The Nation: It's Riunite Time. . .

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Say, kids, what time is it? It's time . . . for a little blast of sauce! That, at least, is the essence of Buffalo Bob's new radio pitch. On the old Howdy Doody show, the lovable Bob, when not embroiled in the Byzantine struggles for pre-eminence in Doodyville, waged by Howdy and the nefarious, Mr. Bluster, used to sell Welch's grape juice to the kiddies. Now that his former audience is well of age, Bob's spiel has fermented; he is selling Riunite wine.

The commercial is really just a peculiar twist to Madison Avenue's increasingly tiresome obsession with nostalgia. Ole Bob, now 54, actually opens with his patented "Say, kids" routine, which is followed by a memory-jangling jingle, "It's Riunite time, it's Riunite wine . . ." Then Buffalo zeroes in on his old fans. "Yes, sir, this is your old buddy, Buffalo Bob. You know, you were little kids when you watched me on television, and all you were allowed to drink back then was milk. But now you're old enough to enjoy a little wine, right?"

Right, Bob, but where will all this frivolous trading on borrowed image capital end? Next Clarabell will be honking the wonders of Schweppes tonic or Princess Summerfall Winterspring plugging water beds.