Take a bite and feel all right, take a bite of a Red Apple

“Take a bite and feel all right, take a bite of a Red Apple” is the signature line of a Red Apple tobacco commercial heard in Cliff Booth’s trailer on Friday night, February 7, 1969. Its importance lies in its repeated transformation: the commercial first invites viewers to imagine biting into fruit, then reveals cigarettes as the product behind the invitation. The cheerful refrain makes that shift sound effortless, carrying the same promise of satisfaction from apple to tobacco.

Wording and Commercial Structure

The slogan follows a question-and-answer pattern. An off-screen announcer asks, “Would you take a bite of a Red Apple?” A performer answers affirmatively, and the commercial gives the invitation a visible form by showing a bite—or, in later versions, a cigarette draw. The refrain then supplies its own compact rationale: “Take a bite and feel all right.” The rhyme between “bite” and “right” makes the claim easy to remember, while the repeated command turns a product name into the destination of the phrase.

The wording’s central ambiguity is practical rather than obscure. “A Red Apple” can initially suggest the familiar fruit, but Red Apple is also the name attached to the tobacco products being advertised. The commercial exploits that overlap without changing its upbeat language. Its repeated invitation keeps the sensory promise of a bite in place even when the image on screen has moved from an apple to a cigarette.

The Commercials on Cliff Booth’s Television

The refrain enters the narrative through Cliff’s small black-and-white, rabbit-eared television, tuned to KABC Channel 7 while he prepares dinner. The first commercial presents a regular-looking man in a black suit and tie, with Brylcreemed hair. Asked whether he would take a bite of a Red Apple, he answers, “You bet I would!” and raises a large red apple to his mouth, biting into it with a crunch. Here the words and the image appear to match: the invitation is answered with literal fruit.

A later version changes the image while retaining the verbal pattern. A young Black woman with bare shoulders and a large Afro answers the announcer, “You bet I would.” Instead of raising an apple, she brings a lit cigarette to her mouth, takes a drag, releases a stream of smoke, and delivers the refrain: “Take a bite and feel all right, take a bite of a Red Apple.” The unchanged line now serves a tobacco advertisement directly; the substitution makes the slogan’s double meaning visible.

The commercial then features Burt Reynolds, smoking a Red Apple plastic-tip cigar. After the announcer addresses him by name and asks the same question, Reynolds answers, “Oh, you bet I would.” He takes a drag and repeats the Red Apple slogan. The sequence expands the advertisement’s range from an ordinary suited man, to a woman demonstrating a cigarette, to a famous actor endorsing the brand with a cigar. The repeated wording remains stable as the screen changes its speakers and products.

Refrain, Repetition, and Scene

The advertisement plays as part of the ordinary television flow of Cliff’s evening. As the commercials run, he prepares Kraft macaroni and cheese and food for Brandy, who waits eagerly for her meal. Once Cliff sits down, a small click from the side of his mouth signals Brandy to rush to her dish. He then changes the channel to the detective show Mannix. The slogan is therefore heard not as a detached motto but as one element in a domestic routine, repeated while Cliff cooks, eats, and attends to his dog.

Each commercial variation gives the same line a slightly different force. The first makes “bite” literal; the second transfers that gesture to smoking; the third has a recognizable actor repeat the brand’s invitation while smoking a cigar. Across those changes, the rhyme and repetition make the message persist even as its visual meaning shifts. The phrase’s bright promise of feeling all right belongs to the commercial’s polished surface, while the repeated cigarette and cigar images clarify what the Red Apple invitation is selling.