History of Advertising Through Playboy

Playboy has unveiled a new site called Playboy Archive.  The site currently consists of 53 back- issues of Playboy dating from January 1954-May 2006.  What intrigues me believe it or not is the advertising!  No Im not lying……of course the gorgeous naked women are a bonus!  Get this….in a issue from ‘56 the only references to cigarettes & booze were cartoon style.  By 1966 in one issue they’re was 27 ads pertaining to cigarettes & booze not counting cartoon or casual photos. 

In a December 1977 issue I counted a staggering 67 cigarette & booze ads over 376 pages…..basically that’s one ad every 6 pages.  When I counted I was adding up blatant ads, not casual pictures with people smoking or drinking.  When I check out an issue from 1982 they’re was 42 ads, in April 1993, 19 ads and by April 2005 only 13 ads pertained to cigarettes & booze.

Other ads that stood out over time were made for Porsche.  In ’78 an ad ran for the Porsche 924 selling for under 11k….Fast forward to ‘01 and we get a sneak peak to the 600 horse power Porsche Carrera GT  with an estimated selling price of 400k!  On page 156-157 of a June ‘83 issue you see the “146 M.P.H Sound System” contest for Kool cigarettes which looks to be a collaboration between Porsche, Blaukpunkt and Sony….I don’t know about you but I haven’t seen a collaboration like that lately??

Other ads of how technology has truly evolved are Radar Detectors, Walkman and Camcorders.

Take a look at the site, you wont be disappointed!

Ad Agency Mullen Turns Bread to Art for a Good Cause

Have you ever thought about creating a masterpiece on a piece of bread??  Probably not! But if so, well this is your chance….and it’s for a good cause!

Ad agency Mullen and the Grain Foods Foundation has launched The Bread Art Project.  For every slice uploaded on the site, a $1 donation goes to Feeding America.

You’ll be surprised at the quality of the art……not to mention the bread.

What’s Really Happening NOW??

This is a really cool web site from SPRINT created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.  Have you ever wondered what’s happening NOW??  This site features facts such as current population, dept and energy use…… to emails/spam being sent and how many people are stuck in a NY elevator NOW.  Listen to a female commentary informing you of other facts such as how fast the earth is moving, people calling in sick and how fast your hair is growing…..NOW!  Check it out, you will be amazed.