Weird Vintage Ads That Definitely Did Not Age Well But Are Kind Of Hilarious

by Ayoub

Advertising techniques are constantly evolving and getting more competitive. The more people are exposed to advertising, the less effective it becomes, which forces a continuous evolution of marketing methods.

Back in the day, ads used to be much simpler. They were straight to the point and didn't use any special methods to compel people to buy the products.

Showing a certain product, and providing details about it was certainly enough to convince people to buy it. The competition was almost nonexistent, and just advertising a product was enough to make it seem attractive.

Some ads from the past definitely did not age that well. The products advertised in these ads don't even exist anymore or wouldn't be that useful in this time and age.

It's still interesting to see ads from a past era and compare them to the ones we have today. It was certainly a unique style, and the contents don't disappoint either.

The strange ones are the most interesting of them all, and every little detail makes you feel even weirder about the whole thing. It's certainly a unique experience to go through.

The photos below contain some vintage ads that Reddit users shared on the r/vintageads community. Scroll down and check them out!

1. “Superman against racism/discrimination ad circa 1950”

2. “LEGO (1981)”

3. “Bacardi rum AD, 1983”

4. “Homosexuals are different, Mattachine Society of New York, 1960”

5. “They All Got Vaccine Except Dad - Workbench magazine - 1958”

6. “An unusually progressive seagrams ad, circa 1970s.”

7. “Philips (Netherlands, 1951)”

8. “Best Buy, 1999”

9. “American, 1885”

10. “1978 Star Wars vaccination ad.”

11. “Electricity was new once. These signs were mostly in hotel rooms and other public places.”

12. “Jester Wools (1947, UK)”

13. “1934 ad by the ‘Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’”

14. “Beauty is More Then Skin Deep, Cordless Massager, Anthony Enterprises, 1971”

15. “Volkswagen Beetle, 1965”

16. “"The closest some of us will ever get to Heaven" -- World Trade Center (1980)”

17. “1979 ad for London transit showing how the city would look if built by American planners.”

18. “Drunk driving ad, London... I'm going to say 1930's? Sorry for the light reflection!”

19. “How to carry 20 megabytes of data around in 1985”

20. “"The Day My Kid Went Punk... What do you do when your bright, loveable, talented kid turns into a punker overnight?" - ABC Afterschool Special, Oct. 23, 1987”

21. “Drummond Sweaters - 1967”

22. “One Oregon newspaper clip reads: “We appeal to your civil patriotism to co-operate with us in our effort to stamp out the Spanish Influenza or “Flu” Plague in Portland by wearing a mask.””

23. “1/2 Page Converse Ad Scanned in from a 1984 Playboy Magazine, I just read it for the ads.”

It's always interesting to see ads from the past, especially when they are about things that no longer exist nowadays. The marketing methods are certainly different from what we have today, but certain aspects are still exactly the same.