CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[lynx]

This weekend, I found an old CED television advertisement from New Orleans that I wanted to share on here. I tried looking up the spokesman on cedmagic.com, but I can't find any reference to him anywhere on here, so does any one know who he is? I'm also confused by the "SUPERMAN FREE" caption & also the price; it is advertised for $299.00. I thought CED players sold for $500.00 when they were new.



Can any one explain it? I'm just curious.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XtawUO5-X8
_________________
Let RCA turn your television into Selectavision!

[jsdspif]

it says save $200 so normally it would be $499 and if you buy it you get a free superman ced. The guy is the oreck vacuum cleaner guy

[lynx]

Yesterday, I watched this video again, and I found four more videos of some old RCA advertisements on You Tube with David Oreck that I want to share, since years ago, Tom Howe wanted to know about any celebrities who promoted CED.



The celebrities Tom Howe knew of who promoted CED were Tom Brokaw, Gene Kelly, Gary Schwartz, and Willie Shoemaker. They are all listed on the Who's Who In RCA Video Disc section on the Memories Of Video Disc page; since we now know of a fifth celebrity who endorsed CED, then maybe David Oreck could have a page on there? It's just a thought worth considering.



Here are the advertisements he made for RCA. They are in chronological order of the years they were made. The last video is another advertisement he starred in to promote CED:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6wHprDACoQ



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QP4owSr5KM



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds_D8Zc_U3U



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO3LLj6LfZA
_________________
Let RCA turn your television into Selectavision!

[ketonic_dude]

Wow this is a crazy story that I never knew. So apparently David Oreck was born near Duluth, MN (Only like 3 hours from me). He joined the military in WWII and flew B-29's over Japan. After he got out of the service he got a job with RCA and eventually took over an RCA Distributor in New Orleans, hence this video. He created his Oreck Vacuum cleaner for Whirlpool who apparently RCA was part owners of. In an interview he said he started selling them via mail order but Sears had an issue with that, since that was their main business model at the time with the Sears Catalog. So they shut him down with Whirlpool. So he started his own business and began selling them to hotels. Well as you know he did quite well for himself since it's a pretty common Vacuum now that virtually everyone has heard of. My grandparents owned one, it was actually very nice.

Apparently in a biography about him it said he even "accompanied RCA General Manager David Sarnoff at congressional hearings to develop standards for color television broadcasts."

I never knew he was so impressive.

Oh and RCA did this thing where they listed the retail at $500 but offered a $200 promotion so the price was only $299. Plus you got a free movie when you bought a player.