Asian tennis star Michael Chang is "little, yellow, different."

January 9, 2010 11:58 AM

I'm looking for a video link to Nuprin commercial with Michael Chang. Slogan:"Little, Yellow, Different."

[posting for a friend] Chang was a top rated Asian American tennis player who won the French Open, late 80s early 90s. I've looked around for this on Youtube, etc., and never found it. Any suggestions?

posted by salvia to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

I don't recall ever seeing anything like that, and I grew up in Michael Chang's hometown (he went to the other high school when I was in my own HS years) and watched TV incessantly. I would guess this is more of some one-off racist joke video passed around in email long ago.
posted by mathowie at 12:03 PM on January 9, 2010

Did you just get punk'd or did we?
posted by billysumday at 12:13 PM on January 9, 2010

I will absolutely vouch that this is real; I recall seeing it. Then after it went off the air, a short-lived flurry of Tiger Balm ads.
posted by sachinag at 12:15 PM on January 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: OK, I was wrong - they did use that tagline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abrXOK8iZYw , but if YouTube is to be believed, this is an ad from 1986. Chang didn't win the French until 1989. I found a Jimmy Connors ad tagged 1992/1993 with a "Nupe It" tagline.
posted by sachinag at 12:19 PM on January 9, 2010

Best answer: This page claims to list Chang's endorsements, and lists Nuprin among them. However, it doesn't mention "Little, yellow, different" (though that was definitely a Nuprin slogan). It says:

August 1991: "Just Nupe It" (with Jimmy Connors, TV). This commercial helped Nuprin's sales a bundle. The company came up with the idea after the great match that Michael and Jimmy played at the '91 French Open. It's a dialogue between the two, with Jimmy trying to advise Michael, the latter replying, "I know, Mr. Connors."

posted by Flunkie at 12:22 PM on January 9, 2010

Sounds like Suzanne "Formerly of House Hunters" Whang's tagline.
posted by Salient at 2:11 PM on January 9, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks, all. My friend really remembers seeing it and has been looking around for it for awhile, so we're definitely not trying to "punk" anyone, but she says it's not impossible she conflated two ads in her head, or that some joke email got mistaken for the original ad.

These are good leads, thanks.
posted by salvia at 3:46 PM on January 10, 2010

Could it be in the Wayne's World movies? One of them had a "little yellow different" gag though I'm fuzzy on the details.
posted by chairface at 4:06 PM on January 12, 2010