In Ads, What’s Old is New Again

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Speedy Makes a ComebackThe New York Times is reporting today that Alka-Seltzer is bringing back good ole Speedy, which our older blog readers might remember from ads from 1951 to 1980.

Not a bad idea, I think. Can anyone recall an Alka-Seltzer ad since “Plop, plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is,” came out of our 19″ console TVs with wood paneling and knobs? Not me. Even Pepto-Bismol ads, as rough as those are, are at least memorable.

The NY Times has posted two cute videos of a couple Speedy spots. (Link 1. Link 2.) Alas, the NY Times is greedy and doesn’t let me embed them into this post. But listen to Speedy in these spots. How can you not like that little guy?

So is this a trend, should everyone return to their ads from the days of yore? That depends. Have times changed too much for your product to go backwards? This ad suggests that it certainly has for some folks. Now, it’s more like, “Blow in her face and she’ll kick your butt…”

Old Smoking Ad from the 30s


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