80's Nostalgia - Video Store Promotional Badges

A lost form of advertising

In the early 1980’s my parents owned one of the first video shops in Western Australia. It didn’t start out that way, originally it was a music shop, selling records and cassettes, but as video surged in popularity the decision was made to focus 100% on video rental. ‘Bullcreek Video’ was a mum and pop store, and everything was new. My dad even learned ‘Basic’ programming to create the video rental software that was used on what would now be considered ancient computers, with no storage and minimal RAM.

In this pre-digital, pre-internet time Studios had ‘reps’ that used to go to the various stores to promote movies, and they used to go to a lot of effort. Often they would give us various goodies and promotional merchandise, a lot of which I was allowed to keep.

One of most common of these promotional items were badges! These were given to the staff to wear in the shop, but a lot of the time they were probably just given to me.

I have categorized the badges.

White Badge: “Now Open 7 Days” The now open 7 days badge was one my parents made for their shop.

Blue badge: "CBS/FOX! THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!" - promoting the Star Wars film release on home video

Red badge: "WHAT ACES DO CBS/FOX HAVE UP THEIR SLEEVE?" - a teaser promotional badge

Green badge: "CAN I PLAY THE STRIKE BACK PAY BACK GAME CBS/FOX?" - possibly referencing a promotional game related to the Star Wars release

Top left: "LET'S GET SERIOUS THIS SUMMER! YOUNG EINSTEIN" - promoting the 1988 Yahoo Serious comedy film. Is Yahoo Serious known outside of Australia?

Top right: "I GOT A LAUGH OUT OF the Coca-Cola Kid SO did Pepsi!" - promoting the 1985 film "The Coca-Cola Kid"

Bottom left: "Polyester IT STINKS! ask me why" - promoting John Waters' 1981 film "Polyester" This one is interesting because renters were handed special ‘Scratch and Sniff’ cards that were supposed to be used at certain times during the movie.

Bottom right: "I'M MOONSTRUCK CEL HOME VIDEO" - promoting the 1987 film "Moonstruck" released by CEL Home Video

Top left: "SURRENDER" - promoting the 1987 comedy film released by RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video

Top right: "THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN THIS IS MOMMA" - promoting the 1987 dark comedy film from Orion Pictures

Bottom: "STEEL DAWN" - promoting the 1987 post-apocalyptic action film, likely from RCA/Columbia

Top left: Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice (from Fantasia)

Top right: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DONALD DUCK" celebration badge (This may not be a promotional item. I did go to Disneyland when I was a kid and it may have come from there.)

Bottom left: "Get the RABBIT HABIT" - promoting "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988)

Bottom center: "DTV POP & ROCK" - promoting Disney's music video compilations

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I hope you found these photos interesting. These badges have always been very important to me, and I have kept them my whole life. These promotional items, along with video shops, are mostly extinct, but they will forever live on in our hearts :)

Here is a poem I wrote about a very unique experience I happened to me at my parents video shop.

When I was a young child
I grew up in a place that
sold collective dreams on
magnetic tape.
Amongst celluloid heroes
I swung through hidden jungles,
delved deep down
ancient ruins, and fought
valiant sword battles
along the empty aisles.

For imagination was abundant
and reality had yet to take
possession of reason, so I lived
in the wondrous intermingling
of make-believe and fact, truth
tinged by wild fantasy.

Then one day a Gorilla
intruded into my happy world.

With large sharp teeth in
Its wide-open mouth, and an
animalistic bellow, its large
hairy body came closer. I
screamed and bolted
to my sanctuary. Shaking,
crying, hiding, hoping beyond
hope that Gorilla’s don’t eat
little boys — and if they did,
perhaps he wouldn’t find me,
if I just muffled my cries.

Silence.

I was picked up from under
the counter. My eye’s closed,
expecting this to be the end
of my short existence, but I
was held against a body of
cuddles and happiness.
“It’s only Peter,” my mother said,
“look and see.’ And I saw that it
was a man, mask in hand.
‘Do you want to say hello?’ she asked,
and although I now knew that it was
just a man in a suit, I shook my head
and grabbed her tightly.

‘Greystroke, the legend of Tarzan’ had just been released.

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When I was a child my parents owned a video shop, a business model that is now almost extinct, but in the early eighties was just starting to flourish. Studios had ‘reps’ that used to go to the various stores to promote movies, and they used to go to a lot more effort than they do now. Often they would give us various goodies and promotional merchandise, a lot of which I was allowed to keep. Occasionally they would come dressed in costume, and this poem is a true story about one of those times.