Can you guess the ’80s brands?
First, Some Background
My novel Here Comes the Dog Parade is set in 1982. If you were around and conscious of that moment in time, let me know what you remember.
There are some loosely autobiographical references in the book–basically to the body of the main character, Justine, who mighta looked a tiny bit like this:
In my book, the protagonist, Justine Altman, is a 14 year-old white girl and new kid in town (bonus points if you know that lyric). She’s 14 and bound and determined to be the best friend to Ginny Charbonneau, Justine’s first real best friend, a girl who happens to be Black.
Of note: their school is 99.9% white, a private school in Raleigh, NC, circa 1982. Ginny’s the only Black kid in a class of 80 kids, and one of three Black kids total in a high school of almost 400 students.
Justine is campaign manager for Ginny, who’s running for freshman class vice president. It’s not an ordinary campaign season; let’s just say there’s a bully on the loose named Brett, and he’s not going to let Ginny or Justine get a single thing they want.
But for a brief, shining moment, Justine gets to hype her bestie and celebrate her. She’s pulling out all the stops. And what better way to do so than by using quality language about quality brands?
It Was an ’80s Thing
The ’80s was a time when brands and material goods were becoming a big thing. What you drove, what you wore, what your image communicated was suddenly paramount.
Designer brands were celebrated and becoming more accessible to the general public, no longer the haute couture kept only for some.
If Ginny loves luxury, could be compared to “luxury,” then wouldn’t her peers want to vote for her?
That’s what Justine is thinking anyway.
Can you guess all the brands Justine uses in this speech?
(Bonus if you get the literary reference, too.)
“Hello, Class of 1986,
Let me present to you the incredible Ginny Charbonneau.
She is so much more than a Great Brain. She is Absolut Perfection.
As your future Vice President, she will Reach Out and Touch each one of you so that you can always Have It Your Way.
You Deserve a Break Today from old, tired ways of doing things. There’s a new kid in town, and she brings a fresh perspective.
Strong Enough for a Man, Made Like a Woman.
When Ginny talks, People Listen. She Brings Good Things to Life.
Choosy students choose Ginny Charbonneau. This gal’s For You.
Ginny Charbonneau is It!”
If you can believe it…
The ad below has nothing to do with the speech, but it was certainly EVERYWHERE when I was 13 and 14, in Seventeen and other spaces.
And this child in the ad is definitely not an “underage woman.”
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