When the Military was Fun

I was screwing around today while watching the Giants get their asses handed to them again by the Dodgers and came across this old G.I. Joe commercial on youtube. It's an ad explaining the grueling task many kids, myself included, underwent to secure an exclusive Sgt. Slaugher "G.I. Joe" figure.

Many things went through my head as I watched this 30 second time capsule from my youth. First, and most obvious, I really need to get laid. For Christ's sake I'm watching "G.I. Joe" ads on youtube. No good can come of that. From there I began to think about why G.I. Joe would want Sgt. Slaughter to be their drill instructor. Look at the man, he's fat. That's who we want training our nation's greatest weapon against Cobra?

Finally I began to realize how different the military was viewed when I was growing up. Back then the Cold War was still going on but basically Communism had lost and the U.S. was just sitting on the ball and running out the clock. There were no real wars going on and that led to fun fictional wars like those between Joe and Cobra. I know those characters are still around today but I would imagine it's tougher for parents to let their kids play with military related toys while real wars are going on all over the world.

I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say with this entry. Hope you enjoyed the commercial and if you know how I can find the ad where the "G.I. Joe" figure based on former Bears' great William "The Fridge" Perry is offered that would be super.