In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its bad floppy ad

Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by bitwize on Saturday March 07, 2026 @04:10PM (#47291530)

I vaguely remember these but I more clearly remember the Samsung ad which featured a similar looking robot in a dress turning letters on a gameshow, implying that Samsung would still be around even after Vanna White was replaced by a machine. Vanna White sued, claiming a breach of her publicity rights (despite her name, the name "Wheel of Fortune", or her actual likeness not being used) and actually prevailed in court, establishing a precedent in the United States that very broadly protects celebrities' rights to control whether and how they are represented.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by omoikane on Sunday March 08, 2026 @01:11AM (#47294980)

Was it this one?

https://paleofuture.com/blog/2013/2/20/robot-vanna-trashy-pr...

It's now 2026 and Vanna White still has not been replaced by robots, but that must have been a successful ad in 1988 for people to remember it decades later.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by luxuryballs on Saturday March 07, 2026 @05:41PM (#47292184)

> Except the glaring mistake of putting “3½” microdisk” in the copy when there are 5¼” floppies on the table.

The MF 2-DD box shown is 3.5, I think they just used the bigger disks on the table because they are much better props for the video.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by camkego on Sunday March 08, 2026 @12:29AM (#47294713)

If you look at the first image in the article, the one with a floppy on a serving tray, it looks like an 8 inch floppy to me. I think the floppy disks in the board room might also be 8 inch floppy disks

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by forinti on Saturday March 07, 2026 @06:00PM (#47292310)

I don't recall ever using a Maxell floppy, but their cassettes were the best.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by to11mtm on Saturday March 07, 2026 @07:32PM (#47293039)

Semi random fact, but there's actually a Vaporwave artist that used a number of Japanese Maxell advertisements in a distorted/looped manner for the better part of a whole album....

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by john-tells-all on Sunday March 08, 2026 @12:38PM (#47298683)

Thanks! The album is Fuji Grid TV

https://vaporwave.wiki/wiki/Vektroid#fuji_grid_tv

(TIL Vaporwave has a wiki. We live in awesome times.)

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by hwhshs on Saturday March 07, 2026 @07:49PM (#47293152)

Are your ears alight?

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by lysace on Saturday March 07, 2026 @08:50PM (#47293510)

blank vhs covers were kinda beautiful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9DfSCk-6Ko

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by forinti on Sunday March 08, 2026 @08:18AM (#47296730)

Very nice job. Thanks for that.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by js2 on Saturday March 07, 2026 @09:44PM (#47293847)

For anyone not familiar with this classic ad:

https://youtu.be/dgrJEpUqSuw

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by tim333 on Saturday March 07, 2026 @07:50PM (#47293156)

I found a Maxwell robot video ad but I think it's just actors in robot outfits https://youtu.be/CKloQVH_72M

Honda was more impressive then with Asimo which was a real robot https://youtu.be/DerM1GNtg5A

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by hkpack on Saturday March 07, 2026 @09:10PM (#47293633)

While watching the second video, Futurama theme song started playing in my head :-)

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by petepete on Sunday March 08, 2026 @07:03AM (#47296352)

Meanwhile in the UK we had robotic aliens advertising instant mashed potato.

https://youtu.be/uKt-KR1TsRg?si=l6KDBOryvtEk6gg2

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by kerridge0 on Sunday March 08, 2026 @08:03AM (#47296657)

And we had good skeletons - in 1985, Aardman Animations created this advert for VHS cassettes https://youtu.be/ffa1E9k3H4k

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by Angostura on Sunday March 08, 2026 @09:03AM (#47296980)

I can hear the voice of Derek Gyller without even clicking the link.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by js2 on Sunday March 08, 2026 @01:43PM (#47299263)

Maxell. No w.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by djmips on Sunday March 08, 2026 @03:04AM (#47295245)

Why is it referred to as a 'bad' floppy ad. I thought it was cool.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by blackhaz on Sunday March 08, 2026 @03:34AM (#47295370)

Same. Still a great pleasure to see those ads from the past. Nothing compared to ads today.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by jhbadger on Sunday March 08, 2026 @06:32AM (#47296185)

The "bad" is referring to the floppies, not the ad. The ad with the robots at dinner was about buying Maxwell floppies (which were considerably more expensive than no-name floppies) because otherwise the machines might "eat your files". A modern equivalent would be buying a SanDisk SD card over cheaper alternatives.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by js2 on Sunday March 08, 2026 @01:43PM (#47299267)

Maxell. No w.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by fortyseven on Sunday March 08, 2026 @09:52AM (#47297318)

Looks like the whole site revolves around calling ads "bad'. An approach that, itself, is rather bad. Especially in this instance.

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Re:In 1985 Maxell built a bunch of life-size robots for its ... by jorgen123 on Sunday March 08, 2026 @12:49PM (#47298782)

Interesting to see this statement at the top of the article. Long live the web fighting back. Not sure I have seen many (any?) sites with this. Calls for some sort of acronym or logo that others can adopt without having a long sentence at the beginning of many pages:

"This newsletter does not contain ads, sponsored posts, or affiliate links. Open and click tracking are disabled. And there is no paid upgrade or AI generated content. Enjoy!"

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