Insane Proprietor: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''How do we do it, how do we do it, how do we do it, how do we do it

 

 

A weird mutant kind of ad that tends to turn up in lesser time slots, wherein the proprietor of a discount retail outlet yells about how he's gone ''completely mad'', and that his insanity is manifesting itself as his selling his wares at prices so unprofitably low that only a ''lunatic'' would set them. No doubt because of the owner's deranged price-slashing, many of these stores seem to be perpetually on the verge of going out of business, holding innumerable closing down sales where "everything must go!!!". They also often refer to the owner's mental state right in the name of the store, e.g. Crazy Larry's Carpet Emporium.

 

Of course ol' Eddie himself might have been [[Older Than They Think|inspired by]] [[wikipedia:Madman Muntz|Madman Muntz]].

 

== Advertising ==

* [[wikipedia:Crazy Eddie|Crazy Eddie]], of course.

* When driving from Michigan (a state in which fireworks are illegal) to Indiana (where they are legal), one encounters nearly a dozen billboards for Crazy Kaplan's Firework Warehouse.

** Err, the statement that fireworks are illegal in Michigan is kinda misleading, since, y'know, I live in Michigan and the lake I live on has two huge firework shows, not to mention I myself have lit fireworks...

** "Buy one, get six free!"

** Many out-of-state customers fail to realize the biggest irony of all in this: these fireworks aren't actually legal in Indiana to use, only to buy/sell (though the prohibition on firing them is largely unenforced). This is less frequently misunderstood since a new law several years ago started requiring buyers to sign a card agreeing to leave the state before firing them off. Before the cards were instituted, most buyers who came into the state from Illinois and Michigan believed that they were completely unregulated in Indiana, despite the signs referring to them as "out-of-state" fireworks.

* The notorious "Big Bill Hell's" ad (apparently passed around on video in Maryland during [[The Nineties]], now made famous by [[YouTube]]) is a [[Cluster F-Bomb]] of insanity mixed with [[Brutal Honesty]]:

{{quote|Bring your trade, bring your title, bring your wife! We'll fuck her! That's right, we'll fuck your wife! Because at Big Bill Hell's, you're fucked six ways from Sunday!}}

* A car dealer in Kansas City pulled a "craaazy" stunt where he decided to camp out on top of the dealership until he sold X amount of cars. Being a Boy Scout, I was not impressed. He had a portajohn and access to the coffee machine downstairs.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvHNNOLnCk Steve Ballmer]. Hell, I'm feeling like buying Windows 1.0 ''right now''! And he did it again [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-8IufkbuD0 for Windows XP]! Sweet merciful Jesus, please let that be a self-deprecating parody.

* ''Mattress Mack'' of Gallery Furniture in Houston, Texas fit this trope with his long-running TV commercials where he ended every commercial with the slogan, "Gallery Furniture really will saaaaave you money!" Mattress Mack himself played the part of the crazed owner.

* The New Orleans area had "Wild Bill Watson" who sold cars in cowboy costume screaming "I'm WIIIIILD" until hit with a Calming Pie.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYA7AnVwejo Burger King] has an ad where they claim that their low prices are a result of their disturbing mascot "The King" going insane.

* Who's more insane than [[Toronto|Mel Lastman]]'s Bad Boy? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AD_BgUE99U NOOOOOOOOOBODY!]

 

* [[Michael Leunig]] did a comic showing a page of small newspaper ads all in this form, starting normal and getting wierder. The last one was for a politician.

 

 

== Films -- Animation ==

* The TV in ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'' imitates this spiel to get Rob to go down to the junkyard to find his old appliances, turning "Ernie's Disposal" into "Crazy Ernie's Amazing Emporium of TOTAL BARGAIN MADNESS!"

 

 

== Films -- Live Action ==

* Referenced in the John Sayles movie ''City of Hope'': one minor character is the owner/advertiser of "Mad Anthony's" chain of discount electronics stores. Another, a schizophrenic homeless man, wanders the streets muttering bits of the commercials interspersed with whatever comes out of his brain: "Help, help. We need help clearing our warehouse. Of these fantastic bargains. All your electronics needs under one roof. Under one roof. Psychoses, neuroses. Dementia, amnesia. Schizoid, paranoid, psychotropic seizure. Why settle for less when you can have it all?"

* In ''[[Short Circuit|Short Circuit 2]]'', there is Manic Mike, clearly a spoof of Crazy Eddie.

* In ''[[Splash]],'' Madison is momentarily frightened by an actual Crazy Eddie ad that pops up on the TV she's watching with her face mere inches from the screen.

* [[Beetlejuice]] does the insane proprietor shtick on a tv ad sent exclusively to the Maitlands, where he promises "I'll eat anything you want me to eat, I'll swaller anything you want me to swaller!"

 

 

* When a car is being given away on ''[[The Price Is Right]]'', Drew Carey often refers to Rachel, the model who usually stands next to the car, as "Crazy Rachel."

* ''[[X-Play]]'' featured "Crazy Adam's Import Imporium", which contained several rip-offs of real games and imports. The owner is just straight criminally insane, with antics that include his [[Talkative Loon|rantings]], saying he's [[Silence of the Lambs|going to make a woman suit]], and preparing to take a sledgehammer to the head of a tied up employee. His theme song was "Crazy, crazy, crazy, Adam; crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy Adam!"

* [[Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!]] absolutely loves this trope. You can expect at least one [[Show Within a Show]] television ad featuring this trope per episode, often more.

** "I touched a clown; now I'm going out of business!!!"

* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', "[[Attack of the The Eye Creatures]]," in a police station:

{{quote|'''Susan:''' ''[distressed]'' Oh, Daddy, these people are crazy!

'''Crow:''' Their prices are so low! }}

* The dad in ''[[Roundhouse]]'' did this for a garage sale. Until led away for apparent insanity.

 

 

* Subverted by ''[[Fallout]] 3'''s Crazy Wolfgang, who is actually completely sane and just has a more involved sales pitch than the rest of the merchants—his prices are exactly the same as everyone else's.

** Considering the ridiculous missions Moira sends you on, she's a lot closer to this trope than any other merchant in the game.

* Played totally straight in ''[[Plants vs. Zombies]]'', where the shop you buy seeds and the like from is run by Crazy Dave, and called Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies. Dave himself is a blabbering lunatic who wears a pot as a hat and frequently yells "Buy now! I'M CRAAAAAAZY!!!" at the player whilst frothing at the mouth and shaking. Quite bizarre, but a nice calm experience compared to the rest of the game...

* The remake of ''[[The Bard's Tale]]'' featured a town overrun by undead vikings, but one shopkeeper had stuck around. Crazy Thorvald plays this trope to a T.

* The ''[[Time Squad]]'' episode "Big Al's Big Secret" had Time Squad discover Albert Einstein had given up theoretical physics to become a lovably-wacky used-car salesman known as "Big Al": "To sell you a car, I'll eat a bug!"

* [[Imagine Spot|Role-played]] once in ''[[Muppet Babies]]''. By [[Cloudcuckoolander|Gonzo]], naturally.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]