What Happened to Fumetti Ads?

By | Wednesday, July 28, 2021 2 comments
I expect many of you will be familiar with print ads that use comic style storytelling. Probably the two most classic examples are the Charles Atlas "98 pount weakling" and Hostess treats ads that were both famous in comic books. But the style/format of emulating a comic -- often with photographs! -- was almost common up through the 1970s or so. Even through the "juvenile deliquency" scare of the 1950s, they continued appearing in magazines, seemingly completely disassociated from the comics medium. Here's a few examples, ranging from 1951 up through 1976...



Although I'm certainly no purveyor of vintage advertising, I don't think I've seen any like this since the late 1970s. I find myself wondering both when and why the fell out of favor. Did they last into the 1980s and I just haven't seen them? What would've caused their decline -- the usual suspects like television had been around for years by that point. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on the subject?
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2 comments:

Matt K said...

I remember something which was basically a fumetti ad, for some kind of Jeep-like thing. It was a dialogue between photos of the vehicle and photos of a parrot.

I actually have one or more comics which include the ad, although I don't have any idea which, and can't even narrow down the year more than "within the past dozen years, probably, give or take."

That doesn't sound at all familiar. I'd be curious to see it if you ever happen to stumble across it again.