Extra (Esso Screen Ad) (1938)

★★★★★ · A bone for Bow Wow. · Karma Hawk · 2005-04-04

This screen ad is unintentionally hilarious, specifficly the part where the narrator talks about how everybody calls a freebie something different ("In New England they call it 'Something to Boot' in the deep south they call it 'lanya'") oh and the final surprise of this film is when the Esso sign morphs into a smiley face and says "Happy Motoring." Highly recomended.

★★★★★ · You weren't lying about that face being creepy! · bread · 2006-10-07

That face was rather creepy, but not as scary as people would have you think. Anyway, this is an enjoyable petrol ad, with a catchy jingle and some fantastic historical footage. I would thank Mr Rick Prelinger for making this short film available to the public. It's Short and sweet. P.S. Screen ads like this one were shown at the end of the picture, not the beginning.

★★★★★ · That's "langniappe" · Rob Meador · 2005-07-12

Just thought I should clarify-- the word used to descibe the extra stuff in the deep south is "langniappe" (pronounced "lanyap"). It's a New Orleans creole word of possibly Spanish origin, although the origin is unclear. This commercial was excellent, especially the surreal turn at the end with the singing and the creepy happy face sign!

★★★★★ · For the length (1 minute, sixty seconds), nearly unbeatable! · uniQ · 2006-10-08

Both parts (The Intro and the "Face" part) are cool for different reasons: The "bakers dozen", the free bone, the scenes of old shops, etc. The "Face" part, well, besides the BAD singing, the face was more then a little weird, I was expecting the letters to turn into an emoticon-face. Finally, I kindof admire the inclusion of a black dude without any (that I could see) racial stereotypes.

★★★ · Where deamons get gasoline... · Zplomb · 2010-06-19

Wow! Chesck out the morphing scary face of the Esso sign at the end. BP excutives must pray to it every night.