Straight out of a Billboard magazine issue from February 1979 comes this groovy beauty:

Laugh all you want, but this made total sense in ’79. Styx was huge at the time, having released the successful Pieces of Eight album in September 1978. It was one in a string of multi-platinum records for the band. So who wouldn’t want to rock the paradise with a painted Styx van featuring album art from Pieces of Eight and The Grand Illusion? I’d like one of the tour jackets too, please.

Hell, I’d drive one of those bad boys around today. You can keep the Betamax player though.

In which I explore some of the best — and worst — advertisements from vintage comic books. Today’s ad comes from Beware #5 (September 1953), published by Trojan Magazines, and boldly declares, “Fat folks! Your dream has come true!”

Now, I have some questions about this. What the hell is a Meltab? Are people really desperate enough to buy a weight loss remedy from an ad in a comic book. Why does the guy in the boxer shorts look like he’s suffering from elephantiasis of the bladder, and how will Meltabs help him?

But most importantly, who at this Robin Products Company thought that their target market — and it’s clearly women — would be reading a kids’ horror comic book featuring a werewolf on the cover?

Related articles

• Comic Book Wallpaper: Witches Tales #2 (neatocoolville.blogspot.com)
• Comic Book Easter Eggs – Kirk, Spock, McCoy…and Luke Skywalker?!?! (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com)

Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving, I think we can all agree that it’s worth celebrating some vintage advertisements. So I’ve pulled together a full menu of classic food ads for your dining and/or viewing pleasure. And as always, more Thanksgiving ads await you on the main site.

Birds Eye (1942)

Hellman’s mayonnaise (1958)

Hellman’s mayonnaise (1960)

Read More

I’ve only ever known the smooth, fully plastic Mr. Potato Head toy, so it blows my mind a little bit to know that Hasbro originally produced what was quite literally just plastic body parts that you stuck on a real spud. Witness this ad from 1954:

I mean, look at that thing. People bash the Pet Rock, but this thing is about half a step above that. Maybe if the Pet Rock had good accessories and you could stick it on a plastic body we’d remember it more fondly.

Fun trivia: On April 30, 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy advertised on television. Here’s a vintage example of an early ad.

I wasn’t even aware that Election Day made good marketing fodder, but apparently it does. Sure, it’s no Christmas or Valentine’s Day, but there’s money to be made on American democracy, and here’s the proof.

Kodak, 1972

National Association of Manufacturers, 1947

Hammermill Paper Company, 1968

Bohn Aluminum & Brass Corporation, 1952

People found this post by searching for:

"watch Miss o Impossível 4"

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that 1975 was a great year because that’s when I was born but it’s totally the case. And that’s pretty much all the inspiration behind the choice for this car capsule. It features Chevrolet, perhaps the most All-American automotive brand around (sorry Ford fans).

Chevy’s slogan for the 1975 model year was “Chevrolet Makes Sense for America,” which was a recession-themed tagline carried over from the previous year, according to this very in-depth look at Chevy marketing. Their TV ads sported a catchy little jingle titled “Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet.”

And the ’75 Chevy lineup was rather a large one, featuring nearly a dozen passenger cars. And here they are, ads and brochure pages for every Chevy model from the subcompact Vega to the mid-size Monte Carlo, and finally to the legendary Camaro and Corvette. You can click on the 2-page ads to see a larger version.

(To see other car lineup advertisement galleries, click here. Got a request for other years and makes? Let me know in the Comments section.)

Read More

People found this post by searching for:

"1975 chevy truck", "https://www grayflannelsuit net/blog/retrotisements-1975-chevrolet-new-car-and-truck-lineup"

It’s been many a year since I plumbed the advertising archives here at GFS HQ for some spooky retro classics, but that’s not to say I haven’t been busy since then. Why, there are all manner of neat Halloween ads up on the main site, just waiting to be enjoyed. But for your convenience, here are a few of my newer finds.

Blatz Beer (1947)

Dutch Masters (1959)

Ballantine Ale (1943)

Sunkist Frozen Punch (1960)

For more Retrotisements, click the tag below or check out the permanent collection on the main site. You can’t go wrong either way! And keep your eyes on this channel as the Countdown to Halloween 2012 continues!

People found this post by searching for:

"batman logo 2012"

I can tell what Tupperware was going for in this ad — which ran in a 1969 issue of Field & Stream by the way — but here we have a demonstration of how a very subtle thing can turn a photo from cheeky to creepy. The wife is supposed to convey a mixture of surprise and mild annoyance. To my eyes she looks like she’s stifling a scream while her husband polishes his rifle and mutters something about making them all pay.

If you ask me, that woman about two seconds from dropping that soda and plate of cheese and running out of that rumpus room as fast as her legs can take her.

(For more Almost Ads, click here.)

People found this post by searching for:

"tupperware advertisement"

Here’s the second half of the commercial break from the 1982 WABC-TV airing of Von Ryan’s Express that I started in this post.

This classic Quaker Corn Bran spot stars a very young Danny Pintauro, who you know best as Jonathan Bower, Tony Danza’s son from Who’s the Boss?

I really don’t remember seeing these Fussy Customer ads, which appeared to basically be for a group of car dealers in the New Jersey area. But I dig the quaint music and animated birds.

That’s Indiana-born James Manis as Aldo Cella, with his famous “Chill-a-Cella” catchphrase.

Oh yeah, vintage A&P with the green smocks and red jackets! It’s hard to remember now, but for many years A&P was not just the biggest supermarket chain in America, it was one of the biggest retailers period. From a high of about 16,000 locations in the ’30s, the post-bankruptcy A&P now operates just over 300.

Related articles

• Vintage VHS Commercial Bonanza, Part 1 (grayflannelsuit.net)
• Vintage VHS Commercial Bonanza, Part 2 (Kool-Aid, Eastern Airlines, and More!) (grayflannelsuit.net)
• Vintage VHS Commercial Bonanza, Part 3 (Kal Kan, Diners Club, Miller Lite, Ashford & Simpson) (grayflannelsuit.net)