This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

You probably have a favorite local TV ad,

something that's low budget, lots of graphics and terrible music,

and it stars a fun, charismatic in your face local business owner, like New York's favorite stereo salesman, Crazy Eddie.

It's a Crazy Eddie Christmas in August, Audio Blowout Flitz,

Crazy Eddie's gonna save you a blizzard of bucks on stereo rack systems,

compact disc players, portable stereo.

Or the Martin Furniture Guy.

Hi, my name is Dermont for the Martin Fine Furniture Store.

We owe the furniture business in Indiana, and our prices are out of this world.

But if you grew up in Toronto in the 1980s, you probably know our local supermarket guy, Dave

Nickle.

By contrast, he was extremely low-key.

That's producer and notable Canadian, Chris Burrupe. Dave Nickle might be the most milk toast guy to appear on television.

He had these big wire-framed glasses and this dome of brown hair and a prominent Southern Ontario accent.

In the past few weeks there's been a lot of shouting about lower grocery prices.

Recently the major newspapers in Toronto and Ottawa

compared prices at the major supermarkets. In both

surveys, Loblaws had the lowest prices. In the 80s, Nickle helped run a grocery store

chain called Loblaws, which makes me giggle just to say it. They had an

inexpensive line of products they called the no name brand, which Nickle would

sell in a series of sleep-inducing commercials.

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