A couple of years ago I posted a selection of advertisements that had appeared in comics of the 1970s (see here) so I thought it was overdue that I blogged a follow up. Advertisers often used strips or comic related styles in their ads so some of those are included here, starting with the ad above for Maryland Cookies featuring a specially commissioned strip by Harry Lindfield. The artist was drawing The Persuaders strip for TV Action at that time so was the ideal choice. Curiously, the other Persuader in the double-act, Danny Wilde (played by Tony Curtis) is absent from the ad.
These days comic publishers are restricted on what foodstuffs they can advertise due to scaremongering about the "obesity epidemic". This wasn't the case back in the 1970s when ads from confectionery companies were a great source of income for the comics. Here's an example of Cadbury promoting their short-lived slim chocolate bar Laugh with artwork by comics artist Tony Goffe...
...and an ad for Curly Wurly which tied into a tv ad campaign featuring actor Terry Scott dressed up as a schoolboy (it seemed amusing in 1973)...
In 1971 Countdown comic featured a series of exclusive comic strips by Peter Ford to promote the Super Mousse chocolate bar (sort of like Milky Way)...
Breakfast cereals were another source of advertising revenue, and Kellogg's Sugar Smacks were regularly promoted in the comics...
Slightly healthier but still full of sugar, Hartley's New Jam even got into the act, but at least it was for a good cause...
It wasn't always about foodstuffs of course. Toys were promoted too, including the perennial Lego back in the days when their kits were much more basic than today's intricate sets...
Dinky Toys also advertised their latest die-cast models, including this UFO Interceptor based on the craft from Gerry Anderson's UFO tv series...
Another popular toy of the time was the View-Master which enabled kids to view a series of static 3-D photographs on a wide variety of subjects. This toy (or "machine" as the ads would have it) was popular for many years...
Finally, one can't forget the adverts for stamps. Varieties of which seemed to be a mainstay of comics for decades, - but did anyone send off for them?
I'll feature more vintage ads at a later date! In the meantime, check out my coverage of similar items from older blogs if you haven't already seen them:
http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2007/03/seventies-nostalgia-adverts-in-comics.html
http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2007/03/anti-smoking-strips-of-sixties.html
http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2007/03/junk-food-and-comics.html
4 comments:
Fantastic stuff, Lew. There's definitely a gap in the market for a website or blog dedicated to comic-book adverts. When I did some web-training a few years back I created a rough version of one, but never found the time to finish it off.
Incredible I had so many of the items appearing in these ad’s.
The Persuaders pen (which I’d completely forgotten about until now)
Cadbury's Laughs had jokes inside the wrappers, one I’ve passed on to my kids: get someone to bend over, then tear a piece of paper to simulate tearing trousers..
My Dinky Interceptor was green not white
And I’ve still got my Batman View Master reels (with the booklet too)
A great haul..
It's funny that even in their ads, Dinky still had the UFO Interceptor white like its TV counterpart. Of course, the toy was that odd metallic green colour (as was the Space 1999 Eagle, too). I wonder who's decision that was? It wasn't like they couldn't paint anything white.
I had the Persuader's secret pen too!
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