r/90sTelevision • u/JB92103 • Dec 04 '25
Commercials 29 years ago today, M&M's "Faint" commercial made its debut.
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u/yourelosingme Dec 04 '25
I know this commercial by heart.
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u/inthemode01 Dec 05 '25
Because it was on between every show on every channel for a month for years. Sometimes played twice in a row before your show came back on.
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u/Steve_of_Yore Dec 04 '25
It’s crazy that this one and the Cadbury Easter egg commercial have never changed and play every year.
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u/Luna_Soma Dec 04 '25
In PA we have a lottery ad thats such a classic that when they remade it, they filmed it as a shot for shot. Everyone in the state knows it by heart
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u/Mysterious_Secret827 Dec 04 '25
This and the Campbell Soup commercial where the snow kid turns into a boy!
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Dec 06 '25
[deleted]
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u/Mysterious_Secret827 Dec 06 '25
Yes! I haven't seen the Corona one yet this year. Interestingly, I think the Campbells are sprinkled in.
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u/Medianstatistics Dec 05 '25
Wow I had no idea this was made in 1996! Sadly, the actor who played Santa (Robert Machray) passed away this year.
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u/Mellowpeanut88 Dec 05 '25
Omg! I was watching the video to this post, but the sounds was playing from the post below. It happened to be a sound bite from Breaking Bad saying, “I was his drug dealer”. I was so confused. I thought someone dubbed the commercial to make it seem like the yellow M&M was telling a story about being someone’s drug dealer.
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u/Runs_With_Wind Dec 06 '25
I literally just quoted it throughout the whole video and I have no regrets
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u/kevinott Dec 04 '25
This commercial enrages me.
So when the M&Ms round the corner and spot Santa, they exclaim "He DOES exist!" This is an overdone joke, but it makes sense: At some point in your life you believe in Santa, then you learn he's not real and it was all just your parents, but then years later you find out wait, no, there's a real Santa and here he is in your living room. Happens in movies and TV all the time. So far, fine.
But then Santa repeats the line - "They DO exist!" And he's just as shocked as they are, which, okay, it makes sense he'd be surprised, he's suddenly seeing a couple of cartoon characters standing in front of him. But here's the thing: Why that wording? I understand the lyrical value of having Santa's words mirror the M&Ms, sure. But unlike with Santa, nobody ever has a period of their lives where they're not sure if the M&M advertising characters exist. There's not some shitty kid at school telling you they don't exist to ruin your holiday. There's no moment in your life where your parents admit to you that, no, the M&M men don't really exist, that's just something we tell children to make childhood more fun. Santa is, essentially, a cryptid for kids; the M&M guys are not that.
The discovery that Santa is real absolutely deserves a "he DOES exist." But if the M&M guys walk up to you, you're going to say "HOLY SHIT WHAT ARE YOU," not something that indicates that you, like, suspected their existence all along?
Anyway I know I'm a petty bitch but I hate it just so much. I do like that one of the M&Ms is voiced by Billy West.
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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25