Eight Minutes of 1979 Commercials

Talking dogs, dancing housewives, magical cleansers--plainly, we were all insane.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 30, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Advertising, Products, 1970s

Easy Does It:  Canned Goods Rule

The bad-acid-trip Good Fairy of Canned Vegetables talks about marketplace disruptions and paradigm shifts, and serves as Cupid. Be sure to enjoy the suicidal tomatoes plunging to their canned goods deaths.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 23, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Products, Retailing, Food, Cartoons, 1940s

Follies of the Madmen #326

1) Sturgeons are the ONLY ones to make caviar, therefore they are best by default, and the point is moot.

2) The mental juxtaposition engendered by this ad between a fishy taste and the taste of coffee is most unpleasant.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 20, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Business, Advertising, Products, Food, 1940s

Malvaz Malt Tonic

Oh, it's not beer, despite coming from Monarch Brewing--it's just a healthy Malt Tonic!

As this site says of a similar brand from the same period: "the concoction—actually just simple beer with the addition of honey—was advertised as a 'liquid food' for the treatment of various ailments, from insomnia to 'old age' to 'expectant motherhood.'"

Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 18, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Advertising, 1930s, Alcohol

Follies of the Madmen #325

Possessed pants try to ward off other occult rivals.



Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 09, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Business, Advertising, Fashion, 1930s

Orangeine:  Death in a Box

Original ad here.

The deadly chemical in question.

"I was first called to see the patient, a young lady, physically sound, who had been taking Orangeine powders for a number of weeks for insomnia. The rest of the family noticed that she was very blue, and for this reason I was called. When I saw the patient shoe complained of a sense of faintness and inability to keep warm. At this time she had taken a box of six Orangeine powders within about eight hours. She was warned of the danger of continuing the indiscriminate use of the remedy, but insisted that many of her friends had used it and claimed that it was harmless. The family promised to see that she did not obtain any more of the remedy. Three days later, however, I was called to the house and found the patient dead. The family said that she had gone to her room the evening before in her usual health. The next morning, the patient not appearing, they investigated and found her dead. The case was reported to the coroner, and the coroner's verdict was "Death was from the effect of an overdose of Orangeine powders administered by her own hand, whether accidentally or otherwise, unknown to the jury.'"

Full story here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 03, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Death, Advertising, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Nineteenth Century

Reg on Smoking

In the early 1990s, Regal cigarettes in the UK launched an advertising campaign that featured an everyman named Reg who offered his dad-humor insights on various subjects.

The first ad read, "Reg on Smoking: I smoke 'em because my name's on 'em." As he held his fingers over the 'al' in Regal.


Other insights followed.

Reg on train-spotting: "There's one."

Reg on party politics: "If you drop ash on the carpet you won't get invited again."

But the campaign was eventually banned because medical researchers discovered that the stupid humor of the ads appealed mostly to young adolescents, whereas adults 33-55 years old, who were supposedly the target group for the campaign, didn't identify much with Reg.

Below are all the other examples of Reg ads that I could find online.

Reg on the Stock Exchange: I'd never swap my cubes for gravy granules

Reg on Race Relations: My Uncle Nobby used to own a bookies

More info: JimHagart.com, "Cigarette advertising and children's smoking: why Reg was withdrawn".

Update: A few more insights from Reg.

Reg on taxes: "Too many cabs drive too fast."

Reg on the Exchange Rate Mechanism: "Erm."

Reg on television: "No, I'm not. I'm on a poster."

Reg on the greenhouse effect: "My tomatoes seem to grow better under glass."

Reg on the meaning of life: "Depends if you get time off for good behaviour."

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 30, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Advertising, Smoking and Tobacco, 1990s

Follies of the Madmen #324

Original ad here.

The notion of a garment that imparts a frigid chill to the wearer seems most unappealing.

At the time of this writing, there is actually a vintage one for sale online.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 27, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Advertising, Underwear, 1940s

Follies of the Madmen #323

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 14, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Hygiene, Excrement, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1930s

Follies of the Madmen #322

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 04, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Fashion, 1950s