Over the past few years several sites have featured what may have been one of the most successful, yet some would argue ‘ethnically insensitive’ ad campaigns of the early 1990’s – ST. IDES Malt Liquor. Unfortunately, there was always one commercial that no one ever seemed to have, which just so happened to be the commercial that I most remember from the era. Tonight I found it.
As a teenager living in Davenport, Iowa at the time (class of ’94), late night MTV was littered with bizarre commercials for several products, but none seemed to be as blatantly targeted as the ones for ST. IDES. Yes, the Crooked I was everywhere from television to t-shirts, to the advertised 40oz bottles of Malt Liquor that were readily available at a gas station with a drive-through beer window on West Kimberly Road (forgot the name – but they notoriously served minors). While I’d later find out that ST. IDES had a full-on library of commercials featuring a who’s who of the rap game, there were only two that I ever recall seeing in Iowa.
This one featuring Snoop Dogg as SNOOP DOGGY DOGG with NATE DOGG busting out a smooth groove…
And THIS ONE – the one I’ve searched for off and on for YEARS. I didn’t realize until tonight that it was MC EIHT directing me to “the neighborhood liquor store’…
Why we were never blessed with the expanded library of commercials is a mystery, but thanks to YouTube most of them have been hitting the web over the past few years. So who else was in ’em? 2PAC, NOTORIOUS B.I.G., WU-TANG CLAN, DR. DRE & SNOOP (several times), ICE CUBE (several times), KING TEE, ERIC B. & RAKIM, DA LENCH MOB, EPMD, KOOL G RAP, DJ POOH, CYPRESS HILL, and more. Is there anyone I’m missing from this list?
ICE CUBE is fantastic in this one. There’s an “Are We There Yet?” joke in there somewhere:
MICHAEL BAY needs to take note – while it’s too late for TRANSFORMERS 3, there should be a lowrider that transforms into a massive 40oz bottle in TRANSFORMERS 4:
2PAC may not be kickin’ it with BIGGIE down in New Zealand, but he was drinking with Snoop back in the day:
Is this one promoting drinking and driving?
Want more ST. IDES commercials? Hit this link then share your memories below!
