Reese's Pieces

What's the ad for?

Reese's Pieces
Year
1985

Spotted in
Action #571, DC comics
The scoop
Can someone say E.T.? This is interesting. Found on the always trustworthy Wikipedia;

"Mars, Incorporated found E.T. so ugly that the company refused to allow M&M's to be used in the film, believing the creature would frighten children. This allowed the Hershey Company the opportunity to market Reese's Pieces."

What a missed opportunity for Mars. Hershey made a killing off of this product placement.

Gumfighting Do's and Don'ts

What's the ad for?
Hubba Bubba
Year
1980

Spotted in

 The Scoop

I used to chew this stuff until my jaw was sore. And who among you hasn't fallen asleep with a juicy piece of Hubba Bubba in their mouth only to wake up with it in their hair? I know I have. Most of the time I would remove it before turning in for the night, placing it on my dresser until its return to my mouth come morning. Yes, kids are gross, but I have this practice to thank for my unusually strong immune system.

This campaign was very successful and ran for many years. There was even a Gumfighters Kit that you could get in exchange for 6 Hubba Bubba counterbands. It included a game, membership card, a Gumfighters challenge board, a club sign, a gum holster (cool!) and even a bubblemeter for measuring those bubbles. I cannot for the life of me find any photos of these cool items other than this scan of a page from a Wrigley's corporate magazine.

I always loved the dude with the gum head. Gumfighting...make bubbles not war.

Life Savers, Circle of disapointment

Found this in Blackhawk 254, from DC comics. 1983. I was never a fan of this series but somehow have a single issue sitting in my reader box, which is a box of old comics I had as a kid...no bags, no boards. The ad is in itself nothing special. What is special, or should I say annoying is the maze. Let`s say you found a copy of Amazing Spider-Man 238 featuring the first appearance of the Hobgoblin. It`s in great shape, what a score. Then while flipping through the book you come across this ad...and it`s been solved. That means written in. There goes the value of that book...Okay, so now you've all seen my geeky side, but to all the collectors out there, haven`t you run across this ad and it`s been filled in by some kid? Were you that kid?

Lets go back to Lifesavers for a moment. Do you know what the first flavor was? Pep-O-Mint. Mr Clarence Crane wanted to create a candy that would survive the summer heat...So on a hot summer day Mr Crane pronounced..."Let there be candy...with a hole in the middle. Tweet, Tweet, Twiddle, Twiddle."

Robot Watch from Bonkers candy

With the Transformers dominating the toy scene in the 1980's (along with G.I. Joe and He-Man), transforming robots were everywhere. Bonkers thought they could boost sagging sales with this promotion. I personally never had one but several grade school classmates did....they were so cool. Not to be confused with Kronoform , this was but a cheap knock-off, one of many that came up during the 1980's.

The Robot watch was most likely the only toy you could bring to school and not have it taken away. The watches from my childhoods were most likely not obtained from this ad (mail away? $3.95? Three bonkers wrappers?) but probably from vending machines in the mall or maybe a few were even one of those cool Kronoforms. Man, I wish I had one now...that would be cool. I did a search on Ebay...$50! Did you have a robot watch as a kid?

Fantastic Four chewing gum

The past six months or so I've been reading X-men staring from #94. I've been reading the issues in the form of the Essential X-men series.  The Essential series are black and white reprints of famous Marvel titles. They collect over 20 issues at an affordable price. They of course have no ads. In my opinion that's a good thing and a bad thing. These fantastic stories are timeless (at least when Dazzler or Storm as a punk) so it`s the advertisements in the issues that can tie them to their respective era. Plus they`re fun! As I`m reading issues 170 +, I've left the Essential volumes behind in favor of the single issues I have in my collection. The above ad is from Uncanny X-men 170, 1983. Fantastic Four chewing gum? It`s Bubble Blowin' Time!?? Really?

Sure, comics have been from the start a way to drive newspaper sales and used to sell products. (remember all those Superheroes hawking Twinkies?). It`s still pretty funny to me.