https://archive.org/details/zenith_201503

Blurb,

A 1965 commercial for the Zenith television sets. In this commercial, one of their TV sets is dropped from a plane.

Click "Show All" and download the .MPEG file...

That was awesome! Thanks for posting.

Did anyone else notice that the TV has no image on the screen when it hits the ground and tumbles along? We only see the "perfect" tv after the edit to the closeup.

Me?
Suspicious?
Nah!

At Zenith advertising, The BS goes in, Before the ad goes out!

But that is likely true for most advertising :scratch2:

jr

I'm not sure, but the voice sounds like Dick Tufeld who was the voice of the Robot B9 from Lost in Space.

The set in question is a very rare bird. Probably only a run of 1000 were
built & sold for +- $200. Several on this forum have one.
The set was solid state, hand wired on a steel chassis. No PCB's
to crack & high Q plastic used so the cabinet will survive. Being a Zenith
the transistors were plug in. That is the soft spot, on landing they
could pop out of the socket. Yes I am a Zenith apologist but I do
believe the ad to be 95% true....

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Yeah, Nowhere Man 1966, I was thinkin' the Same Thing...He had a rather distinctive voice.

The set in question is a very rare bird. Probably only a run of 1000 were
built & sold for +- $200. Several on this forum have one.
The set was solid state, hand wired on a steel chassis. No PCB's
to crack & high Q plastic used so the cabinet will survive. Being a Zenith
the transistors were plug in. That is the soft spot, on landing they
could pop out of the socket. Yes I am a Zenith apologist but I do
believe the ad to be 95% true....

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

Count me in on being a Zenith apologist, I've had good experiences with them too.

Yeah, Nowhere Man 1966, I was thinkin' the Same Thing...He had a rather distinctive voice.

Yeah, you can home on to his voice just like that. Norman Rose (old radio actor who did the Juan Valdez commercials in the 1980's), Paul Frees, Boris Karloff and Mel Blanc were distinctive too.

Count me in on being a Zenith apologist, I've had good experiences with them too.

I did them all from 1970 til the end of CRT's. Almost always Zeniths were
the best all around sets. They were also the easiest to deal with & the
cats in Chicago really backed them up with tech help, extended warranties etc.
Wish things were still like that, I guess that makes me an old pfart:D

BTW the dealer I worked for was one of the biggest in the Boston territory.
I found the factory manual for the set & asked about it. Nobody had ever
sold or seen one. Most seemed to be sold or given away in the Chicago area.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

very effective ad!one of the greatest ever.right up there with the volkswagen sn
ow plow ad.

Looking at it full screen it looked like it had a picture just before it hit the ground. Impact/rolling on the ground probably disturbed some of the user controls which I don't blame them for tweaking before close up. These sets are darn rugged. Mine still works on the original parts even after being mailed to me (the parcel services are at least as rough on boxes).

Looking at it full screen it looked like it had a picture just before it hit the ground. Impact/rolling on the ground probably disturbed some of the user controls which I don't blame them for tweaking before close up.

I respectfully disagree... I captured this frame, and I think that I am seeing just a reflection of the horizon on the screen. Note that the antenna is not extended. If it had been, the tumbling likely would have snapped it off, and yet it is intact and fully extend for the money shot.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48283393256_0525c7786c_z_d.jpg

I agree that Zenith built rugged sets of higher quality than many other manufacturers, but I suspect that the ad incorporates a degree of fakery. :scratch2:

jr

I'm NOT a Zenith apologist, altho I dearly love my 10" 1949-50 Porthole, but I kinda gotta holler "Bullshyte !" on this 'un, too. The FRONT of a CRT is typically the heaviest part of a TV, w/the thick glass required for implosion protection, I'm saying it woulda likely landed if not CAREFULLY staged, on the CRT FACE, cracking/breaking it.

The set in question is a very rare bird. Probably only a run of 1000 were
built & sold for +- $200. Several on this forum have one.
The set was solid state, hand wired on a steel chassis. No PCB's
to crack & high Q plastic used so the cabinet will survive. Being a Zenith
the transistors were plug in. That is the soft spot, on landing they
could pop out of the socket. Yes I am a Zenith apologist but I do
believe the ad to be 95% true....

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !


As I do. The RCA's PC Board would break from that impact. Put the transistors back in socket, the set would work, after all it's a Zenith. The Quality Goes In Before The Cat Goes On!