“The Ultimate Trip”, Kawasaki, 30 sec, 1972

I’ve never considered riding a Kawasaki motorcycle to be psychedelic, but after watching this commercial, seemingly Kawasaki was making an effort to market the experience of riding a Kawasaki to be similar to tripping while riding a cosmic surf board through a wormhole. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was released in 1968 — it was a hit — with a total domestic box-office gross of $56,715,371, and receiving four Oscar nominations, one of which Stanley Kubrick won for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects.

Television was different in the ’70s; television advertising was open to being experimental, innovative, and effective textbook formula’s had yet to be set in stone. Dudes were still pioneering. Anyway, this sorta is a gem, considering the commercials Kawasaki is producing presently. I admire the agency’s (J. Walter Thompson/NY) willingness to gamble. Watch and be ready for a build-up that will trip you through the portal.

Rating: 30 Seconds of OK