Can you imagine the Kirby Crackle in your mouth? It’s the sound of the war agaisnt the Tooth Invader!

by Shawn Robare | Aug 12, 2010 | Branded in the 80s, Read

So in 1983 the various companies making toothpaste decided to bring their product competition to comic book pages in the form of some dramatic stories aimed at kids.  Brushing your teeth was no longer a chore, it was WAR, and Crest and Aim were enlisting...

Why didn’t they just name the leader Fluoride?

by Shawn Robare | Aug 10, 2010 | Branded in the 80s, Read

I recently picked up a big run of Muppet Magazine and while flipping through the issues I was astounded by the number of awesome advertisements.  I figured I’d share some of them here and there, and this week I thought it would be fun to take a look at some...

Wax Paper Pop Art #16: Bubble gum? These should have come with Reese’s Pieces…

by Shawn Robare | Aug 6, 2010 | Branded in the 80s, Read

To cap off the E.T. theme this week, here’s a better look at the wax wrapper from that Buster Browns shoe ad I shared on Tuesday. E.T Topps bubblegum cards, circa 1982.

E.T. went home alright, and maybe he should have stayed there…

by Shawn Robare | Aug 5, 2010 | Branded in the 80s, Read

I think I’ve written about this before, but there’s aspect to American pop culture that I find endlessly fascinating; this deep need for sustainable continuity.   Though we’re fanatics for origin stories, once an idea is set into motion we very...

Wow, there was even an E.T. Coors beer endorsement…

by Shawn Robare | Aug 3, 2010 | Branded in the 80s, Read

T.L. over at Flashlights are Something to Eat has been posting a bunch of vintage E.T. goodness that I’ve had a lot of fun reading, so I thought I’d take a second and riff off that today.  Watching E.T. in the theater was one of those seminal...