Don't look for Donald Trump ads in your commercial breaks just yet — the GOP nominee hasn't released a general election TV ad with less than 90 days until Election Day.
In fact, as his poll numbers have cratered after the conventions, he's being swamped on air with $52 million in ads from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign alone, according to NBC News. Add in outside groups, and pro-Clinton forces are spending a total of $91 million to hit the GOP presidential nominee. Trump-allied outside groups have spent only $8 million.
The businessman-turned-presidential-nominee gets plenty of free media, he's noted. But he's no stranger to the advertising wars himself. Trump has a long and colorful history in commercial breaks, one that long predates his presidential candidacy. From gobbling down Pizza Hut slices to leaving voicemails on Toshiba computer answering machines, many brands have called on Trump's star power for a commercial boost. Watch five of them below.
1995: Pizza Hut
The Nineties was the age of the internet revolution, Bill Clinton's rise to the national stage and cheese-stuffed pizza crust. Trump, at the time, was trying to reorganize the Trump Taj Mahal and the Trump Plaza through bankruptcy-eventually forming Trump Hotels and Casinos in 1995.
What else was Trump doing in mid 1990s? Starring in a Pizza Hut commercial with his ex-wife, Ivana Trump. The two were married for 12 years before divorcing in 1990 on the grounds of "cruel and inhuman treatment." But the two reunited to star in a commercial playing off of their highly publicized separation.
"It's wrong isn't it?" Donald Trump says in the commercial.
"But it feels so right." Ivana Trump replies. Just as it seemed the two were back as an item, she pulls out a large pizza box, saying, "we eat our pizza the wrong way."
"Crust first," he says, biting into a cheese filled crust slice of pepperoni pizza.
And as Ivana reaches for the last slice, he tells her, "Actually, you're only entitled to half."
1996/97: Toshiba
Donald Trump doesn't seem to be a fan of technology. According to court documents obtained by the New York Times, pages of sworn testimony from the Republican nominee show he didn't use a computer in his home or office until 2007.
Despite not being tech-savvy, he starred in Toshiba's 1990s Infinia desktop computer TV ad.
The boy in the commercial sends an email to Donald Trump about his interest in real estate investment, although Donald Trump claimed he didn't embrace electronic mail until 2013.
"At a touch of a button you get TV, FM stereo, even a digital answering machine," says the narrator.
"Hey Doug, this is Donald Trump. Just got your email. Let me give you my direct line at Trump Towers," Trump says in the voicemail.
2000: Pizza Hut
One of Trump's first expeditions into national politics also came in 2000, when he won the California presidential primary for the Reform Party.
But when he wasn't on the stump, he was again chowing down on Pizza Hut's Big New Yorker Pizza.
"Why do New Yorkers' have such big mouths?" an Australian narrator asks.
"Go big or go home," Donald Trump shouts.
"Because they eat big pizza like the Big New Yorker from Pizza Hut," the narrator responds.
2002: McDonald's
It's no secret that Donald Trump enjoys McDonald's. Over the course of his campaign, Trump has eaten it to celebrate victories, praised their practices at town halls, and proclaimed his love for the Filet-o-Fish. And fourteen years ago, Trump hit the airwaves to promote the golden arches.
"I don't know how you do it," Trump says in the spot as he paces his Manhattan highrise office, "I put together some really impressive deals. But this thing you pulled off, it's amazing."
The deal that has the self-proclaimed deal-maker so confounded?
"A Big N' Tasty for just a dollar."
Also in 2002, the Howard Stern interview happened where Trump expressed support for the Iraq invasion, discovery of which contradicted his statements later as a presidential candidate. That year he also moved his beauty pageants from CBS to NBC, citing disagreements with how they were scheduled by the network.
2009: Oreo
Trump has railed against Oreos on the campaign trail, promising "I'm never eating Oreos again" because of Nabisco's investments in foreign manufacturing. But back in 2009, Trump was an integral part of an ad campaign for Oreos in which he pondered whether to buy the 'Double Stuf Racing League', a publicity stunt that focused on a fake sports league where football stars Peyton and Eli Manning raced others to eat the sandwich cookies.
"Oreo has rejected my bid to buy the DSRL," Trump tells the Manning brothers in this spot, "so we lick race for it, right here, with Double Stuf Gold."
Trump's "partner" appears — Saturday Night Live's Darrell Hammond, who still impersonates Trump on the sketch comedy show.
This was a big year for the real estate magnate on television, between a starring role in a WWE plotline and the second season of Celebrity Apprentice. The same year, Trump resigned from Trump Entertainment Resorts as the company filed for bankruptcy.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAxMzY2MjQ0MDEyMzcyMDQ5MzBhZWU5NA001))