The car models, cognac brands, or lines of clothes in the ads that I spotlight on this blog have often disappeared, but at least those concepts are still around. Mood rings, on the other hand, are gone. So very gone that a short explanation may be in order. Mood rings were a very short-lived fad consisting of an artificial stone, that changes colour depending on the wearer’s body temperature, set in a cheap fitting. Apparently, there was a commercial for them.1
It shows two young people sitting opposite each other, while soft, romantic string music is playing and a narrator waxes lyrical about the meagre merits of mood rings. But the main star of the show is the chessboard the lovers are sitting at.
They are using a terrible, modern sort of pieces and the shot is focused on the mood rings instead of the chessboard, which made reconstructing the position a right pain in the ass.2
This is pretty much just guesswork. I’m quite happy with the a2-f2-f6-a6 rectangle and there’s definitely something on g4, but it may be any piece.
White decides to take the pawn on d5 with her knight. Black looks at her, smiles knowingly, and pushes his pawn to g5. Appreciating this chivalrous overlooking of the hanging knight, white brushes her hair from her eyes. Soon hands are clasped. Lips touch. The director discreetly cuts away.
Realism: 3/5 It’s anyway only a placeholder grade, since the reconstruction is so unreliable. But that a white knight gets to take the pawn on d5 early in the opening is definitely unusual.
Probable winner: Amor, probably. Unless he invested in mood rings.3
1. [Not even for a particular manufacturer’s mood rings, as far as I can ascertain. Just for the idea of mood rings in general. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen any more.] ↩
2. [If your mood ring is too black, try this diagram editor.] ↩
3. [Maybe he did and that’s why more people than ever are single.] ↩