Remember Lots-o-Huggin Bear From 1983? No? Here's Why...

Looks like MrCrazycommercials on YouTube has unearthed a real rarity here. His collection includes some crucial 80's ads, mostly for children's products. I don't normally admit this to a lot of people, but Retro Thing readers are special... I still know all the words to the ad for Pac-Man Cereal.

The ad for Lots-o'Huggin Bear may leave you scratching your head. Was it a limited release or a test marketing attempt that never made it to your town? It's neither. The geniuses at Pixar are introducing the new bear character in Toy Story 3, and they've created this 80's style commercial to help "sell" Lots-o' as yet another classic toy like those that populate the other movies.

It's a clever viral marketing ploy, and they did a really good job on the commercial. It's got the mooshed up colors and tracking problems of an old VHS tape. Also the characters in the ad aren't wild 80's stereotypes. Very few of us had moms and dads who were breakdancers and Madonna. Even the shooting & editing style mimics commercials of the time. It's not like I needed yet another lure to want to see Toy Story 3, but this is the kind of care and fun that permeates so much of what Pixar does. I've always admired companies that are unreasonably good at what they do.

They even "found" a version of the commercial from Japan.

links:

YouTube video of Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear 80's ad
YouTube video of Japanese promotion of the product