Elsewhere: Milton Bradley's Big Trak - UK vs. US TV ad

This isn't strictly videogame-related, but Milton Bradley's Big Trak was an interesting application of computer technology to toys circa 1979, back in the days when we thought everybody was going to program computers someday, instead of just using them as tools and information appliances.  I never had one, but it was a cool and memorable toy, and recently a smaller reproduction version has come to market.

It's also interesting to compare the British telly ad to the United States TV version -- both commercials follow the same template, but the UK version is more honest and polite.  It's clear that the toy kind of grinds and trundles along, and doesn't actually shoot lasers.  And Dad is cheerfully impressed:



Working from very similar scripts and storyboards, the American version does its best to make the toy look incredible, as though the US military-industrial complex was now in the hands of your child.  Unfortunately I can't embed it here, so you'll have to bop over to the host page at RetroJunk.com to check it out.  Enjoy!