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You Are All Alone
Several famous works of science fiction, horror and fantasy play with the solipsistic notion that only certain individuals are "real," while the rest of the world is fake. One of the best such tales is Fritz Leiber's highly recommended "You're All Alone," depicted below.
But it seems weird for an ad campaign to promote such a notion, as Van Heusen shirts did in the late 60's. A critical survey explains:
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 01, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Fashion, Paranoia, Suspicion, Solipsism, and Non-Player Characters, Advertising, 1960s
Debbie Merritt, the half-baked girl
It looks like Debbie Merritt didn't just burn. She got absolutely fried.When the ad says that this was a "medically supervised test," does that mean a doctor sat there and watched as she roasted herself?
Ladies' Home Journal - June 1970
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 26, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Advertising, 1970s, Skin and Skin Conditions
Follies of the Madmen #586
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 26, 2024 -
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Category: History, Advertising, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1960s
Raisin Pudding Cake
Family Circle Magazine - Jan 1976
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 22, 2024 -
Comments (5)
Category: Advertising, 1970s
Sheaffer Pen accurately predicted the future
In 1963 and 1964, Sheaffer Pen ran an ad campaign in which they made a variety of predictions about future technologies of the 21st century. The company contrasted these technologies, which must have seemed a bit pie-in-the-sky at the time, with the timeless performance of a Sheaffer pen. The surprising thing is that all their predictions have come true: instant mail delivery, checkbooks that balance themselves electronically, portable visual phones, ring tape recorders, camera sunglasses, credit card rings, electronic translators.They don't all exist in the specific form that Sheaffer imagined (credit card rings?), but in each case the equivalent or better exists.
Newsweek - Sep 23, 1963
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 21, 2024 -
Comments (4)
Category: Technology, Advertising, 1960s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Vintage Advertising Cars
Yes, we will always have the Wienermobile.And a few other similar vehicles.
But on the whole, we are sadly lacking nowadays in novelty vehicles to brighten our lives.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 15, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Advertising, Twentieth Century
Squash Your Wife
Similar ads from the 60s and 70s: "Electrify your wife," "Recipe for boiled wife," and "Beat your wife tonight... at bowling."Clearly this was a theme that appealed to ad execs of that time.
New York Magazine - Mar 7, 1977
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 12, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Advertising, Wives, 1970s
Follies of the Madmen #585
How to sell that newfangled gadget, the television? If you're RCA, you just make a special Xmas song!The singer's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 08, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Music, Television, Deceit, Trickery, Subterfuge and General Slyness, Advertising
Miss National Car Care Queen
As far as I can tell, the selection of a "Miss National Car Care Queen" was a one-off event, not repeated in subsequent years.But it managed to attract the attention of George Kirstein, owner of The Nation magazine, who included it in a story he wrote titled "The Day the Ads Stopped" (pdf), published in The Nation in June 1964. The story imagined a future America in which all advertising had been banned and as a result:
New York Daily News - May 11, 1964
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 04, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Advertising, 1960s, Cars
Anthropomorphic Fels-Naptha Ads
Fels-Naptha Soap really went big on the living clothing and living soap box concept.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 31, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Domestic, Hygiene, Advertising, Twentieth Century
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |