1970s: Samsonite

 

 
 
Year: Exact year unknown; from the 1970s
Advertiser: Samsonite 
Message: LEGO (plural of LEGO!) aren't just colorful bricks. They are a way to develop your child's brain, thus making playtime both fun and intellectually stimulating.  
Background/Fun Fact: What do Samsonite and LEGO have to do with each other? Why is LEGO, a toy company, advertising with Samsonite, a luggage company? The story goes that in the early 1960s LEGO, recognizing the sales potential of the large North American market, wanted to expand from their European home turf. However, LEGO would need a sales and distribution network through which to get their products into North American children's hands. Rather than go through the trouble and incur the costs of creating their own network, LEGO decided to partner with an established player on the continent, Samsonite. From this deal, Samsonite earned "a 99-year license for exclusive North American distribution rights" for LEGO bricks. However, LEGO didn't sell too well at Samsonite. Relations between the two parties deteriorated and in 1972 U.S. production and distribution rights were returned to LEGO.


Source: http://www.miniland.nl/Historie/legoautos/samsonite/samsonite%20pagina%20eng.htm
 
 
 
 
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1948: American Cyanamid

Image
  Year : 1948 Advertiser : American Cyanamid Message : Together with the look and feel of "normal" kitchenware, Melmac plates' (manufactured by American Cyanamid) durability make them the optimal choice for restaurants and dining spaces in general. Background/Fun Fact : American Cyanamid originally produced fertilizer. The company's name is derived from the chemical name of the fertilizer--calcium cyanamide.  Sources :     - Ad : Vintage Ad Browser     - Fun Fact : Wikipedia
Read more

1943: Bell Telephone System

Image
  Year : 1943 Advertiser : Bell Telephone System (owned by AT&T) Message : In a perfect world, Bell's telephone wires would be able to handle all long-distance traffic, whether civilian or war-related. Under current conditions, though, with resources going to the war effort, Bell is unable to produce more wires. For this reason, please don't make a long-distance call to areas of conflict unless it's absolutely necessary. Background/Fun Fact : In 1984 the Department of Justice broke Bell Telephone System up into seven separate companies sometimes called Baby Bells. One of these companies, Bell Atlantic, eventually became known as Verizon. Sources :     - Ad : https://www.vintageadbrowser.com/communications-ads-1940s/4     - Fun Fact : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Communications
Read more

1987: Mizuno

Image
Year : 1987 Advertiser : Mizuno Message : At first the ad seems critical of the products it is advertising. "These professional athletes (Rickey Henderson and Vince Coleman) would never wear our shoes." At second glance, though, one realizes the ad is cleverly arguing that Mizuno's shoes will make you ultra-fast. The language in this ad both draws you in and does a good job of communicating the products' value proposition. Background/Fun Fact : Although Mizuno mostly focuses on sports equipment and sportswear, in the 1930s the company, based in Japan, started producing gliders for the Japanese military. Sources :     - Ad : https://www.vintageadbrowser.com/sports-ads-1980s     - Fun Fact : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizuno  
Read more