Thanksgiving: Day 17

From his expression, I'd double check that is a Turkey leg he's gnawing on and not some missing homeless guy.

Voyeur enabling comic book ad

While not being privy to the creation of the ad copy for this mini-camera from a 1958 girl's romance comic book it is hard to believe that the following sales point for the camera was meant for anyone other than emerging pervs or creepy adults. It is possible that it was totally innocent but the sleaze-factor, combined with the explosion of "camera clubs" during that time period leads me to doubt that the camera was meant just for laughs.

In case you can't read the copy it proudly states one of the positive features of the small, easily-concealed camera is:"Your girlfriend and other bathing-beauties will all relax in their natural pose and make a swell pin-up collection. Through a paper is just one of many ways to go about it."

You can view the entire ad (among others) from Brides in Love #9 (Sept 1958) via this post here.

And the winner for Creepiest or Most Disturbing Art on a Comic Book Cover Ever goes to...

"YOUNG LOVE #74 from way back in June 1969!"

(clap clap clap clap clap)

"With us today is artist Nick Cardy, who drew what is overwhelmingly the most awkward cover scene ever to grace a comic book! It's a real work of art, folks! The nubile, emotionally distraught daughter with her breasts in her Father's lap, the pensive, thousand-yard stare of the father into the distance, legs crossed, arms frozen as if he was too embarrassed to move for fear of the discovery of a terrible, embarrassing secret. A true classic and I'm squirming just looking at it. How ever did you do it, Nick?"

"It wasn't easy. Presenting raw sexual imagery as something innocent and pure is a heck of a balancing act. Like most of my fellow artists in the biz we had a lot of experience sneaking questionable content past the CCA censors but the editor kept rejecting the preliminary sketches I sent him. He'd say: 'Too innocent! Not sexy enough! Too sexy, want to get me fired? Not enough innuendo! Too MUCH innuendo!' The cost of mailing all the artwork was nearly my ruin. We didn't have the internet back then. Human messengers actually risked life and limb running through busy New York streets to deliver the artwork on time! Some died, even, I'm told."

"But it was totally worth it! You had some stiff competition considering you were up against every comic published in the 1990s. All that hard work really paid off!"

"Yeah, I finally nailed the cover but I had to think about baseball a lot."

"Nick Cardy, folks!"

(clap clap clap clap clap)

Thank you for your interest in our company

Thank you for your interest in our company and for submitting your resume for our review. Should our hiring managers have an interest in your skills and capabilities, they will contact you directly. In addition, we will keep your resume on file for 90 days.

Furthermore, please stop the daily practice of hand-delivering your art featuring creepy decapitated gnome heads floating on a rainbow in a forest glen that is in the process of being clear-cut by weird otter-beaver hybrids. The sea gull picture is actually very nice and reveals some creative talent but ethics rules prohibit the hiring of persons who give us gifts.

Just FYI, the content of the notes you are leaving with the pictures are making people nervous. Also, please stop addressing the notes to the "Queen Princess Hiring Manager" as she is already insufferable and all the attention is going straight to her head.

On a personal note may I suggest not drinking large amounts of beer immediately prior to a meeting? While I appreciate your assertion that you can "quit drinking anytime" it does not bode well for your job prospects that you drunkenly staggered around and slurred non sequiturs during your visit. As for your stated qualifications I would again remind you that begging for spare change in a parking lot is not actually "cashier experience".

While we encourage people to follow up on their interviews showing up unannounced may necessarily require you to wait until those people with appointments are seen first. Shouting at both the Store and Hiring Managers demanding to know why you were not yet hired with our company is not what I call good networking.

We appreciate your consideration as a potential employer.

Sincerely,

Human Resources

I've been watching you too, baby

Mutual stalking. That's not romantic, that's creepy on so many levels I lost count.

Time For Love #27 (April 1972).

Comic Book Ad: Love's Baby Soft

If you are old enough to remember the print and television advertising campaigns for Love's Baby Soft product line then you may recall that they all shared one element in common: An Ick-Factor.

The campaign for Love's was the most overt attempts I can recall to portray young girls as objects of desire and went far past the usual innocence of the Coppertone Baby in imagery. The intent of the advertising may have been to "help" or "guide" young ladies into blossoming into a proper adult woman consumer, but the spots always came off as kind of creepy and all the packaging of the product was ridiculously phallic. I remember one television spot in particular that showed a couple of tweener kids hesitantly meeting at a party and the tag line "Love begins with Love's Baby Soft." The following commercial was for Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. Apparently the studio techs editing the placement of the commercials had an odd sense of humor.

This magazine ad from 1978, with the young model's breasts presented with a ribbon (blue, even, as if marking her as the property of a boy) like she is a gift to be unwrapped and some of the others are tame in comparison to what is regularly presented in media today. Yet for the most part current advertising for this age group, as extreme as it is on the internet and cable, does not usually present the model as innocent jail-bait up for grabs by a lecherous Uncle.

Today advertisers are wise enough to kind of shy away from the Pretty Baby imagery and when they don't, they receive some pretty fast and furious negative feedback from public and watchdog groups. Having to avoid this form of advertising must make advertisers chafe as there are entire industries devoted to the sexcapades of young starlets and celebrities. Even though the Pandora's Box has been flung wide open decades ago (so to speak) it is one thing to describe in detail a young celebrity's acts at a house party and very much another to try to sell the personal intimacy products she used during the evening to the average 16 year old.

From Marvel Comics Pizzazz #8 (May 1978).