Ben Anton

The 1950s were arguably the golden age of television and many people of a certain age look back fondly at some of the shows of the time – “The Lone Ranger”, “I Love Lucy” and “Gunsmoke”. These shows were in black and white and were watched on a set that got its signal from a huge antenna on the roof, but they were loved just the same.

Almost as compelling as the TV shows themselves, were some of the commercials of the time. TV was still a novelty during the 1950s and companies were anxious to cash in on the new craze. Particularly popular were commercials for cigarettes, cars and state of the art kitchen appliances. And the average length of TV advertisements was around a minute – compared to the 30 seconds or less today.

Beer was also one of the products widely advertised on TV during the 1950s. At first, it was only late at night and never on a Sunday, so as not to offend anyone. During the early part of the decade, Blatz Beer became one of the beer industry’s biggest advertisers, partly due to the company’s sponsorship of the popular “Amos ‘n’ Andy” show.

One of the most instantly recognizable characters in television advertising at the time was Mabel. Mabel was a chirpy blond waitress who appeared on screen with a tray of Carling Black Label beer. Almost every Carling commercial featured the phrase that became famous – “Hey, Mabel, Black Label!”

Cigarette advertisements were commonplace during the 1950s – a big change from television today. Some of the biggest tobacco manufacturers of the time spent a lot of money trying to convince us that smoking was sophisticated and fun, including Lucky Strike, Tareyton and Winston.

One famous Lucky Strike ad featured a clever combination of cartoon and live action, featuring the singer Gisele McKenzie. Tareytown had an ad that featured what appeared to be two children dancing around a giant pack of cigarettes. And who can possibly forget the Fontane Sisters singing the praises of Chesterfield cigarettes?

Car manufacturers went to great lengths to advertise the latest models on television during the 1950s despite the loss of aesthetic effect on a black and white screen. The Ford Edsel was advertised at great length as the most beautiful convertible in the world, complete with such wonderful and innovative features as “teletouch” driving and air suspension.

It wasn’t all just cars, beer and tobacco. Some healthier products were advertised as well. One of the most well known ads of the era was for Pepsodent toothpaste. The TV ad featured a cute cartoon couple kissing after having brushed their teeth, and the catchy and unforgettable slogan – “You’ll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!”

TV advertisements for kitchen appliances pointed out features that we now take for granted. A General Electric ad from the time for a new refrigerator consisted of a proud couple explaining the features of their sleek new fridge which included shelves that slid out, storage space behind the door and a separate freezer compartment.

And some things don’t seem to have changed much over the years. Tupperware ran a series of TV ads during the 1950s which featured an exciting Tupperware evening at a typical suburban home, organized by a “hostess”. Almost as much emphasis was placed on the social aspect, as on the actual features of the product.

One of the most prolific TV advertisers during the 1950s and subsequent decades was Pepsi. Their advertisements captured the feeling of the times like few others. One of the company’s earliest featured the actress and singer Polly Bergen enjoying a barn dance and a refreshing glass of Pepsi-Cola.

Not to be outdone, Coca-Cola was just as prolific with their ads and came up with several memorable slogans, such as “There’s nothing like a Coke”. Coca-Cola also went after the young crowd, with an ad featuring people at diners and drive-in movie theaters and a jingle that claimed “Zing! What a feeling!”

Many television viewers firmly maintain that the advertisements are just as good as the actual shows themselves! It seems as though that was especially true back in the 1950s. And if you just can’t get enough of those old commercials, you can enjoy some of them on DVD or online.

Article Source: Classic TV Commercials – Diverse and Daring Advertising

Ron Coleman

I wonder how many people reading this article are old enough to remember S & H Green stamps? These trading stamps made a small fortune for Sperry & Hutchinson back in the fifties and early sixties. Consumers felt they deserved to get the stamps with everything they purchased from gasoline to groceries and merchants felt they had to offer them or lose out to competitors. Then one day, everybody woke up and realized this was a middle man raking off money on every transaction and that it was costly to both business and consumers. Thus S & H Green stamps became obsolete.

Today we have a similar situation with credit cards. I recall in the fifties when you could go into a retail store and buy a television set and the merchant himself would carry the credit, at reasonable terms. Now most retailers accept credit cards on purchases, even if you are making small purchases. Like S&H Green stamps, this is costly to consumers and businesses alike.

A merchant will typically pay from one to two percent of every transaction to the credit card companies. The credit card company gets it from both sides because they also charge the consumer interest rates of upwards of 30 percent. In addition they make excessively high fees for over the limit fees, late fees and whatever else they can add in.

Have you ever wondered why it is so easy to get a credit card? Why is it that credit card companies don’t worry about whether or not you can pay? Here’s the answer. If you default on your payment, the merchant still has to pay. The credit card companies can’t lose but the merchant can.

Credit card companies have done a real sales job on convincing consumers that they can’t live without credit cards and in convincing retailers that they must accept credit cards to remain competitive. The U.S. financial crisis, which was largely caused by credit card companies, might be just what we need to wake us up to the fallacy in these ideas.

Suppose merchants went back to the old method of granting credit themselves, and suppose more consumers went back to the old way of simply paying for merchandise with cash and only buying what they can afford to pay? It might solve a lot of problems.

One last thing retailers should ask themselves is what do they get for the one or two percent they are charged? Security? Not likely since they still have to pay if the consumer defaults. In the old days businesses included a percentage in their pricing to account for the possibility of bad debts. You can bet the credit card companies also keep this in mind when they issue credit and they simply pass that cost on, either to the merchant, or the consumer, or both. Aside from the one or two percent the merchant loses when he allows credit card companies to handle his credit transactions, the merchant also loses the interest he could be charging the consumer directly. If, for example, a merchant were to charge simple interest of ten percent per year on a major purchase, he would receive more money than he could receive by putting that money into a certificate of deposit and the consumer would pay far less interest than he would be paying to a credit card company.

Consumers also have been led to believe they can’t do business without credit cards. In spite of what you are told, there are car rental companies that will accept a cash deposit instead of a credit card There are companies who will sell you merchandise online without a credit card One option is a debit card, although there are similar issues with debit cards as there are with credit cards. Some banks offer electronic checks and a few online merchants (too few) offer the option of billing you and allowing you to pay by check. The fact is, if enough consumers demand other answers, online merchants, car rental companies and other businesses will find other ways to allow you to pay. You don’t have to have a credit card.

If credit card companies were cut entirely out of the picture, it could be a win-win situation for merchants and consumers alike.

Ron Coleman is a cartoonist, illustrator and humorous writer. His work can be viewed on his website: http://www.colemantoons.com

Article Source: Do We Really Need Credit Cards?