A Cassette Tape a Dad Recorded for His Son's 1988 Prom Is Bringing Joy to the Internet

"Rather than give his son a lecture about taking care of his beloved black BMW 5-series with leather interiors, Jody's dad, Philip Weintraub, a former radio DJ for the Navy, decided to record one. "Congratulations. You scored dad's car. You're going to have a great time, but there's some rules of the road I want you to pay attention to," intoned Philip over the perfectly synthesized - and extremely '80s - background music."

"In addition to warning Jody about speed limits and mileage restraints, Philip, pausing expertly in time with the music (Geoffrey Bastow's song "Color Vision"), cautions against gum chewing, car racing, passenger limits and long-distance calls from the car phone (yes, there was a car phone!). "No throwing up in the car. And if you must fart, please raise your seat off the seat, or stick it out the window or do it in the trunk," Philip concluded on the recording. "Have a great time, dude.""

"Delighted by the find, Ami shared a video of the boom box playing the cassette on social media on Oct. 29, and viewers can't get enough. To date, it has 172,000 likes on Instagram and 1.3 million views on TikTok. TikTok comments include: "This is so John Hughes." "Before Life360, there was, 'I'm checking the mileage.' 😂" "What in the Ferris Bueller?" "Your dad is cooler than the other side of the pillow.""

Philip Weintraub recorded a cassette in 1988 with rules and humorous warnings for his son Jody before the prom. The recording plays synthesized '80s music (Geoffrey Bastow's "Color Vision") behind a calm, practiced narration. The message covers speed limits, mileage restraints, gum chewing, car racing, passenger limits, long-distance calls from a car phone, and bathroom etiquette including a memorable directive about flatulence. Jody and his sister Ami rediscovered the cassette in a storage facility and played it on a boom box. Ami posted the playback on social media, where the clip amassed thousands of likes and over a million TikTok views. Philip worked as a Chicago-area audio-visual pioneer who owned a small multimedia company in the 1980s.

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