Thursday, May 2, 2013

When Sales were Sales, and Ads were Blunt.

I'm not a salesperson, but I work with them. They are uniformly charming and always very nice to me. I suspect it helps that I am not a salesperson, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

I listen to a lot of Old Time Radio. Although I love the drama and clever writing to be found in radio plays, most of the time I'm hoping to hear some old advertisements. There's just something about hearing Ernest Chappell extol the virtues of velvety smooth Campbells Tomato Soup that soothes my mind and makes my mouth water. And I HATE tomato soup. Seriously, I think it tastes like puke.

Anyway...I do find myself conflicted because of my love of marketing related creativity and my firm belief that most of us (and by us I mean first-world us, not in grinding poverty us, employed us) have plenty of stuff and might actually be happier if we had less. Mostly due to moving cross country in the last few years, I have a lot less stuff than I once did and that actually makes me feel more free, not less well off.

But for real, how could THIS be any finer:


It even says "No Cure, No Pay". A million and a half pig people can't be wrong.

Or this:


No hyperbole or deadly, persistent toxins here!

And finally...
Who needs that lame guy in a starched suit when you have a cherry red, sensitive, and apparently psychic 1955 Ford? Girlfriend, you'd better drop that two legged loser and hit the road with something that REALLY cares about you and your needs. Hear what I'm sayin'?

If you are as entertained by this as I am, I urge you to check out vintageadbrowser for print ads, and otr.net or radiolovers.com for audio. I especially recommend anything featuring Orson Welles or cigarette ads.

Today: Six little words: "I remain, as always...obediently yours."

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