August 11, 2009

THE JOKE'S ON THE CONCHORDS


I've made another breakthrough in my ongoing quest to document every occurrence of S.S. Adams brand pranks and magic tricks in popular entertainment. As you my recall I discovered the Snake in the Peanut Brittle Can on an episode of Bob Newhart earlier this year. This time I've noticed the classic Snake Nut Can in the Flight of the Conchords episode "What Goes On Tour" from Season 1.

Jemaine purchases a pricey peanut snack from the vending unit in his hotel room and the container unmistakably sports the ancient "Fancy Salted Mixed Nuts" graphic from the S.S. Adams gag...


The peculiar thing about this sighting is the fact that there's no snake inside!
They're passing it off as a regular product. I'd love to know if this was a nod to the art of pranking or just the prop master's way of avoiding the use of a brand name. Probably the latter, but it's still cool that they employed the timeless joke on this fantastic television show. It makes sense– the Adams snake nut can has been acting like a regular peanut can for decades.



4 comments:

Meg said...

That is so brilliant! Surely the props designer or someone in the crew was in the know.

Utah Tweets said...

Funny! I've owned one of those cans for many years. It's mostly sat in a closet, but it's so classic that I can't throw it away. Everyone should own one! Very clever how they used it on the show!

Anonymous said...

Kirk, you may want to re-evaluate your conclusion. Persoally I have watched hundreds of episodes of CSI and it is apparent to me that the can in Jermaine's hand is actually a bit smaller than the snake can. Also, it appears that there is not a screw lid on it. Could it be that there is an imposter out there that has stolen the graphics from an actual SS snake can and REprinted them on a cheap paper can for the very reason that you described above or am I getting to carried away? I know how you like paying attention to detail.

James

Kirk D. said...

Meg- yeah, they obviously know their funny stuff, it just makes sense.

Utah tweets- yes never throw it away.

James- Ha, yes, I appreciate you investing precious moments from your life to investigate.

In regards to the possibility of a paper wrap, these knockoffs do indeed exist, but the ones I've seen fail to reproduce the original color very well. And the top of the one I have is gray as opposed to white.

It's the white rim that makes me still think this is legit because without the lid the rim is white and the little bevel that holds on the lid is hard to see from a distance.

And I just think Jermaine just has huge hands.

Man, now I'm second guessing everything I know. I must admit I haven't seem much CSI. I wish someone would fund a much deeper investigation here, because the truth must be known.