Daily 70s Spot #528: Hasbro’s Lite-Brite (1978)

'You can make lots of pretty pictures...' (Lite-Brite commercial, 1978)

‘You can make lots of pretty pictures…’
(Lite-Brite commercial, 1978)

“Lite-Brite, makin’ things with light…”

This week, it’s a 1978 groove. And to get us started, here’s a real classic; Hasbro’s Lite-Brite.

The spot below aired in 1978. If memory serves though, it was produced a few years earlier and ran throughout the 70s. Light bulb not included.

Classic ’70s: Lite-Brite Commercial, 1978

Previously on 70s Spots: Daily 70s Spot #526, 527: Schlitz Malt Liquor (Gregory Hines, 1979)

Comments

Daily 70s Spot #528: Hasbro’s Lite-Brite (1978) — 2 Comments

  1. Lite Brite is one of those mind candy toys so many of us had back in the day. I’m actually surprised to see that, albeit in a smaller package, it is still around in todays market. You might have thought that with all the myriad small pieces, parent groups would have sent it the way of the ‘Lawn Dart’.

    In this modern world where far too often, children are reduced to the level of spectators as their toys perform on their own, where it’s all too common to see a young person sitting hunched over a ‘Pad’ or in front of a ‘Box’ repeating the same repetitive motions over and over while yelling into a microphone, “Flank ’em on the Right!”, that a very simple toy like this still has a niche. I guess, by the standards of the day, we who grew up in the 60’s were deprived. As a group, we could make an imaginary toy out of a stick, couple of rubber bands and a piece of old plastic that we’d found on the ground, and be lost in a world of our own creation or the next 8 hours (and never once have to pay a subscription fee).

    I can recall in later years, using those stray Lite-Brite pegs in kit bashed models. You’d take 6 or 7 cheap model kits and make whole new things, with flash light bulbs from TG&Y being lit by 9v Transistor batteries glowing through those plastic pegs. Glowing tail and multicolored headlights, working Phasers and Ray guns. Good memories!

    • There were so many toys pre-’90s where you had to interact with real-world items in order to build stuff. It does seem to be something we’ve generally lost. I bet one day there will be a swing back and “retro” toys will make a comeback.