WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel will be right back.
Last week's challenge
Start with the word CALCULATION. Change one letter to an R and you can spell a two-word phrase (7, 4) that names something you might see at the end of a performance. What is it?
Answer: If you change the O to an R, you can spell CURTAIN CALL.
THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: FAMOUS COMMERCIALS
On-air questions: On August 28, 1922, WEAF in New York City aired the first paid radio commercial. The 10-minute advertisement for an apartment complex in Jackson Heights, Queens, cost $100. (There is evidence that other stations may have sold advertising before August of 1922, but WEAF's ad is credited as the first.) To honor the first radio commercial, we'll fast-forward a few decades and have a quiz about famous TV commercials.
1. In a series of ads for a credit card company, people such as Mel Blanc and Stephen King would ask "Do you know me?" before giving clues to their identity. At the end of the ad, their name would appear on one of the company's trademark green cards. What company ran these ads?
2. A machine records Ella Fitzgerald singing a note that shatters a glass. The recording is then played back and the recording shatters another glass. This image of a glass shattering would figure prominently in many ads in which a voiceover asks, "Is it live, or is it..." what now-defunct media company?
3. Featuring the tag line "the taste that's worth the wait," a series of ads by Heinz included a close-up of ketchup pouring out of a bottle while the song "Anticipation", the title track of a 1971 album by what singer/songwriter, played in the background?
4. Popularly known as "Hey, Kid! Catch!", a commercial for Coca-Cola stars "Mean" Joe Greene as an injured football player who, after a tough game, is offered a Coke by a young boy. As the boy walks away, Greene gets his attention and tosses him his jersey. For what NFL team did Greene play?
5. A pink bunny drums his way out of his own commercial and into other ads for fake products – among them coffee and sinus medication – in a series of advertisements featuring the long-eared, sunglasses-wearing mascot of what company?
Extra credit
1. Steve Jobs chose director Ridley Scott to direct the famous Apple commercial based on George Orwell's novel 1984 because Jobs was impressed by Scott's directing of what classic 1982 science-fiction film?
2. The jingles for many famous commercials, including "I'm stuck on Band-Aid brand 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me" and "I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper, wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?" were written by what pop singer?
This week's challenge
Start with the word COMMERCIALS. Add a letter and you can rearrange the result to spell the two-word name (six letters, six letters) of a company associated with many characters. What is it?
ANSWERS
On-air questions
1. American Express
2. Memorex
3. Carly Simon
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Energizer
Extra credit
1. Blade Runner
2. Barry Manilow
