 Bardahl -
Engine additive product made popular in a tongue-in-cheek black & white animated
sixty-second commercial featuring a man in a black hat and trench coat,
mimicking Jack Webb's deadpan vocal style from the classic police series
DRAGNET.
Created by the advertising firm of Miller, Mackay, Hoeck and Hartung, Inc.
the commercial began:
"It was 10:37 when he drove in. Light blue sedan. License number B6394. Bad
shape. He barely made it." [Four pairs of eyes appear amidst the black smoke
coming from under the hood of the car] "I took one look. It was our old
friends...Dirty Sludge, Sticky Valve, Gummy Ring, Blackie Carbon. Only one
thing to do...I called BARDAHL." The bad guys inevitably cried "Jeez, Let's
beat it!...Its Bardahl!"
The end of the commercial even copied Dragnet's anvil hammer signature
closing. In this case, the parody ending featured a large rubber stamp whose
impression read "Sold at better gas stations/garages/new car dealers." The
campaign, sponsored by Bardahl International, Inc., premiered in 1953.
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