"Funny or Die" has had a celebrity hot streak lately with hilarious videos featuring Neil Patrick Harris joining Billy on the Street and Adam Scott's Stepbrothers character making a pro-Obamacare ad. Now they've stepped things up again with Aubrey Plaza starring in an 80s/90s Ring Pop commercial gone bad. This ad mimics the format of an actual vintage Ring Pop commercial, which will make you feel nostalgic for your childhood and also make you question what advertising firms were thinking in that decade. The promotion features a bunch of kids enjoying the "juicy jewel of flavor" and randomly yelling "Ring Pop!" Which is one way to get brand recognition, I guess. Just keep shouting the name of your product throughout a catchy jingle.
But then Plaza's ad deviates from the traditional and shows what happens after you get a little too addicted to the sweet treat. The dark side of sugar dependency is explored as we learn that for one of the commercial actors, Ring Pops were the gateway drug into snorting Pixy Stix powder like cocaine and doing rock candy meth. The video makes me somewhat less sad that my mom never let me eat the candy, (or any fun 90s treats like Gushers). It's enough to make anyone lose their Ring Pop appetite forever.
