American Gothic Cornflakes - 1960's
Amazing to think that professional people got paid to cook up masterpieces such as Gothic American Cornflakes. But are times really different today, forty years later?
The recipe is quite simple, really. Take one part cornflakes, one part current youth culture cliche, throw in a little General Mills dough, then marinade in Madison Avenue saccarine and ... VOILA! the old-fashioned, half-baked Saturday morning scrapple of which almost anybody can reminisce.
In this case, the lyric "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" has been conveniently re-written as "Eat country cornflakes!" The repetition is enough is enough to make any sadistic psychological interrogator proud.
One wonders if this is the culmination of the visions of Grant Wood and Woody Guthrie. One wonders ...
American Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood from 1930. Wood's inspiration came from a cottage designed in the Gothic Revival style with a distinctive upper window and a decision to paint the house along with "the kind of people I fancied should live in that house." The painting shows a farmer standing beside a woman whose identity remains ambiguous; she may either be his spinster daughter, as explained by the artist's sister, or the farmer's wife. The figures were modeled by the artist's dentist and sister. The woman is dressed in a colonial print apron mimicking 19th century Americana and the couple are in the traditional roles of men and women, the man's pitchfork symbolizing hard labor, and the flowers over the woman's right shoulder suggesting domesticity.
It is one of the most familiar images in 20th century American art, and one of the most parodied artworks within American popular culture.
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Don't know what to gouge out first--my ears or my eyes.
torgman 4 months ago
auauha. Realy nice!
3run0ce5ar 6 months ago
LOL how... WEIRD.
GhostAngel747 7 months ago
that is weird
but it's funny
EdwardMrCahill 3 months ago
I have to say having remembered this commercial all my life and never realizing the song was performed by The Weavers, the satirical ironies are even more apparent.
lcs1956 7 months ago 2
Was it The Weavers that actually sang this? Never knew that! an amazing factoid
frantic1971 7 months ago
OMG I now want cornflakes for sure
questman257 9 months ago
wtf was that shit.. i think i almost just went insane
HalfBlondeHalfSmart 9 months ago
lol
evilnegi 10 months ago
Does anyone have or know all the words of this song? The middle part is a bit garbled. The part after 'from fields of corn' if you know what they are saying please tell us.
Frottussle 11 months ago
from fields of corn so majestically waving that they wont wilt when you pour on milk
zakkymurder 10 months ago
thank you. I saw this commercial when it was on prime time tv and never knew all the words.
Frottussle 9 months ago
wtf
bigbowlowrong 11 months ago
I, too, remember this commercial as a kid in the early 1960's. It always cracked me up!! It still does even now. lol.
Bradat26 1 year ago
this has to be THE MOST annoying fucking video I have ever watched. I somewhat enjoyed being annoyed by it. thank you weirdovideos!
xboxguy516 1 year ago
Was this real??? OMG... lol
BumblingBee092 1 year ago
my art teacher showed us this commercial in class, and it was the funniest thing i ever saw.
GaaraChan23 1 year ago
The reason it's called American Gothic is because of the window on the farmhouse, which has a Gothic arch. Look up "Gothic cathedral."
Spartakos9 1 year ago
I remember this commercial. My 23 year old son just cracked up when he saw it - and he was totally amazed that it was an actual ad!
bjreunion2008 1 year ago
The name of the painting upon which this ad is based is called "American Gothic." It shows a farmer and his wife, looking very severe and serious, standing outside the farm house. This commercial has nothing to do with the modern definition of the word Goth.
Duchess1951 1 year ago 2
See 'American Gothic' a painting in Chicago's Art Institute for why this is referred to as American gothic - and enjoy similar themed contributions to youtube
IainMcPhail 1 year ago
Well, this commercial was on TV all the time when I was a kid and I'M dead.
Pending approval Approve
codyki 1 year ago
The only comfort we can take from this is that all the people who made it are probably long dead.
kissmygritts666 1 year ago
lol!
teenthingANDcandyvia 1 year ago
damn been years since i saw that and im not sure thats a good thing
seamusdog420 2 years ago
This is prehaps my favorite commercial of all times. I was very pleased to see it here.
trio972 2 years ago 2
This is the first time I've seen this commercial. I grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and I remember learning about Grant Wood in elementary school at a very young age(Squaw Creek Elementary) and General Mills has a large plant that started up a year before I was born. I'm honestly surprised I've never seen or heard about this commercial before.
grumpybb 2 years ago
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What does that have to do with goth?
XOXCrazyTrainxXOX 2 years ago
indeed. nothing goth. ask those people that voted "poor comment". it looks as if they know.
SeanDeigh13 2 years ago
You are thinking of the modern deffinition of Gothic.
drmoonrat 1 year ago
this is one of the most disturbing things I've seen in a while
seriviathen 2 years ago 3
The melody to this song was originally from "When the World's on Fire," and/or "Little Darlin' Pal of Mine," both record by the Carter Family years earlier.
Woody Guthrie reworked these melodies and rewrote the lyrics as a response to Irving Berlin's ubiquitous "God Bless America."
weirdovideos 2 years ago
You are just plain wrong.
lenglasser 2 years ago
So, Mr. Glasser, you're saying you wrote the melody to "This Land is Your Land" ...
weirdovideos 2 years ago
Certainly not. The melody line to the commercial was a "head arrangement" (nothing written down) concocted by myself and the Weavers, based on "You are my sunshine and "This land is your land. At the time the commercial was created, Americana was becoming very popular in advertising design. And by the way, The Weavers thought that Woody Guthrie would love the commercial.
lenglasser 2 years ago
Thank you, Mr. Glasser, for your correction. It's actually quite fascinating to get the real story behind this veritable piece of American Pop Art. We'd be very interested in hearing about some of your other work. Thanks, again. WV.
weirdovideos 2 years ago
I doubt Guthrie would think much of this ad
oldhacks 2 years ago
I wrote, designed, and directed this commercial for Dancer Fitsgerald & Sample Advertising, NY. My production company was Stars & Stripes Productions Forever, Inc. I also wrote the music, which was performed by "The Weavers".
Leonard Glasser
lenglasser 2 years ago
Bastante interesante
Dystopiaman 2 years ago
haha i love that! a pig dressed up as a chicken who speaks chicken language-Awesome!
lordmustin
2 years ago
Roland Faust
Weirdo Video
Corn or Rice, could you be more specific?
So, um are those made with Rice or Corn? Corn Flakes Made with Rice and then later in the same commercial made with corn, I am so confused
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