Roberto Alomar’s original “catch the taste” commercial is finally on YouTube
“Catch the taste!”
If you’re a Canadian of a certain vintage, you don’t need to be told what those three little words mean. In the early ’90s, the Toronto Blue Jays were at the height of their powers, both on the field and as a cultural phenomenon. The most recognizable face from those legendary teams was All-Star second baseman Roberto Alomar. He was exuberant, fast, slick with the glove and a terrific hitter. In the era before an unfortunate spitting incident with an umpire tarnished his image, he must have seemed a natural choice for McCain when they went looking for a pitchman for their line of frozen juices.
For years, the full commercial was difficult, if not impossible, to find on the internet. The 1994 version of the spot wasn’t uploaded to YouTube until May of 2009. The original, 1993 version was never uploaded at all—until Monday, when Retrontario finally found it, with an assist from 12:36. It’s embedded above.
More than 20 years later, the catchphrase endures. Just listen to the crowd’s reaction when a five-second clip of the commercial made a cameo on the Rogers Centre Jumbotron.
