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The Bootleg Files: The Frederick Douglass Afro Sheen Commercial

BOOTLEG FILES 894: “The Frederick Douglass Afro Sheen Commercial” (1979 television commercial featuring an unlikely historic figure promoting haircare products).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: There has been no home entertainment anthology for the television commercials for this Afro Sheen product line.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely.

It is not uncommon for historical figures to be used in television commercials, usually for comic effect. Leonardo Da Vinci was incorporated into a Red Bull advertisement, Abraham Lincoln hawked Geico’s insurance products, and several of the Founding Fathers turned up pitching a variety of goods. But for pure undiluted strangeness, nothing beats a 1979 television commercial where the 19th century abolitionist Frederick Douglass is called up to sell the Afro Sheen line of haircare products aimed at Black Americans. And while the concept is more than a little bizarre, the result is delightfully effective.

The commercial opens in the bedroom of a Black teenager getting ready to head off to school. As he prepares to depart, a stern voice asks him. “Haven’t you forgotten something?” The teen finds a very serious looking man in a 19th century frock coat standing in the doorway to his room.

“Hey, aren’t you Frederick Douglass?” the teen asks. The man, standing with his arms crossed, nods in affirmation and the teen continues: “Yeah, we studied about you in school yesterday, about how you were a slave and how you took your own freedom and then began to fight for freedom and dignity for all our people. Say, but what did I forget?”

Douglass walks into the room and circles the youth, declaring, “Are you going to go out into the world with your hair looking like that?” The teen laughs and answers, “Well, Mr. Douglass, you know, times have changed. We wear the natural.”

Douglass is not impressed, calling the youth’s unkempt hair a “mess” while chastising him as failing his race. “I’ve been watching the progress of our people, and I’m quite familiar with the natural,” Douglass thunders. “And I’m also aware that it is worn as an outward expression of pride and dignity. So, haven’t you forgotten…?”

“Right!” exclaims the newly enlightened teen, who heads over to his dresser where two bottles of Afro Sheen haircare products are awaiting his use. “You know, I can dig this getting my ‘fro together,” the teen says happily while spraying his hair with the bottle’s contents. Douglass nods with grandfatherly patience and replies, “My sentiments, almost exactly.”

Within a few seconds, the teen’s messy hair is now neatly styled and he asks for Douglass’ approval. But when he realizes that Douglass is no longer in the room, he looks to the camera with amazement and states, “Man, ain’t nobody gonna believe this!”

This wonderfully offbeat commercial aired in 1979 on “Soul Train,” the popular syndicated music-dance television program that highlighted performances by R&B, soul, funk, pop, and hip-hop performers. The main corporate sponsor of “Soul Train” was Johnson Products Company (JPC), which offered haircare products for Black American consumers. Afro Sheen was introduced in the 1960s when the afro hairstyle gained popularity among Black men and women. The popularity of Afro Sheen and the company’s Ultra Sheen hair straightening product for women made JPC one of the most successful Black-owned enterprises of its era, and in 1971 it became the first Black-owned company to trade on the American Stock Exchange.

I have not been able to identify who created or starred in this commercial, but the people responsible for its production deserve credit for making this unlikely concept work. Despite an obviously false wig and beard, the actor playing Douglass captures the solemnity and vigorous command of the language that made this figure one of the most influential men of his time. His mature disappointment with the insouciant teen’s grooming provides a great contrast in personalities. Likewise, the young actor being lectured by Douglass is ebullient without being obnoxious – he is clearly happy to be visited by such a prominent historic figure and eagerly embraces his wisdom.

As a television commercial, this mini-production would not be reissued on a home entertainment format unless it was part of an anthology of advertising films. Mercifully, “Soul Train” viewers who had the prescience to videotape episodes on their VCRs preserved this endeavor and it can be found in unauthorized but highly appreciated postings online.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.

Listen to Phil Hall’s award-winning podcast “The Online Movie Show with Phil Hall” on SoundCloud and his radio show “Nutmeg Chatter” on WAPJ-FM in Torrington, Connecticut, with a new episode every Sunday. His new book “100 Years of Wall Street Crooks” is now in release through Bicep Books.