Chuckles the Clown (found premium rate telephone service ad; mid-late 1980s)

This article has been tagged as Needing work due to its lack of content and organization.

---

Still from a typical 1-900 number commercial.

Status: Lost

Background

In the 1980s, various companies advertised premium-rate telephone numbers via television commercials. These numbers would result in additional charges to the phone bill of any household that used them, which would then make money for the company. Some companies provided services that were deemed valuable at the time, such as news-over-the-phone. However, other companies based their telephone number around entertainment, and specifically trying to get children to call the number and charge the premium rate to their parents' phone bill. Many such commercials are fondly remembered on nostalgia websites. However, as they were just commercials at the time, there was little incentive to record or preserve them. One such lost commercial aired for a service where children could become rock stars and sing via the telephone with a fictional clown called Chuckles the Clown.

The Commercial

The Chuckles the Clown commercial began with a claymation clown (the titular Chuckles of the service) singing and then cut to a boy jumping on his bed in his bedroom while his mom vacuums the room. A few seconds later, the boy turns into a rock star and Chuckles tells the viewers about the hotline. This ad has been remembered by many children who grew up in the 80s but has never been found on the internet.

However, in 2009, an ad for an Easter Bunny hotline with similar animation showed up on YouTube but has since been taken down. All that remains are the lyrics to the ad, which were posted on an 80s pop culture newsgroup.

The Supposed lyrics

Time to rock and roll with Chuckles The Clown

We are waiting for the sound of your tone

You can be in the Chuckles Band

Just sing into the telephone!

You can be in the Chuckles Band

Just sing into the telephone!