Offbeat Ads
Imagine how effective Whisky would be…?
Now this is a great USP. “Drink Blatz Beer when you’re pregnant and your kid will benefit from it when he breast feeds.”
Wow.
I guess they were claiming the “malt and nutrients” from the beer would nourish your kid.
WTF?
This was the good old days when ad claims didn’t matter, I guess.
Going backwards?
Quite sad that today, and ad like this would never fly in conventional magazines, because the public version of “us” is so damn uptight about sex.
This, in spite of the fact that Porn is estimated to be a $4 BILLION dollar industry, fueled by the same “us,” only behind closed doors.
Biz Opp Ad: Grow Orchids!
In your living room! Big Profits!
Sounds exactly like any biz opp ad today, no?
Vibrator Ad: “You bet!”
“There is nothing so delightful and so invigorating as a good thorough massage.”
Ad for first Telephone Answering Machine
This ad came from Mechanix Illustrated, which was a magazine that competed with Popular Mechanics. In fact, it originally started as Modern Mechanics, and then changed to Modern Mechanix in the early 1930’s. In 1938 it became Mechanix Illustrated, and remained that way until 1984. It changed titles twice more before shutting down in 2001.
Interesting how they describe the type of voice mail you can expect, and then… “Don’t be surprised if that’s what you hear one day!”
Polaroid Sunglasses?
Yes, they didn’t just sell cameras.
Who’d have thought, one day… kids in the hood would actually be walking around with clothing labels still attached, like the ones in this ad.
By the way – this ad looks like something from the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, but Polaroid sunglasses are still around today.
How To Dress for Success, Like Superman!
I remember having a Superman costume when I was a kid – the only thing about it I can remember is thank goodness no one ever came near it with a match.
It was made out of 100% flammable cloth, for sure.
That was back in the days when clothing manufacturers didn’t care about the quality of what they sold. When nothing lasted very long and most of the material was cheap and made in China.
Oh, wait a minute…
Business Opportunities Ads
Money in Donuts!
And not just any old donuts, but the greaseless kind, that, well… just don’t exist.
Benefits of Television? (And Gene Schwartz’ psychology of the marketplace)
“Gets Homework Done” – haha — ‘Nuff said.
In all seriousness though, this is a perfect example of Gene Schwartz’ “Stage 1” psychology of the marketplace.
When a new product is introduced into the market, you can pretty much make whatever kinds of claims you want about it.
Ad, or… Sales Prevention?
Not sure when this ad was published, but today… this is more likely to PREVENT you from buying the product, than anything else.
I’d like selling a hammer using a photo of some angry guy bashing it over his wife’s head.
