I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing Orange

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Text on Button I CAN'T BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING
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White text around an illustration of a person putting their foot in their mouth on an orange background

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The phrase “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” premiered in a television ad for the Alka-Seltzer company in 1972. In an interview, Howie Cohen, an ad man from the Doyle Dane Bernbach advertising company, described that the phrase was something he uttered spontaneously after a large meal, to which his wife told him, “There’s your next Alka-Seltzer commercial.” The ad and phrase remained popular in American culture for years to come. In fact, the humorous phrase was used in a season four episode of the television show The Simpsons, attached to the notoriously food-focused character Homer Simpson. 

Sources

Alka-Seltzer. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2024, from https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/culture-magazines/alka-seltzer

Flaherty, N. A. C. 0184, & Morris, M. (n.d.). Guide to the Alka-seltzer documentation and oral history project. https://sirismm.si.edu/EADpdfs/NMAH.AC.0184.pdf

Smithsonian Institution.  (n.d.). Alka-Seltzer Commercial Classics: b & w photoprint. https://www.si.edu/object/archives/components/sova-nmah-ac-0184-ref824

James, M. (2012, August 26). Ad man Howie Cohen built a reputation one line at a time. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-aug-26-la-fi-himi-cohen-20…

Catalog ID HU0177