Does Lemmy skew old enough for this one?

The Picard Maneuver@startrek.websitemod to Lemmy Shitpost@lemmy.world – 788 points –
77

90s mascots were so random. Like why an owl with a graduation hat? He just graduated, so now he is wise, and can offer insight into lollipop licking? Was that his major?

The Tootsie Roll owl is older than that… it dates back to 1968

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"Until the second half of the twentieth century, mortarboards were often worn by schoolteachers, and the hat remains an icon of the teaching profession." [source]

So they weren't saying that he just graduated, they were saying that he was learned (the tortoise even says, "he is the wisest of us all").

And owls being symbolic of wisdom is at least as old as as the Greek gods - Athena's symbolism included owls.

Which is ironic because owls are pretty dumb

That's how it used to be. You asked questions to people who were believed to be wise, and then their answer was what the truth was. And most of the things we "knew" were just wrong.

Not that it's less complicated now...

You're focused on that? Why was the boy naked with only a tootsie pop, and talking to an owl?

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The world may never know.

I had no idea what this was until I read your comment. Apparently Lemmy does skew old enough to get this reference.

This commercial aired during the Superbowl in 2006, which was like... 5 years ago... right...?

I remember the 06 Superb Owl game! The Great Horns vs The Screeches! What a wonderful time! But the commercial has been around since 69.

I recognized this and I'm not old.... Am I?...

Buddy, I've been asking the same question for a while now, and as a far as the youth is concerned, we're ancient.

I would hope so, GenZ would have seen that commercial growing up. Edit: Actually isn't it still being aired?

I haven't watched a TV commercial in probably over a decade, but I guess I kind of assumed that they were still showing these.

I miss Saturday morning cartoons. Sure, looking back, a lot of those cartoons sucked, (quality is on average much higher these days) but it was more about the ritual and the expectation. Saturday morning TV was for me.

As a parent of young children I've learned that Saturday morning cartoons are actually for my wife and I to have a moment to ourselves.

Mister Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

I was a kid when I first saw that commercial, and it was already old by then.

That's a barred owl.

Fun fact: you can talk to them, and they'll talk back. Whether it's a good idea or not, I have no clue, but I've done it

Fun fact you can talk to just about anything

This reminds of of the classic MS DOS mindscape point and click games like Shadowgate or Deja Vu ("What would you like to SAY to the table?") And the typical responses of such nonsense:

You have strange views of companionship friend

You are greeted with silence

Delirium is the gateway to insanity!

I'm 37, but I have no clue what this is.

If only I was American, so I could understand this reference, said noone ever.

I'm old but from Europe.. I kind of thought I'm the target group here. Then again, most of the people think there are only Americans here. Not that I'm mad, you get used to it. But posts like this leave you confused for some seconds..

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It takes a lot fewer licks now than when this commercial came out (shrinkflation).

i'm literally a young adult and the commercial aired all the time when i was a kid, this isn't old at all

One boring summer day in the late 90s my brother and I both averaged around 400 licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop.

Stupid owl never answered the question smh my face

I was right on the tail end, born in 2006. I definitely remember this commercial.

I've never seen it, but definitely picked up the reference from cultural osmosis.

Did anyone else think it was a weird smilely thing at first?