What I love about this old Fritos Corn Chips commercial is that it actually portrays Mexicans accurately. Every single Mexican I've ever worked with, dated or befriended would never dare to go outside without their giant sombrero, guns and bullets.
I kid, of course. Still, the Frito Bandito was a cool little ad character, and not unlike the Trix Rabbit, he wasn't against stealing to get the food he craved. The character was designed by animation legend Tex Avery (creator of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, among others) and voiced by Mel Blanc. The Bandito stuck around for awhile, but protests from groups angry over the stereotype eventually drove the character into obscurity.
The video below actually contains nine minutes of old commercials, but I think the very first one for Band-Aids is my favorite. Did you know that Band-Aid's adhesive is so strong you can lift an egg with it, and even boil the egg? Did you know that's a really odd way to show how sticky your adhesive bandage is? Did you know that if it's really that sticky it probably hurts like hell when you rip it off?
Even better, Band-Aids are "flesh colored," which is great if you exist in a commercial where everyone is white. So go ahead and scrape your knees, cut yourself shaving, and boil yourself. It's all good.
I'm always amazed at the simplicity of certain old toys, and how so many of those toys have outlived the more complex toys that came along decades later. Toys with lots of flashing lights and animatronic whatnots come and go, but you can still find yo-yos, Silly Putty, Slinkys and the like in pretty much any toy store. Something like this...
...is fun and exciting at first, but it doesn't ignite the imagination. It seems to offer more than say, a toy plastic car, but the Roboraptor, if anything, limits the child's imagination. You can't take it out in the sandbox, you can't spray it with a garden hose, and you certainly can't toss it on the roof and watch it crash into the sidewalk, virtually unharmed.
One of the best spoofs of these simple yet entertaining toys was the "Log" commercial from Ren and Stimpy, but younger folks might not know that it was actually a parody of a popular Slinky commercial. Take note, toy makers and toy advertisers: simplicity is good.
This is a really old Rocky and Bullwinkle opening clip complete with a General Mills product placement. I love how products were made a part of these old shows rather than today's method of sneaking in product placements. Hell, we know you can't have a show without advertisements, you might as well make it blatant. I'd love to turn on the TV and watch Colgate presents: Lost. Or something like that. Both Rocky and Bullwinkle also appeared in television and print ads for General Mills cereals, including Cheerios.
These odd little print ads for an old-fashioned barbershop caught my attention because I love old timey places. I like barber shops where the only person working is an old man and you sit and read the local paper and talk about the price of soybeans while you wait your turn. I also love going to small towns and finding the local cafe or deli and hanging out with the townsfolk. I'm not being sarcastic, I really do love such places. It reminds me of where I grew up.
My only minor problem with these barbershop ads is the one that boasts the shop is so old timey it doesn't have a phone. Call me crazy, but maybe that's one modern convenience you should have, unless you expect people to send you a letter when they want a haircut.
I don't think I'm the only one who's often fooled by ersatz police cars. If a car has any kind of device or attachment on the roof (like a bike rack) I immediately think it's a cop car. I often panic, veer off the road, drive into a cornfield, and unload my cargo of bootleg Barry Manilow CDs and counterfeit Bibles before ditching my car in a nearby river. Then I murder a hobo and wear his face like a mask until I feel it's safe to be seen in public again.
Anyway, this billboard for a bank in Turkey where you can pay traffic tickets has a fake police car placed behind it so that drivers will instinctively slow down and see the billboard, which reads, "Pay your traffic tickets on time without waiting in line." I think it's a clever idea, and if I were a cop, I'd actually hide my patrol car behind the fake one. That would really mess with a person's head.
FishNChimps found these two billboards. There's nothing wrong with either of them, really. They're not spectacular, but they're simple and get the point across. Unfortunately, when you put them together it doesn't exactly send the most positive message. I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about advertising, but having a recruitment billboard for the Marines hanging over another billboard advertising a funeral home just doesn't seem like a good idea. Although, if you think about it, the placement doesn't really hurt the funeral home at all. if anything, they should consider more juxtapositions like this.
The promotional machine behind Epic Movie, yet another "comedy" that mines the pop culture of the last couple years for cheap laughs, is attempting to piggyback on the LonelyGirl15 phenomenon with a series of spoof videos on YouTube featuring Carmen Electra. If you love comedy, then I suggest you click here, stand up, walk out the door, and go to your local comedy club, 'cause Carmen ain't dat funny -- unless fake boobs are funny, which they're not unless you paint clown faces on them. That's just a suggestion if Carmen ever decides to get into stand-up comedy. Call me if you need a manager, C.
Wilford Brimley is actually a fine actor, but unfortunately a generation will mostly remember him for his commercial work for Quaker Oats and Liberty Mutual. Unlike other celebrity spokespersons, Wilford always seemed very serious about the product he was pitching. After watching him pitch oatmeal or medical supplies I felt like a damn fool if I didn't go out and purchase those products, despite not being hungry or stricken by diabetes. I would watch his commercials in awe, waiting for him to finally go completely off the script:
Wilford:Okay, seriously, just eat some damn oatmeal. You're not foolin' anybody so just cut the crap and eat it. It's good for you, and you know it's good for you, so don't give me any damn lip. I've been around the block a few times, I know these things. When you're in your 80s you can tell other people what to eat for breakfast, you got it?
I think Wilford's commercials are fine the way they are, but someone found a way to jazz them up:
I'm not sure what to think of this ad. It was created for an environmental organization and shows two trees standing side by side, their trunks smoking and spewing flames like the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. The text on the ad reads: "For nature, everyday is 9/11."
Setting aside the argument of whether or not the ad is insensitive, or if it's too soon to evoke such images, I wonder if the ad actually makes a clear point. I understand it wants to demonstrate how the environment is "under attack," but there are no specifics. The idea of comparing it to 9/11 may be jarring and controversial, which is obviously the point, but I want more detail. I want to know exactly how the events of that day and our treatment of the environment are similar. I have no problem with an ad trying to shock people, but such an ad would have a much larger impact if it was more obvious why such a connection is being made.
Okay, I'll admit it: despite being 30, I'm still pretty much a kid. I'd rather be left in a room with a few containers of Play-Doh than a glass of beer. It's not a matter of arrested development, though, it's more about needing a creative outlet so I don't go completely insane. If terrorists ever wanted to get information from me, all they'd have to do is deny me any form of artistic expression. After only a few hours I'd tell them where the uranium was hidden.
I only mention this as a way to explain why I thought this print ad and poster for Child TEMA, an environmental action group in Turkey, was so amazing. It would be cool to think someone actually created the entire landscape out of Play-Doh, but I think it was probably some kind of digital imaging thing. Of course, I have no idea how it was done, which should be clear when I use phrases like "digital imaging thing." Either way, it's a great piece of work.
I was attracted to these Mentos ads because I loved the artwork on them. I'm a total sucker for anything artistic, especially in advertising. I think you have to go back a few decades to find ads that can truly stand as works of art in their own right.
Anyway, I was so enamored by the images it didn't even register that not only are the geniuses depicted in these ads eating a mint that didn't even exist yet, but that the ads are also suggesting that somehow the chalky mints give people ideas. Actually, it was LittleJohn at Advertising for Peanuts who pointed it out. Regardless, I still think they're great, and I'd love to see more ads with that kind of artistic detail. It really is a throwback to the print ads of the '50s and '60s.
You might recall a post I wrote earlier this month about the British band 7 Seconds of Love. Lead singer Joel Veitch, he of the odd little Web site RatherGood.com and the mind behind those fun but creepy "sponge monkey" commercials for Quiznos, was upset about a South American ad for Coca-Cola that copied the band's song "Ninja" and the music video Veitch himself created for it.
Well, the band sued and Coca-Cola is now going out of business. Wait, I'm sorry, that's not what happened at all. Actually, the band and Coca-Cola settled out of court, and the ad for Coke Light has been pulled from television. If nothing else, this was a nice little bit of publicity for the band.
Below is an awesome little animated theater ad for Dr. Pepper, one of those spots that would play during intermission to get people to visit the snack bar. This was before the days of VCRs, DVRs and DVDs when seeing a film was much more of a social experience. You could see a movie, a cartoon short, and even the advertisements were fun and entertaining. This one was created by an animation studio in Dallas, Texas called Keitz & Herndon. I love the look of this commercial and the way the characters pop across the screen. The "jungle man" character would probably cause some flak today for being politically incorrect, but it's from a time when such caricatures were done without malice.
What do you do when you're a band trying to make a comeback? That's right, you advertise. At least, that's sort of what the recently reunited original lineup of Dinosaur Jr is doing with their very own Nike shoe that's set to be released sometime next month. I was never much of a Dinosaur Jr fan; I was more turned on by member Lou Barlow's other bands such as Sebadoh and Folk Implosion. Besides, those are some rather ugly shoes. Either that or I'm too old now and don't know what cool footwear actually looks like. To me they look like part of a spaceman costume. Then again, perhaps they are. Maybe soon they'll be releasing a Dinosaur Jr astronaut suit to complete the ensemble. Then when you see an astronaut walking down your street you'll know that said person loves himself some Dinosaur Jr. My god, that's genius.
These 
I don't think I'm the only one who's often fooled by ersatz police cars. If a car has any kind of device or attachment on the roof (like a bike rack) I immediately think it's a cop car. I often panic, veer off the road, drive into a cornfield, and unload my cargo of bootleg Barry Manilow CDs and counterfeit Bibles before ditching my car in a nearby river. Then I murder a hobo and wear his face like a mask until I feel it's safe to be seen in public again.
FishNChimps found 
I'm not sure what to think of 
Okay, I'll admit it: despite being 30, I'm still pretty much a kid. I'd rather be left in a room with a few containers of Play-Doh than a glass of beer. It's not a matter of arrested development, though, it's more about needing a creative outlet so I don't go completely insane. If terrorists ever wanted to get information from me, all they'd have to do is deny me any form of artistic expression. After only a few hours I'd tell them where the uranium was hidden. 
I was attracted to 
You might 
What do you do when you're a band trying to make a comeback? That's right, you 
