I went through a phase where I was really into collecting old cereal boxes and learning about the history of the cereal industry. I still find the cereal biz really interesting (check out the book Cerealizing America by Scott Bruce and Bill Crawford), but I gave up on collecting cereal boxes. I have an old Pink Panther Flakes box, and I got a Quisp box and a Quake box and a few others, but it's something I just stopped pursuing for some reason.

This site collects some great cereal boxes and other advertising geared towards kids (cereal, candy, ice cream, etc). Corn Crackos cereal: so it's corn, but it has cinnamon too? And what kind of a mascot is that? A bird? A red testicle with feet? And there are so many jokes to make about Fudgetown that...well, I won't make them here. Nestle's Keen Chiller is an interesting product, and I'm wondering what it means by "presweetened without sugar." Was that with saccharin or Sweet and Low or something? Anyone know what the heck Astro Jets Shoes were?

Oh, that's Fleegle from The Banana Splits on the box of Honey Smacks? It looks like some robotic killer dog clown, but I haven't seen the show in years so...

• At least one person doesn't find Nissan's new ad campaign - featuring a young man living in his Sentra - humorous. [dM.nyc]
• Yay, drinking at lunch is back! Who knew we needed permission! [eyedropper.co.uk]
• Some will disagree, but I believe that this person has found the last bastion of advertising messiness. [QuiverandQuill]
• Markettara has found an awesome set of ads for Denver Water. Very effective, IMHO. [Bus, Taxi, Billboard, Bench]
• Umm, making the product a hero? [reb_on]
• Match.com even using the right colors to make this believable. [Mulad]

• Life imitates advertising, for some. [DeVal1]
• Because walking your rabbit was just so much less entertaining before. [Toni Pamuk]
• Those croissants move really really far before you get them at Pret, btw. [greenteam_ads]
• Now you know where the tomato parts that make up the ketchup come from [Marketing Post]
• Awesome commentary by Pedigree on Pluto's excommunication from the world of full planets. [LiveU4]

I give the people at Mobile Appearance Reconditioning Services (MARS) credit for trying a different approach to the whole "stick flyers under windshield wipers" idea, but I still don't think it's such a great concept. Rather than just place some generic slip of paper on people's windshields, they actually found cars with minor damages and left an estimate for those people. That's nice and all, but I think people are so conditioned to just tearing those slips of paper off their car and throwing them away it doesn't really matter what you print on them, or how "different" you try to make them. Flickr user Greg Vision has an image here. 

[via MIT Ad Lab]

Okay, I have to admit I don't quite understand the reasoning behind these billboards. First of all, unless you're an avid Cartoon Network watcher and lover of such shows as The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, you won't know that's where the lines came from. There's nothing on the billboards that indicated where the phrases came from, either. So, basically, the billboards only appeal to people who are already into the network they're supposed to be promoting. Is there some bigger meaning behind all of this that I'm just not seeing? I'm not saying the ads aren't funny, and they're probably even funnier for those who don't know the context, but still, what is the point? Apparently, there's a big programming announcement on the way, hence these teaser billboards. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[via Billboardom and ad rag]

• Talk about making a point about what your organization is all about. [Live U4]
• This ad for Molson Export is pretty comical, considering what Montreal is known for... Well, that's what I've heard. [siansleep]
• Well, at least this person is taking a stand, and putting his name on it. [cassandracox]
• Emma and Lorenzo are quite critical of an attempt to make a fake movie poster tell a story in the time it has with the viewer. [Emma and Lorenzo Wood]
• Contextual advertising gone wrong. Again. [dan mogford]
• You know you want to be "De Topmanager" [joshc]
• HSBC takes its global nature and tries to do the "local, yet global" thing. It probably works. [Magitisa]

The 1950s was an era where "cartoony" print ads were everywhere, and looking back on that time it's easy to think of all the different drawing styles featured in those ads as having coalesced into one distinct "50s style." Even glancing at the thumbnails of this Flickr set once can tell the ads are from the 50s, but take a closer look and see how different many of them actually are. Now that the ads are vintage and many of the products no longer exist anymore, they can be looked upon as small works of art rather than advertisements. It makes me wonder if any of today's print advertising has that kind of longevity, the ability to survive past its role as a means of touting a product and live on as something purely aesthetic. I'm too young to have seen these kind of ads originally, but looking through them reminded me of growing up and seeing such ads in my dad's old comic books, so I guess I'm allowed a little bit of nostalgia.

[via Boing Boing]

• You know when you're goofing off at work but can probably get away with it? This is one of those times. [jaboobie]
• Isn't calling something "gourmeat" just asking for people to make fun of it? [MattBalara]
• All businesses should just go to putting giant whatevers on roofs to show what they offer inside. Really. [NekoMama7]
• This is what is called contextual advertising in the real world. Sort of. [robertrazrblog]
• Yep, those are pages. And that's a beer. [vdz]
• Look, I have photo of one of my own ads, says this lawyer. Very meta! [derossitt]

• Okay, so that toilet paper advertising sounded like a good idea before, right? Hmm, maybe not. [billturner]
• It's an oldie but a goodie. A fun way of advertising a movie on the side of a phone booth. [Paul Holloway]
• See, yet again, sex does sell. [eighteenthdayofmay]
• Howabout a little irony from the person selling stuff on the streetcorner? [acb]
• Some fun from Australia, celebrating themselves. [caelyx: 1 | 2 | 3 ]
• Wow. This is pretty embarrassing, after hearing about that AT&T ad re: blogging. Click the link below the photo to get the whole story. [spcoon]

• Mmm, Christmas Pizza! [lgarcia]
• A new spin on the "hanging vehicle" ad concept. [pstorch]
• This is when you know that our culture has gotten WAY too lawsuit-happy. [everdred]
• Contextual advertising is fun! [themblog]
• Contextual advertising, while not trying? [oneighturbo]
• If you liked foie gras before, you might like it more now - if you're into that sorta thing. [PeterForret]
• Sex doesn't sell anything, right? Especially music. [sanchome]
• Chick-fil-A gets with the holiday spirit. [brokengoose]

You know that anti-war chant "No blood for oil?" Apparently the New York Blood Center must like that idea, because they'll give you a five dollar ExxonMobil gift card if you donate blood between December 22 and January 9. Obviously there's nothing politcal about the promotion, it's just a nice idea with some unintended subtle humor. I don't have a car, so I wonder if anyone is doing a "Blood for Bus Passes" promotion? That'd be swell. Also, I still want my sugar cookie.

Upon consideration, maybe they should also print up T-shirts that read, "Giving blood gives you gas."

[via Boing Boing]

Ah, the Atari 2600. It brings back some fond memories for me. The first time playing Space Invaders at home, the feeling of having such a sophisticated gaming system of my own, getting seriously drunk with a friend and playing Yar's Revenge until 1am. Now you can flashback yourself with this Flickr gallery of videogame ads from 1982.

The Astrocade system? I don't even remember that.

• When male enhancement drug spammers are biting off iPod advertising, that's a pretty sure sign that the advertisements were successful, right? [gmccarroll]
• Well, at least one person hadn't seen that Shell commercial with the fish stopping by the "shell" to get cleaned up. [ElectraSteph]
• See, the terrorists haven't won. We still have control over the giant Red Bull shooting Mini.[argusmaniac]
• But BASF doesn't make it, it makes the advertising better, don'tcha know? [Ti.mo]
  
• An anti-smoking ad that you can all make your own judgements on. [Mizrobot]
• I'm not sure if this makes sense as experiential marketing, but it's a nice try. [Basel]
• I agree with some of the commenters here - it's a great ad, but only if you really read the type to see what it's for. Otherwise, it just looks like three.. unrelated ..objects [Mark Hurst]
• I'm not sure if the translation is perfect, but it seems right to me. Who thought this was a good way to sell cigarettes? [evilshell]
  

• Which came first here, the spots for advertising to go, or the building? [paytonc]
• Bus branding is kind of tame, sometimes. This, I've gotta say, is certainly not tame [nevnet]
• It appears that the Burger King is a kooky looking in person as on television. [yanec]
• Is it scary that the first thing I thought about in this photo from Advertising Week is that a cool Mortal Kombat video game starring these guys would be cool? [yanec]
• I have comments, but this is a family show, right? [Jenguin]
• The first commenter here says "Stick with Geena" about an apparent attempt to market ABC's Commander in Chief - that about sums up the puns, right? [niznoz]
  
• Don't forget about ads on bugs. [mleak]