And for a time they were a popular vehicle for advertising everything from razor blades...
to booze...
to scotch tape.
For the advertiser, the comic strip format offered the opportunity to give the consumer a lot of very specific information about the product in an entertaining, non-intrusive manner.
But by the mid-1950's the comic strip format in advertising began to wane.
In his article on Johnstone & Cushing, the leading studio of the time focusing on the creation of comic strip ad art, Tom Heintjes writes, "[J&C] Johnstone and Cushing still paid frequent visits to the advertising agencies that had for many years given them all the work they could handle, but now the business climate was different. Advertising done in a cartoon style was not as popular as it had been."
From my own observation, I'd also say that when the comic strip ad format was used by advertisers, it was more often in 'second tier' publications. Where full page, full colour comic strip ads might be found in early 1940's issues of premium magazines like The Saturday Evening Post or Ladies Home Journal, by the early 50's they are more likely to be seen as a single column in the thinner, smaller and cheaper magazines like Better Living or Family Circle.
During WWII millions of comic books were shipped overseas and read by servicemen and women, which probably helped shape the tastes of that adult audience for some years after the war and made comic strip ads popular for a time.
The down-scaling of the status of comic strip ad after 1950 suggests that advertisers no longer considered the format something they wanted to associate their product with. Comics were no longer for everyone. Society's perception was shifting.
Comics were becoming 'kids' stuff'.
My Comic Strip Ads Flickr set
Post a Comment