Retro Commercial Article

I do freelance work through a variety of websites and am paid on a per article basis from a variety of sources.  It has helped keep my writing diverse, and my research skills fresh.  The following is an example of a blog article I wrote for a retro television and commercial channel.  The client asked for something different, something that would help put a new spin on a familiar commercial or television personality.  With that as my prompt, I wrote the following article for the website.  They purchased the article, and gave me a 5 star rating on the freelance site that I was hired through.  So what did I write about?  A certain be-chinned comedian and his meteoric rise from chip munching man to late night talk show host king.

(The article appeared as follows:)

Back in the 1950's, if someone had told you that Orson Wells would be hocking fish sticks in the twilight of his career, you likely would have laughed in their face for such a preposterous notion.  Similarly, if someone had told you in the 1980's that the be-chinned comedian trying to sell flavored tortilla chips would become one of the most famous people in late night television entertainment, you might have also laughed in their face too.  Yet here we are two decades later and Jay Leno has had an incredible TV career as a late night talk show host.  In a way, it's inspirational.
Fingertips dusted with cheese powder is hardly the first thing that comes to mind when people think of the now retired Tonight Show host, Jay Leno. Yet once upon a time between getting Johnny Carson's job and touring the country doing stand-up gigs, this TV icon was known to millions of Americans as the funny guy on shilling Doritos.  Throughout the late 80's and and early 90's the now-famous host starred in a series of TV commercials that put our minds to ease when it came to scarfing down a bag of chips because after all, "Crunch all you want, we'll (Doritos) make more."  Sometimes silly, often times corny, seeing a young Jay Leno talk up Doritos is something to behold.  If you have a few minutes, go to Youtube and find some of those old Doritos TV commercials.  Aside from the incredible gales of laughter you'll have from seeing an ad campaign that prominently displays a society awkwardly transitioning from the boppy 80's to the grunge 90's; you might also find inspiration for the type of journey that Jay Leno has had.   
Sure, we could get into a debate about how he came to succeed the legendary Johnny Carson, whether he or Conan O'Brian should have been the host of the tonight show, or just what was his involvement in who succeeded him as the tonight show host and so-forth.  Whatever your opinion is about him, there's something motivating about seeing such a famous person doing what amounts to the entertainment industry's version of grunt work.  It's like finding out the milkman went on to become a famous children's author (Brian Jacques), or the street mime who would become a beloved movie star (Robin Williams), or the nerdy kid in a classic "Don't squeeze the Charmin" commercial went on to become the poster boy for a famous TV show (Adam Savage).  

Sure, not every fast food worker goes on to fame and fortune, and not every commercial actor becomes the next big name television icon; but knowing that some stars had similar humble and hard beginnings as the rest of us can provide just the right motivational push we need to keep going to succeed.