1984 - Crazy Eddie

[CyberD3ath]

BEAT THE MEAT!!!

[theblackjet]

Back when it was cool to own a fan

[IIIGoddessIII]

I don't think this commercial costed Antar a lot of money)

[LightenUpMcGraw]

I bought my boom box from Crazy Eddie out on the Island. Got a great box, it was a JVC RCM70 and it was bad ass. It went for like $490 way back then, got it from Eddie for $295. I still remember the price even thought I was just a kid because I mowed alot of lawns for that box. I remember flipping out when I visited FLA and crazy eddie was cosmic phil and it was the same thing other then the name. I was like, thats not cosmic phil, that fuckin crazy eddie, he's crazy, his prices are insane!

[EyeoftheU]

Now I think I know where Glenn Beck got his act from.

[125libertarian]

WHAT EVER HAPPEN TO JERRY CARROLL ?

[BIRDANGAL]

WOW! WHAT A FAST TALKER!

[BobWScott]

But Jerry Carroll was fabulous

[THEMAMABOY101]

WHAT AN EX-CON HE IS..

[eliizme]

I'm more of a Cal Worthington guy myself,lol.

[PashReturns]

Thumbs up if you watched this after having a really hot and miserable day at work.

[Jefgg]

I heard the phone number that is posted to call for Crazy Eddy to beat other stores' deals was really a pay phone on the Long Island Expressway.

[seriousdrummer21]

so if this is jerry carroll then who is crazy eddie?



[Iknowbetterthanthat]

Damn he's good, I bought all that stuff...

[captain22203]

Classic stuff!

[nakedwake]

this guy was awesome. I remember being a kid and watching these commercials all the time.

[SCUBONZIES]

DID HE ADVERTISE IN PHILLY SAME SHIT

[nomadcowatbk]

How hot did it get that summer?

[ZEROEVILDARKCOOL]

"BEAT THE HEAT", "BE COOL". OH, 80'S CATCHPHRASES...

[ZEROEVILDARKCOOL]

CRAZY EDDIE WAS REALLY CRAZY.

[shamrock118]

I want to get a fan now

[RockingJamboree]

The whole idea behind this ad campaign is encouraging people to take advantage of the mentally disturbed.

[MacDragard]

Apparently Crazy Eddie used to block the store exit if a customer wanted to walk out empty handed, and even went as far as locking the door until the customer bought something, and he would lower the price until the customer agreed.

[ecbritton]

This isn't Jerry Rosenberg from JGE. Jerry Carroll was a New York radio personality who did the Crazy Eddie ads.

[izzybelle05]

they still owe my mom money lolz

[horns2112]

Kind of odd to be hocking AC units and fans, saying "beat the heat," while wearing a turtleneck and jacket.

[thooperbilliam]

@horns2112 lol, good catch. I missed that. Maybe that's how good his air conditioners and fans were working, haha.

[Gmancrap]

Did you forget that he was crazy? Lol.

[cuttock]

Ahhhhhh man I love this stuff.

[msmoker37]

they didn't scam the public.. they just sold them products that we're of fraud..

[datanyc004]

Man this brings back so many memories! I loved going to the one on Fordham Rd. This made me home sick!

[RRaquello]

Does anyone remember the commercials a little before this time of an appliance/furniture store that sold only to union members. They had a big fat guy in dressed as a construction worker and at the end of the ad they'd ask "Is that the story, Jerry?" and he'd say, "That's the storrrr-eee!". It was something similar to the Crazy Eddie ads but a few years before. They showed in the NYC area, but I don't remember the name of the store.

[beulah1361]

Yes the store was on Hillside ave in Queens named the JGE appliance store. The guy Jerry was the owner and I was in his son Jeffery 4 and 5th grade classes. I remember when Jerry came to our school with autographed pictures! We all went crazy because he was on TV!

[wyojewboy]

Its the same guy Jerry Rosenburg he started with an appliance store called Jamacia Gas & Electric which became JGE when they went discounting. He was a lot heavier at the beginning. You have to be a union member or family to shop there hense the construction hat.

[ecbritton]

@wyojewboy -- Jerry Rosenberg had nothing to do with Crazy Eddie's. Jerry Carroll, a longtime New York City radio personality, did the tv and radio spots for Crazy Eddie's. I don't know who played Jerry in the JGE spots, maybe Mr. Rosenberg himself.

[Berialavrenti]

he and crazy gideon should get together and talk serious business!

[OTownNews]

BEEEEEAT THE HEEEEEEAT!!!!!

[2008hogwild]

i still have my boombox with dual cassette decks -plays like new -bought it from crazy eddies maybe 1983-84

[MarsAttacks2035]

wow...one of those lost memories from my childhood....crazy eddie had a store in my town lol

[Bullzeye95]

Also, that's not "Crazy Eddie" Antar, the company owner. That's NYC radio DJ Jerry Carroll, who Antar hired to do his ads since he reminded him of Earl "Madman" Muntz, the original guy to think up the "1) sell crap cheap to poor inner-city residents 2) shout really loud on TV, 3) reap profits" angle.

[TheFaustianMan]

I remember that story. My father told it to me, and I had always thought it was an actor. What do you want? He is trying to explain fraud and embezzlement to a 7-year-old.

[chbtrucker]

Crap? Good prices, cheap albums and tapes, and if you asked the sales men, they would match or beat any price that "the wiz" was offering. I got my first cd player there.

[Bullzeye95]

MBKDragonfly: Eddie Antar and his family actually embezzled $1 for every $5 made by the company. They carefully cooked the books for years so nobody would find out.

Eventually the skimming got Eddie caught and he fled to Israel, but he eventually got extradited to the US, paid several million dollars in fines, and did 2 years in jail.

Crazy Eddie went bankrupt after that since he'd skimmed fully 1/5th of their profits over a 15 year period, something like $80 million dollars all said and done

[MBKDragonfly]

this man is nuts!

[frlac40]

Is this guy even alive now a days???

[MBKDragonfly]

i think he tried to burn down a bar called the hollow tavern, went to prison for 8 years over fraud, tried to get into israel with a fake passport and loads of other shit

the man is nuts!

[frlac40]

Damn! i didnt think he lived up to the name. I thought it was all a gimmick.lol.

[mco1216]

He might be??

[crammer04]

yes he is...he lives in my area...he dsnt get out much

[KMNKeybordValt]

I was at least 5 years old when Crazy Eddie & Nobody Beats The Wiz was in Bussiness

Now((((( Best Buy ))))))took over

[PeeShooterJimmy]

I love it, I'd love to shoot urine into one of those fans and see what happens!!!!!!!!!

[TuckmanJiggityJones]

it's just like... its just like... a MINI mall!

[lawnside82]

wow i have one of those acs in my computer room window right now....its over 27 years old but it still works like new...

Kenmore Cool N Lite...wood grain

[rayrey88]

Hey, this one left out the usual, "Manhattan!  The Bronx! Brooklyn! Route 17, Paramus! Syosset!...." Ah, those were the days!

[shawnmcghee1]

Crazy Eddie is probably one of the most famous commercial personalities ever. When I was a kid, I used to go around quoting him. I also remember Dan Akroid doing "Crazy Ernie" on SNL.

[whattheheck1000]

LOLWTFBBQSAUCEZ0RZ

[Sikandra00]

I remember seeing these commercials when I visited my grandma in NYC, watching lots of good old 11 Alive (the tv channel).

[bluetoothheffa]

*sighs*....11.. 11 alive!

[shawnmcghee1]

I remember the old 11-Alive network promos with the guy standing in front of the World Trade Center.

[r3t4rdman]

its "wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men, wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men....... whoop

[75starsuck]

I remember these from when I was a kid

[TechnicalEvaluation]

oh, I get it. talking loud and waving your arms = "crazy".

zzzzzzzzzzzz.

[JohnEvansChaoseed]

Holy cow, my parents owned those exact air conditioners.

[AdamJ617]

I grew up in Boston, so I don't remember Crazy Eddie, but I might remember a guy with a similar personality, except he wears an afro. I think it's based out of MA or RI. Anybody know?

[Lilkiwiguy87]

The one and only happiest man in the world.

[Nicecatholicgirl]

I miss Crazy Eddie.

[jalonzo31]

u miss a guy who scammed everyone

hahahaah ur an idiot

[austenpal]

They didn't scam the public... As a New Yorker it was great getting good prices!

[nevawrong]

i was only 12 years old in 1984 living in newyork, so i couldnt realize he was scamming people because i was just a kid. but i do remember these crazy ass comercials they made back in the 80's like it was yesterday, lol

[Watcher3223]

@austenpal

"They didn't scam the public"

Unless you were a member of the public who happened to own stock in "Crazy Eddie."

[townrumor]

@austenpal i think buster ryems bit his style

[blope332]

@austenpal Crazy Eddie Inc. was one of largest fraud cases in history. Inventory was overstated by $65 million. Eddie went to jail for the fraud. In March of 1983, an agreement was reached to settle dozens of pending lawsuits spawned by the Crazy Eddie Fraud. Sam Antar, Ed's brother sd "Crazy Eddie was an empire built on deceit. The company was rotten to its core. We considered the humanity of others as a weakness to be exploited in our efforts to commit our crimes."

[alexforever411]

Yes, but he pled insanity.:)

[mike82871]

This guy is an actor he didnt scam anybody and people miss it because it reminds them of a period in their life and the company didnt scam everybody ,they didnt scam me ...I have a pair of bose 901 speakers that i still use today

[AEMoreira81]

You're right, but Jerry Carroll's voice was just INSANE!

[1tephania]

Wow I pity you NYC ppl for growing up on these commercials. We still get some of these off your network here in Canada and I absolutely detest them.

[sagekat3]

that's ok, if you look at the thumbs down - clearly people here detest you

[thabizman]

I called the number and it said that it was disconnected

[holden190]

I still treasure my "Crazy Eddie" T-shirt.

Didn't Eddie go to jail in Israel for fraud?

[spectrum10]

He fled to Israel to avoid prosecution in the United States. He was extradited to the U.S., was tried and convicted and served a 7 year prison sentence.

[zman1974]

wow, i used to think he was on drugs. I love how the guy would swing his hands in the air when he's say "take your price to crazy eddie and we'll beat em!" lol

[herblubka]

I bought that same exact window air conditioner from Crazy Eddie sometime in the 80's! Those were the days to remember in Brooklyn!

[wilbar2922]

I once went to their store in Hartsdale and a guy showed me a dirty old telephone for which the price was 99 dollars! I said if sombody cleans it up real good I'll pay 5 dollars for it. A big nasty looking guy came over and told me to leave.

[fatman50000]

I would've too...just because you're being a smartass.

Dirty phone and all.

[MondoBeno]

What happened to Jerry Carrol after Crazy Eddie went bust?

[raccoonantlers]

yo he got arrested

[fatman50000]

This isn't actual Crazy Eddie.

[rugged74]

Used to see these commercials all the time growing up in NJ. Anyone ever see the "Big Marty" sells carpet for less commercials out of philly? Vintage 1980's ads.

[ninanwk69]

I used to hate this commercial..still do..lol

Its all yesteryear now.

[utopiapraxis]

Alex Jones.

[yaiknowscrewme]

the best comercials ever made if u ask me..

[jbarkus1]

For some reason, he reminds me of Steve Ballmer. I think they might be related.

[Braford11]

call the number, see wat happens lol

[manofthebass7]

THis guy must've had at least 10 cups of coffee before recording his commercials

[toothbrush5190]

Larry Weiss stole the albums !

[oscargurses]

wow, old school baby, look at the electronics for sale, lol damn brings me back

[johnsmdm]

Antar gives jews a bad name..jail for 8 years!

[john6666steele]

anyone ever call that number?

[BlackieGirl]

Yes, like the geek that I am I did and it just rings and rings.

[john6666steele]

that's weird...a phone that just rings with no electronic answering system? obviously THEY never went to Crazy Eddie

[t21229513]

jumping around with a turtleneck

[Doodle1Bean]

If it's so hot, what's he doing jumping around like that?

[Wheeljack35]

Geez I miss these commercials