In 1994, Ikea ran this television commercial in major East Coast US markets. (Interestingly, the commercial's art director was Patrick O'Neill who went on to be Chief Creative Officer at everyone's favorite Silicon Valley start-up disaster Theranos!)

From a 1994 article in the Los Angeles Times:

A few East Coast Ikea stores have been targeted by angry protesters who have jammed phone lines since last week. One store in Hicksville, N.Y., was briefly evacuated last week after a bomb scare. No bomb was found.

At issue is the homosexual relationship between the two men in the Ikea ad, who talk about how buying the dining room table together shows their commitment to each other. If it becomes clear to other major marketers that Ikea's business is not harmed--and perhaps even helped--by the ad, it could profoundly affect the way major advertisers speak to gays and lesbians.

Here are soccer legend Pelé, comedy actor Don Knotts, and since-disgraced baseball hit king Pete Rose pitching the Atari Video Computer System in 1978. "Don't just watch television tonight - play it!" Read the rest

Every Sith Lord has his price.

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This surreal advertisement for corn from 1964 is reportedly the USSR's first TV commercial.

Over at r/ObscureMedia, amer_amer kindly offers this translation:

If you would like to be healthy, fed for a hundred years, ask with a kind word at restaurants and cafeterias (and) recieve dinner wait, sit down, don't rush wait... (and) recieve dinner. Chef: where are you from? Corn: (unintelligible)... We were grown in azerbaijan, in a southern warm country, in the virgin lands of kasakhstan. Chef: understood. so what do you want? Corn: we want to get on the menu. Chef: i'm sorry, and i'm not kicking you out, but i'm not changing the menu. (The dishes start sliding) And the salads, and the soups, and (dishes) made from maize groats, and with sugar: porridge, pudding and cakes, and appetizers and garnish. Peace for all (i think). What a dish, absolutely spectacular! Every day will be prepared! Chef: and let me tell you something, all these dished can be made easily by any hostess (as in housewife).

(Thanks, UPSO!)

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Found in the January 1912 issue of Casket and Sunnyside magazine, "the foremost journal of the funeral profession since 1871."

As our friends at Weird Universe noted, Shave the Corpse would make a terrific band name. Read the rest

The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority has banned winemaker Premier Estates' "Taste the Bush" advertisement, created by agency Saatchi Masius. According to the government agency, the phrase is understood "to be a reference to oral sex, particularly given that it was accompanied with the image of the wine glass positioned directly in front of the woman's crotch" and that the "ad presented the woman in a degrading manner."

Of course, the value of the ad's earned media, aka free publicity, has far exceeded anything Premier Estates could have paid for.

ASA Ruling on Budge Brands Ltd t/a Premier Estates Wine (via Huffington Post)

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Yes, advertisements on websites are annoying at best, but they're also a large and important part of how websites make money so that they can keep providing you with sweet, sweet content. So what's an ethical person who desperately wants to install an ad blocker supposed to do?

Fortunately, Darius Kazemi of the creative tech cooperative Feel Train has a solution.

"The Ethical Ad Blocker is a Chrome extension that, when it detects advertising on a website, blocks the entire website," writes Kazemi. This way, the user doesn't experience ads, but they also don't leech free content. Everybody wins. Download it today!" Read the rest

James Brown hawks Nissin Miso Soup in a TV kitchen that BB pal Jim Leftwich noticed is a close reproduction of Graham Kerr's The Galloping Gourmet set from the 1970s!

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Legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich hawks Mattel Synsonic Drums, circa 1981 (via Dangerous Minds). Read the rest

While perusing the Practical Sailor website, my husband came across this advertisement selling a 27-foot sailboat for $5000 (or best offer): Read the rest

Japanese tire dealer Autoway released this commercial to scare you into remembering the importance of good traction. I think that's the point anyway. Read the rest

Thanks to our delightful sponsor ShanaLogic, sellers of handmade and independently-designed jewelry, apparel, gifts, and other curious creations. Do you dig giant squids? How about airships? If so, Maiden Voyage's "Dark and Stormy Night Squid Tee" is just for you. "This shirt depicts a storm so vast and powerful that it has plucked a giant squid from the ocean and carries high into the night sky where it clings to a zeppelin!" Shana says: 10% off your order with code: AWESOME

"Dark and Stormy Night Squid Tee" Read the rest

Excellent signage at a 76 gas station, via Telstar Logistics' Instagram. It's a few years old, but part of a brilliant larger campaign by Venables Bell & Partners. Read the rest

Early 20th century ad for a cockroach racing kit (complete with roaches) sold by the International Mutoscope Reel Company, makers of arcade machines and dime museums. "Holds the crowd… Gets the money." (via Weird Universe) Read the rest

Fifty years of weather have worn it down, but this image depicts the first advertisement visible from space, the Readymix logo. KFC tried to claim in 2006 that their one square mile Colonel Sanders portrait in Nevada was the "world's first brand visible from outer space", but the bloggers at Google Sightseeing dispelled that myth. NPR has a slideshow of "astrotisements" from the Google Sightseeing site. "What On Earth? Art And Ads That Can Be Seen From Space" Read the rest