Comic `Ads` on the Telly!

[alanultron5]

Tony Ingram of `Crikey` magazine informed me that no archive comic`Telly Ads` could be found for the `Comics Brittania`series a couple of years back!

I hope this won't always be the case and as with `Dad's Army` something might turn up one day. Personally, I recall the ads for the new `Sparky` comic in early 1965. The ad featured children blowing up and letting go the `Flying Snorter` rasping Ballooon.

I am pretty certain there was another Sparky ad when the comic underwent a major re-launch in 1967.

I can't recall any ads for I.P.C titles-but there may have been! Anyone else recall any Comic ads on Telly?

[colcool007]

I remember the 2000AD advert in 1977, but it is far different to the one that can be found on youtube as you can see here. The one I seem to remember is one with someone dressed up as Tharg, but beyond that I can't remember a single detail!

[helsbels]

I can vaguely (or mistily!) remember the ad for the first Misty comic on TV - it featured an animated Misty sitting by the pool of life being mysterious!! Can anyone else remember more about it??

[Digifiend]

I'm sure the Beano and Dandy used to advertise free gifts on the TV about 15-20 years ago. The Dandy one had Desperate Dan as an American Football player.

[Lew Stringer]

I can't recall any ads for I.P.C titles-but there may have been! Anyone else recall any Comic ads on Telly?

Yes. Practically EVERY British comic had a short tv ad when it was launched and also very often for free gift issues too. (I'm sure we've covered this here before.)

IPC decided to stop doing it just before they launched OINK! unfortunately! (1986) I think DC Thomson continued doing it for a short while afterwards though.

The reason IPC stopped was that it was very expensive to advertise on tv and although the advertised issues did well, subsequent ones would drop drastically in sales, so it was difficult to decide on a print run. Although it was viable to do this in the sixties, when sales were a quarter million each or more for comics, by the 1980s sales and circulations had fallen, so it was no longer considered worthwhile.

Lew

[Conor B]

I'm sure the Beano and Dandy used to advertise free gifts on the TV about 15-20 years ago. The Dandy one had Desperate Dan as an American Football player.

I can remember this one Must have been from around 2000, I'd say.
Also they used to advertise annuals. The last one I saw was 2005, for 2006. Oddly they used Minnie the Minx to advertise Bunty.
I seem to remember them advertising the 2004 relaunch of the Dandy as well? I'd like to see this one as I can only vaguely remember it.

[Digifiend]

The 2000 adverts must have been edited (to include the up-to-date logo), as I'm sure they're older than that! What's so odd about using Minnie to advertise Bunty Annual, considering Bunty itself was gone already, so kids wouldn't recognise the Bunty comic strip characters? The Beezer was advertised on TV by Dennis the Menace when it first launched, so it's not unheard of for characters to advertise a comic other than their own.

I don't remember ever seeing a Dandy 2004 relaunch TV ad, the only advert I know of is the one used in the last three old style Dandys and the same three weeks' Beanos.

[Steve Henderson]

I remember a Beano ad from the mid 90's I think with the old slogan 'Everyone we know, loves the Beano!'

[Digifiend]

That would be the Beano one I was thinking of, and I think the Dandy one used their slogan "Always keep a Dandy handy" as well. I wonder if any of these comic ads are on Youtube?

[stevezodiac]

I have managed to pick up a few dvds of vintage tv ads but they are all American ones. Good stuff though and some are categorised into toys, cigarettes, cars etc. Seem to remember Solo being advertised. Definitely Lady Penelope was. They always had a hand turning over the pages and the comic on tv seemed thicker, like it was a specially prepared dummy for the cameras that had pages that turned over more easily.

[stevezodiac]

Just found a couple of those vintage ads dvds, here they are. Americans have always been a lot better than us at retaining archive tv.

[alanultron5]

It is a shame that all the Thomson comic ads are `lost` at present!

[Lew Stringer]

It is a shame that all the Thomson comic ads are `lost` at present!

The BBC showed a few of them over 10 years ago during a three part series on tv ads. Unfortunately it's never been repeated, allegedly because of some copyright problem with some of the other ads.

This one for 2000AD No.1 gives a perfect example of the formula those old comic ads used though. The ones for most comics were like this, cheap, quick, and direct:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cheg-rT4LQM

Lew

[alanultron5]

I would hope one day to catch up with the `Sparky` ads! It was the 1965 ones for the new Sparky comic that got me reading it and it remaining my favourite Thomson comic!

The second Sparky telly ads! I just can't recall if these were for 1967 or 1969, the two most significant years of a major overhaul for the comic! If anyone might know which year `was` the one for these, it would be a great help!

[Lew Stringer]

The second Sparky telly ads! I just can't recall if these were for 1967 or 1969, the two most significant years of a major overhaul for the comic! If anyone might know which year `was` the one for these, it would be a great help!

I imagine both years would have had tv ads for the free gifts perhaps? I seem to recall that as free gifts were so rare in those days tv spots would be commissioned every time a comic carried a gift.

Lew