Rocket Jump’s Parody Of 90s Commercials Takes A Dark Turn

Are you bummed out about this year’s overly-somber crop of Super Bowl commercials? If so, let Rocket Jump take you on a trip down memory lane. The studio co-founded by Freddie Wong has released a video called “Every 90’s Commercial Ever,” and it offers exactly what it says on the tin–but with a twist.

The video purports to advertise a Capri Sun-like juice drink. “Liquid Slam’s ad campaign for their “Big Game” line of snacks and sugary beverages was pulled almost immediately,” reads the video description. Despite that ominous warning, young adults who grew up watching Nickelodeon will initially recognize several elements ripped from their respective childhoods, including digitally-animated liquid people, a flat-topped celebrity spokesman, and VCR lines on the screen.

Less familiar, however, is the David Cronenberg-esque horror that emerges midway through the video. This video ends up far away from the sort of 90s commercial nostalgic viewers will remember, but it’s exactly the sort of cheeky fun Rocket Jump fans have come to expect from the studio’s effects-laden productions.

Wong, whose work has brought millions of subscribers and more than a billion views to the Rocket Jump channel, is one of the video’s executive producers, but it was directed by Video Game High School co-creator Dez Dolly and written by Dolly, Will Campos, and Matt Arnold. That team has done yeoman work with this one; I only wish it was an actual Super Bowl ad, so that we would’ve had a lighter take on dead children to juxtapose against that Nationwide spot.