Yet Another Interesting Ad: John Riggins
Posted by Matt Terl on January 6, 2009 – 1:35 pmReviewing Redskins ads for yesterday’s Peyton Manning post, I was surprised by two things. First, that so many quality Redskins ads have been removed from YouTube. (For example: John Riggins raps for Ford! Hogs for Theatervision!) That’s seriously disappointing.
And, second, that Sonny Jurgensen actually appeared in a cigar ad. I know, I know — times were different, the Flintstones used to advertise cigarettes, Sonny is STILL known as a cigar lover, blah blah blah. It’s still bizarre to see the starting quarterback of a professional football team selling a tobacco product.
But I figured that was the strangest, most cognitively-dissonant thing I was apt to find. Rummaging through some stacks of old pictures here at Redskins Park today, I found out that I was wrong:
Yep. That’s Super Bowl XVII MVP John Riggins, happily advertising for Winchester shotgun shells.
As near as I can tell, this is the original photo (without copy) from a 1983 magazine ad — you can buy the actual published version of the ad itself, along with the similarly-themed Riggins “I’m The NRA” ad, here if you’re so inclined. And if we had been a bit quicker, you would’ve been able to buy one of Riggins’ actual shotguns as well.
Like with Sonny’s cigar ad, I understand that these were different times, but in the age of Plaxico Burress and the breathless news reports of the two guns in his house, it’s — again — startling to actually see.
Tags: commercials, John Riggins, JohnRiggins, Offseason
Posted in General | No Comments »
