Wal-Mart’s First Print Ad in 1962
While this small launch party in the city of Rogers, Arkansas may have not been a big deal, the rise of Wal-Mart would be a prominent part of American lives …
Category: Print Ads
Marketing, Copywriting, and Direct Mail all got started with the invention of mass printing. Since then paying for placement in a physical publication has become an art, and a science. Here are some classic high converting print ads for inspiration, and sometimes just sheer beauty.
1912 mail order house plans
This ad is a little confusing, it sort of “implies” you can build a 7 bedroom house for $759 to get your attention. This ad is actually for a “plan …
Call to action based pizza ad:
This 1979 ad for Jeno’s Pizza Rolls has a strong call to action to write in (a physical letter) to Jeno, and he’ll send you back a recipe booklet. What’s …
1951 “Instructional” Orange Juice Ad
This ad cleverly shows you how to use the product…and to use A LOT of it!
Not sure if this is considered healthy or not anymore, but the ad is …
McDonald’s 1984 swag game was hard!
To be honest I would totally buy a Big Mac just to get this hat!!!…
No need for copy, just image
This Espirit ad from the 1980’s kind of looks like it was made today…give any fashion trend 30 or 40 years and it comes back in style!…
1975 “Recession Copy” for Wrangler Jeans Ad
This ad for Wrangler Jeans promotes the idea of getting your money’s worth with their jeans…this copy was written in 1975 during a recession when 2.3 million American jobs were …
Fun 1950’s Life Savers Ad
This is a “brand awareness campaign” from Life Savers in the 1950’s. I love the colors and imagery on this one!…
Swanson “3 Course” TV dinner
Ok…maybe in 1970’s this looked appetizing, so this image would’ve been very grabbing. However my favorite thing about this is the headline: “Everything from soup to dessert.” I thought that …
1972 print ad with good image but bad everything else
I was struck by the imagery of this ad, and it got me curious to keep reading. It goes on to some poetic copy, but it took me reading alllllll …
Beautiful Nippon Beer Ad from 1912
This ad is more a “brand awareness” play, and has beautiful artwork!…
“The Quiet Toy” Crayola Ad
Know who your actual customer is.
For example: If someone is buying Crayons…it’s the PARENT not the child spending the money.
This 1979 Crayola ad appeals specifically to parents who …
Clever Barilla Pasta “Fireworks” Ad
Love the clever use of pasta in the shape of a fireworks for this “Happy New Year” ad from Barilla!…
1986 Honda Helix Ad – YUCK!
This is clearly the ugliest scooter ever made….and Honda used it’s striking appearance as the main attention grabber on this print ad.…
1977 Old Faithful and New Faithful Volkswagen Ad
This “Before and After” style print ad spread in a magazine showed you the past and present of reliable cars from Volkswagen.…
Using a cast iron skillet rules chart
This helpful magazine guide is so good you can almost cut it out of the magazine and frame it!
It almost reminds me of this Guinness Oyster Guide that was …
Great headline for Atari ad
“Don’t watch TV tonight. Play it!” This was a great headline in 1978 when “Playing the TV” was a totally new and novel concept!…
Awesome “Yuppie Handbook” book cover from 1984
I love this great callout-image using a picture and text and arrows!…
Great 1956 Headline for Crest Toothpaste
I thought this headline was great:
WORLD’S GREATEST WEAPON AGAINST TOOTH DECAY…
