Popular Segments
Fight Back! was unusual in the sense that it was a "hybrid" show. That is, it blended hard-hitting journalism with humor. Two of the most popular segments on this show were the "Fight Back! Commercial Challenge" and the "Horror File".
The "Commercial Challenge" first appeared on Consumer Buyline on October 10th, 1977. The challenge was that of an Imperial margarine commercial, which stated that people couldn't tell the difference between Imperial margarine and butter. Horowitz went to an LA supermarket, and had 11 people try crackers with each product on it, to see who could tell the difference. In the end, all 11 people picked the butter over Imperial margarine. The following week was a taste test between Coke and Pepsi (more people did pick Pepsi over coke). In the 15th anniversary special, it is mistakenly reported that the first commercial challenge aired in December of 1977, where David Horowitz decided to challenge a commercial for a Timex watch. Per the commercial, former Timex pitchman John Cameron Swayze strapped a Timex watch to an outboard motor, and raced the motor through a tank of water. At the end of the commercial, the watch was still ticking. Horowitz performed this challenge with two other watches (a Seiko and a Citizen) in front of his live studio audience. All three watches passed the test (despite the Seiko losing its band, prompting Horowitz to exclaim, "We've lost one watch!! The Seiko is in the tank!!"). The Commercial Challenge proved to be so popular, that one particular episode of "Fight Back!" was devoted to nothing but commercial challenges (title of show: "30 challenges in 30 minutes").
Other commercials challenged over the years included:
- Krazy Glue (Tested on multiple occasions, first premiering on Consumer Buyline, where it failed - not once, but twice. Subsequent re-tests on Fight Back! showed the product to pass.)
- Glad Trash Bags (Tested several times. Challenges ranged from bags being kicked down a flight of stairs, to having an elephant step on one. Results varied.)
- Levi Jeans (The famous "Levi's Logo" was challenged in the early 80's and failed miserably.)
- American Tourister Luggage (A gorilla threw the suitcase around, trying to damage it, or pop its lock. It passed with flying colors.)
- The Club (Failure - the lock was frozen with freon, and broken off.)
- Bic disposable lighters (Lighter was run over by an 8-ton semi. It sill flicked and produced flame.)
- Audi Fox - (Commercial stated that it could outrun a Chevrolet Corvette through a slalom. It failed by a half-second.)
- Oreck vacuum cleaner (Commercial showed how it could pick up an 8 pound bowling ball. Passed.)
The "Horror File" segment premiered around the second season of Consumer Buyline. In this segment, viewers would write in with various complaints about companies or customer service, while others would send in confusing and amusing signs, labels, or ads.
Starting with the second season of "Fight Back!", if Horowitz challenged a viewer's commercial or used his/her letter on air, he'd send a Fight Back! t-shirt.
Read more about this topic: Fight Back! With David Horowitz
Famous quotes containing the words popular and/or segments:
“The poet needs a ground in popular tradition on which he may work, and which, again, may restrain his art within the due temperance. It holds him to the people, supplies a foundation for his edifice; and, in furnishing so much work done to his hand, leaves him at leisure, and in full strength for the audacities of his imagination.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It is not, truly speaking, the labour that is divided; but the men: divided into mere segments of men—broken into small fragments and crumbs of life, so that all the little piece of intelligence that is left in a man is not enough to make a pin, or a nail, but exhausts itself in making the point of a pin or the head of a nail.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)