redenbacker is had two actors portray the founder in the last two decades.  Even the now defunct Beefsteak Charlies had a paid actor say he was that person where in fact there probably was even no Charlie to begin with.  I was young but I was kind of disappointed when I saw a recast of the original Beefsteak Charlie actor later in the company's tenor.  Sad they went under as I remember their peel and eat all u can eat shrimp they featured was the best deal around!

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=beefsteak+charlies&view=detail&mid=A020F9B77F9D8D310EA3A020F9B77F9D8D310EA3&FORM=VIRE

I will bet that man is as much Beefsteak Charlie as much as that mustache is really his.

[D-Dey65]

The old cigarette commercials were cool.

You might like the Flintstones Winston cigarette ad.

Flintstones kids... 10 million strong... *cough cough cough HACK wheeze* ... and smooooking.

That's hilarious.

This isn't old, but does anybody from the northeast get this commercial?

[D-Dey65]

This should have been here earlier

Both you and the people who made this must've been inspired by this one;

[roadman65]

Jason Alexander in a Delta Airlines Commercial and with hair!

[kurumi]

The late 1980s were a strange time:

a decade later, not much better:

"Charlie works in cyberspace; backslash dot com all day long" just might be the worst sequence of 10 words known to man.

[MNHighwayMan]

"Charlie works in cyberspace; backslash dot com all day long" just might be the worst sequence of 10 words known to man.

Honestly, I'm perfectly okay with the fact that the word "cyberspace" has declined sharply in usage.

[Revive 755]

^ They tried replacing it with Vault, but it just wasn't quite the same. Now that Vault's gone, there are online movements to have Surge made again.

I've seen Surge in a couple different Burger Kings this year.