Post by peekofchu on Dec 5, 2023 19:34:55 GMT
A previous user, mr1219, brought this commercial up in a big thread for an unrelated screamer, but decided not to make a new thread for it. It's been stuck in the back of my mind for about a month, and I've already put a bunch of searching in, so I figure I'd start my own thread!
His description:
I then found another person talking about it in a r/TOMT thread:
Finally, someone else in the comments of that post chimed in with one more sighting:
Right now the most salient clues seem to be:
I've already some watched Cartoon Network commercial compilations from Halloween 2004 and 2005 without luck, and searched on commercials/promos from around that time for local Virginia theme parks like Kings' Dominion, Splash World, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Six Flags Fright Fest was mentioned in the r/TOMT thread, and I've discovered that SFNE (Six Flags New England) actually did run a Screamer ad in 2016, earning them a Screamer.wiki page. It's not the right Screamer or the right timeframe, but there's at least precedence for this kind of thing!
Hope this is helpful!
His description:
"I'm in VA, it seemed like a local commercial. I THINK it might have been for a local amusement park. There's a white couple floating around in a pool on innertubes. I thought it was like for a sandals cruise commercial or something. Just before they reach the edge of the screen. A GUY pops up from the corner of the screen with a painted white face, painted black eyes, and i think sharp fang like teeth. Then it ends with a promo for the park.....i think. I have more of a timestamp thanks to a spanish teacher, she recorded "Scooby-Doo, and the monster of Mexico" for class. It aired on Cartoon Network multiple times, best window is:
Oct 31 2004
Sep 22 2005
Oct 13 2005
Oct 21 2005
Oct 24 2005
Oct 29 2005
Oct 31 2004
Sep 22 2005
Oct 13 2005
Oct 21 2005
Oct 24 2005
Oct 29 2005
I then found another person talking about it in a r/TOMT thread:
I have this vague idea that it was for a horror movie/show marathon and would have aired sometime in the early 2000s. 2002-2004?
I was a kid, maybe 4-6 years old. I was at my Dad's house watching tv with him probably around 11:00 at night. I never really had a bedtime when I was there.
He went to the bathroom, and this advert played. It was of a couple or a girl laying on a pool floaty, it was peaceful and they/she were smiling. Just slowly drifting. Then out of nowhere a pure white face with black cracks in the skin would appear and scream. I remember it actually moving into the frame from the shoulders up, not just a still image. I can't remember exactly how the ad concluded, but either the couple/girl were lying face down in the pool, or it just went right into details for the horror marathon. I freaked out when I first saw it and told my dad when he got back, but he has no memory of me telling him (considering it was years ago when I was a kid.) My dad has never had cable so it would have been on antenna television.
[...]
I posted a mock-up I made in photoshop down in the comments.
It somewhat resembles what I remember. Obviously it's not 100% accurate.
I was a kid, maybe 4-6 years old. I was at my Dad's house watching tv with him probably around 11:00 at night. I never really had a bedtime when I was there.
He went to the bathroom, and this advert played. It was of a couple or a girl laying on a pool floaty, it was peaceful and they/she were smiling. Just slowly drifting. Then out of nowhere a pure white face with black cracks in the skin would appear and scream. I remember it actually moving into the frame from the shoulders up, not just a still image. I can't remember exactly how the ad concluded, but either the couple/girl were lying face down in the pool, or it just went right into details for the horror marathon. I freaked out when I first saw it and told my dad when he got back, but he has no memory of me telling him (considering it was years ago when I was a kid.) My dad has never had cable so it would have been on antenna television.
[...]
I posted a mock-up I made in photoshop down in the comments.
It somewhat resembles what I remember. Obviously it's not 100% accurate.
Finally, someone else in the comments of that post chimed in with one more sighting:
I know exactly the commercial you're talking about and have been searching for it for years to no avail. I don't think it was an Adult Swim bumper either, because I saw it once in the middle of the day (2pm or so) on cable. I almost want to say it was an ad for Six Flags Fright Fest; after the jumpscare they showed people walking around the park in Halloween costumes, but that could have just been my traumatized 7 year old brain conflating things. Either way it really fucked me up to the point where if I watched Cartoon Network, I would literally keep my finger on the TV's power button just in case that God-forsaken commercial came on. Not sure if my post helps at all, but it's good to finally know that someone else has seen that ad and it wasn't some repetitive childhood hallucination.
- Sometime in the window of 2004-2005, with it having credibly aired around halloween of 2004 or 2005
- Featured either a single person or couple, floating on pool-floaties/intertubes in a pool
- Aired on Cartoon Network, potentially as a local/regional commercial in the Virginia Area
- Most likely an ad for a Halloween event at a Water park, or Theme park with water features
I've already some watched Cartoon Network commercial compilations from Halloween 2004 and 2005 without luck, and searched on commercials/promos from around that time for local Virginia theme parks like Kings' Dominion, Splash World, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Six Flags Fright Fest was mentioned in the r/TOMT thread, and I've discovered that SFNE (Six Flags New England) actually did run a Screamer ad in 2016, earning them a Screamer.wiki page. It's not the right Screamer or the right timeframe, but there's at least precedence for this kind of thing!
Hope this is helpful!
