Burma-Shave
During the early part of the 20th century, a shaving cream manufacturer got an idea for Advertising its new product: They put five-line poems, one line at a time, on various highways, such that each line was just short enough to read while driving along. The fifth line was always the product name: Burma Shave. There were hundreds of different jingles, plus thousands made up by customers. The vast majority of the jingles probably insinuated questionable or obscene uses of the product.
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Reading TV Tropes —Burma Shave
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A lot of the rhymes have passed through time so much that many people today won't get them. The following would have been a Shout Out to Smith Brothers Cough Drops, which showed two bearded men on the box:
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While we've shaved —Burma Shave
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When Burma Shave came out, the idea of using a special cream (rather than soap) was a new idea, so the company needed a new way to get noticed. Thus became the original use of what would later be referred to as "the jingle": a short, catchy tune to remind you of the company's product--only Burma Shave's ads were simply silent poems.
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Please don't drive —Burma Shave
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This advertising development, combined with faster travel on major highways, later led other advertisers to develop the Billboard, a large advertisement carrying an image and a small amount of text.
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Don't stick your elbow —Burma Shave
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Alas, Burma Shave's cute message became a victim of technology -- better shaving products came out and cars got faster, making it harder to read the signs -- as well as government regulation, as the taxes on their advertising signs became prohibitive. So Burma Shave's ads fade off to that great advertising road in the sky, along with television commercials for cigarettes and such mascots as Speedy Alka-Seltzer, the Hamms Beer Bear and Joe Camel.
The Other Wiki has an article here.
The story of the campaign's creation and life -- along with a generous selection of the verses -- can be found in the book The Verse by the Side of the Road : The Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles, by Frank Rowsome Jr.
Tropes:
- Literal Genie/The Cake Is Not A Lie: Detailed here--one series of signs read "Free Free/A Trip/To Mars/For 900/Empty Jars". Arliss French, a supermarket manager in Wisconsin, took them up on their challenge, and thanks to a series of ads in the local paper and displays in his store, he succeeded in gathering the required number of containers. After some negotiations, the company presented him with tickets to Moers (pronounced "Mars"), a small town in West Germany. Mr. French got a free European vacation, and Burma Shave got tons of positive publicity.
- Racing the Train: Several safety jingles point out what a bad idea this is.
- Shout Out: One of them was this to Smith Brothers Cough Drop
- What Could Have Been: There are some signs that were considered to be used but for whatever reason never did.
Works that have referenced the Burma-Shave advertisements:
- Xkcd brings the meme back with the advent of new media.
- Avernum 3 contains the following series of billboards, which doesn't quite follow the meter.
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Before they send us |
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- The Everly Brothers did a song about the adverts called, of course, "Burma Shave".
- A lot of British readers were first introduced to the adverts by Bill Bryson's books about America.
- Kingdom of Loathing has a spirit speaking in rhyme, ending its Fetch Quest request with a Burma Shave.
- The House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin has a large collection of these somewhere inside.
- During Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, when Matthew Cable gets into a car crash while drunk, it's near a suitably ironic Burma Shave ad:
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The night can make |
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- In an episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Rocky is lured into a trap by a series of signs:
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Do not turn back |
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- "Burma Shave" is the title of a Tom Waits song telling the tale of two urban runaways searching for someplace to escape to. The verses are set up to always end on name the titular product, as if tracking their progress down the lonely highways. It doesn't turn out well.
- In the movie The World's Fastest Indian there is a sequence where Burt and the air force pilot he's travelling with read aloud the Burma Shave poems they pass, showing the distance they cover.
- Sam encounters a Burma Shave ad in the Quantum Leap pilot.
- Hee Haw occasionally presented gags in the form of Burma Shave signs -- filmed out a slowly-moving car window for that genuine experience.
- Gaia Online's online RPG zOMG! has a series of trash cans in the Bassken Lake area with lines written on them. Put together, the lines say:
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To kiss a mug |
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- Real Life: Commuters who walk from the 1, 2, 3 train station to the A, C, E train station at Times Square in New York City has a Burma Shave inspired poem called The Commuter's Lament that hangs on the ceiling of the underpass:
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Overslept, |
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- One of the video games for the Tandy Color Computer system emblazoned with the Game Over screen with a short poem:
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Ashes to ashes —Burma Shave
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- Humor columnist Lewis Grizzard wrote an article about a woman named Rosie who had cheated in a race by slipping into the pack shortly before the finish line. He suggested several methods to prevent this, including a series of these signs that the competitors would have to memorize and recite after the race. For example:
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Here sits Rosie —Burma Shave
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