I always loved the line "Live Delivery Guaranteed"... finding out your life size Frankenstein monster is a balloon and a trash bag is one thing but excitedly opening a box containing a dead squirrel monkey would cost way more than $18.95 in psychiatrist bills. Leave it to Florida to be the state of dodgy mail-order animals.
@Zhurrie Monkeys we could see in the UK but Raccoons were Americas favourite pet. How could I resist the pull of these and Sea Monkeys, which were never available either in the UK while I was a kid. I'm sure my sea monkeys would have been just like those on South Park (minus the special ingredients added by the kids)
No joke. I seem to remember there was some Austrian brand of cerial in the late 80's that had a bag of them friggin' Sea Monkeys in the box..... nice art on the box of course...
I never had a hamster or a gerbil, nor ever had much interest in one, but I still kinda wanted a Habitrail. Those things were cool. The library had an awesome set-up in the kids room when I was really little.
Make all out war in your own home! But don't worry, it's harmless.
Yeah, even at the height of atomic paranoia, a toy that lets you simulate a Mutually Assured Destruction scenario in the comfort of your own living room seems pretty morbid. This toy was probably dreamed up by the same people who tried to convince kids that hiding under their school desks would keep them from being vaporized.
Google "popsicle pete"; I don't know who originated these. There is a whole series of clever, twisted revisions of old popsicle ads. I think they're hilarious.
y'know, thinking back, some of my favorite ads were actually the cross-ads for *other* comics.
I know this wouldn't make sense to younger folks, but it was so HARD to find comics via the newstand system, and there was no good way to look at back issue covers once you missed them (other than maybe in Overstreet Price Guide), so often those ads contained covers I'd never seen! MAN, I wanted some of those comics...
Growing up in the '90s I liked the 3 Musketeers ads that were done as a comic.I liked that they always ended with somebody finding a gigantic 3 Musketeers bar.
I remember the box of soldiers from the older issues. I always loved the Marvel Hostess Fruit Pies advertisements. Always interesting. They probably should release a book or one-shot with all of those in one place.
And if you read Twisted Toyfare Theatre they did an really cool parody of one of those Hostess ads.
@Trev I just came across that retro ad last night myself, while I was reading Birds of Prey, and, yeah, it got a big smile out of me! Kudos to whoever thought up doing it that way.
I used to LOVE those ads when I was a kid, anticipating the new Saturday morning cartoons for the upcoming season!
@Trev yeah I saw those too, I just wish there were modern cartoons/shows worth advertising as such that aren't 20-30+ years old. I actually am bummed that my son won't grow up with the X-ray glasses ads and other stuff listed here for $0.88 or whatever as junky as some of it was it really did have a big part in my childhood and learning about the world and advertising (good and bad)! :)
This ad seemed to constantly be in Marvel comics around 1983-1985. I was thinking about it the other day when I was complaining to my fiancee about how gum flavors today are so boring from when I was a kid, and the gum is too small. Anyone else remember when Hubba Bubba, Bubble Yum, and Bubblicious would take up half the candy rack with dozens of flavors?
I think at one point Hubba Bubba was even offering a "gun holster" to store your pack of gum. I remember naively thinking how cool I would be at school if I only had one of those. The fact that I didn't show up at school wearing one probably saved me from numerous wedgies.
I loved Hubba Bubba and all the old school flavors. I'll still rock a pack of Watermelon Bubble Yum every now and then, other people go crazy when they smell it as you chew it and get nostalgic. I miss Hubba Bubba Blueberry though and they used to have prizes if you got a special wrapper, I remember my sister getting one of the prize wrappers while we were on a car trip somewhere as a kid. That was an exciting day :)
Speaking of gum, I mentioned above about the joke/snapping gum from one of those $0.88 joke ads I bought as a kid. It was basically a plastic fake pack of gum with one stick having a small mouse trap-like metal trap on a spring. You set it when you put it in the pack and when someone pulled out the piece they got nailed. I learned early on that the fake plastic pack was a dead giveaway so I'd get a real pack of Big Red and replace one stick with the fake one. In school kids would always bum gum off of you if they saw you had a pack so I'd offer it out an BAM! they'd get thwacked and everyone would laugh. I still have that trick stick of gum and it has been used hundreds of times, still, and gets laughs every single time. I'd probably end up on a terrorist list or be expelled from school today though. Great stuff!
@Trev I just came across that retro ad last night myself, while I was reading Birds of Prey, and, yeah, it got a big smile out of me! Kudos to whoever thought up doing it that way.
I used to LOVE those ads when I was a kid, anticipating the new Saturday morning cartoons for the upcoming season!
Here's where this ad falls down. If you go to warnerarchive.com there is nothing that pulls together their saturday morning shows into a single view.
Also, no option for streaming or downloading? fail.
Here's where this ad falls down. If you go to warnerarchive.com there is nothing that pulls together their saturday morning shows into a single view.
Also, no option for streaming or downloading? fail.
I agree - I don't buy any DVDs anymore, but even if I did, since they're just offering cheap DVD-Rs of these things, I'd be just as happy downloading it.
Since I switched to streaming, I increasingly feel like studios must not want my money.
@Zhurrie Yeah hubba bubba was awesome. In my elementary school, if you weren't chewing hubba bubba then you were not one of the cool kids.
It was the golden age of Bubble Gum. So many brands, so many flavors, so many shapes. I think Big League Chew was probably my favorite, with Hubba Bubba/Bubble Yum a close second.
Are kids just not into gum these days? Because aside from a sole pack of Bubble-Yum, everything I see at the checkout seems geared for adults. I can't imagine kids care about whether their gum contains xylitol for fresh breath, or added B vitamins and ginseng. Actually, I feel like most gum is aimed not just at adults, but specifically adult women. The packaging and the flavors give me that impression.
@chrisw, just the other night my wife and I saw a commercial for a new pack of gum that can be torn into two. I joked about how gum used to be pretty damn simple and in a nice slim pack, now they are all in those silly flat, large, packs trying to look important and now they just came full circle back to where tearing it in half to end up with a pack just like we used to buy for $0.25 is *NEW* and special. Oof. O_o That and the packs that are in huge plastic cups to fit cup holders and all the ridiculousness... it is just freaking gum. Also, never buy the mystery flavor Juicy Fruit... it is so chemical tasting and bad that no one I know can even chew a piece for more than a second. I bought a pack thinking it might be good and the smell is atrocious and it tastes even worse. I pine for the old days.
I don't care for the artificial sweeteners found in gum these days. Hubba Bubba, Bubble Yum, Big League Chew were my favorites growing up. The ads for all three always get a smile out of me when I'm going through an old comic.
Comments
:-&
I never had a hamster or a gerbil, nor ever had much interest in one, but I still kinda wanted a Habitrail. Those things were cool. The library had an awesome set-up in the kids room when I was really little.
Make all out war in your own home! But don't worry, it's harmless.
My elementary school bus went past a Nike SAM site every day, so this toy was just plain scary.
As I understand Minneapolis has abundant human hamster trails downtown.
I know this wouldn't make sense to younger folks, but it was so HARD to find comics via the newstand system, and there was no good way to look at back issue covers once you missed them (other than maybe in Overstreet Price Guide), so often those ads contained covers I'd never seen! MAN, I wanted some of those comics...
As a kid I collected these:
I understand that Bazooka Joe was (is?) available all over the globe. Must be one of the most read comics......
And if you read Twisted Toyfare Theatre they did an really cool parody of one of those Hostess ads.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these old Wheaties ads. General Mills should get these together in a coffee table book.
I used to LOVE those ads when I was a kid, anticipating the new Saturday morning cartoons for the upcoming season!
I think at one point Hubba Bubba was even offering a "gun holster" to store your pack of gum. I remember naively thinking how cool I would be at school if I only had one of those. The fact that I didn't show up at school wearing one probably saved me from numerous wedgies.
Speaking of gum, I mentioned above about the joke/snapping gum from one of those $0.88 joke ads I bought as a kid. It was basically a plastic fake pack of gum with one stick having a small mouse trap-like metal trap on a spring. You set it when you put it in the pack and when someone pulled out the piece they got nailed. I learned early on that the fake plastic pack was a dead giveaway so I'd get a real pack of Big Red and replace one stick with the fake one. In school kids would always bum gum off of you if they saw you had a pack so I'd offer it out an BAM! they'd get thwacked and everyone would laugh. I still have that trick stick of gum and it has been used hundreds of times, still, and gets laughs every single time. I'd probably end up on a terrorist list or be expelled from school today though. Great stuff!
Also, no option for streaming or downloading? fail.
Since I switched to streaming, I increasingly feel like studios must not want my money.