Retronauts Micro 87: The History of Video Game Ads Part I
Added 2018-05-11 12:12:42 +0000 UTCWhether you like it or not, advertising is everywhere, and it's always been everywhere—which is why the jingle for some now-nonexistent product has likely obliterated some important memory in your brain. And video games, being a product that's sold for money, have never been a stranger to advertising. On this first part of a two-part series, join Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish, Matthew Jay, and Henry Gilbert as the crew explores the earliest days of video game ads, as well as the many baffling celebrity endorsements of the time. Mr. Intellivision would approve!
Comments
Honestly, I feel like if you call your games system "Odyssey" you have to have at least one ad spot that uses music inspired by Wendy Carlos (yes I know she did the music to Kubrick's Clockwork Orange, not 2001)
Aaron
2018-05-18 05:23:14 +0000 UTCWell, now I can't tell if "Plimpton's Pimple Cream" from Pepper Ann is a reference to George Plimpton's apparent omnipresent ad persona or if it's a reference to the work of one Robert Downey, Sr.
Aaron
2018-05-18 05:21:01 +0000 UTCYou're both right! Odyssey did have insertable "carts" that really just are different circuits that adjust how the system moves its little dots around. Odyssey2 has programmable cartridges in the usual sense.
Kevin Bunch
2018-05-15 11:53:02 +0000 UTCThis was the most I've thought about George Plimpton in years, thank you.
Diamond Feit
2018-05-13 21:08:51 +0000 UTCI didn't even know video games had TV commercials until I was an adult. I...did not watch much TV.
Marcus Drakken
2018-05-12 22:53:19 +0000 UTCThanks, Bob. 🤑🤑🤑
Will Oliver
2018-05-11 21:56:11 +0000 UTCI think the most fascinating thing about video game ads is the pre-crash and post-crash demographic makeup that you touch upon. When video games were just an electronic pre-crash, the entire family was seen playing video games. When Nintendo marketed the NES as a toy, it was decided to stock it in the boy toys section and the ads reflected that.
Phazonmasher
2018-05-11 14:42:41 +0000 UTCSaw the episode title and thought that Frank Cifaldi would be on this one for sure.
Frank Horrigan
2018-05-11 12:42:30 +0000 UTC
