# Most Shameless Kids Advertising? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390 "2022-04-25T01:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/41 "2022-05-01T20:50:55Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > They would also get around it by airing ads for the GI Joe comics during the GI Joe cartoons and the comics would obviously have ads for the toys. I collected Marvel’s _G.I. Joe_ comics for the longest time, and I don’t recall seeing ads for the toys in them. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/42 "2022-05-01T20:57:18Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I collected Marvel’s _G.I. Joe_ comics for the longest time, and I don’t recall seeing ads for the toys in them. I didn’t either. And I much preferred the comic book to the cartoon and I still haven’t gotten over the death of Kwinn the Eskimo. 😭 RIP, Kwin, you were an occasional antagonist but you were a good guy. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/43 "2022-05-01T21:00:01Z")
You can thank Larry Hama for those magnificent story lines that went far beyond the cartoons and commercials. He pretty much created much of the “G.I. Jpe” universe. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/44 "2022-05-01T21:02:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I collected Marvel’s _G.I. Joe_ comics for the longest time, and I don’t recall seeing ads for the toys in them. Sorry yeah, I meant the comics themselves would be the ads same as the show. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/45 "2022-05-01T21:03:31Z")
Joe Camel > **[Joe Camel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Camel)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Joe Camel (also called Old Joe) was an advertising mascot used by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) for their cigarette brand Camel. The character was created in 1974 for a French advertising campaign, and was redesigned for the American market in 1988. He appeared in magazine advertisements, clothing, and billboards among other print media and merchandise. > In 1991, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published researc... ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/46 "2022-05-01T21:28:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You can thank Larry Hama for those magnificent story lines that went far beyond the cartoons and commercials. He pretty much created much of the “G.I. Jpe” universe. He did. In the episode covering GI Joe of the documentary series _The Toys That Made US,_ Hama refers to the cartoon as “morally bankrupt” in large because there were no consequences to violence. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/47 "2022-05-01T22:18:08Z")
I occasionally read comics as a kid. Not often. They were never a big part of my life. So, when did those ads for “X-ray specs!” and “Throw Your Voice!” and Charles Atlas chicanery go away? Did anything replace them? Were the manufacturers asked to stop these ads, which I presume were misleading? (Though sorely tempted, I figured they were BS and spent my meagre allowance elsewhere…) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/48 "2022-05-01T23:26:04Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > So, when did those ads for “X-ray specs!” and “Throw Your Voice!” and Charles Atlas chicanery go away? Did anything replace them? Were the manufacturers asked to stop these ads, which I presume were misleading? > [@Old Magazine Ad: Spider Monkeys Through The Mail](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-magazine-ad-spider-monkeys-through-the-mail/190855/89): > > I got some antique magazines at an estate sale, and last night, looked through a few of them. One of them was a farming magazine from the 1920s, and its classified ads included one for FREE SHETLAND PONY! Just send a letter, and we’ll send you your very own horse! Most likely, they were pictures, if they sent anything at all. We have a whole thread about those. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/49 "2022-05-01T23:33:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I do have a question- why the _toast_ as _part_ of this complete breakfast"? I mean the cereal gives you starches/carbs, etc. I can’t tell for sure from the pic, but my only guess is the bread is whole grain??? ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/50 "2022-05-01T23:37:15Z")
If you can find a copy, “Mail-Order Mysteries: Real Stuff from Old Comic Book Ads” is very interesting, it shows the ads next to what was sent if you ordered. They played extremely loose with the facts, but technically gave you what was advertised. That “real seven foot tall glow in the dark Frankenstein’s monster” was a poster with tiny glow in dark stickers to put on the eyes, for example. Disappointing for the kid who ordered it, but they probably got about what he paid for. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/51 "2022-05-02T05:46:29Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > We have a whole thread about those. An early _Mad_ magazine parody of those ads: “LIVE CROCODILE! SURPRISE YOUR FRIENDS! AND ENEMIES!” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/52 "2022-05-02T09:35:37Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Most of the cartoons my generation grew up with during the 1980s including GI Joe, Thundercats, Transformers, My Little Pony, MASK, Rainbow Brite, and Jem and the Holograms were all truly, truly outrageous efforts to advertise to children in the guise of entertainment. Back then, yes, but nowadays the shows aren’t so bad if you watch them in the absence of any commercials. This is easy enough to do if you get them on DVD or from a streaming service. I know kids who are happily watching various incarnations of _He-Man_ these days but, since they don’t watch cable or broadcast TV, are blissfully unaware that there was (and still is) an entire toy line built around the series. The real egregious examples are kids’ shows that have the advertising baked into the show. I think _Mac and Me_ was probably the worst example. I remember it being little more than a 90-minute advertisement for Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, complete with an appearance by Ronald McDonald himself. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/53 "2022-05-02T11:52:32Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > The real egregious examples are kids’ shows that have the advertising baked into the show. I think _Mac and Me_ was probably the worst example. I remember it being little more than a 90-minute advertisement for Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, complete with an appearance by Ronald McDonald himself. Shows like GI Joe, He-Man, and the Transformers were explicitly created to sell toys. i.e. They _were_ the advertisements. To an extent this still happens today, in 2013, the series _Young Justice_ (DC property) had plenty of viewers, but it was cancelled because they weren’t selling enough toys related to the show. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/54 "2022-05-02T12:10:10Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Shows like GI Joe, He-Man, and the Transformers were explicitly created to sell toys. I know that. What I was saying was that the physical toys themselves aren’t part of the show; they were commercials that ran separately. If you watch the shows without the original commercials, then it’s not so obvious that the cartoon was produced to sell toys. Some of the shows even have redeeming artistic qualities that make them worth watching. For instance, while the original _He-Man_ is notorious for its shameless reuse of stock footage, its background artwork and the especially its underscore are actually fantastic: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/JwF77OZ1zsQ/maxresdefault.jpg "He-Man - MUSIC from ETERNIA - The BIG Compilation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwF77OZ1zsQ) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/55 "2022-05-02T12:33:53Z")
[Krusty the Clown for Mount Splashmore.](https://youtu.be/bi2TkDTXQMs?t=61) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/56 "2022-05-02T15:26:25Z")
> [@JohnnyEcks](#): > > Disappointing for the kid who ordered it, but they probably got about what he paid for. There was a comic strip that resonated with me… Gahan Wilson ran a strip called “NUTS” (in, IIRC, early National Lampoons). One dealt with a little kid’s excitement as he sent away for a “Real U-Boat: The Wolf!” Weeks later, a box arrives… “Gee, it seems a lot littler than I expected…” and as he’s giving up trying to glue tiny pieces together, a full size U-Boat glides past him: “So long, kid!” “So long, Wolf U-Boat.” (I had a huge disappointment the other day. So that’s what I said…) [![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JGUBAHoa-rs/XgSEZH_cF0I/AAAAAAAB7hk/jTF8mg-ao_40zuCuLLtcbw6Zm5gRZDeMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1979Wilson_N.jpg) ](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JGUBAHoa-rs/XgSEZH_cF0I/AAAAAAAB7hk/jTF8mg-ao_40zuCuLLtcbw6Zm5gRZDeMgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1979Wilson_N.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/57 "2022-05-02T15:30:26Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’m sure the writers of that ad knew full well that very young children would think that the shoes would make them fly. I’m reminded of the _Calvin and Hobbes_ propeller-beanie storyline. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/58 "2022-05-05T22:53:02Z")
> [@JohnnyEcks](#): > > That “real seven foot tall glow in the dark Frankenstein’s monster” was a poster with tiny glow in dark stickers to put on the eyes, for example. Mine was a T-Rex that turned out to be a two-foot high balloon the shape of a bowling pin with cardboard feet that you could stick the tied-off part through so it would stand upright. It did have a dinosaur printed on it, though. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/59 "2022-05-06T03:20:21Z")
Thanks! I just ordered a copy from an eBay seller. Sometimes the thing advertised is actually pretty good. From the back of a Cheerios box I sent away for a “real flying model” of the then-new 747 jet. It was a two or three piece plastic model, about 10 inches long, nicely molded and easy to put together. It came with a long string (about 15 feet long) which you attached to the 747 and spun it in a circle. It actually flew! It was really an advertisement for PanAm and Boeing, but it was kinda neat. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390/60 "2022-05-06T15:12:50Z")
> [@JohnnyEcks](#): > > That “real seven foot tall glow in the dark Frankenstein’s monster” was a poster with tiny glow in dark stickers to put on the eyes, for example. Disappointing for the kid who ordered it, but they probably got about what he paid for. Yep, I had one of those; I’m pretty sure the ad I read for it described it as a “statue” 😆, which I thought might be a cardboard stand-up. Nah! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shameless-kids-advertising/963390.md?page=4)