10 Creepy Old Ads

[E. Q. Taft]

I'm putting this link here because I'm curious if anyone has any info on whether all of these are genuine: 10 old magazine advertisements.

http://www.2spare.com/item_92595.aspx

They are all disturbing or offensive to present-day sensibilities in one way or another, but the one I'm most questioning of is the second one, an ad in French for Pakistan International Airlines, dated 1979. You'll see why I wonder (mostly why, if it's real, it hasn't come to light before this).

I do know that the ad about blowing in a woman's face and she'll follow you anywhere is real and so is the one about buying victory bonds. The others seem a bit too much to be real, but then I have no way of knowing for sure.

[lynnejanet]

I remember seeing the Chase and Sanborn coffee ad in a Norman Rockwell book that my parents have. It was one of those books that showed the original sketches and other versions of the painting, with commentary by the artist.

The sausage ad just below it is disturbing!

[geminilee]

The man spanking the woman is a real ad... saw it in one of my textbooks.
The only one that looked really over the top to me was the "senior agitation" ad.

[Artemis]

The blow in your face is funny to me, but not so much offensive.

[lord_feldon]

I don't really think the baby shaving one is that creepy (unless it was the thought of a child holding a sharp implement).

[ButterscotchCat]

I think all of the ads are real. I have seen similar in old magazines, etc. But, check the link for the 12 funniest homeless signs. What a hoot.

[KKHB]

Originally Posted by E. Q. Taft

They are all disturbing or offensive to present-day sensibilities in one way or another, but the one I'm most questioning of is the second one, an ad in French for Pakistan International Airlines, dated 1979. You'll see why I wonder (mostly why, if it's real, it hasn't come to light before this).

I can't say definitively whether the ad is real or not, but I don't really see a reason to doubt it either. Obviously it is horribly offensive and hurtful today, but before 2001 the twin towers were a common in advertising, especially air travel or anything trying invoke a successful "international" feel to the ad.

I don't have any cites but I seem to recall in the deep, dark recesses of my memory, a few different airlines using some version of the twin towers and an airplane silhouette. In 1979 there would have been no reason not to.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by lord_feldon

I don't really think the baby shaving one is that creepy (unless it was the thought of a child holding a sharp implement).

I think the idea of a hairy baby is the creepy part.

[Esprise Me]

Was I the only one having difficulty distinguishing the creepy old ads from the creepy new ones?

[E. Q. Taft]

Originally Posted by ButterscotchCat

I think all of the ads are real. I have seen similar in old magazines, etc. But, check the link for the 12 funniest homeless signs. What a hoot.

The other day I was exiting a parking lot when I saw a guy with a sign saying, approximately: "Dying for a cheeseburger."

Since cheeseburgers, at the moment, make up a pretty fair proportion of my diet (either fast-food ones when I'm on the cheap, or the really good ones at my local Marie Callenders' -- mmmm!), it definitely struck home with me. So I rolled down the window and gave him a buck. There was a McDonald's a few hundred feet away, so I hope he got what he needed.

But yes, some of those are pretty good. [/hijack]

[E. Q. Taft]

Originally Posted by KKHB

I can't say definitively whether the ad is real or not, but I don't really see a reason to doubt it either. Obviously it is horribly offensive and hurtful today, but before 2001 the twin towers were a common in advertising, especially air travel or anything trying invoke a successful "international" feel to the ad.

I don't have any cites but I seem to recall in the deep, dark recesses of my memory, a few different airlines using some version of the twin towers and an airplane silhouette. In 1979 there would have been no reason not to.

Oh, I agree, there's no reason it couldn't be real. I would just have expected it to have made the rounds of the internet long before this. Also, it is certainly the kind of think a certain type of warped mine would find it amusing to fake. So some kind of confirmation would be nice.

I also agree the "Senior agitation" one was probably really the most disturbing...

[KKHB]

Originally Posted by E. Q. Taft

I also agree the "Senior agitation" one was probably really the most disturbing...

My warped little mind found that one absolutely hysterical. I hate to think it was once really an ad, with the associated connotations, but still I laughed out loud over it.

I'm probably going to go to hell for that- or be struck down by senior agitation in my later years.

[charlie23]

When I was in University the college library had a subscription to a graphic arts magazine that published a volume every year of the best advertisements, and I definitely remember the Tipalet ad (blowing in her face) and the Pakistan International Airlines ad from some of their back issues. I also had a book of cigarette ads that had the Lucky Strike Santa in it (I'm a graphic artist and once had an extensive library of stuff like this). The Thorazine ad was probably directed towards medical professionals rather than the general public.
None of them are that unusual in a historical context, they just seem "creepy" now because social values have changed.
I agree the self-dismembering porker seems bizarre, but there's currently a Romanian (?) ad on TV here featuring Santa Claus with a huge bag of meat, and a large chain of local butcher shops have a pig with a cleaver chopping up sausages as their company logo, so I certainly find it believable.

[Simply Madeline]

Originally Posted by Esprise Me

Was I the only one having difficulty distinguishing the creepy old ads from the creepy new ones?

No, the Maxim ad was the most disturbing one on the page, IMO.

[Arriah]

Originally Posted by Esprise Me

Was I the only one having difficulty distinguishing the creepy old ads from the creepy new ones?

No, I thought the "Love button, Push me Hard" ad fit in with the general theme rather nicely.

[SmallTownKid]

Originally Posted by Simply Madeline

No, the Maxim ad was the most disturbing one on the page, IMO.

I'm not seeing any ads. Am I lucky or just unobservant?

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Simply Madeline

No, the Maxim ad was the most disturbing one on the page, IMO.

I know this is a joke, it not being one of the vintage ads and all, but what was disturbing about it?

[matches]

If any Ad is fake it's likely the Thorazine ad, just because prescription medicine advertising is a relatively new phenomenon.

The baby ads are not beyond the pale for their day. Neither are the spanking nor smoke blowing ad.

The pig butchering himself is not that unusal either.

The Pakistan air ad isn't that odd either. Any more than a jet's shadow on the statue of liberty might be at the time.

The WWII ads are likely real, and actually I will be you can find some that are a lot more offensive than that if you take a moment. Let's not forget this was a time when Bugs Bunny routinely did battle against diminutive japanese spys with three inch thick glasses.

[DemonWolf]

Lileks has some weird old ads as well.