These TV Commercials from 1986 Reveal How Much We've Changed as a Society

There was a time when TV commercials were solely relegated to the spaces in between and during your favorite shows. And those shows aired on good ol' fashioned networks. (Anyone born after 2005, ask your elders about the Big Three...and then the Big Four.)

Promos for Doublemint gum, Lipton flavor packets – hell, even bowling balls – were once produced to be broadcast to the masses. And those masses were being fed these marketing plays through the glowing screens in their living rooms. 

From the most luxurious (Max Factor your face to transform yourself into a primetime soap vixen!) to the most mundane (a pre-Seinfeld Jason Alexander hawking plain potato chips???), these 30-second spots were created to boost sales for their featured product. And our products were a lot simpler back then. 

Just take a look at this montage of commercials from 40 years ago:

Flash forward to 2026, and a majority of the ads we get – whether or not we're streaming our entertainment – are pushing drugs from pharmaceutical companies (so many drugs!), apps (not the frozen kind), AI tools, and stylish mood pieces for smart devices connected to AI.

What would our ancestors say about our society now? Sure, we consume these messages in different ways, but what are we actually consuming these days?

Of course, some things haven't changed: TV spots for cars and movies (go see 'em in theaters!) are still making the rounds. But take a closer look, and you'll see commercials for beauty products and household cleaners are being reformatted for vertical screens, with lower-budgeted productions, featuring content creators, influencers, or actors paid to pose as influencers. The money (and standards) for commercials clearly isn't what it used to be.

Just ask any ad exec at any agency around the world. 

@TheFirstEcho