Have You Seen This? '80s GE commercial shows a totally radical future

Have You Seen This? '80s GE commercial shows a totally radical future

(FT Depot, YouTube)


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THE COLD FUTURE — One of the best things about the 1980s is the movies and TV they made about "the future."

For example, in "Back to the Future Part II," Marty McFly and Doc blast far into the future of... 2015, where there are hoverboards, self-tying shoes, and air-drying jackets. But also there are somehow still fax machines?

And when Bill and Ted go on their most excellent adventure, the future is stark and metallic, and everyone is wearing massive shoulder pads (but we'll have to wait until 2688 to really make fun of that "future").

This unearthed '80s GE commercial shows one of the best '80s-future tropes. The future is stark and bleak, and much of the human race is trapped in some sort of "big brother" future. They aren't themselves, they can't hear, they're automatons, they're trapped, and there's no escape.

That's when the rebels — the cool kids — come to town. They're wearing leather, their hair is super rad, they have attitudes, they are individuals. They've come to free the city and give the people back their identities and killer hairdos... with cassette tapes.

The boomboxes and personal cassette players are put in place, the music pulses through the people, and their neck braces and helmets break off with much drama. And, of course, there's the beautiful, white-clad lady encased in some sort of crystal, for some reason. The crystal shatters, she is free, and now she's in love with the leaders of the rebels of course.

It's a lot to pack into a commercial, but GE did it.

It's commercial only that only could've come from the '80s.

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Martha Ostergar is a writer who delights in the ridiculous that the internet serves up, which means she's more than grateful that she gets to cruise the web for amazing videos to write about.

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