Post by stintergalactic on Feb 26, 2018 5:39:38 GMT
It's been speculated that The Del Rubio Triplets once appeared in a McDonald's commercial. As of right now, no such commercial has been found.
There are a few biography sites that claim that they did, in fact, appear in one, but they all seem to only be referencing their wiki page.
The earliest reference I can find to The Del Rubio Triplets appearing in a McDonald's commercial was in 2008, when a wikipedia editor name Iowamutt edited the wiki page to make the claim. I've tried contacting Iowamutt through basic searches, but as of yet I have been unsuccessful.
I've also tried watching a few hours a McDonald's commercials through the 80s and 90s (the most likely time it would have happened) but couldn't find anything. Although, that watching was hardly all encompassing. There were a lot of repeats, and it most certainly wasn't every commercial they ever released.
I am hoping to either find this commercial, or pretty conclusive evidence that it never happened.
Iowamutt added the line "In the late 1980's they were featured in a [[McDonald's]] fast food advertisement." on May 20 2008. If true, you should be looking at the 1985-1989 range.
Someone in a Google group mentions "a McDonald's Christmas commercial where the Del Rubio Triplets sing and then throw McNuggets at each other". A tweet mentions the chicken nuggets are anthropomorphic, and they apparently made a similar commercial for Burger King.
Unfortunately, all of these claims are made by randos on the internet, the least reliable group of people. Unless you can find information specifying that this is a thing that exists and not just a practical joke, you don't need to go through all of that footage.
There doesn't seem to be much information about the Holiday McNuggets campaign.
There's a 1987 commercial called "Intermission" that has 3 blonde girls that look like triplets, but they look too young to be the Triplets.
"Weekend? It's Monday already."
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Post by stintergalactic on Feb 26, 2018 16:32:04 GMT
Yeah, they're a bit young to be the Del Rubio Triplets. They would have been pushing 70 around that time.
I believe the descriptions around the 'net about the commercial featuring the Triplets throwing McNuggets, all stem from an episode of The Purple Stuff back in December. Listening to the conversation makes it pretty clear that that description was made in just.
This episode of that podcast is also most likely where all the recent buzz around this commercial started. I was about ready to write the whole thing off as a joke, until I looked into it and saw that the Wiki article mentioned it 10 years ago. Now, it's still possible that this was a mistake or a joke that has just gone uncorrected for a decade, but I prefer to hold out hope.
May 20 2008 - Iowamutt adds an unsourced line about the ad. This appears to be the first post about it.
Nov 30 2017 - Dino Dracula tweets about the ad. Responses indicate nobody is taking it seriously, but it seems he is. He's Matt of Purple Stuff Podcast.
December 11 2017 - Someone describes what happens in the ads in a Google Group.
"Weekend? It's Monday already."
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Post by stintergalactic on Mar 6, 2018 14:10:15 GMT
I got in touch with Iowamutt through his wikipedia talk page. This is what he had to say:
I clearly remember a McDonalds commercial back in 1989 or 1990 in which the Del Rubio triplets were promoting the triple cheese burger. It ran during Saturday morning cartoons. I was in middle school back then and I liked to draw comic strips that focused on pop culture satire and I remember including the Del Rubio triplets into a strip based entirely on having seen them in the McDonalds commercial and then on Pee Wee's Playhouse.
Contrary to the weird stuff found on the Internet, they were not throwing McNuggets around in the commercial. They were singing a song and playing guitars. Amazingly, I still can "hear" them singing, although I can't remember the lyrics. I had recorded it on VHS tape at one time, but I doubt I would ever be able to find it.
He also gave a link to an article that mentions the Triplets were in a McD ad, but the article was written after the wiki page had been edited, so they were probably just referencing that.
Post by stintergalactic on Jun 11, 2018 23:21:18 GMT
Just an update on this search, I've contacted McDonald's, and they got back to me. They told me they don't keep a library or records of their commercials throughout the years. I got the impression that they're usually kept with the ad agencies that they use.
I also tried contacting Allee Willis, who was a friend of the Del Rubio Triplets. I was hoping she or someone she knows kept a record of their media appearances, but she never got back to me.
That's it, nothing to report other than road blocks. Just wanted to keep the information consolidated.