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Mad Magazine's Old Parody Ads Were Better Than the Real Thing
Back in its glory days, better known as the 1960s and 1970s, Mad magazine was full of awesome fake ads like the ones archived in this Flickr account. Do yourself a favor and just start the slideshow while you're over there. Mad founder William M. Gaines refused to allow real ads in the magazine, which freed up his writers to make elaborate parodies that sometimes featured better composition and artwork than the originals (the "Barker 61" cigar ad being a prime example).
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Fool-Aid parody ad from Mad magazine
In 1978, over 900 people at Jim Jones' Peoples Temple in Guyana committed suicide by drinking Flavor Aid with cyanide added to it. This parody ad from a 1961 issue of Mad magazine is an uncanny harbinger of the tragedy. Note that th... Read Post
Fake ads from MAD Magazine
The Vintage Ads LJ group's challenge this week is to find great fake ads. As always, Man Writing Slash comes through with a great compilation post, this one featuring some classics from MAD Magazine. I always liked the Stalin one he... Read Post
Ed McCabe Thinks Advertising Was much More Glamorous Than What We See on "Mad Men"
Ed McCabe, founder of Scali, McCabe, Sloves, a major advertising agency of the 1960s and 1970s talks about the "Mad Men" days of advertising: ... Read Post