I’m old enough to remember this commercial, but too young to understand at the time what D&D was, exactly.

Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, both former Napoleonic wargamers, developed D&D in 1974. The game was based on one of Gygax’s earlier game developments, Chainmail, and incorporated rules and structure from the pair’s experience with wargaming. Though the original version was clearly derivative of previous RPGs, D&D took off and is now the best-selling and most well-known of the genre.

Being that this spot first aired in the 80s (83 or 84, probably), Dungeons & Dragons had not yet eliminated the original version and renamed Advanced Dungeons & Dragons to create the product we know today. (That happened in 2000.)

Does anyone else remember this commercial?

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On Wednesdays I’ll be sharing retro ad spots and/or brief articles about defunct or long-lived pop culture (games, TV, toys). Drop a note in the comments if you have Way-Back Wednesday suggestions!