Ads from the 70s
Jun 4, 2008 2:26 PM | Posted in Articles
I came across a book entitled The Golden Age of Advertising - The 70s. Apparently, it’s one in a series of books detailing advertisements from different decades. The 70s volume is, as you would expect, amazingly hilarious. It’s crazy that this stuff is nearly 40 years old. The world has definitely gone in a less amusing direction since then. I scanned quite a few ads, so I have them on a separate page after the jump. Also, since the 70s were wild and sexy, a lot of these aren’t safe for work, so don’t view these if viewing drug paraphenalia or men wearing nothing but socks could get you in trouble.
Click on these to view the full version.
The 70s version of the big screen TV. I don’t even want to imagine what this thing weighs. I have a fairly recent non-flatscreen TV, and it’s heavy as hell. I imagine this TV earned the nickname “The Herniator”.
Microwaves were just becoming affordable for consumer use in the 70s. So, when it says “your first microwave oven”, it really means, the first microwave oven you’ve probably ever had in your life. If it wasn’t for the microwave, I would have starved to death long ago.
No subtlety here. It’s an ad for marijuana fertilizer. Grower’s Choice, in fact. The ad also has other stuff to order, like t-shirts with a weed smoking Indian on it.
US Bongs, get it? Back in the day, the government had ads telling people to buy US Bonds. But now that the war’s over, Uncle Sam needs to make some cash back, and he knows all anyone in the 70s wants to do is get high.
Yes, embarrassing celebrity endorsements existed in the 70s too. Here’s Muhammad Ali, clearly hard up for cash at this point in his career.
Dingo’s a brand of boot, and OJ heartily approves of them. I was unaware, but according to this ad, OJ has 3 legs. I guess I’m too sober to get what they were trying to convey there. Unfortunately, I don’t have any scans of OJ doing glove endorsements.
STAR WARS. Did you actually think I could make a post about ads in the 70s without mentioning Star Wars? Of course not. I particularly like the Luke Skywalker Van Kit.
The truth is, I am powerless to Cher. I should also warn you that if you’re a fan of the whole Princess Leia golden bikini thing, then clicking on the larger version may scar you for life.
Another ad campaign that you just won’t get if you weren’t there. It is, in fact, underwear. In the larger version, you’ll see that it’s really flashy, awkward underwear. Ladies were so much easier to turn on back then.
The full text reads “Announcing the best-dressed men in America”. If nudity and flamboyant socks is your thing, then you missed out on the era when that was actually cool and not creepy.
This is the most unsafe for work out of all of them. As you can read from the caption, it’s a sock for your, you know, “banana and two plums”. The full version of the ad also contains a nude chick holding the banana sock, which I censored, because I’m a prude. If you want the uncensored version, look around for it or ask me for the link and I’ll give it to you.
I don’t know what the hell to say about this one. It’s Gay Bob, the plastic gay man that’s great for parties, the office, and anywhere else that’s in need of some serious gayness.
Of course, you’ll need some gay cologne to go with your Gay Bob. I don’t even want to imagine what this smells like. This cologne also makes me seriously question what’s up with the band REO Speedwagon.
Finally, we have Jovan, which must be the real life inspiration for Sex Panther cologne. This cologne is made from the sweat of the gods themselves. I can’t imagine any non-evil use of Jovan.
So there you have it, a creepy trip down nostalgia lane. Remember kids, the people in these ads are your parents.