Ad Boy: Vintage Advertising with Character features images of roughly 500 largely-obscure, abandoned, and forgotten mascots from 20th Century ads. I'd never seen most of the characters before, or even heard of many of the companies. (It's actually a bit reassuring, in light of the state of the economy, to be reminded that the disappearance of major companies is normal.)
The mascots range from the racist:
So-Hi, for Rice Krispies
Oscar Mayer Bandit
to the adorable, yet insensitive:
Minnegasco Minnie
to the bizarre:
Pli-Moor is "the rope that relaxes"? Is that a suicide reference?
to the familiar, yet orgasmic:
Tony the Tiger is enjoying those flakes a little too much.
It's a great book, and my only criticism is that I wish it was five times the size, with little blurbs by the creator of each mascot (or at least someone involved with the ad campaigns). But as a collection of weird mascots, it's a terrific book and is currently $12 at Amazon.
*Previously: Petey the Pee Cup and Pokey the Syringe are the official healthpartners.com ambassadors.
*Buy mascot bobbleheads at eBay.
